Racing Bulls: new front wing previews solutions aligned with aerodynamic concepts for 2025 car. Racing Bulls continued developing the VCARB 01 until the championship's end.

Racing Bulls finished the 2024 Formula 1 season in eighth place in the Constructors’ Championship. After holding sixth for a significant period, the Faenza team was overtaken by Alpine and Haas, slipping further back than expected. However, the technical staff, led by Jody Egginton, never stopped developing the VCARB 01—a car initially anticipated to challenge for podiums early in the season but ultimately failed to deliver on that promise.

What was expected to be a sort of “clone” of the RB20 never showed the potential to aim so high. Only at the end of the championship did an update arrive, incorporating the rear suspension of the Milton Keynes car as a precursor to the 2025 vehicle.

The Racing Bulls engineers sought synergies with their “cousins” and are undergoing a full corporate transformation. The aerodynamic hub previously located in Bicester has moved to Milton Keynes, with 110 personnel set to begin work in January at the new facility near Red Bull Powertrains, which handles the 2026 engines. The Bedford wind tunnel, shared with Red Bull, has reached its development limits, and a new wind tunnel is in its early preparation stages.

Amid this complex corporate reorganization, a team continued developing the VCARB 01 until the championship’s end. In Abu Dhabi, the team from Emilia-Romagna introduced a redesigned front wing, featuring an updated nose attachment.

The wing provides a glimpse of the 2025 aerodynamic concepts. The profiles were previously described during the Abu Dhabi GP, but the connection zone between the flaps and the endplate deserves further exploration. This area now features a curved design, whereas it was previously angular.

The most intriguing aspect is the creation of an airflow channel between the flaps and the endplate. The design of the individual elements aims to increase the outwash effect—the flow directed outside the front wheel to clean up the wake. The convergence of the second, larger chord element already creates a sort of tunnel. However, it is the attachment of the last flap to the endplate, angled to offer another air channel, supported by a metal bracket that also acts as a flow deflector, which stands out as the key innovation.