- 29 Aug 13, 13:15#371295Red Bull have traditionally set thier cars with a high downforce, improving cornering performance but at some compromise with straight line speed. In fact, right up to the end of the Hungarian GP this year, they were recorded as being among the slowest through the speed traps.
I am no expert, but I sometimes wondered if they overdid this line of thinking, especially in dry races? After Vettels brilliant Pit Lane to Podium drive in Abu Dhabi 2012, I thought that they would experiment with lower downforce seetings on fast tracks under dry conditions, but they did not seem to do so. IMO, this cost Vettel a victory in the US GP in Austin, where Hamilton's McLaren was recorded at a straight line speed of 308 kph as against 295 kph by Vettel's RB8.
Something appears to have been discussed in this year's mid-season break because for Spa, Red Bull set the RB9 with lower downforce even with a slightly dodgy weather on qualifying day. What seemed to me significant even more significant than Vettel's emphatic win on Sunday was that during the partly wet qualifying conditions on Saturday his car did pretty well and was not sliding about as the RB8 did in 2012. The RB9 seems to handle noticeably better on a wet track than its predecessor.
