VCARB receives major support from Red Bull ahead of Las Vegas Grand Prix

VCARB will race an updated rear end for the final three races and use components from Red Bull’s RB20 for the remainder of the season.

With Red Bull and VCARB becoming technically closer, the VCARB01 will receive the rear suspension and gearbox from the Red Bull RB20 for the final three races of the F1 2024 season.

VCARB to acquire Red Bull components

Given that VCARB has had a season of sporadic form in 2024, the final trio of races represents the Faenza-based team’s last chance to secure sixth place in the Constructors’ Championship; A tough fight for Haas and Haas. Alp each is five points away and ahead of VCARB.

Development of VCARB01 was not a simple process; An update package introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix tipped the car’s performance in the wrong direction, as correlation and production issues resulted in the team having to find out where upgrades had not been made. they worked and where they worked.

For the final triple header, VCARB will repeat last year’s absorption of existing Red Bull components. In 2023 the AT04, known as AlphaTauri, received the rear suspension of the dominant RB19 at the Singapore Grand Prix and an upturn in form followed immediately.

This year VCARB01 will take on the RB20’s rear suspension and gearbox in the final races to claim sixth place. The delay in seasons was due to the suspension being more complex to apply to VCARB01; This was not helped by the aforementioned correlation issues and the need to understand what did not match from the simulations and CFD data.

This type of component sharing is fully permitted under the regulations, with customer teams allowed to purchase certain transferable components, including gearboxes and suspension.

Transferable Components (TRC) are defined in the regulations and supply agreements such as gearboxes and rear suspensions fall within this classification.

There are numerous components listed in the Technical Regulations, all of which are allowed for use by customer teams.

The supplier “must own and/or control any rights, information and/or data (including all aspects of design, production, know-how, operating procedures, specifications and calibrations).”

TRC parts supplied to another team must be identical in all respects, but changes to the design are permitted; This is to ensure that teams are not designing bespoke components specifically for the customer.

Suppliers must also provide customers with all relevant costs and financial information regarding the production/logistics of the supply; because the Financial Regulations state that these items must be given a “fair value” for accounting purposes within the budget ceiling.

Permitted components outlined in Annex 5 of the Technical Regulation have been given transferable status and can thus be sold/shared by supplier teams to their customers.

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Understanding the impact of the suspension and gearbox change will be critical to underpin next year’s design, with the evolution expected to form the basis of the VCARB02, the last car Faenza will produce under current regulations.

VCARB’s ties with Red Bull have been strengthened over the last 12 months; VCARB is also set to leave its Bicester aerodynamics facility to move to part of the Red Bull campus in Milton Keynes – the relocation will not affect the Faenza factory aero department.

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