Craig Scarborough is a freelance journalist/illustrator who has been following Formula 1 since the 1970s and since 2000 has focused exclusively on the used technology of F1.
Craig Scarborough is a freelance journalist/illustrator who has been following Formula One since the 1970s and since 2000 has focused exclusively on the technology used in F1.
According to what Scarborough wrote on his Twitter, Red Bull has reportedly found a rather ingenious solution to the problem of their car's pitching, so they can run the car very close to the asphalt without suffering the problem.
"With gas springs and inert prohibited, they explored a shock absorber filled with non-Newtonian fluid (NNF)."
"Everyone knows from home science experiments that non-Newtonian fluids are liquids, but become semi-solid when a large force is applied to them. Like cornstarch in a speaker experiment, even cream is an NNF!"
"I spoke with Honda's former RBR suspension engineer, Kesonyu-san, about the system. The NNF-filled damper does not affect the normal motion of the suspension, but when the car starts to bounce, its non-Newtonian properties resist the bounce. 'Engineering Intervention Porpoising' he calls it!"
"Jo explained to me that the fluid is difficult to design, operate and maintain. It needs to be at a higher temperature, so the RB18's rear pushrod suspension setup puts the fluid damper near the hot exhaust. The mechanics joke that it's the cream damper, but getting the hot damper out has risks..."
Editor's note: The Grand Prix was unable to confirm this with his source inside Red Bull, who did not deny it, but also did not confirm it.