In 1987, there were only five races outside Europe on the calendar and now, twenty years on, there are nine. Even so, the tradition of introducing major updates to the cars when returning to the comfort  zone  of  Europe  continues,  or  maybe  the  teams  just  feel  there  are  so  few  people  in  the Sepang and Sakhir grandstands that it's not worth showing them anything new.

Red Bull Racing is no exception to the rule and the RB3s that Coulthard and Webber will race at the Circuit  de  Catalunya  on  13  May  have  undergone  changes  in  several  areas.  The  team's  technical director, Mark Smith, talks us through what has been done and why.

"Our plans always included an extensive bodywork update to arrive in time for this race. We also planned to introduce a step forward in  transmission  performance  for  Spain.  On  top  of  that,  the  first  three  races  had  thrown  up  some reliability issues and the Barcelona test last week means that hopefully we have addressed those too, notably the problem we had with the fuel flap. The old design caused us problems at each race so far, either staying open when the car was out on track or staying closed when it should have been openfor the pit stops.

"The  aero  package  involves  the  front  wing,  barge  boards  and  rear  bodywork,  including  the appropriate cooling exits. Why do we need these updates? Why did the car not start the year with them  if  they  were  always  planned?  Because  of  ongoing  aero  work  in  the  wind  tunnel,  every  week produces something that will improve performance on the car, from development on the wind tunnel model  and  from  the  work  in  the  Computational  Fluid  Dynamics  department.  A  Formula  One  car  is essentially in a state of continuous development and the difficult decision is choosing the moment to freeze this work and turn it into a package that is put on the car. You have to assess how much you have  moved  forward  with  your  development,  and  what  are  the  logistical  implications. 

"For  example, trying to introduce a big aerodynamics upgrade at a flyaway race a long way from the factory is not an easy task. Therefore there are strategic points in the calendar chosen as suitable for introduction of an upgrade.  On  top  of  that, the  Catalunya  track  is  one  where  your  aerodynamic  package  plays  a  very significant role, so with it also being the first European race, it is a logical choice for introducing new items on the RB3.  What you cannot really separate is what elements of the new aero package are the result  of  constant  work  down  a  set  path  and  what  level  of  improvement  stems  from  resolving shortcomings that have shown up in previous races."

While  much  of  the  aero  work  has  evolved  from  the  white  heat  of  competition  in  the  opening  races, changes to other areas of RB3 followed a more planned route. "The relatively late confirmation of the switch  to  Renault  power  meant  we  were  not  up  to  speed  earlier  in  some  areas,  so  right  from  the beginning  we  decided  for  logistical  reasons  to  target  the  Barcelona  test  for  the  introduction  of  our transmission development and happily the testing was successful in this respect," says Smith. Another area which has seen progress is in performance relating to the engine and its and the car's control systems. "From pre-season testing to the time we got to the first race, we had made a significant step forward in terms of traction control and engine braking strategies," continues Smith. "These evolved with  Renault  allowing  for  the  fact  that  the  interface  between  the  engine  control  systems  and  the chassis control systems take time to develop. You can do some work in the laboratory but there is no substitute for track work, as in this case, the driver is the customer of the system, so it is his perception as  to  how  well  it  works  which  drives  this  forward.  There  were  shortfalls  in  the  operation  of  those systems and we have made quite good advances now in that area."

One oft-heard mantra down most of the pit lane so far this season has been the fact that "we need to get to know the tyres better." Mark Smith explains: "At the Malaysian and Barcelona tests, we made some  geometry  changes  that  were  prompted  by  the  new  tyres.  We  identified  areas  where  we  can have better integration with the tyres and have had a couple of suspension developments that have shown a performance gain.

"Most teams will have inevitably got a reasonable update package for this race, but I'm sure we aresecond  to  no  one  in  the  amount  of  effort  that  has  gone  into  the  design  and manufacture  of many new parts for this race," concludes