Ferrari and Aston Martin headline the list of teams with updates teams are set to introduce at this weekend’s Formula 1 Spanish Grand Prix.
Charles Leclerc has said he hopes the revised sidepods and diffuser make the car less tricky to drive as the Scuderia starts to get a grip on the issues which blight the SF-23.
A little further down the lane, Aston Martin has a sizeable package with changes to both ends of the car.
There’s a new front wing for Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll while there are changes to the beam wing and end plate on their car.
Others too have updates, including class leaders Red Bull, with Spain a favoured testing ground given its familiarity.
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Alpine, Alfa Romeo Sauber, and Haas are all set to race with the cars they had in Monaco (save the circuit-specific developments there).
Red Bull
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric difference compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Floor Edge | Performance -Local Load | Revised edge profile to locally manipulate the surfaces. | Greater local load has been extracted from local floor edge detail by re-shaping to suit the local pressures whilst maintaining aerodynamic stability. |
| Diffuser | Performance -Local Load | Top corners of the diffuser have been profiled for greater curvature | A small increase in local load towards the trailing edge of the diffuser profile in the upper corners has been extracted with a more curved profile taking inspiration from competitor designs. |
Ferrari
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric difference compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Rear Wing | Circuit specific -Drag Range | Revised Top Rear Wing design | Introduction of revised top rear wing main and flap profiles. This update refines the car polar, allowing to cover the aerodynamic efficiency requirements of the Barcelona circuit. |
| Coke/Engine Cover |
Performance -Flow Conditioning |
Change in sidepod and central bodywork topologies | This development focuses on flow conditioning towards the rear wing assembly and rear corner, combined with a different cooling flow management, for overall car efficiency improvements. |
| Floor Body / Edge |
Performance -Flow Conditioning |
New floor body / floor edge / floor edge wing | Coming together with the sidepod update and involving evolutions of the main floor body as well as floor edge, these new geometries are optimizing local flow features for increased load benefits. |
Mercedes
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric difference compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Sidepod Inlet | Performance -Flow Conditioning |
Mirror vane removed | Upper mirror vane no longer required with the new bodywork -removing improves flow quality to the rear of the car and hence rear downforce. |
| Diffuser | Performance -Local Load | Diffuser sidewall sideview profile change | Small change to diffuser sideview profile, to allow more flow into the diffuser and to improve flow quality and hence increase local load. |
McLaren
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric difference compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Front Corner | Performance -Flow Conditioning | New Front Brake Duct Vane and Winglet shape | The altered shape of Front Brake Vane and Winglet results in an improvement of flow conditioning which leads to an overall aerodynamic load increase. |
Aston Martin
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric difference compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Front Wing | Performance -Local Load | The front wing flap has a different twist distribution with less variation in height across the trailing edge, also to suit the new tip. There are two versions of this flap available for different aerobalance ranges. | The flap modifies the spanwise load distribution of the front wing to improve the overall performance and the downstream effects. |
| Front Wing Endplate |
Performance -Local Load | The sections in the FWEP tip are distributed differently compared to the previous version of front wing. | The new geometry improves how the tip of the wing interacts with the tyre behind it for better performance through the operating envelope. |
| Nose | Performance -Flow Conditioning |
The nose camera incidence has been modified. | Due to different onset conditions the nose camera incidence was re-aligned to improve the interaction and improve local downstream conditions. |
| Rear Wing Endplate |
Performance -Local Load | There are detail changes to the endplate tip and some additional material on the inboard face of the main body. This can be used with two upper assys. | The upper rear wing performance is improved by changes to the loading affected by the endplate, along with some load on the component itself. |
| Beam Wing | Performance -Local Load | There are two subtly different beam wings to suit the new endplates. | The modifications are just small improvements to work with the new endplate and improve the distribution of load across the span of the wing. |
Scuderia AlphaTauri
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric difference compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Rear Wing | Performance -Local Load | The upper wing elements have increased camber and incidence, particularly in the outboard part of the wing assembly. Refinement of beam wing tip blends. |
Compared to previously raced rear wing designs this further refinement aims to achieve improved downforce generation for cornering and drag reduction for straight line performance. |
| Rear Wing Endplate |
Performance -Local Load | The outside face of the lower endplate has been modified to include a cambered vane. | The cambered lower surface of the vane generates suction, which gives increased local load from the rear wing endplate. |
Williams
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric difference compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Front Wing | Circuit specific -Balance Range | New, longer Gurney flap options for the Front Wing | This update works by increasing the local Front Wing load to help balance the rear downforce in the high-speed corners |
| Coke/Engine Cover |
Circuit specific -Cooling Range | There is now an optional exit duct for the central cooler. This hasn’t been present at previous events. |
This alters the relative air flow through the central and side coolers to help balance the cooling system. If we can achieve a better balance across all of the fluids then we can reduce the overall cooling level and realise an aero load gain |
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