Ferrari and Haas have brought new floors for the Miami Grand Prix as the 10 F1 teams have scaled back overall this weekend in comparison to the raft of upgrades unveiled at the last race in Azerbaijan.
Both teams had always made clear they would bide their time with the first major update component, waiting until the fifth race of the latest F1 season to do so.
Ferrari, in particular, will be hoping the new floor provides race-day gains as the SF-23 has so far proven it has qualifying pace, but falls away in the grand prix.
That was especially highlighted around the Baku Street Circuit where Charles Leclerc was on pole position for both the sprint and grand prix but had to settle for second and third respectively in each event behind double winner Sergio Perez in his Red Bull.
According to Ferrari, the new floor is primarily designed to improve performance and flow conditioning, although the team states it is “part of the standard development cycle”.
It adds that “particular attention has been put on losses reduction in all the updated areas, with the aim to improve the overall aerodynamic performance and car efficiency”.
From Haas’ perspective, the new floor represents the first of a number of planned updates across the season, as opposed to the sole upgrade it applied to its car just after the midway point of last year.
Haas states that “with a better control of the pressure distribution and the management of the lateral flow, we have obtained improvement of the car aerodynamic efficiency at low, medium and high-speed”.
Updates from other teams include a new front wing and sidepod inlet on the AlphaTauri.
With regard to the front wing, in particular, compared to the launch spec, the outboard end has been modified to raise the tip elements, with small winglets added to the inboard side of the endplate close to its trailing edge.
The design is to reduce the tip losses generated by the assembly that passes inboard of the front tyre, in turn increasing the energy in the flowfield downstream, allowing the floor, in particular, to generate more load.
Aston Martin has added cooling louvres to its AMR23s, allowing more cooling flow to exit from the underbody cavity, increasing cooling capacity, and allowing operating targets to be met in hotter conditions.
Alfa Romeo, meanwhile, has a new beamwing, providing it with the option to run the component without its flap. It will deliver what it describes as “an additional aerodynamic solution to respond to the characteristics of the Miami track”.
Red Bull, Mercedes, Alpine, McLaren, and Williams have nothing new on their cars for this weekend.
All updates in Miami
Ferrari
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Floor Body | Performance – Flow Conditioning | Updated front/mid floor and diffuser geometries | This new floor component is part of the standard development cycle. Particular attention has been put on losses reduction in all the updated areas, with the aim to improve the overall aerodynamic performance and car efficiency. |
Alfa Romeo Sauber
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Beam Wing | Circuit specific -Drag Range | Added option to run the beam wing without the flap. | This is an additional configuration of previously utilised parts; we have added this possible combination to give us an additional aerodynamic solution to respond to the characteristics of the Miami track. |
Aston Martin
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Cooling Louvres | Circuit specific -Cooling Range | A new bodywork panel is available for R05 with an additional area of cooling exits in the side of the bodywork. Use will be dependent on the conditions. | The additional exit area allows more cooling flow to exit from the underbody cavity hence increasing cooling capacity allowing operating targets to be met in hotter conditions. |
Haas
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Floor Body | Performance -Local Load | Geometry of the surface that control the expansion of the floor has been modified. | With a better control of the pressure distribution and the management of the lateral flow, we have obtained improvement of the car aerodynamic efficiency at low, medium and high speed. |
Scuderia AlphaTauri
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Front Wing | Performance -Local Load | Compared to launch, the outboard end of the front wing is modified to raise the tip elements and add small winglets to the inboard side of the endplate close to its trailing edge. | These modifications reduce the tip losses generated by the assembly that pass inboard of the front tyre. This increases the energy in the flowfield downstream and allows the floor in particular to generate more load. |
| Sidepod Inlet | Performance -Local Load | Relative to the launch mirror assembly that only has an aerofoil section above the mirror body, this update adds an aerofoil section below the mirror body as well. An extra winglet has also been added to the outboard mirror stay where it meets the sidepod upper surface. | The addition of the wing element below the mirror body reduces the size of the wake generated by the mirror glass by generating local upwash behind it. The reduction in wake losses allows the rear of the car to receive higher energy flow, improving downforce generation as a result. The extra winglet provides some additional outwash to help keep front wheel wake losses further away from the bodywork. |
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