The extent of Red Bull’s upgrade for the Hungarian Grand Prix has been revealed, with changes to five different aspects of the car.
The championship leaders headline the list of teams with new parts, though sister-operation Scuderia AlphaTauri also has a small suite for the Hungaroring event.
Red Bull has listed its upgrades, primarily, as reliability-related more than performance, with larger brake ducts at both ends of the car. There is also a changed sidepod inlet among other subtle tweaks.
Absent from the FIA-provided list of teams with new parts is McLaren, the Woking squad having introduced its package across the Austrian and British Grands Prix.
Speedcafe has confirmed there are therefore no new parts this weekend, though Oscar Piastri will receive the upgraded front wing used by Lando Norris in Silverstone last time out.
Red Bull
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Front Corner | Reliability | Enlarged front brake duct exit | Enlarged exit to cope with the greater brake energy and low average speed of the Hungarian Grand Prix circuit. |
| Rear Corner | Reliability | Enlarged rear brake duct exit with additional winglets |
Enlarged rear brake duct exit for more cooling with winglets to add some local load and improve the exit condition suited the requirements of brake cooling at the Hungarian circuit |
| Sidepod Inlet | Reliability | A broader and shallower inlet to achieve a further increase of the aspect ratio. |
Changing the aspect ratio of the inlet has improved the pressure at the entry to the radiator duct and therefore the cooling efficiency ahead of one of the more difficult circuits for car cooling. |
| Coke/Engine Cover |
Reliability | wider sidepod from the inlet extending to the rear suspension forward legs. |
Having revised the inlet duct a wider sidepod panel was necessary and utilises the greater inlet pressure to exploit the inlet improvements. This extends to the rear suspension and revises the cooling air exit path. |
| Floor Body | Performance -Local Load | Revised split line to revised sidepod, floor edge detail revised to suit. |
The re-shaped sidepod has led to subtle floor edges changes to work with the upstream surfaces, which has extracted some more local load. |
Ferrari
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Front Wing | Circuit specific -Balance Range | Reprofiled front wing flap and addition of full span gurney | The specificities of the Budapest track layout are requiring a high downforce configuration. This front wing flap update simply gives the necessary aero balance range authority. |
Mercedes
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Front Wing Endplate |
Performance -Flow Conditioning |
Front wing endplate diveplane lifted | Lifts vortexes shed off diveplane which in turn interacts more favourably with front tyre wake, improving flow to the rear of the car. |
| Front Suspension | Performance -Flow Conditioning |
Inboard suspension camber reduction | Reduced camber improves flow quality along the chassis side and on to the front of the floor, resulting in increased floor load. |
| Rear Wing | Circuit specific -Drag Range | Increased rear wing tip side view cutout | Circuit specific – larger wing tip cutout increases the mass flow under the wing tip, which increases local downforce and drag. |
Alpine
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Front Wing | Circuit specific -Drag Range | Bigger front wing flap that runs with the new front wing mainplane (used in Silverstone for the first time) | A bigger front wing flap to rebalance the higher rear downforce level that we will use at the Hungaroring this weekend. |
Aston Martin
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Coke/Engine Cover |
Circuit specific -Cooling Range | The new engine cover has a larger exit area compared to the previous version. | Part of the cooling setup options the larger exit area increases the volume of cooling flow exited from the bodywork. |
Haas
| Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
| Floor Body | Performance -Flow Conditioning |
As part of the in season car aerodynamic development, we have modified the outboard area of the Floor Body. | The research work of the aero department this time have been focused in the management of the flow expansion of the car underneath affecting the shape of the component that is called “Floor Body”. |
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 the previous geometry, the central front wing elements have been raised. The outboard front wing also features a more loaded flap. |
The central front wing changes result in a more efficient generation of downforce. The outboard flap tip loading creates a more favourable interaction between the front wing and front wheel wake losses, improving onset flow quality to the rest of the car. |
| Nose | Performance – Local Load |
Compared to the previous geometry, the nose tip has been raised to match the change in central front wing elements. |
The nose change results in more efficient generation of downforce working in combination with the above changes to the central front wing. |
| Floor Body | Performance – Local Load |
Compared to the previous geometry, the central part of the rear floor has been made wider. | The wider central floor generates increased load through local surface curvature changes which accelerate the local flow and generates lower pressure under the floor as a result. |
| Rear Wing | Performance – Local Load |
Compared to the previous geometry, the rear wing flap tips have been modified. | The rear wing tip changes give an efficient increase in loading of the wing elements. |
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