Just three teams have introduced upgrades for the season Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the final round of the 2023 F1 season.
Alfa Romeo Sauber, Aston Martin, and Scuderia AlphaTauri have new parts this weekend, ranging from a revised front wing to an all-new floor.
Aston Martin has brought with it a new rear wing, with revised beam and end plates at the rear of the AMR23.
The most significant change is at Scuderia AlphaTauri, where an all-new floor has been introduced.
A new floor body, edge, and fences combine to offer increased load – F1 jargon for more downforce – as the team looks towards 2024.
Alfa Romeo Sauber, meanwhile, has a tweak to its front wing in an attempt to better manage the airflow from the front of the C43.
Alfa Romeo Sauber
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 | Redesigned front wing endplate | The redesign of the front wing main body, flaps and endplate is meant to influence the airflow throughout the whole car and improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the car. |
Front Wing | Performance -Flow Conditioning | Reprofiled flaps and redesigned main plane of the front wing | The redesign of the front wing main body, flaps and endplate is meant to influence the airflow throughout the whole car and improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the car. |
Aston Martin
Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
Beam Wing | Performance -Local Load | The beam wing is slightly wider span for compatibility with the new upper rear wing assy. | Performance is derived from the associated upper rear wing development rather than this component. |
Rear Wing | Performance -Local Load | The upper rear wing assembly has revised sections, a change in front view and a different treatment of the tip of the wing. There are two options of flap. | Development of the wing assembly has increased load on the wing at a higher efficiency that the previous version, whilst also covering a different drag range. |
Rear Wing Endplate | Performance -Local Load | Subtle changes to the endplate in front view and small changes in the side view profile. | Development of the wing assembly has increased load on the wing at a higher efficiency that the previous version, whilst also covering a different drag range. |
Scuderia AlphaTauri
Updated component | Primary reason for update | Geometric differences compared to previous version | Brief description on how the update works |
Floor Body | Performance -Local Load | Relative to the baseline geometry, the forward and central floor areas have been modified. | These changes have been made in conjunction with changes to the floor fences below to improve the local load generation of the forward floor. The keel area above the t-tray also now features a vane that generates additional local load. The mid floor and ‘canoe’ surfaces local to the plank have also been extensively modified to enable greater local load generation from that part of the floor. |
Floor Fences | Performance -Local Load | Relative to the baseline geometry, the floor fences have been modified. | The fence geometry changes combine with the forward floor body changes to give an increase in local loading. The spanwise position and spacing of the fences has also changed significantly from the previous floor to better optimise their relative loading. The area behind the outermost fence on the upper surface has also changed to improve the quality of air flow onto the floor edge wing. |
Floor Edge | Performance -Local Load | Relative to the baseline geometry, the forward part of the floor edge wing has been modified. | The forward part of the floor edge wing has been reduced in camber to improve flow quality to the rearward floor edge. The aft part of the floor edge wing has been increased in chord to increase local load generation. |