Ferrari has made the most changes to their car ahead of the grand prix in Austria this weekend as they look to kick-start a resurgence in form.
The Scuderia are third in the Constructors’ standings but are already 191 points off leaders McLaren ahead of the 11th race of the season.
Teams reveal upgrades ahead of Austrian GP
McLaren
McLaren’s changes come largely at the front of the car with an alteration to the suspension and the front corner.
For the suspension, the team have made a revision to the fairings aiming at an overall improvement of flow conditioning which results in an aerodynamic performance gain.
As a result, the corner has been changed to allow full exploitation of the flow conditioning improvements.
Their third change comes on the rear corner which is an alternative rear suspension geometry which requires a revision of rear corner aerodynamic surfaces to maintain clearances as well as aerodynamic performance.
Ferrari
75% of Ferrari’s changes come on the floor with alterations to the fences, body and edge. The Italian team say these will help to produce an enhanced vorticity released downstream.
For the fence, there is a redistribution of profiles/camber. The body has a reshaped boat and tunnel expansion while there is a shorter and re-cambered front floor edge wing.
The fourth change made by the team is on the diffuser with a redesigned volume.
Explaining the upgrade, the team say: “The reshaped boat and tunnel expansion have been subsequently reoptimized, together with the floor edge loading and diffuser volume distribution, leading to an overall load gain across the car operating envelope.”
Red Bull
Just the one change for Red Bull ahead of their home race with an alteration to the RB21’s floor.
There is now new surfaces with a vent ahead of the rear tyre with a new edge wing being deployed, intended to maintain the established flow stability and improve the load extracted from this region of the floor.
Mercedes
The Silver Arrows make two changes with both being circuit-specific adaptations.
The first comes on the front corner with a large brake duct inlet and exit to cover off the high brake duty that we typically see at this circuit.
The other is on the engine cover which is designed to increase mass flow through the sidepod radiator.
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Racing Bulls
Racing Bulls have made a single change to both their front and rear wings.
On the front, a permanent upgrade of new geometry to improve local flow has been added while the rear wing has a circuit-specific change to the profiles. The team say the latter will help the car “meet the needs of the target downforce and efficiency level for the circuit.”
Sauber
The final team to make a change is Sauber with an alteration to the floor body and rear wing.
Changes to the mid-floor area have been done to improve flow field conditions for the underfloor from front to back and gain downforce.
The rear wing has a new assembly which is suited for higher downforce tracks.
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