F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Tech Take: A detailed look at F1 teams' Dutch GP upgrades

The second part of the 2023 F1 season kicked off at Zandvoort and while teams are now channeling most of their resources towards their 2024 designs, upgrades continue to be implemented.

The purpose of the updates is not only to boost an outfit's current car's performance but also to gather learnings that can be fed into the development of next year's contender.

This weekend, Mercedes and Aston Martin which are fighting for the runner-up spot in F1's Constructors' Championship, have introduced new elements on their respective cars.

Mercedes has updated the floor edge on its W14, which now has a reduced span forward floor edge wing that offloads the latter a little, which in turn "reduces losses improving flow to the rear and increasing rear downforce".

Furthermore, a decambered inboard mirror stay will help improve flow quality to the rear of the car and increase rear wing load, the latter benefit also helped by a revised beam wing.

Aston Martin rolled out its AMR23 that featured a revised floor and diffuser and modified floor fences and edges, all of which have been designed to work in combination to "increase the load generated by the floor".

©FIA

While Ferrari has left its SF-23 unchanged, Red Bull slightly tweaked the beam wing on its RB19, revising the cambers and angles of incidence across its elements to "improve the pressure distribution and improve wing performance".

Over at McLaren, the team has implemented circuit-specific changes to the rear wing and beam wing of its MCL60 in a bid to improve aero efficiency compared to the previous assembly.

Haas' VF-23 features a new front wing and nose assembly that includes a new mainplane and flaps arrangements, while development work centered on the car's nose has focused on achieving the best compromise between the nose geometry and the wing profile itself.

©FIA

Finally, AlphaTauri has updated the rear wing endplate on its AT04 to increase the efficiency of the assembly and the component's drag level for Zandvoort.

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Michael Delaney

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