Haas leads F1 teams' array of final upgrades in Austin

Five teams rolled out revised cars at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin as the final significant upgrades of 2023 took hold.

Haas, Mercedes and Aston Martin have implemented the biggest changes, while AlphaTauri and Alfa Romeo have brought only minor alteration to their cars.

The modifications are about delivering more performance but also, more importantly, they’re about validating a development direction for 2024 and gaining a heads up on concepts.

Haas pre-announced its change of philosophy last summer, and the team’s all-important shift towards a Red Bull-inspired downwash concept is now effective.

Haas’ VF-23 therefore features modified sidepod inlets that work in phase with the car’s new floor design. One will also note a revision to the car’s cooling inlet as well as the incorporation of louvre panels.

Finally, the floor body has been modified in the latter part of the diffuser while the front brake duct inboard exit has been updated with small geometrical changes.

Mercedes’ final big update on its W14 involves a new floor body that features a raised leading edge while the forward floor edge flap has been extended rearwards, all for the purpose of improving flow quality to the rear of the car and hence rear downforce.

Over at Aston Martin, which is still trying to recapture the form it enjoyed in the first part of the 2023 season, the team has modified the floor edge of its AMR23 to increase the loading on the floor.

Changes have also been made to the car’s diffuser with a revised side view expansion, to its engine cover and to the beam wing that features revised profiles, all of which are once again part of a development package that aims to increase the loading on the floor by modifying the underside local flow conditions.

The only change to Alfa Romeo’s C43 are redesigned edges of the rear part of the car’s floor. The team says this update is working together with the package of upgrades first introduced in Singapore, and is aimed at increasing downforce and the aero efficiency of the car.

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Finally, AlphaTauri delivered a series of integrated changes to the floor body, floor fences and floor edges of its AT04, all of which work together to improve local load.

Additional modifications have been made to the car’s Coke/Engine cover relative to its baseline geometry and to the BDR (Brake Duct Ratio) lower winglets.

Furthermore, the forward chassis lower surfaces have been modified to generate an increase in local load on the chassis.

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