Seven of the 10 Formula 1 teams have brought updates to their cars for this weekend’s race. However as they are far away from their European bases, and racing on a temporary circuit where the risk of damage is high, most of the revisions are on the modest side.
Red Bull have brought a mildly revised front wing which is intended to increase downforce, which the team identified as a requirement for upcoming races. They have also made a revision to the floor bodywork around the rear wheels to improve cooling around the inlets for the brake ducts.Their three closest rivals have lagged far behind in terms of performance so far this year, and none of brought alterations on the scale needed to cut that deficit. Indeed, Ferrari and Aston Martin’s cars are unchanged, and Mercedes have introduced a single revision to the underside of their floor.
The addition of vanes is intended to improve airflow to the diffuser further downstream. Mercedes has identified a lack of rear-end downforce as a key weakness of the W14, as a result of which their drivers lose significant amounts of lap time to their rivals at corner exits.
Another team which has only made a minor change is Alpine, who showed promising one-lap pace at this track a year ago. They have tweaked the aerodynamics around their halo. Team principal Otmar Szafnauer said today bigger updates are on the way for Baku at the end of the month and Imola two races after that.
Like Alfa Romeo, Williams has revised its front wing design for this weekend’s race, seeking a compromise on downforce levels between those used in Bahrain, which has more slower corners than Albert Park, and high-speed Jeddah. The team also revised its rear wing endplates.
AlphaTauri, who are yet to score this year after Yuki Tsunoda placed 11th in the first two races, are seeking to turn that around with a package of floor updates for this weekend’s race. The team says these are intended to increase downforce, particularly when the car reaches its lowest ride heights, suggesting Tsunoda and Nyck de Vries have raised concerns about the way it behaves when they hit the brakes.
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2023 Australian Grand Prix F1 teams’ updates
The teams described the changes to their cars for this weekend’s race as follows.
Red Bull
Front Wing Endplate
Reason for change: Performance – local load
Difference: “The surfaces of the front wing end plate have become more cambered.”
Description: “The design forms part of an update for more front wing load based upon expectations of upcoming events complimenting the changes to elements three and four.”
Front Wing
Reason for change: Performance – local load
Difference: “Elements three and four of the front wing have been revised to increase chord length and or local camber.”
Description: “Seeking more front wing load and therefore balancing ability, the last two elements of the front wing have more camber, which necessitates new tips and thus a new endplate. Modularity was lost with the requirement for continuous surfaces.”
Rear Corner
Reason for change: Circuit specific – cooling range
Difference: “Changes to the portion of the wheel bodywork which wraps around the side of the rear tyre.”
Description: “The alignment vanes and wrap-around have changed to be better suited to the local flow looking for more cooling for the given sizes of inlets to the brake duct ducting.”
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Mercedes
Floor Edge
Reason for change: Performance – flow conditioning
Difference: “Vanes added to underside of floor wing.”
Description: “The vanes shed small vortices which increase local load and improve flow into the rear of the floor and the diffuser.”
Alpine
Halo
Reason for change: Performance – flow conditioning
Difference: “Revised halo fairing detail.”
Description: “The revised halo fairing aims to provide a small improvement of air flow towards the rear of the car.”
McLaren
Coke/Engine Cover
Reason for change: Circuit specific – cooling range
Difference: “Reduced Size Engine Cover “
Description: “Due to the circuit layout and expected ambient temperatures, required air mass flow to cool the car is reduced compared to previous events. This allows a reduction of Engine Cover size to increase aerodynamic efficiency.”
Diffuser
Reason for change: Performance – local load
Difference: “Modified FWD Floor Fences “
Description: “The shape of the Forward Floor Fences has been altered to change local suction, floor vortex strength and positioning, resulting in different aerodynamic characteristics.”
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Alfa Romeo
Nose
Reason for change: Performance – local load
Difference: “Redesigned nosecone area, with the nose ending on the first element (as opposed to the second element).”
Description: “In conjunction with a new front wing, this nosecone represents a natural evolution of our previous concept and improves the overall balance of the car.”
Front Wing
Reason for change: Performance – local load
Difference: “Reprofiled front wing – all elements.”
Description: “This new front wing works with the updated nosecone to improve the overall balance of the car, and comes in various possible configurations.”
Sidepod Inlet
Reason for change: Performance – flow conditioning
Difference: “New mirror stay with shorter chord cockpit attachment “
Description: “The new rear-view mirror configuration allows the team to better control of the airflow surrounding the cockpit and maximise aerodynamic performance as the flow moves towards the rear of the car.”
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AlphaTauri
Floor Body
Reason for change: Performance – local load
Difference: “The floor body has been modified in the area behind the floor fences. The shape of the central floor on the reference plane has been made wider in two places. The rear floor body transition to the rear crash structure has been updated to have a smoother transition.”
Description: “The floor modifications behind the fences help to increase the mass flow under the floor for increased local load. The wider central floor is to better position the vorticity being shed from the forward fences to improve diffuser performance. The rear body transition to the rear crash structure creates a more progressive expansion into the diffuser that increases local load and is particularly beneficial in improving rear floor performance at very low rear ride heights typically seen in early braking.”
Floor Fences
Reason for change: Performance – local load
Difference: “All of the fences on the forward floor have been modified. The root leading edges where they meet the underside of the floor body have been updated. The camber distribution of the inboard fences have also been updated. The upper surface of the floor behind the outermost fence has been lowered in height and the launch ‘cheese wire’ has been removed. This modification requires a larger upper surface ‘blister’ to cover the lower side impact structure.”
Description: “The changes at the fence leading edges help reduce junction losses between the fences and floor body. The camber changes on the inner fences give increased local load by improving the strength of the vorticity shed from them. The softer transition of the floor upper surface behind the outer fence helps to draw a higher amount of mass flow down to the floor edge, increasing local load of the latter.”
Floor Edge
Reason for change: Performance – local load
Difference: “The floor edge has been modified rearward of the floor edge wing to have a continuous shedding edge while the previous floor had a discrete and discontinuous leading edge behind the floor edge wing.”
Description: “The continuous edge from floor edge wing to floor edge gives a more consistent behaviour of the floor edge vorticity across all car conditions and results in an increase in local load.”
Diffuser
Reason for change: Performance – local load
Difference: “The junction between the diffuser roof and diffuser sidewall has been modified to have an increase in plan view curvature, which also reduces the volume within the diffuser tail.”
Description: “The increase in sidewall plan view curvature generates a greater lateral component of velocity that helps to reduce the amount of rear tyre wake losses that are entrained into the diffuser, increasing local load.”
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Williams
Front Wing
Reason for change: Circuit specific – balance range
Difference: “A further iteration of the front wing flap trim is available if required. This is an intermediate trim between the two levels that we have raced at the last two events. If required for balance, a new Gurney flap that is consistent with these new profiles is also available.”
Description: “The trim simply changes the area of the front wing flap thereby changing the car’s aero balance to suit the characteristics of Albert Park.”
Rear Wing Endplate
Reason for change: Performance – local load
Difference: “An additional flow control device is added near the bottom of the outboard face of the RWEPs.”
Description: “The addition improves the flow around the rear wing and rear tyre to realise an efficient increase in local downforce.”
2023 Australian Grand Prix
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