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Nine of the 10 Formula 1 teams have declared updates for the Singapore Grand Prix with another major McLaren package and updates to Red Bull’s rear wing and floor edges among the upgrades.
Mark Hughes runs through the changes team-by-team:
Red Bull
A couple of tweaks in the floor edge and rear wing endplate for the championship leader. The floor edge ‘wing’ has a revised curvature which is claimed to increase load in that part of the floor.
The rear wing endplate has a different curvature where it transitions with the flap, inspired, says the team, by rival designs. It gives a greater load on this particular wing flap design.
Ferrari
A new front wing flap design gives what Ferrari has simulated as greater efficiency. It’s part of the car’s normal development and not track-specific.
Mercedes
A new front brake duct inlet to meet the heavy brake cooling demands of this track.
Alpine
Alpine has followed the trend of lifting up the sidepod tunnel inlet to make a more aggressively shaped downward sweep for the initial part of the tunnel, energising the airflow earlier.
Alpine claims it brings enhanced gains at higher cooling levels – such as in Singapore. There has been a necessary redesign of the cooling vents on the sidepod top to go with the reprofile. There is a circuit-specific taller lip on the trailing edge of the beam wing to increase downforce.
McLaren
A major aerodynamic upgrade at McLaren, focusing around a new sidepod tunnel inlet and an accompanying new floor. This is all part of fulfilling the aerodynamic development potential made possible by the sidepod design introduced in Austria two months ago which had been made possible by a repackaged cooling system.
Although the inlet and floor changes lie at the heart of this upgrade, they have been maximised by changes to almost every upper bodywork surface: there are new front wing endplates, a revised engine cover and appropriate changes to the flow conditioners on the halo, there are new rear brake ducts, new aerodynamic shrouding in the rear suspension links and new rear wing endplate.
For this circuit specifically, there is also an enhanced beam wing.
Alfa Romeo
Targeting an improvement in fast corner aerodynamic performance, Alfa Romeo has brought a new floor and accompanying changes to the tunnel inlets at the front and diffuser at the back.
New rear brake ducts are part of this package. There is a new front flap design which the team says gives it a wider range of set-up options. As the overall downforce has increased, so the front wing has needed a higher range of settings with which to balance the car.
Aston Martin
A small change to the rear corner deflector around the brake duct to increase vorticity.
AlphaTauri
Targeting low-medium-speed entry instability, AlphaTauri has followed the trend for increasing the downsweep angle of the tunnel immediately aft of the inlets by revising the sidepod shape.
This looks to have necessitated moving some of the radiator area, as there is now a distinctive hump on the top surface of the sidepod. It is claimed to give a better cooling range too. To facilitate this, there is a new cooling exit just above the rear wishbone and appropriate changes to the shape of the engine cover.
As with McLaren, the change in the floor’s inlet shape is part of an all-new floor. New floor edges and diffuser are just the visible parts of that. There are also new rear suspension shrouds to fully exploit the new airflow.
Rear brake ducts and rearview mirror details have also been changed as part of this aero package.
Haas
No reported developments.
Williams
A bigger gurney flap for the trailing edge of the front wing is available as a car balancing aid.
