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In addition to the hotly-anticipated McLaren upgrade and an all-new Alpine floor, several other Formula 1 teams have declared upgrades for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku that are supposed to carry an overall performance benefit – with the remainder settling for circuit-specific tweaks.
Here’s a rundown of what all 10 teams have presented in the lead-up to the street circuit event, the first to be held under the new sprint format.
Red Bull
There is a new aspect ratio for the radiator inlet cowling – wider and shallower. The team says this manipulates the air pressure there more effectively. Lower air pressure will increase its velocity into the radiators and give a greater cooling effect, which allows the radiator exits further back to be reduced in size, to aerodynamic benefit.
The new inlets have required accommodating changes to the upper sidepod bodywork and for a revised floor edge geometry to more fully exploit the new airflow around the sidepod.
The outer floor fence has been tweaked to give the required aero balance for this circuit and the rear corner winglet has been split into two elements to improve efficiency.
Ferrari
The only reported Ferrari change is the low-drag rear wing.
Mercedes
The deflector at the rear in between the rear tyre and the outer diffuser wall has been modified with the aim of giving a cleaner flow around the lower rear wing endplates.
Those endplates have also been tweaked for the low-drag demands of this track and the fairing around the lower front wishbone has been reprofiled to improve the airflow to the floor when the front wheels are steered.
Alpine
It’s a totally new floor with reprofiled tunnels – the upper front wishbone fairing has been reprofiled as part of the package and there are revised fairings also at the rear of the car to exploit the updated floor.
McLaren
McLaren has brought a big update comprising an all-new floor that redistributes the underfloor pressures.
This is the major development change. There are also several Baku-specific changes including a smaller rear beam wing.
Alfa Romeo
Baku-specific changes comprising a low-drag rear wing and accompanying front flap profile changes, and a lower-drag beam wing.
Aston Martin
A lower-drag rear wing with a different prioritisation for mainplane and flaps.
Haas
A low-drag rear wing.
AlphaTauri
The rear cascade of winglets and deflectors have been further optimised around the new floor introduced in Melbourne to increase the effectiveness of the floor. There are also circuit-specific changes to front and rear wing, beam wing and brake cooling.
Williams
The shroud on the underside of the nose has a different curvature claimed to improve load on the front wing.
