Formula One car development blog

Recently at Monaco, Williams and Toyota added winglets inside of their sidepod panels to add a bit of central downforce to their cars. When the panels were first introduced in Formula One - by Honda in 2006 - the inside winglets were fairly standard when most teams copied the design. Today, the panels are more focused on improving airflow and generating downforce at the rear end of the car. Monaco is however a special case, where due to its low speeds, aero efficiency is less import... Read more

Red Bull have developed an extra large bridge for its front wing at Monaco. In an attempt to create additional downforce, the chord length all over the span has been increased, allowing to better redirect airflow. At both sides, the Monaco spec also features wing gaps, a novelty for Red Bull but a well known solution for McLaren already. The slot opening also allows for a higher angle of attack of the upper element, as is also indicated in the image.

After leaving its vented nose design home for the Turkish GP, the opened nose was again present for at Monaco. Generally, the nose will be used by the Scuderia at tracks where most frontal downforce is needed, while its principle of design is not favourable for circuits where the front wing is set at low angles of attack. The team did however slightly improve the design by adding a little aerofoil at each side of the nose to increase the effect of the air channel. The aerofoils help... Read more

Honda have developed several new bits to increase the frontal downforce of the car. While winglets on the outer sides of the front wing end plates have been removed, a new - unpainted - element on the inside was added, effectively chasing the effect of double deck front wing but at a less effective scale. The main panel on the other hand has a cut-out where it attaches to the end places, allowing a better flow into the brake coolers.
Also marked are new endplates that were added to ... Read more

Traditionally at Monaco, all teams add downforce wherever they can. Toyota have taken a major step as they have a new rear wing, again the inboard mirrors and this new front wing. Above is the new Monaco spec, which clearly has more surface to its main plane (the little cutout as marked on the Turkey spec was left out). Apart from that, the base plane was also altered and now a little more curvy around the spoon shape and at the outer extremities. The outer changes are particularly ... Read more

BMW Sauber have finally run a front wheel fairing after having displayed them during their car's launch back in Januari. There was no sign of any fairing thereafter, but Honda tried BMW's design and decided to replace it with the more conventional system of Ferrari. Now, both BMW cars ran a new design fairing system during qualifying. The new cover highly resembles McLaren's design, marking a flat panel that does not extend wider than the wheel's rim. The air exit is however vertica... Read more

Ferrari, widely known for its engine with high cooling requirements, have adapted the engine cover at Monaco to be able to cope with the high temperatures. In the streets of the city, top speeds and the average speed over the GP are lowest over all Grand Prix. As a result, there is a risk of overheating the engine. The image indicates that the Scuderia really have shark gills all over the sidepod's upper sides. The gills aside of the engine and on the sidepod top are usual, although... Read more

Williams development is up to speed as new elements are rolling out of the factory quickly. At the Spanish GP, the team introduced a new front wing profile while at Turkey another step was made on the front wing. As a third car now, following Red Bull and Renault, the FW30 is being equipped with a shark fin engine cover. The solution is however more elegant and resembles more the version of BMW Sauber. While the added surface improves rear stability under yaw, the all new winglet fi... Read more

Williams have copied Renault's new upper deck front wing design, just two weeks after the French team first raced it. For Renault it was part of their Barcelona aerodynamic package that lifted the team's performance considerably. As marked in the image, the new wing sports small endplates where the nose bridge and the downforce generating panels connect. Despite being less aesthetically pleasing, the solution allows to put a more aggressive angle of attack to the upper elements whil... Read more

Since Ferrari introduced their front wheel fairing last year at Silverstone, several other teams have been diligently investigating the system and trying to fit it onto their own cars. At the Turkish GP, 6 teams were running front wheel fairings. From top left to bottom right, Red Bull, Ferrari, Honda, Renault and McLaren. Surprisingly, BMW is not running any covers, not at the front or rear wheels, despite showing them off at the car's launch. While many have tested both BMW's solu... Read more