Formula One car development blog

Spyker F1 was again running their Turkey spec rear wing at Fuji this weekend, the first with a curved mainplane for the team this year. In fact it appears as if Spyker have hardly done any development on their rear wing until getting Mike Gascoyne aboard and developing the B-spec car. Back in Turkey however the wing was fitted on the F8-VII and it debuts here on the F8-VII B. While most other teams are already heavily focused on next year, Spyker is continuing to get comfortable wit... Read more

As part of their latest B-spec car, Spyker is pushing development by introducing several new bits. One of them is this new front wing endplate. It comes together with a new front wing but especially features a winglet that is curved down (as marked by the arrow). All other teams also have a similar element on their end plates but their implementation is a simple plain element without curvature. Basically such items to the endplate help reduce induced drag from the front wing tips ah... Read more

Spyker was expecting quite a bit of their new aero package this weekend, but due to Sutil not completing a single lap and Albers suffering an engine failure early in the race that potential did not show. Part of the new package is the new sidepod shield as displayed down in the picture. The above part shows the previous item that was used at Australia and resembled very much that fitted on the M16. The new panel is different in a way that it's not anymore meant to create downforce ... Read more

Formula One car design today is basically to optimise the car's bodywork in order to make the wings and the diffuser work as efficient as possible. The slightest change in the rear wing can quickly induce an important downforce or drag change. Spyker tried to do so by bending the end plates towards the outer sides of the car. This will cause air under the wing to flow faster. Since faster air directly means lower pressure, the downforce generated by the rear wing will be increased. ... Read more

The new Spyker car is not only painted in a new colour, it has also been completely redesigned. At this time it even appears to be one of the most aerodynamically changed cars of the field. The nose area has especially required a lot of attention as the team perfected their front suspension to a functional zero keel design. The visual similarities with a twin keel originate from the turning vanes, located at the exact same position as where the keels are usually located. The new lay... Read more