TECHNICAL: How has Alpine changed its car at Spa?
While some of the teams' upgrade packages introduced at last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix were 'only' circuit-specific, Alpine's developments went beyond simple Spa-specific solutions.
Alpine has gone through key changes in its management in recent weeks. Out went Bruno Famin, in came Oliver Oakes. The team will also field a new driver line-up next year as Esteban Ocon is set to leave the Enstone-based outfit. It means that Pierre Gasly, who has recently signed a contract extension with the French-British outfit will race alongside a new team-mate.
For last weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, the team brought an extensive set of upgrades.
Part of the upgrades package was a revised front wing geometry which allowed the low-downforce setting to be more aero-efficient than with the previous design. "Compared to previous specification, the new front wing features different profiles to give the ability to cover the full balance range required for lower downforce races," the team noted.
As part of ongoing development and not specific to flowing, high-speed Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, Alpine introduced a new engine cover which has enabled a more efficient internal cooling route.
The team explained that "as part of our normal development cycle, this new engine cover is designed to improve our overall cooling efficiency by reviewing the channelling of the internal airflow."
Together with the above mentioned sidepod and the engine cover update, the Enstone-headquartered squad reprofiled the mirror stays to achieve better flow control and flow quality towards the rear of the car.
The Spa-specific items are the low-drag rear wing and single-element beam wing.
The low-downforce rear wing had less aerodynamic load and therefore drag than the rear wings used in previous events. Alongside this new-spec rear wing, the updated single-element beam wing offered a small reduction in drag and improved the aerodynamic efficiency of the car overall "to extend our rear wing and beam wing range."
