Formula One car development blog

It finally didn't take too long for a team to copy the front wheel fairing from Ferrari. The Scuderia introduced it at Silverstone in its initial form. Toyota now have a similar system with a carbon plate that does not rotate with the wheel itself. As a result, the brake exhaust is always sent downwards to the rear of the car. The location is very similar but Ferrari have a more advanced system in that it has guiding vanes inside the plate opening to further improve airflow. Sooner ... Read more

After introducing a new nose cone and front wing at Turkey, the Toyota team have already a new wing ready for the very low downforce requirements at Monza. In fact the race version (lower image) follows a front wing with the older nose cone (upper image). Toyota have been planning a new nose to improve the car's general spec while also developing a low downforce front wing for Monza. As the low downforce wing was just ready for testing, it was not adopted to the new nosecone until 7... Read more

Toyota is working hard on a comeback and the cars continuously to show improved pace since the European Grand Prix. This time, the team introduced a serious update by redesigning the nose cone and front wing. Such a major update is rather rare these days, even Spyker did not touch the nose cone when creating their B-spec car. The upper part of the image shows the new shape where it is obvious the new cone is much lower and slightly narrower than previously. The underside of the nose... Read more

Toyota's 2007 runner is still lacking pace compared to the team's budget, especially in the hands of Ralf Schumacher. Fortunately the team is improving step by step by introducing new parts. This time around the new aero package includes a new engine cover. The upper part of the image shows that new design, following the trend set by McLaren and new used by BMW and Ferrari too. The extra surface in the upper area allows for a cleaner airflow towards the rear wing and is expected to ... Read more

Toyota is obviously lacking downforce and overall grip at Monaco, even after several updates. The team introduced a new rear and front wing and have altered their sidepod vanes by adding a winglet on the inside of the panel. The upper part of the image shows the assembly at the time of the Malaysian GP where the vane is built for flow conditioning, similar to BMW, Ferrari and McLaren. The new item in the lower part of the image has a smaller vane and added winglet, similar to what B... Read more

Toyota appeared at yesterday's Barcelona test with an updated chimney. While previously (upper part of the image) it was quite bulky and possibly hindering efficiency of the winglet just behind it, the new one is more curved. Just like about every bodywork element the curves are designed to follow the airflow in order to decrease drag. At Toyota the chimney is still connected to the winglet. The new solution appears to be quite more elegant than the outdated design that was present ... Read more

Finally Toyota have got rid of their front wing that was seemingly composed of an unmatched series of flaps. Instead the team now follows suit with Ferrari, Renault and Williams by introducing an extra wing above the base panel, spanning from the nose to the end plate. The design is similar, although the attachments to the nose cone appear to be well thought out. While Renault have opted for small attachments points on the upper side of the nose, the Toyota design features more stra... Read more

In recent years the Toyota cars have become known for their chunky car layout and the use of an incredible amount of fins and flaps all over the body. Although the TF107 looks like an improvement compared to the TF106, the engineers still seem to love to develop fins to fit to the car in every possible area. Looking at the image - a close-up of the outer part of the front wing - shows the regular front wing with above it an extra - red - element, similar most of the other teams by n... Read more