Formula One car development blog

McLaren have fitted a brand new rear diffuser to its two MP4-29's, featuring more rounded profiles on each outer extremity, following an aerodynamic trend that was started by Red Bull Racing during the winter tests. Along the rounded edges is an additional winglet that previously used to be only as wide as the horizontal upper edge of the diffuser. The change will particularly help air extraction at each side of the diffuser, allowing for more expansion into the wake of the rear tyr... Read more

Among the many updates, Sauber have probably introduced the most comprehensive upgrade package of the entire field in Spain with a long awaited upgrade that is set to get the car down to the minimum weight limit. Word has it that the team's update reduces the car's entire weight by around 15kg, making sure that with Gutierrez behind the wheel, the car is now no longer overweight. For Adrian Sutil however that is still far from the case as the German is approximately 10kg heavier tha... Read more

Ferrari have revived the blown wheelnut system by racing it at today's Chinese Grand Prix. Tried at the two day Bahrain test 2 weeks ahead of the Chinese race, the team found its system to be beneficial in managing front tyre wake.

Part of the system are much larger brake inlet scoops, fetching air flowing over the front wing. This is then directed through the wheel hub and exited via new open wheel nuts on the outside of the wheel. This means air is pushed from a high pressure area... Read more

Mercedes AMG have finally introduced their bespoke new nose cone for its F1 W05. Initially scheduled for introduction at the Australian Grand Prix, the nose cone design had to be adapted repeatedly and failed the FIA crash test three times before passing the front impact test.

The team mentioned their new nose would make it easier to balance the car, admitting that the one raced so far was just a simple version while this development was ongoing. Sharing obvious similarities, the ne... Read more

Among the many updates present on various cars at Melbourne, Red Bull certainly has one of the more interesting as the RB10 features a brand new rear wing endplate, including a new solution to reduce the drag induced by the rear wing.

The previously common solution, as seen on the inset, was to add gills on the high pressure side of the rear wing. These gills allowed some air to bleed off from the high pressure area in between the endplates to end up on the outer sides of the endpla... Read more

Toro Rosso have fitted a new nose cone on their STR9 on Saturday at Bahrain, the penultimate day of testing before the Australian Grand Prix.

It was always a bit odd to see two bulges on each side of the chassis and at the front bulkhead with the detachable nose cone then featuring an entirely flat upper profile. The new design however explains why the bulges were there, as the team now have a nose that features two high arches on each side of the "finger" extension. The arches are ... Read more

Williams have enjoyed several extremely productive testing days so far, and with the end of the tests nearing, the team is applying and testing new aerodynamic parts. One of the bigger upgrades fitted on the FW36 on Thursday with Bottas and Friday with Massa is the new rear bodywork featuring wider sidepod exits and a central funnel that blows hot sidepod air around the exhaust.

The team switched bodywork throughout the day for both drivers to be able to evaluate the new parts prope... Read more

Attempting to further close loopholes in the regulations, the FIA have removed the possibility for teams to gain a substantial aerodynamic benefit from the starter motor hole in the diffuser. A first regulation change in this area was implemented back in 2010 after teams started to create unusually shaped starters, allowing them to make a larger starter hole in the diffuser, and thereby extract more performance from it. Back then, the FIA stepped in, allowing the hole to be no large... Read more

Having enjoyed a reliable test Jerez, Mercedes have begun varying aerodynamic parts and verify performance, rather than only reliability. Mercedes appear to have had a very close look at Red Bull's rear end packaging during its few outings at Jerez as the team have introduced new bodywork around the exhaust.

Until noon, the F1 W05 was seen with the same spec as in Jerez, with narrow bodywork around the central exhaust and large oval cooling outlets on each side of the gearbox. The n... Read more

McLaren have come up with the first real innovation of the year by creating rear suspension wishbones that are very different to what we usually see. It is the normal approach to have a horizontal teardrop design, almost parallel to the reference plane in order to minimize drag created by the suspension elements. McLaren's version though as just a bit different.

The team's approach is far away from drag reduction. Instead, the elements are rather big with a cross section similar to ... Read more