Formula One car development blog

Haas revives double-waved rear wing at Monza

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The Haas F1 Team drew a lot of attention with its new double-waved, M-like rear wing, a completely unique shape for a modern rear wing in Formula One. It's rare these days to see a rear wing that has a different shape along its entire span, and hardly a surprise that Mercedes have, or at least had the most varying profile with its spoon rear wing, as the ones used at Monza and Spa-Francorchamps. Apart from the need to test it under yaw, such designs are furthermore made difficult by... Read more

Renault's Monza rear end, a particular concept

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Apart from its new front wing, Renault also brought a new rear wing to Monza. While at basically remained the same, the upper panel was cut out at its trailing edge, apart from the attachment points to the endplates as well as the midpoint of the wing.

Also marked with arrows is the F-duct exit which blows air when the stalling device is not operating. Interestingly, this is the only air exhaust one can see on the Renault from behind, in sharp contrast with Red Bull. Renault have de... Read more

Low downforce front wing on Renault

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Renault introduced yet another front wing, this time a much simpler one as less downforce is required at Monza. The complicated end plates have become a bit more simple as the stacked front wing element and the winglet outward of the panel were ditched to reduce drag.

Renault did retain the basic structure of the wing, but a V-cut was made into the upper panel, ahead of the inside of the front wheel. While it could help brake cooling, the team's wind tunnel tests had certainly shown... Read more

Renault bring R30 up to speed with F-duct

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Renault has become the most recent team to add an F-duct, and in fact the last of the established teams to do so. The team was working on the device for months inside the factory, and upon introduction at Spa found it working as expected, a feat that Red Bull for instance did not enjoy at their introduction of the F-duct several races back.

Team manager Eric Bouillier was extremely happy after the race, and rightly so. During the race, the Renaults had top speeds matching those of R... Read more

Renault bring high downforce wing to Hungary

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The Hungaroring is one of the most demanding circuits on the calendar regarding downforce, and hence many teams introduce new components to improve the car's handling around the twisty track.

Renault have one of the most obvious changes as it introduces a new rear wing, adding quite a bit of downforce to the car. The new device builds on the drop in the wing's centre and extends on that idea, now adding a small slot underneath the main wing. The most interesting bit of this configur... Read more

Brake duct development at Renault

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With Circuit de Gilles Villeneuve being particularly hard on the brakes, all teams have modified their braking systems to cope with the additional demand. On a full lap, the cars are for 16% of the time under braking, more than any other track on the calendar.

Renault for instance clearly increased the brake duct aperture, catching more air to provide more cooling to the brake discs and pads (notice the difference with the Turkish configuration in the inset). Renault also ran a new ... Read more

And again a new front wing for Renault

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It's been said before, but the French team keep on confirming that they are convinced much time is to be found in the front wing. Unsurprisingly though, as the front wing hits the airflow first greatly influences the diffuser's efficiency, as well as airflow around the front wheels or into the brake ducts.

Just one race after its newest wing, the R30 is again equipped with a new version. The curvy stacked panel that was present since the the beginning of the season has made way for ... Read more

Renault introduce another new front wing

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Renault was apparently not joking when they claimed to update their in every race. The team did not introduce a major update in Spain but has brought new updates at every single Grand Prix, each of them effectively used as they were all found to be consistent with windtunnel data. Together, Renault's car has already improved 0.75s since the first Grand Prix.

This time around, the team had another new front wing development, an area where they admitted to be lacking last year. The ne... Read more

Renault add revolutionary double floor

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Now that the diffusers have become so much more important, the whole floor of the car has a much increased importance towards the efficiency of the whole car. Renault haven't missed out on that aspect and have added a double floor to its R30.

The team introduced a huge aerodynamic step at Sepang, including new sidepod panels, barge boards, a modified diffuser and a double splitter. Apart from its normal function of splitting air from in between the front wheels to the left and right... Read more

Another new front wing from Renault

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After having displayed their 2009 front wing on the presented R30, the team ran a curvy front wing during all winter testing, before introducing this new spec at free practice in Bahrain. While the base profile retains largely the same shape, the cascade element now features a much deeper spoon to catch more air and push it upwards. The item also has extends above the front wing endplate and in fact has its own small endplate attached on the outer edge of the panel.

Also interesting... Read more