The high-speed Jeddah circuit saw for the first time how teams adapt their new cars on a low-downforce track to reduce drag .
Red Bull unveiled its third specification rear wing in Saudi Arabia (at the bottom of the photo below) looking to reduce downforce and drag even further for the fast street circuit.
It kept the famous spoon shape , albeit with a much shallower main plane and consequently a more graduated spoon shape (dotted green line in the photo below).
However, that forced the designers to create a more abrupt join with the endplate, resulting in a much tighter radius for the outer section of the wing (dotted yellow line).
Comparison of the new Red Bull Racing RB18 rear wing (dotted lines)
Red Bull remains the only team on the grid to use the beam wing design, that small wing located on the lower plane of the rear wing. However, the team made some changes that went unnoticed at the Bahrain GP and will likely further complement the changes made to the rear wing, as outlined above.
The lowest element, which had an arched trailing edge (small box below here, red arrow), has been trimmed to reduce the Red Bull RB18’s downforce and drag.
Comparación del nuevo ‘beam wing’ del Red Bull Racing RB18
The solutions of Ferrari, Mercedes, Alpine, AlphaTauri and Aston Martin in Saudi Arabia F1
Ferrari also made changes to its rear wing at Jeddah in a bid to increase its high-speed performance, although it didn’t go to the same lengths as Red Bull, as it was aware of the impact that could have on tire degradation during racing. race.
The changes made to the wing reside in the shape and length of the upper flap chord, which not only has an impact on the downforce and drag created, but also affects the power of the DRS.
Ferrari F1-75 rear wing for Saudi Arabia
Ferrari F1-75 rear wing comparison (dotted lines)
The shorter outer chord section of the upper fin can be seen here by the height of the green arrows , while the shape of the fin’s leading edge is also altered as a consequence ( dotted yellow line ).
That also results in the rolled section that forms the endplate creating a less abrupt bend where the slot gap ends.
In the case of Mercedes, we have already heard from Toto Wolff that the team may need to address their downforce levels relative to their rivals, while also continuing to monitor how much their rivals have improved relative to them in terms of their drive . of power .
Mercedes W13 rear wing detail
Mercedes experimented with two different rear wings during FP1 in an effort to better understand their level of balance. They were also monitoring and evaluating ways to calm the harmful effects that porpoising still created.
While other teams were running completely new spec rear wings, Mercedes used the same one as at the Bahrain circuit. However, the team shortened the upper element of the rear wing in the center section to reduce downforce and drag.
Lewis Hamilton tested a rear wing design with a Gurney flap on the trailing edge of the upper flap to help with balance in the first practice session (pictured).
However, when it came to qualifying and the race, Mercedes had opted to remove that Gurney, because they preferred a better trade-off between the downforce needed to dominate the high- and low-speed sections of the circuit, while also reducing drag to compete with their rivals on the straights.
Alpine A522 rear wing comparison
Alpine had already shown some cleverness in Bahrain when it came to the design of its lower downforce rear wing, and the team verified that it worked as expected. As you can see in the comparison, the general design philosophy is very similar, regardless of the change in the height of the flaps and the main plane.
You’ll notice that as a consequence, the lower downforce configuration has a shorter connection between the gooseneck pillar and the DRS pod, while the Gurney flap was also dropped on the A522.
AlphaTauri AT03 rear wing comparison
AlphaTauri was another team that arrived in Jeddah with a new rear wing assembly to meet the demands of the circuit. Like its sister team Red Bull, this has led to the spoon shape of the mainplane being redistributed, with a narrower center section and a gentler camber towards the rolled endplate, which is also redefined.
Aston Martin AMR22 rear wing comparison
And lastly, Aston Martin also carried a new rear wing layout for Saudi Arabia, with a significant reduction in the size of the wing and a spoon shape sculpted much deeper into the outer section to help reduce downforce and drag. .
Notice that the mounting pillars have also been reduced in height to match the much shallower main plane on which they are mounted.
The team also made a significant change to the front of the car, where the shape of the upper wing was changed in the center section to balance the new level of downforce (the lower of the two designs shown below). The flatter central part of the wing was sharply reduced, giving way to a more sinuous shape, while the fin below was also re-profiled in response.
Aston Martin AMR22 front wing comparison
The British outfit removed the wings from the Halo it introduced in Bahrain, but also added a floor stand in front of the rear wheels to help prevent the bottom from flexing too much under load.
