Mercedes confirmed ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 United States Grand Prix that it would introduce the latest updates to the W13 over the weekend at the Circuit of the Americas, where the Germans appeared on the North American track on Thursday with a new design of their front wing on Lewis Hamilton and George Russell cars, with modifications to the outside of the part and flow diverters between the upper flaps.
However, following the publication of the FIA document on team improvements, all the new components of the Brackley team have been confirmed. The German single-seater, according to what has been indicated to the international federation, has a front wing that aims to help “flow conditions”, reducing the inclination of the wingtip and adding the spacers to the slots.
Thanks to this, as Mercedes has indicated, “the wingtip load is reduced, improving the inlet flow to the front drum deflector, which in turn increases the management of the aerodynamics of the tires and towards the rear area of the car”.
“The slot spacers improve the rigidity of the two final elements of the front wing,” added the team, which is third in the constructors’ championship, with a large advantage over Alpine, and well behind Ferrari.
Detail of the floor of the Mercedes W13
But the front wing is not the only new component that the W13 will have this weekend, as the rear wing has been updated with an endplate design that increases downforce in the upper area. Lastly, the Silver Arrows will have a modified floor in Austin, with changes to the exterior and edges, which is intended to improve the passage of airflow, increasing the load on the diffuser, while maintaining the front of background.
The new ground edge spoiler will add downforce without affecting the diffuser, but they’re not the only ones on the grid with improvements, as Alpine and Alfa Romeo have joined them.
Alpine A522 floor detail
Alpine will try to improve their performance to beat McLaren in the fight to be the fourth best team of the year, with an updated floor, in which they have added a border that will be the last update of the season.
The Swiss, for their part, have chosen to change the geometry of the bottom, as well as modifying the lateral cutouts of the floor to increase downforce and provide more stability in the cars of Valtteri Bottas and Guanyu Zhou.
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