Against the backdrop of the spending cap , teams have had to be especially cautious about spending on development for their cars, and have had to be fully convinced of the performance gains they would achieve to justify the expense.
This has given rise to the possibility that the teams will save a lot for this weekend’s race at the Belgian GP, to try to overcome it as best as possible.
And while there may not have been as many big changes as we’ve seen in the past, F1 teams continue to focus on a number of front and rear wing tweaks to improve lap time at Spa-Francorchamps.
Ferrari aimed to achieve its goals of reducing downforce and drag with a new rear wing and a set of winglets. But he only tested it in FP2 before switching to a low-downforce spec for the rest of the weekend.
However, the new wing features a main wing and an upper wing, which almost eliminates the scoop-shaped design that the Scuderia usually wears.
Furthermore, the car’s submission document to the FIA suggested that it also had a single element beam wing design, in order to bias the aerodynamic interaction between it, the diffuser and the upper rear wing, but They haven’t put it in the car yet.
Also, unlike some of its rivals, Ferrari hasn’t introduced a new front wing among its upgrades for Spa, but that’s not to say they haven’t trimmed the top wing to help balance front and rear downforce.
Mercedes has a number of new parts available for the W13 in Belgium, where it hoped to build on the momentum it had shown in recent races.
The front wing features revisions to the wingtip elements where they meet the endplate , as the team looks to improve the behavior of airflow as it migrates around the outside of the front tyre.
The rear wing features a revised flap arrangement, in keeping with the demands of the circuit, while Mercedes designers have taken a hard look at a design first introduced by Alpine in Saudi Arabia, in which it is left conventional endplate cutout is pushed aside and a full-height section is used instead.
McLaren has also opted for a lower downforce setup for Spa, with a new specification rear wing and beam wing design being added to its stock of available parts.
One of the lower-downforce rear wings the team has at its disposal was of a more traditional design, while a configuration featuring a cut-down upper wing is also present.
In that case, the central part of the wing has its usual chord length to facilitate the DRS mechanism, but is trimmed significantly on either side.
The new rear wing options are just the focal point of a major effort by the Woking team to improve the efficiency of the MCL36 of Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris.
Other changes are a group of different cooling options around the sidepods and engine cover, as they aim to select a combination to suit the ever-changing weather conditions at the circuit. In addition, it features a revised diffuser layout, additional rear brake duct winglets and new front tie rod fairing.
The rear of the AlphaTauri AT03
AlphaTauri’s new rear wing assembly follows in the footsteps of its predecessors from a concept standpoint, maintaining the overall scoop-shaped design while reducing elements in size.
Alongside that modification, the team has also opted for a single beam wing element this weekend, which is complemented by a Gurney flap on its trailing edge to help balance. That element can be trimmed to the rider’s preference.
The team has also modified the clearance of the lower fork cover and added another larger spoiler to the cascade already on the rear brake duct.
Aston Martin AMR22 rear wing detail
Aston Martin has also made changes to its front and rear wings, deploying a reduced chord upper flap on the front wing to help balance a similar change to the rear wing.
Sebastian Vettel also tested another rear wing design during FP1 (seen above), as the team looked to preempt their understanding of their car for Monza , with a wing featuring very little marking compared to the one used in Belgium.
Williams FW44 rear wing detail
Williams seemed cautious about swapping its car for Belgium, with the team specifying that its new parts are optional trim levels, so in effect just tweaks.
That includes front, rear and beam wing arrangements, and that last piece also includes a single-element piece.
Alfa Romeo and Haas have chosen to trim their rear wings in an effort to reduce aerodynamic drag without the costs associated with producing bespoke solutions.
In the case of the Americans, they have taken a similar approach to Mercedes at the start of the season, with a large cutout on the trailing edge of the upper wing across its entire length.
For its part, Alfa Romeo has also trimmed a considerable part of the trailing edge of the upper flaps, but has been forced to keep the central part to facilitate the DRS mechanism.
And, while Haas has taken the option of also trimming its rear wing to accommodate the new rear wing features, Alfa Romeo has also made design changes to its front wing that favor those made to the rear.
