Normally, a new track at which F1 has never raced is not a particularly useful place to introduce evolutionary packages from an aerodynamic point of view. Miami is apparently an exception, not only because this year's cars are completely new projects, still at the beginning of their development curve, but also because of the layout of the track itself and its position on the calendar. The Florida race comes right after the Imola weekend and before the Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona, where the biggest developments - at least on paper - are set to be introduced. Various teams, mainly from the upper midfield, have already implemented some upgrades, as well as Red Bull from the leading teams. In Miami, it's the turn of Mercedes and Ferrari. Ferrari are expected to fit a new floor in at least one session, which was already seen in first practice in Australia before being used at the Pirelli test at Imola, after the team damaged the floor originally fitted to the F1-75. The team are also introducing a new rear wing, which is lighter and has a modified main profile. No less important is the front wing, which is characterised by an out-wash profile towards the endplates. In practice, the profile of the last two flaps is now clearly curved to deflect outwards, increasing the deviation of the turbulence at the front wheels.
Mercedes introduce some bigger updates
Also for Mercedes, this round will see the introduction of a large package of new parts, mainly intended to soften the porpoising that the W13 suffers from. Some of these changes are hidden, i.e. on the floor of the car, while others in this area involve a different profiling of the side edge of the floor. The Brackley-based team showed up for first practice with a new version of the front wing, with the trailing edge of the final flap featuring an unusual shape thanks to curvilinear cutouts. The aim is to reduce drag and achieve greater efficiency with the W13, especially on Miami's long straights. Also new on the Mercedes is a very low rear wing (see both the front and rear wings in the drawings below). The main profile of the wing is almost completely straight and positioned higher than the medium downforce wing, which is characterised by a double undulation. It's also interesting to see that the beam wing has been changed at the ends of the wing endplates. With these changes, the team is trying to substantially reduce drag.
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