Just three out of the 10 teams in the Formula 1 paddock have elected to bring upgrades upon the sport’s return to Qatar after a two-year absence.
This weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix is the first held in the nation since the inaugural running of the event in 2021. The night race will play out around the high-speed Losail International Circuit, which plays host to the latest Sprint Weekend of the year.
That means just one practice session in non-representative daytime running ahead of parc ferme being imposed ahead of Friday evening’s qualifying session, which could play a factor in why only three teams have brought upgrades.
One of those teams is Alpine, with the Anglo-French outfit making three revisions to its car. Running on both of its cars, a taller diffuse sidewall is hoped to bring a small gain in downforce at lower ride height settings.
Alpine has also “revised the orientation of the rear drum lower flick geometry” – a revision the team will test in FP1 as it hopes to gain a reduction in drag while also increasing downforce at a low ride height.
Finally, to cope with the high heat conditions in Qatar during the daytime practice session, Alpine has brought a revised set of cooling louvres to aid engine cooling. The revised louvres will only run in FP1 and Alpine will use the session as a test for its Mexican Grand Prix cooling package.
Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri, two teams languishing toward the bottom of the Constructors’ standings, have both brought a single upgrade to Qatar.
For Alfa Romeo, the upgrade comes in the form of a revised Beam Wing, which is the latest development in an overall upgrade package that has been brought to the C43 car over recent grand prix weekends and is designed to work in tandem with prior upgrades to improve the overall aero balance of its machine.
Meanwhile, AlphaTauri has made a revision to the forward part of the floor edge on the AT04. This small geometry adjustment is said to improve local load in that area of the floor in the age-old F1 hunt of chasing aerodynamic performance.
With the remainder of the grid forgoing to bring upgrades to Qatar – including Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri’s close rivals Williams and Haas – it remains to be seen whether the Hinwill and Faenza based-outfits can steal a march on their closest rivals this weekend.
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