Haas has introduced an extensive list of upgrades for the Formula 1 British Grand Prix at Silverstone, bringing seven changes to its F1 challenger.
Two modifications to the 2024 Haas, a revised floor body and new sidepod inlet geometry have triggered the remainder of the changes.
The changes made to the main body of the floor have in turn required modifications to the floor fences and floor edge, with the combined modifications designed to generate more aerodynamic load.
These floor modifications also prompted Haas to make changes to the size and position of the lower quadraplane in the rear corner of the car.
Beyond this, a revised inlet geometry on the sidepods, designed to improve airflow toward the rear of the car with a longer higher lip, has instigated changes to the overall shape and structure of the side pod as well as requiring changes being made to the mirror stay on the Haas F1 machine.
“Our upgrade is still really just putting an overall performance of the car, knowing that certain characteristics through corner balance we need to improve,” said Haas Formula 1 Team Principal Ayao Komatsu.
“So, if everything works, we should have addressed that here, but we’ll see with the real car on the track. But in terms of if we can improve more in the medium speed compared to high speed, I don’t know, we’ll have to see.
“Honestly, I don’t believe it until we see it on the track, you know, because even our race 5, 6, 7 updates, it didn’t deliver everything.
“You know, it delivered performance, we improved the car that much, we are 100% confident, but it didn’t deliver everything we should have delivered.
“So, again, you know, a bit of the understanding of course goes into this Silverstone package, but again, until I see, until we measure it and then look at it ourselves, I don’t want to count on it.”
Haas recently improved to seventh in the Constructors’ standings, scoring 12 points at the Red Bull Ring to bring its tally to 19 for the season and just 11 behind sixth-placed RB.
“[The] mindset in terms of a sporting team is to improve on championship position,” said Komatsu.
“So, when it’s only 11 points to P6, of course we go for it, anything can happen. Who would have thought we could score 12 points in Austria, right?”
Haas will be hoping not to fall into the same trap as RB with its upgrades this weekend.
The Faenza-based Rb outfit’s struggles with the upgrades it brought in at Barcelona a fortnight ago have prompted the team to pare back to a hybrid upgrade package to recover its form.
Elsewhere, Red Bull has made minor tweaks to the floor body and floor edge on its RB20 as it fights to keep McLaren and Mercedes at bay,
McLaren has introduced a lower downforce rear wing to Silverstone this weekend, along with low, mid and high load beam wing configurations to give it multiple set-up options, along with an additional engine cooling exit.
Mercedes has brought a low drag configuration on both its front and rear wings and adjusted the front brake cooling measures on the W15, in addition to an upper lip realignment in the rear corner.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin has adjusted the front wing twist distribution on the AMR24 to improve its overall performance and ‘downstream interactions.”
Elsewhere on the AMR24, replacing the outward element on the lip within the rear corner component of the car with a twin-element arrangement will seek to improve wheel wake management.
Finally, Sauber has brought an alternate trim of the floor fences on its C44 F1 machine to optimise the overall airflow in its package.
