McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull have each brought upgrades to the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas.
With six rounds remaining in the 2024 F1 campaign, Red Bull’s hopes of retaining the Drivers’ and Constructors’ titles could pin on its latest upgrades package being a success.
Max Verstappen leads the Drivers’ standings by 52 points over McLaren’s Lando Norris and Red Bull trails its Woking-based rivals by 41 points in the Constructors’ standings.
To turn the tide on McLaren, the Red Bull RB20 will run a “revised edge wing camber” over the “rearward third” of its floor.
Red Bull is seeking to eradicate its persistent balance issues and Verstappen told select media including Motorsport Week on Thursday that these latest upgrades are the results of lessons learned at the Italian Grand Prix in August.
“For sure, we learned a lot from Monza, and this definitely is from the learnings of Monza,” the Dutchman explained.
McLaren continues upgrades push
McLaren, meanwhile, despite having the overall fastest package in F1, is pressing ahead with further performance gains at the Circuit of the Americas.
Changes on the MCL38 are predominantly focused on improving airflow at the front of the car and as a result, the Woking-based team has revised the geometry of its front wing, front suspension and front brake ducts.
Moreover, a revised rear suspension fairing will see McLaren chase aerodynamic gains toward the rear of its 2024 F1 challenger.
Oscar Piastri argued that McLaren is chasing small gains with its latest batch of upgrades.
“We’re certainly not revolutionising our car, It’s been strong for the last few months,” he said.
“I think we’re always confident with what we put on the car is going to work so that we’re not particularly holding back because we’re scared.
“We’re now just finding small things rather than big things like we were a couple of months ago.”
Mercedes bring sizeable package
Mercedes entered the summer break as the in-form team, winning three of the last four races before the mid-year hiatus.
The Brackley-based outfit has struggled for form since then and will be bringing an extensive package the W15 this weekend.
The changes made to the Mercedes include a modified “flap twist distribution,” a “re-profiled upper wishbone fairing” on the front suspension and two changes to its floor.
These come in the form of “additional vane element added to floor edge wing” and “reprofiled inboard fence.”
As ever, the sweeping changes are seeking to optimise airflow across the W15.
George Russell is hoping Mercedes can rediscover its pre-summer break form after scrapping a floor it brought to the Belgian Grand Prix at Spa-Francorchamps.
“Effectively, we’re making two steps now when we bring this upgrade,” he said.
“We’re hoping it’s going to have quite an impact.
“I hope with the upgrade we can be in the fight again, at least in qualifying, fighting for those top four places and then in the race fighting for a podium.
“Realistically, we know McLaren and Red Bull are a good step ahead of everyone right now.”
Aston Martin overhaul the AMR24
Ferrari has opted out of bringing upgrades to Austin, electing to develop its car at a later date, but the same can’t be said for midfield runners Aston Martin.
The AMR24 features a radical overhaul, with the listed changes occurring at the front wing, coke/engine cover, floor body, floor edge and rear diffuser.
Aston Martin has been stuck in the midfield wilderness and has a poor track record with developing its car over recent years.
However, like all teams, optimising upgrades will be tricky this weekend due to the Sprint format affords just a single practice session.
“Sprint weekends are obviously a little bit more challenging because you cannot really optimise things and especially when you bring new parts to the car,” Fernando Alonso explained.
“Starting with the right feeling and confidence in the car will be important.”
As potent as the battle is at the front of the F1 pecking order, the midfield scrap for sixth in the Constructors’ standings between RB and Haas is just as feisty.
Three points separate the two outfits and RB has that slender margin, despite struggling with development all year.
Still, Yuki Tsunoda, amid the new floor being brough to the VCARB 01, praised his team’s efforts.
“We’re pushing like hell,” he said.
“We’re probably one of the teams has brought the most upgrades so farthis season, and we won’t change our approach.
“We still have good confidence, and positive energy that we can achieve [P6].”
Haas bring parts for home race
At Haas, the American-based outfit has had greater success developing its car and the team will be looking for more of the same at its home race.
Changes have been made to the sidepod geometry, the floor and rear corner on the VF-24 to help chase down Haas’ Faenza-based rivals.
The soul-searching Alpine squad, an OEM (but not for much longer) languishing toward the back of the F1 field is looking to get back on track at the US GP.
As a result, the A524 features a revised floor, floor edge, re-shaped bodywork and a re-profiled rear wing.
Sauber, the only point-less F1 outfit at this stage in the season, has brought sweeping changes to the C44 on Valtteri Bottas’ side of the garage.
A completely new front wing, revised front suspension and alterations to the rear suspension and rear corner have been made to the 2024 Sauber machine and Bottas said “we’re gonna be busy in the practice session before the Sprint Qualifying and hoping for an improvement, but it’s all at the moment just a bit of guessing.
“And in theory, how much is going to improve? But hopefully it’s going to be a step.”
READ MORE: Lewis Hamilton: Mercedes faces ‘pretty impossible’ task with US GP F1 upgrades
