Williams and Force India took the opportunity during the opening day of the Austrian in-season test to unveil some radical new concepts on their cars.
Williams introduced a new winglet attached to the floor ahead of the rear-tyre, aimed at increasing downforce and conditioning the airflow around the tyre to decrease tyre wake.
Sadly, the winglet won’t be seen in a race anytime soon as it’s illegal under the current regulations. The team could be using it to evaluate other parts of the car, future updates or possibly changes for 2017.
Meanwhile Force India is pushing ahead with the debut of its B-spec car which will officially debut at the British Grand Prix. In Austria they ran several new parts including revised sidepods and a tweaked front-wing, but the most notable change is the nose.
It now features two large openings, what have understandably been dubbed ‘nostrils’, which it’s believed are there to aid airflow under the car.
Teams have been trying to find a way around the new nose regulations since they were introduced. This has brought about many weird solutions including Lotus’s two-pronged nose last year.
Designers are keen to get as much airflow under the nose as possible to increase the flow to the rear of the car. It’s believed the low pressure under the nose will help draw airflow passing over the nose through the nostrils where it will then be channelled to the splitter (or T-tray).
