The FIA has released the updated specification of all 10 Formula 1 machines ahead of the 2024 season opener in Bahrain.
After dedicating the offseason to conjuring new designs, plus racking up mileage and gathering data from last week’s pre-season test at the Bahrain International Circuit, the teams have responded ahead of this weekend’s action by attempting to optimise their packages.
Despite looking like the ominous early pacesetters with its radically RB20 evolution, Red Bull has opted to make several changes to further stretch its apparent advantage.
Toward the front of the machine, changes to the front wing and endplates have been made in a bid to improve load whilst maintaining stability.
Similarly, revisions to the nose are designed to improve airflow to the front wing and alongside the bodywork of the car.
The RB20’s sidepod inlets have been a topic of much debate since the car debuted and the vertical inlets have been revised in shape to “better utilise” pressure to feed the radiator whilst also having less impact on the floor edge.
Regarding the floor edge, whereas rivals are often looking to mimic Red Bull’s design in a bid to chase performance, the Milton Keynes-based outfit is said to have taken cues from other designs on the grid to create shapes upon the floor edge to create more aerodynamic load.
Moving toward the rear of the car, additional cooling louvres have been added to the RB20 to work within the Bahrain temperature demands and the engine cover has been reprofiled to optimise airflow toward the rear wing.
On the Mercedes W15, the innovative front wing design sees the forward element of the wing detached from the nose and the fourth element reduced via a carbon fibre chord.
The design has turned heads and is intended to improve airflow to the rear of the car and reduce the overall drag generated by the front wing.
A triangular inlet on the Mercedes W15 sidepod (a reversal in design direction in comparison to Red Bull) is intended to improve air flow to the radiators whilst simultaneously boosting the performance of the rear of the floor.
The floor itself – a vital component in the ground effect era of F1 – has seen changes to the shape of its fence camber and floor tunnel profile in a bid to generate more load and optimise airflow toward the rear diffuser.
A softened engine cover shoulder is intended to improve airflow toward the rear wing and the rear wing and beam wing have also been updated to chase better aerodynamic efficiency.
The Ferrari SF-24 has undergone a quiet evolution in comparison to its rivals ahead of free practice on Thursday, with just a trio of revisions.
The sidepod inlet has been redesigned and raised in order to improve airflow via the sidepod undercut and around the rear end of the floor.
An inflated engine cover with a centralised segment of cooling louvres is designed to increase overall efficiency in this area.
Finally, the SF-24’s rear suspension has been adapted to better suit the overall bodywork development of the car.
McLaren was the unofficial development champion of 2023 thanks to the raft of successful upgrades it made to its MCL60 challenger and ahead of this year’s Bahrain GP, the MCL38 boats a quartet of updated features, including a modified sidepod inlet, new bodywork shape across the engine cover, modifications to the floor edge and a new rear wing assembly.
The changes are all designed to improve overall efficiency and airflow whilst simultaneously improving cooling performance and optimising drag levels for the Bahrain circuit.
Aston Martin struggled in last year’s development race and has sought to create an AMR24 machine that is better suited to a range of circuits and the Silverstone squad lists nine changes to its new challenger.
At the front wing, a revised mounting position via the second element is set to improve load distribution and improve its interaction with surrounding elements of the car and the nose of the AMR24 has been shortened to compliment this change.
The floor has revisions to its shape and edges to improve loading, whilst the sidepod inlet has been raised along with a increased undercut depth to the engine cover to optimise airflow toward the rear of the car.
Rear suspension layout changes have resulted in modified rear brake ducts and the inboard elements of the beam wing are now mounted to the AMR24 crash structure to improve its overall performance.
Alpine lists its A524 car as “completely new” for the 2024 campaign, but after an unflattering test, will its revised front wing and floor edges help it avoid falling into the clutches of the lower gird pack?
Attempting to overhaul Alpine is Williams and the new FW46 is a heavily revised car compared to its predecessor, with 14 changes made.
The FW45 was a difficult car to get into an operating window and only worked at specific low-downforce circuit configurations.
For 2024, the Grove-based squad has sought to change that and the result is a new front wing geometry, a reprofiled nosebox, changes to the front and rear suspension, an entirely new floor geometry with updated floor fences and edges, a new sidepod inlet and modified diffuser geometry, new coke and engine cover geometry (plus Bahrain specific cooling measures), a redesigned rear wing and beam wing assembly and new rear corner geometry.
RB is a team to watch in 2024 as it transitions from junior team to a more mature squad, leaning on Red Bull’s technical expertise to the limit the regulations will allow.
The VCARB 01 sports a revised nose/front wing assembly to “reduce load losses” amid a raft of other changes over its predecessor.
A new pull-rod front suspension design which has resulted in a revised front brake duct assembly aims to optimise the load improvements gained from the nose/front wing assembly.
The floor body, edge and diffuser are new to ensure greater loading and redesigned rear wing profiles seek to improve load efficiency.
Meanwhile, the sidpod inlet has been redesigned as has the coke/engine cover and cooling louvres, to improve cooling and better manage airflow to ward the rear of the car.
Sauber’s C44 features three important changes.
One, the front suspension has switched from push-rod to pull-rod to maximise aerodynamic efficiency.
Two, the engine cover and sidepods have been aggressively redesigned to “maximise downforce and aero efficiency” and three, the floor has been completely redesigned for 2024 to generate more downforce.
Finally, Haas is resigned to the fact it may start on the backfoot in 2024 as it seeks to rid the issues inherited by its VF-23 car.
The VF-24 clocked the most mileage of any car in pre-season testing and Team Principal Ayao Komatsu’s new steed boasts 11 revisions in total.
The front wing and front wing elements have been redesigned to improve flow conditioning.
A new sidepod inle and newly designed engine cover compared to last year are designed to improve cooling and airflow performance and a new floor body, redesigned floor fences and edges seek to gain performance.
Haas has also redesigned both the front and rear suspension and corners and time will tell if it helps the squad breach the gap to the rest of the field.
