Ferrari introduced a new but simplistic solution in Melbourne, as a winglet could be found mounted either side of the curved exhaust surround and rear wing pillar mounting on the SF-24.
It’s interesting that we haven’t seen anyone place winglets here before, given it’s clearly allowed within that box region and especially as Formula 1 designers have a penchant for placing aerodynamic surfaces wherever possible, with devices like the T-Wing a testament to this.
Despite this being the first time we’ve seen a winglet here, it’ll now likely be something we see other teams add to their arsenal during the course of the season, with these pylon winglets expected to help repurpose some of the heat being rejected from the engine cover outlet and improve flow downstream to the beam wing.
Notably, Ferrari also made the switch to just a single element beam wing configuration for qualifying and the race having initially prepared the SF-24 with its bi-plane style arrangement.
The team clearly felt that this lower downforce configuration better suited the demands of the Albert Park circuit, having trialled its other solution in practice on Friday. The rear wing remained in the same configuration it had during the course of the first two races, with the new, lower downforce configuration taken to Saudi Arabia still remaining unused and under wraps.
Aston Martin introduced a new front wing configuration in Australia, with the spanwise twist distribution of the upper two flaps altered to improve the performance envelope of the wing and therefore the car as a whole.
As a consequence of the change in flap profile the team have also removed one of the metal support brackets in the centre of the lower of those two flaps.
Sauber also introduced a new front wing in Australia although this was more of extensive overhaul, as they made the switch to the semi-detached flap and endplate juncture that we’ve seen Mercedes utilise since the beginning of this regulatory phase.
The goal with this design, and in fact Sauber’s precursive solution, is to increase the amount of outwash that the outboard section of the wing generates while still having the desired capacity to generate the downforce required of the front wing.
This means Sauber has created a detached flap section for the upper two elements, with endplate connecting spars, it is also angling them outward in conjunction with a reshaping of the endplate. There’s also a change to the shape of the flaps across their span.
As we’ve seen from other teams that have opted for this solution, Sauber has also hung two winglets from the endplate above the semi-detached flaps, which will not only introduce vorticity of their own but also work in conjunction with the those created by other surfaces in that region.
Unfortunately for Zhou Guanyu, damage to his front wing during qualifying meant that he had to start the race from the pitlane, as the team didn’t have any spares of this new configuration at its disposal.
Red Bull didn’t have any new components at the Australian Grand Prix but that doesn’t mean work doesn’t continue apace.
In the early stages of FP1 the team rigged Max Verstappen’s car up with some additional cameras and placed markers on the front upper wheel wake deflector panel in order to study how much it flexes.
Three camera pods were added to the RB20 in order that the team could capture the footage they desired, with a pod on either sidepod and one on the bridge of the nose which housed two cameras looking sideways (red arrows).
Circular target stickers were added to the lower portion of the deflector to provide clear reference points when the footage is reviewed. Additional targets were added to the deflector in the upper section by means of extensions that the team added to the surface to improve the sightline for the cameras (blue arrows).
Three races into the season and we’ve seen just as many rear wing configurations appear on RB’s VCARB 01. And, as the only team to take this approach, it’s clear that it’s looking to establish a wide-ranging repertoire in the early part of the season in order to tailor the car to the specific demands of each circuit.
The general DNA of the wing assembly remains the same irrespective of the downforce level required, with a spoon shaped mainplane and semi-detached tip section. But there are subtle changes across each specification in order to target the desired level of downforce and drag, whether that be in terms of the mainplane or upper flaps chord, the shape of the mainplane or the trailing edge geometry of the upper flap and tip section.
The wing used in Australia was once again paired with a single element beam wing to help depower the assembly, with the team having employed a traditional two element solution in Bahrain.
The overall design of the rear wing elements was more skewed toward the direction of the wing used in Bahrain, with the more flattened spoon shaped mainplane discarded, along with the V-shaped notch in the upper flap’s centreline that was seen in Saudi Arabia.
