F1 updates review: Who is at budget limit, who can take risks and who is getting entangled

Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes, and Ferrari, four teams that have shared victories during the first half of the 2024 Formula 1 racing season. Starting from the previous championship, the FIA communicates through a specific document all of the updates introduced by the teams on the F1 cars each race weekend. It is called the “presentation car” and is distributed to the media. It is a preliminary view of the car updates at a high level of abstraction, to the point of being understood even by non-experts, as it reveals the areas of the cars that have required the most attention during the latest development plan.

Our study is nothing more than an analysis that provides a quantitative measure of the adjustments developed by the various teams. A recap of the issues faced by the engineers of the teams in the first part of the 2024 Formula 1 championship. McLaren’s development plan is the one that arouses the most curiosity. Apart from the inaugural Formula 1 race at the Bahrain International Circuit, the Woking team did not make any modifications to the MCL38 single-seater before the Miami Grand Prix. And indeed the effectiveness of the first major aerodynamic update package in Miami was confirmed by Lando Norris’s first F1 career victory.

After this Formula 1 world championship event, the papaya-colored cars presented other innovations between the Austrian Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix, where there were some new features at the rear of the MCL38. Compared to competitors, what is striking is how the engineers led by team principal Andrea Stella produced only one update in the fundamental area of ground-effect cars: the floor. This confirms that the floor of the British car has always responded consistently on the track compared to simulations.

At the beginning of the 2024 Formula 1 championship season, legendary British engineer Adrian Newey admitted that he was worried about the competition, fearing he had been too conservative in designing the RB20. When the latest car designed by former Red Bull engineer was unveiled, almost everyone thought the Briton’s statements were part of the classic communication strategy of someone who knows they have a huge margin over the competition. Instead, the car from the Milton Keynes team, after a start that met expectations, was the first car to undergo significant evolution through the update that debuted at the Suzuka Circuit in the Japanese Grand Prix.

The further evolution of the Austrian car that debuted at the Imola circuit confirmed that the racing blue-colored car and the singular is intentional because the car only works with Max Verstappen, with two not very invasive evolutions in the first seven Grands Prix still allowed the three-time Formula 1 world champion to compete with the rapid rise of the opponents, although much credit must undoubtedly be given to the Dutchman’s talent. It is evident, in the case of Red Bull, that the intervention areas have been the car floor and the rear area of the car to seek more aerodynamic load.

Among the top teams, the world champion team is the one that has communicated the most updates through the “Presentation Car” documents, no less than 33. Obviously, the number of updates does not allow us to estimate the remaining budget allocated for the development of the F1 car, because each update has its specific weight. However, the world champion team is the only one to have released three Major Updates: in Suzuka, Imola, and Barcelona.

Ferrari’s development plan was compromised by the (temporary) failure of the second aerodynamic update package that debuted at the Spanish Grand Prix. Perhaps conducting more comparative tests in Spain, as McLaren did in Miami, would have helped the cause. Precious time was lost, and to top it off, the comparison at the Silverstone circuit showed that the second upgrade more easily generates bouncing in high-speed corners. Along with the Woking-based F1 team, Ferrari has released the fewest upgrades.

Many of these have been focused on the rear area of the car, with the aim of improving airflow management in this zone and increasing the aerodynamic load produced. Unfortunately, the negative feedback from the second aerodynamic package has somewhat halted the evolution of the Italian car. Currently, the technicians are working to return to the previous level of consistency, namely the SF-24 single-seater equipped only with the updates that debuted at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. A rollback that greatly complicates the plans of the Prancing Horse.

Finally, at Mercedes, there is a light at the end of the tunnel of mediocrity that began with the 2022 technical regulations. The rapid sequence of successes between Austria and England is pure oxygen for a team that has never stopped developing its car. The most significant updates were introduced at Imola and on home turf at Silverstone. The development plan of the three-pointed star can be defined as “incremental.”

We say this because the F1 team led by Toto Wolff has constantly brought small evolutions to the track. This approach allows for quickly determining whether the evolution extracts potential from the car or impairs its performance. Conversely, when a major update involving several areas of the car is approved, resolving any issues becomes clearly more complex.

Like its competitors, except for McLaren, the primary goal of the updates was to ensure the constant height of the W15 relative to the reference plane to maximize the ground effect guaranteed by the Venturi channels. Now, the silver arrows face a critical test before the summer break: were the recent successes due to favorable circumstances, or can the Austrian car replicate the performances seen at Silverstone on any track and under any weather conditions? We will soon know more.

Source: FUnoanalisitecnica