As predicted, the trip to Spa-Francorchamps provides an opportunity for teams to refresh their wing setups. Scuderia Ferrari, Mercedes, and Aston Martin are now showcasing new low-downforce rear wings, following the versions used in Baku, another low-resistance track. The use of these wings during the weekend remains uncertain due to the prohibitive weather conditions, but the updates will prove beneficial upon returning from the summer break.
Ferrari’s latest SF-23 rear wings indicate a gradual transition from double to single support pylon, aiming for greater efficiency. With the new low-downforce wing introduced in Belgium, the transition is now complete. The new wing also features other characteristics, including a long indentation along the movable flap and its connection to the vertical endplate’s vertical fin. A similar solution was recently proposed by AlphaTauri, completely detaching the profile from the endplate to improve overall efficiency.
Ferrari already boasts excellent top speeds, but the same cannot be said for Mercedes. The W14 has never been particularly fast on straights, and the development package introduced in Monaco further compromised its top speeds, as a side effect of increased downforce. Therefore, the Brackley-based team now brings a low-downforce rear wing, significantly unloaded both in the main profile and the movable one. According to the team, the new sidepods introduced at the 7.004-kilometre Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in Stavelot also contribute to accelerating the flow under the wing, increasing both downforce and resistance.
Aston Martin also reduces the downforce of its rear wing, mainly concerning the DRS flap. However, the most interesting novelty concerns the beam-wing, which now switches from double to single profile, reducing the load and resistance generated by the floor. At the beginning of the year, Aston Martin was among the slowest cars on the straight, but developments have progressively increased the speed of the AMR23.
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Spa-Francorchamps, one of Formula 1’s speed temples, will be the best opportunity to evaluate the progress in this area for the Silverstone-based team.
Overall, in Belgium, almost all teams have updated their front and/or rear wings, as well as the beam-wing, with the exception of Red Bull. The actual use of the low-downforce packages will depend on the weather, with rain forecasted until Sunday, which may encourage some to mount high-downforce wings to shake up the order. However, most likely, the wings seen in Belgium will return in just over a month at Monza and later in the high-speed Las Vegas.
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