Ferrari and RB have brought an extensive list of upgrades to their respective Formula 1 machines for this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Barcelona has long been seen as a benchmark F1 circuit, if a team is quick here, it is quick everywhere and whilst that doesn’t hold as true as it once did, it’s still extremely important to deliver a quick car at the Catalan venue.
This fact isn’t lost on Ferrari with the Scuderia bringing a list of seven upgrades to its scarlet red machine.
Beyond a circuit-specific rear wing to cope with a mid-to-high downforce range, Ferrari has made changes to the engine cover, floor fences, floor body, edge and diffuser along with the halo.
This sweeping set of changes are “to try and improve the package overall,” according to Charles Leclerc.
“As every team try to add a little bit of downforce, try to take off a little bit of drag, and then you’ve got a better car.”
Similarly, the Faneza-based RB outfit has brought a sizable upgrade package to Barcelona this weekend.
The VCARB 01 features a midfield engine cover, sidepod inlet, floor body, rear wing and beam wing in addition to a circuit-specific front brake cooling duct.
“We’re expecting an improvement,” said Daniel Ricciardo.
Yuki Tsunoda concurred, saying “the upgrade seems for sure to give some step forward in general.”
The large majority expect Red Bull to lead the way in Barcelona and the Championship leaders have put five upgrades into the RB20 but the majority of those are circuit-specific.
The RB20 has revised sidepod inlet geometry to cope with the warmer Spanish temperatures and the engine cover and floor body have been altered to accommodate those changes.
From a performance perspective, Red Bull will seek to strengthen its standing with a revised beam wing and rear wing endplates.
“I do think if you have a good car around Barcelona, normally it means you have a good car around Silverstone, around maybe Hungary or Spa,” said Carlos Sainz.
“This, yes, but your good car in Barcelona for sure doesn’t mean that you’re going to be quick in Baku,” the Spaniard continued, arguing that the relevance of Barcelona on upgrades isn’t as strong as it once was.
This is exemplified by the fact Mercedes, McLaren, Alpine and Williams haven’t brought upgrades this weekend and the remaining three teams, Aston Martin, Sauber and Haas have brought minimal changes.
With Aston, three revisions have been made to the AMR24, including the front suspension and the front and rear corner in order to improve aerodynamic flow and load.
Sauber has brought just two upgrades to the C44, a reprofiled rear wing and front corner to improve the overall aerodynamic efficiency of the car.
Finally, Haas has brought a single upgrade to the VF-24, an upwashing flick on the trailing edge of the rear impact structure for a marginal load increase.
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