Five of the 10 teams in the Formula 1 paddock have elected to bring updates to Austin, Texas, with Mercedes, Haas and Aston Martin headlining the changes.
Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren and Williams are the outfits that have elected to run with what they already had in the stable, with the other half of the paddock making changes ahead of this weekend’s action at The Circuit of the Americas.
Brackley-based Mercedes has brought its last big update package of the year, to hopefully set it on a positive course for the remaining five rounds of the 2023 F1 season.
Mercedes has made changes to the floor body and floor edges of the W14 machine, with both revisions vying to improve airflow quality and local load, with the changes made to the floor, in particular, vying to increase rear downforce.
Seven-time Drivers’ Champion Lewis Hamilton has admitted that he’s “really excited” to see how the team’s “last big update” feels out on track.
The long-awaited shift in concept for Haas has finally arrived, just in time for America’s F1 Team to try it out in front of its native fans.
The team has adopted the Red Bull downwash sidepod concept, with which Kevin Magnussen has come around in what has been a “tough year” for Haas.
No less than six changes have been made to the VF-23, with revisions made to the front brake ducts, the floor body and edges, sidepod inlet, coke/engine cover and cooling louvres.
Whereas the latter change, namely the new louvre panels, is purely incorporated to allow the team to vary cooling levels from race to race, the vast majority of the changes made to the VF-23 have been made to ensure better airflow and aerodynamic efficiency whilst reducing sensitivity to crosswinds.
AlphaTauri has also made six changes to its car, as teams languishing toward the bottom of the table look to maximise the potential of their respective machines.
The AT04 has modifications to the BDR lower winglets, floor body, fences and edges to improve aerodynamic load and airflow in these areas, revisions to the shape of the coke/engine cover to improve cooling and the forward chassis lower surfaces have also been modified to increase the local load on the chassis.
Aston Martin has brought four updates as part of an extensive overhaul to its AMR23 this weekend as it continues to fend off McLaren for fourth in the Constructors’ standings.
The upgrade package, designed to increase loading on the floor has seen changes being made to the floor edge, diffuser, coke/engine cover and beam wing on the British racing green machine.
After a strong start to the season with several podiums for Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin, whom the Spaniard claims has had a better season than McLaren, is hopeful the updates to the AMR23 will keep its rivals at bay.
The final team to make alterations to its design this weekend is Alfa Romeo.
The Hinwil-based squad has made a solitary change to the C43, by redesigning the edges on the rear part of the floor.
This is the latest in a line of changes made to the C43 since the beginning of the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, with the entire package hopefully improving downforce and aerodynamic efficiency.
Teams will have just a solitary practice session to test updates, before heading straight into Grand Prix Qualifying, with COTA playing host to the fifth Sprint of 2023.
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