What car upgrades do the F1 teams have at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?

F1 teams are trying new things to handle the characteristics of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit

If it is a Friday ahead of a Formula 1 Grand Prix, it is time to talk upgrades.

Friday is when the FIA releases the “Car Presentation Submissions,” listing all the new components teams have installed for the first time this season. As you will see in a moment, several of the components teams are using this week are “circuit-specific” components, designed for the unique characteristics of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, one of the fastest street circuits in the world.

Here are the teams with upgrades for the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. You can see the full team submissions in Document 7 here.

McLaren

We start with McLaren, the team currently leading the Constructors’ Championship. While the MCL39 remains the dominant package on the grid, the team has brought two upgrades to Jeddah. Both are aerodynamic changes to the rear of the MCL39, with the team installing both a reshaped diffuser as well as a new rear brake duct winglet. The team believes these new components will translate to an “increase in aerodynamic efficiency.”

For those wondering, the diffuser is a component at the car’s rear that is essentially the final part of the floor at the rear. It is the part indicated in the bigger circle in McLaren’s presentation here:

Ferrari

Ferrari introduced a new floor last week at the Bahrain Grand Prix, but they have several tweaks to their rear and beam wings to adapt to the “peculiarities of the Jeddah circuit.” The team has decreased the size of the rear wing by installing a shorter chord top rear wing flap and “offloading” both the top rear wing and part of the lower beam wing. This means the two wings are angled to reduce drag, and hopefully increase performance.

Red Bull

Red Bull has brought two new components to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, both to address particular elements of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. First is an enlarged exit on the engine cover, which the team states is due to the forecast ambient temperatures. According to Red Bull the higher temperatures “require the use of a larger topbody to reject the heat needed for cooling.”

Similar to Ferrari, Red Bull is also introducing a “reduced chord and camber lower or beam wing.” This is to decrease downforce and reduce drag.

Aston Martin

Aston Martin has brought a “circuit-specific” upgrade to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, aimed at reducing drag. The team has a “[l]ess aggressive rear wing flap” that is aimed at “less load and hence drag to suit the characteristics of this circuit.”

Haas

Haas also has a pair of “circuit-specific” upgrades, both aiming at reducing aerodynamic drag and load. They have changed the angle on the rear wing assemblies, using two “carry-over rear wings” from the VF24, their challenger for the 2024 season. According to the team, both these rear wings reduce drag and load levels, “achieved by raising and decambering the profiles.”

The other new element is a changed front wing, which the team indicates is required due to the changed rear wing. The team has a “relaxed front wing flap profile,” which Haas states is needed “[i]n order to achieve a correct balance” with the new rear wings.

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Again, the theme of “circuit-specific” upgrades is present in VCARB’s submission. The team has introduced changes to the front, rear, and beam wings, all aimed at reducing drag.

The team has reduced the chord length of the front wing flap — the distance from the front to the back of the front wing flap — which “results in less load being generated by the front wing at a given flap angle, allowing the car to be balanced for the lower rear wing levels expected at this circuit.”

VCARB has also tweaked the rear and beam wings. With the rear wing, VCARB has raised the leading edge and changed the angle, “making it a good option for this circuit to achieve the optimum lap time.”

They have also reduced the chord to the rear wing, which reduces the “load generated by the lower element of the beam wing.”

According to VCARB these changes will reduce drag and downforce.

Sauber

Stop me if you have heard this before, but Sauber has some circuit-specific upgrades, aimed at reducing drag and downforce. The team has a smaller front wing flap, a low-drag rear wing assembly, and new endplate geometry for both the beam wing and the rear wing. All of these changes are aimed at reducing drag.

However, the team also has an upgrade to their floor, with changes to the “central floor geometry.” Sauber states that this change is “aiming to improve flow characteristics around the rear floor, for efficient downforce gain.”