FIA confirm updates Ferrari and Aston Martin will debut at Spanish Grand Prix

Ferrari have rolled out a significant update to their 2023 F1 car for this weekend, while Aston Martin have several tweaks to theirs…

The FIA have confirmed the updates that several of the teams have made to their cars for the Spanish Grand Prix, with Ferrari showing up with the most visibly obvious upgrade package for their SF-23.

The biggest change is to the design of their sidepods and engine cover, with the intent of improving the airflow. According to Ferrari, the change has been made to focus and improve the flow conditioning to the rear wing and rear corners, with a differing cooling configuration also improving efficiency.

Underneath the car, Ferrari also have a new floor fitted, which has a completely different design of the floor itself and the edges. The purpose is to optimise downforce at local points around the car and, in general, improve efficiency.

Aston Martin also have a comprehensive upgrade package, although the changes are smaller in nature than Ferrari’s.

A new front wing has a “different twist distribution with less variation in height across the trailing edge” – this is to coincide with a new nose design and front wing endplate. This is to help improve how the air interacts with the front tyres directly behind, as well as improve the airflow as it continues downstream over and under the rest of the car.

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A new rear wing endplate helps improve rear downforce, while a new beam wing has been designed in order to improve the distribution of the air and interact better with the new rear wing geometry.

While Red Bull’s Helmut Marko sparked interest after Monaco by hinting his team would have a big update for Spain, the Constructors’ Champions have some updates – but only minor changes. A new floor edge has been shaped to help improve local loads, while the corners of the diffuser have been curved more in order to help extract a little more local load. Curiously, Red Bull have specified that this change came about as a result of having a look at competitor’s designs – Adrian Newey’s walkabouts with his notebook clearly paying off!

Mercedes have some further tweaks to their W14 after a big update package was introduced in Monaco. A diffuser tweak allows for more air to enter, increasing local load, while Mercedes have also removed their upper mirror vanes, improving airflow quality further downstream on the car.

McLaren have an updated front brake duct vane and winglet, which helps improve local aerodynamic load.