🏎 Lets takes a close look at the new F1 challengers and the dominant themes around the new looks...
The Mercedes W10 has a slight inward orientation of its endplate though not by anything like enough to divert more air to the underbody. This car is a long-wheelbase, low-rake car and the Red Bull RB15 is short-wheelbase/high-rake with everyone else somewhere in between, just as in the last couple of seasons.
McLaren seems to be the only team to have had a significant rethink on this aspect, its new MCL34 appearing longer in wheelbase than its very short predecessor. Mercedes says that the W10 has the same wheelbase as last year's W09, maximising the area of the underfloor.
🏁 Red Bull continues to prefer to enhance its underbody downforce through the floor's angle of attack. The Honda engine in the RB15 is similar in geometry to the Mercedes, with the compressor at the front of the engine, linked by a shaft to the rear-mounted turbine. This is in contrast to the rearward-mounted combined compressor/turbine arrangement of the Renault and Ferrari engines.
A few years ago Red Bull began favouring front wing elements that dropped sharply down at the inboard ends, clearing a wider path for the airflow to reach the barge boards which then direct it down the body sides. The most distinctive feature of the Ferrari SF90 is the way its rear bodywork tumbles over into a deep undercut within the coke bottle section to give an incredibly tight contouring with which to further accelerate the airflow down the body sides.
🌟 Write in comments which car do you prefer?
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