The Japanese Grand Prix is one of the old-fashioned circuits which require 100% of all the aspects in order to do well round here. Cars need low drag but high down-force so engineers have to find the 50/50 balance so that the car works well. It also tests high-speed braking, and mid-corner grip, and the team who does this the best will be on the top step of the podium.
Sauber
Sauber have a new engine cover in place for this weekend. It is almost a carbon copy of what is in place on the FW36 Williams. It features a stern like arrow which points the Y100 winglets on the C33. The car now is a lot more aero efficient and will keep the car and mainly the rear end glued to tarmac. So Sauber have gone for down-force as a priority over straight line speed. Also in place is the canard which featured in Singapore on the front wing. It’s a small aero element do give added guidance to the air flow over the car as it sweeps past, and keeps the front end from under steering wide.
Toro Rosso
The Italian based team have brought two major upgrades the race. Starting at the rear they have a new y100 winglets (Monkey Seat) which is more toned down than rival cars. The reason being that Toro Rosso have gone for straight line speed with a smaller monkey seat there is less of the exhaust plume effect so no gases from internal combustion are helping to aid the car in down-force. Kind of similar to the banned blown diffuser. The car now will be more light on edge for the drivers to control but should see a close balance on the STR09 which in theory should move the team up the grid.
Secondly on the Toro Rosso is the new front wing. They still have the ‘Ann Summers’ finger nose in place as the 2014 regulations don’t allow much budge in order to change. The idea is that they allow a better quality of airflow under and over the nose, which of course will increase the quality of airflow rearward to the back of the car and mainly towards the splitter and side-pod area.
Caterham
Caterham dispute huge money woes have brought a significant upgraded front wing. They have added an outboard endplate canard, mounting it to the rear endplate on the two peace set up they have. The canard creates a pressure gradient that alters the airflow outbound, whilst shedding an elongated vortex. Also new is that they have gone back to the two element cascade set up on the CT05 which gives the oncoming air the guidance to overcome the front tyres by pushing the air around them and over. So the tyre life will be slightly longer too.
Red Bull
The Miton Keynes based company have added a slight turning vain to the front element on the wing. It is situated on top of the cascade. The reason being that its to push the air flow on either side of the car more to the left or right. I believe its more of a aero gain which looks like its to push more air over the front tyres which the cascade already does, maybe it adds greater effect slightly.
McLaren
The Woking team likewise to Red Bull have added to their front wing. What they have done is added a Canard to the endplate on the front wing. The reason being that the air coming into contact with the front wing will have an up-wash effect going past it. And a better quality of the air flow will trail towards the rear diffuser or side pod area, depending which need the air flow more, and what Red Bull believe needs a better air flow when coming into contact.
Mercedes
The Blackley based team have brought many updates to the Wo5. First being their new front wing. They have a central turning vane or mini cascade. It has changed as the slot or gap is at the bottom of the two supports holding it up. It retains rigidity and wont flex in the air flow but removes an element of distraction and noise as it causes to the elements cited behind it.
The second difference on the Mercedes was they added a small cooling duct on top of the chassis, the slot allows more airflow into the cockpit but may not just be for driver comfort. Since the start of the season the WO5 had driver cooling slot placed in the very tip of the nose cone which provides a supply of cool air into the cockpit. The reason behind this strange idea was it looks to be a short-term mend to the problem in the happenings to the failure saw in Singapore Grand Prix. It will cool the electrics and CPU systems in the cockpit as last time out they over heated and short circuited as on Nico Rosberg’s car.
The last upgrade to the new on the WO5 is the air guidance flap on the front outer edge on the side pod area now skirts out allot more vigorously than before. different air vortices will be formed, changing how the airflow structures in the region operate, now however the flow will be allot more controlled and stop the air spiralling as seen in the aero report from Mercedes.
Marrusia
Brand new on the car is a new upper surface main-plate on the front wing. It now has an upper ridge on the outer edge which now bends the air flow over the front tyres more. Last time out in Singapore the car had a straight cut main-plate which does not have a greater up-wash effect compared to the re-designed idea.
Force India
Force India will continue to run the single canard on the outer edge on the end-plate, to stabilize the car more in high-speed cornering. But what’s new is on the rear of the MRJ07 is the diffuser. Their design is a 3 element idea and like what Sauber did in Spa, was to bend the bottom outer plates giving the car a lot more stability as the car was more hunked down in the tarmac. The way the air flow comes into contact and exits it is allot neater then before.
Ferrari
Lastly to update the car was the Ferrari boys who improved again on the front wing, something they never seem to stop messing with. They have added an additional adjuster flap on the main plate and behind it has been cut away too. It may seem Ferrari may have been looking at developments for the 2015 F1 season. With the larger adjuster changing the main flap angle, whilst the inner adjuster has been retained but now likely changes the upper and outer flap angle to higher or lower degrees.
