The Australian Grand Prix passed in spectacular fashion which saw Mercedes carry on from where they left off. It brought upon us that Mercedes were still very quick, with no reliability concerns what so ever, something that plagued the rest of the field, with only eleven runners which met the finish line.
The nature of Australia’s track is effectively two long straights joined together by 90⁰ corners, so teams will slim the wings down or go for a higher downforce configuration than normal. Here are the technical developments from Melbourne.
Mercedes
Under the nose cone Mercedes blended its under-nose devices for more efficient air flow under the car. What they did was blend the nose tip to the turning vanes with Carbon Fibre, so as air passes under the nose its management is a lot cleaner as it travels to the back of the car.
Mercedes Also have changed the mountings of which the TV cameras are mounted on, with a small aerodynamic profile fin below it. This is a sensible way to get more of the flow features to enter the sidepods ducts. They are positioned high, about the height mid-way up the sidepod duct. This will aid the car in its Mercedes cooling requirements at a Hot Australia race which follows.
Ferrari
Ferrari brought a long a new front wing for the SF15-T. The SF15-T has the fundamentals of a great front wing, as long as they develop on the concept over the course of the 2015 season. The old wing was very simple, which suggests Ferrari didn’t have their latest wing ready in time for Australia. 
It consisted of three elements from the endplate to the mandatory cross-section where the long swooping nose covered it. It also had three element cascade unit with a north mounted turning vane a top. This is so that oncoming airflow is gave more of a outwash of the front tyre and trailing edge of the front wing wake, which is guided to the sidpods and bargeboards of the car.
Their new front wing consists of an east mounted turning vane by the cascade. This is opposed to give the air flow even more guidance and management as it passes onto the central section of the car. This is mainly a flow management device which also helps in downforce. As the air hits the new turning vane and cascade it pushes the car into the road more, aiding in front grip, as well as giving the rest of the car a cleaner flow to work with. They also added an outboard canard on the outer edge of the endplate.
This creates a pressure gradient between the coefficient low and high pressure, as the air flow is drawn to the lower section of the car. This approach was neatly used on the Force India and Sauber in 2014. With the additions of the front wing, more downforce will be provided, as well as car entry balance and mid corner grip on the SF14-T.
Williams
Williams arrived of the back of a solid pre-season testing. They brought new bargeboards which feature two saturations that are for flow management to the rear of the car. If you get a cleaner flow to the rear, you will gain more downforce at the rear as the efficiently of the flow is much cleaner.
Secondly Williams brought a long a new front wing which consisted of a new cascade and turning vane by the endplate. The main winglet is smaller and narrower towards the rear, then the other winglet has become a simple turning vane opposite it. This is a fairly common set up; the cascade elements are used for drag reduction and turbulence which unsettle the cars balance upfront.
Red Bull
Subtle changes occurred on the RB11, of which was a small cup-shaped winglet to force greatest flow around the tyre as its tilted away from the tyre to its outer edge. It’s a nice touch to the car which will also help tyre conservation. It was mounted to the inner section of the endplate which also helps with downforce.
McLaren
The Woking team updated its turning vanes under its chassis of the MP4-30. This is a very important in managing to the rear diffuser, which is 60% of the cars downforce. They added an extra element to four in total for more efficient flow and streamlines. This is something all team will play with across 2015.
Manor
Although it’s not an upgrade, Manor GP have a very neat way in its front nose concept. the nose cone is from 2014, but to comply with the 2015 regulations they have a little step to meet the crash structure. It’s a neat solution to meet the criteria and safety as well as being cost-effective.
