Mercedes lead the way with Imola updates

Mercedes 2022 Australia — Photo: © LAT Images

Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

Mercedes lead the way with Imola updates

Champion team is playing catch up this season

Ian Parkes

Friday 22 April 2022 13:30 Updated: 14:03

Mercedes has detailed a list of updated aerodynamic tweaks ahead of this weekend's Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

The reigning eight-time constructors' champions are on the backfoot at present in the wake of the heavily revised rules for this season as it heads into the race at Imola trailing Ferrari by 39 points.

Ordinarily, after a three-race flyaway start to the campaign, the first event in Europe would lead to the teams bringing major upgrade packages.

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But with only one practice session before qualifying given it is a sprint race weekend, the teams have decided to bide their time, and it will be the sixth race in Barcelona where we will see significant updates.

Below are changes made for this weekend by each team.

Mercedes

Mercedes has updated its sidepod inlet, adding a turning vane ahead of it, as well as reprofiling the upper shroud and the mirror housing.

The vanes improve the airflow quality into the sidepod radiator duct and, in turn, the overall cooling of the car.

To the diffuser, there is a reduced floor edge curl ahead of the rear tyre to help with airflow separation and improve the flow in the diffuser to increase the rear load.

Finally, there is a tweak to the lower deflector endplate designed to generate increased local load on the lower deflector inside the rear wheels, which in turn increases overall diffuser load.

Red Bull

A secondary wing on the keel has been added to the floor, while there is additional rear-brake cooling.

Ferrari

No updates

McLaren

There is an update to the beam wing to locally modify load and pressure in that area which will prove useful given the wet conditions.

Alpine

In a bid to create more downforce, minor geometric changes have been made to the floor which will be tested during FP1.

In tandem with the floor, there is also a new rear beam wing that will provide better aerodynamic support for the diffuser to help improve performance on the car.

AlphaTauri

The team has made significant changes, notably to the floor, maximising downforce at the front via ride height, while at the rear the changes are designed to work better with the structures generated from the edge of the floor to increase the overall floor load.

At the front corner of the car, there is now a shorter but wider inlet which will work with the front suspension to enhance its loading and to better control the wake from the front wheels.

Aston Martin

There is a new halo vane that is part of a package that also includes the mirror sidepod stay to modify airflow to the back of the car that apparently suits Imola's characteristics.

Front-floor mounting stays have been moved forward in a bid to reduce porpoising.

Williams

There is a small update to the top of the rear wing to improve the efficiency of the DRS when it is open, while a change to the front suspension shrouding aids load delivery to the rear.

For Imola and the wet conditions, there is a circuit-specific revised front brake duct system.

Alfa Romeo

Additional downforce has been created via a modified floor, while diffuser performance has been enhanced courtesy of a new coke/engine cover.

There are also updated rear-brake ducts that allow improvements to the cooling, and to some extent, the external aerodynamics.

Haas

A new floor edge to control porpoising.