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F1 technical updates: 2023 Austrian Grand Prix
Ferrari and McLaren both have significant updates at the Austrian Grand Prix despite it being a sprint weekend.
The teams with new parts will only have one practice session on Friday to analyze them before needing to make decisions on setup and their effectiveness. At Ferrari there is an entirely new front wing that features a redesign of all elements, as well as changes to the front floor fences, floor edge, mid floor and diffuser sidewall. Ferrari says that leads to the sidepod undercut being re-designed to suit, with the target of improved car efficiency.
McLaren’s update is more significant but only available on Lando Norris’ car, with the British driver receiving a new sidepod inlet, halo, fully revised floor, reshaped sidepod and engine cover and updated cooling louvers. The floor is designed to provide a clear downforce gain, while the other items improve the airflow conditioning to the floor itself.
AlphaTauri has updated its rear wing and associated beam wing, as well as making circuit-specific changes to the cooling louvers, and Williams has made further tweaks to the edge of the updated floor it brought to Canada as well as a front brake duct development.
Red Bull has introduced a slight rear suspension tweak, while Haas has a more reliable pitot tube to gather aerodynamic data with.
Chris Medland
While studying Sports Journalism at the University of Central Lancashire, Chris managed to talk his way into working at the British Grand Prix in 2008 and was retained for three years before joining ESPN F1 as Assistant Editor. After three further years at ESPN, a spell as F1 Editor at Crash Media Group was followed by the major task of launching F1i.com’s English-language website and running it as Editor. Present at every race since the start of 2014, he has continued building his freelance portfolio, working with international titles. As well as writing for RACER, his broadcast work includes television appearances on F1 TV and as a presenter and reporter on North America's live radio coverage on SiriusXM.
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