Final test tech upgrades round-up

The final week of pre-season Formula 1 testing is always an exciting time, with teams completing race and qualifying simulations and introducing their last performance upgrades.

This year, the run sheets are very different thanks to the demands of the new 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines, meaning some teams are nowhere near a full race simulation and some are still running launch-specification bodywork.

But some have been able to trial upgrades and modifications in Bahrain.

RED BULL

Red Bull's overheating ERS problems continue and the RB10 yet again features makeshift ducting added to the sidepods.

During previous tests, we have seen the left-hand sidepod fitted with either a tube feeding cool air into the sidepod or a similar tube venting hot air out.

On Friday, the team ran an inlet and outlet on both sides of the car. These likely lead to the ERS control units or the energy store under the fuel tank.

Aside from these makeshift revisions, the RB10 remains in its launch spec. No new aero parts have been run and the car lacks the front camera pods, which AUTOSPORT understands were to be part of an aerodynamic front suspension treatment.

It's still likely that some new element will be tested this week, although the car's underlying pace seems to be good even in this specification.

FERRARI

Ferrari has run a comprehensive aero upgrade package this week. This consists of front wing, engine cover, diffuser and brake ducts.

We saw the new front wing early on in the test. The outboard sections feature seven elements, with the main plane split into two elements. Then there are two flaps, one of which is also split into three elements.

Having so many slots allows Ferrari to work the outer tips of the wing harder, both to generate downforce and to turn the wake around the front tyre.

This wing also sports a new endplate with a far simpler open-sided shape than the launch spec wing. Both wings use an unusual slotted fin running along the top of the endplate.

Ferrari's revised engine cover creates a larger outlet around the exhaust. The more bulbous shape eats into the fin that passes down the spine of the engine cover.

With this change in size of the central outlet also comes a variation in the size of Coke bottle outlets and the inlet duct on the spine of the cover feeding cool air to the turbo.

One feature not seen on an F1 car probably since 2009 is a wing profile on the rollhoop. This narrow winglet sits in a 'free' area for bodywork and is probably less to do with creating downforce than sending a different airflow to the rear wing.

MERCEDES

Like Ferrari, Mercedes has brought a wide range of new parts, ranging from different cooling options to diffuser and sidepod turning vane solutions.

One cooling solution tested this week is an oversized outlet at the back of the engine cover. This solution maximises outlet area and hides a larger cooler inside the bodywork, most likely for ERS cooling.

This will come with quite a drag penalty, so it is only likely to be used at tracks where the car is on the brink of overheating due to high ambient temperatures.

The W05 has appeared with vanes around the front of the sidepod. They wrap around the sidepod to create a horizontal flap shape and redirect airflow down over the sidepods, somewhat similarly to the Coanda exhausts last year. This airflow meets the diffuser to create more downforce.

Along with the sidepod vane revisions, the Mercedes also sports revised bargeboards and turning vanes. The new design features one large bargeboard and a smaller one just outboard of it, which is similar to that raced late last year.

Allied to these changes are detail revisions to the floor where there are now two flick up shapes moulded into the edge of floor.

At the back of the car, the diffuser gains a unique flap fitted under the tail light. Lots of teams already work the middle section of diffuser very hard and Mercedes has now enclosed this section with two triangular endplates to allow the central flap work harder.

MCLAREN

McLaren launched an aero programme on the first day of the test.

Its MP4-29 was sent out with pods on the rear wing endplates housing the electronics for a series of pressure sensors mounted around the back of the car.

Unexpectedly, the sensors emanating from the pod were not fitted to the rear wing, but down around the floor and diffuser. Another bundle of sensors were routed inside the rear brake ducts.

TORO ROSSO

Despite having a torrid time during testing with mileage being curtailed with a variety of power unit and gearbox issues, the STR9 has now appeared with revised aero. Both the nose and the sidepods are new.

Its nose is an exaggerated version of the launch-spec design. Instead of being flat, the area between the wing-mounting pylon and the anteater extension is now arched, creating a shallow m-shape across the front of the nose.

This feeds more airflow under the raised chassis to improve the function of the aero parts downstream.

These downstream parts include the new sidepods, which are a more exaggerated version of what Toro Rosso ran before. Now, the sidepods slope down more steeply and then a pair of cooling outlets are formed around the gearbox.

In its initial specification, the cooling outlet reached down to the floor, limiting airflow to the diffuser, now the outlets are higher and more rounded.

WILLIAMS

The FW36 ran with new sidepod details this week. Joining the already complex mirror stalk design are a fin and a cooling outlet formed into the sidepod front.

Like most teams, these mirror stalks and fin both create a vortex to alter the pressure distribution further back down the car, typically at the diffuser's trailing edge to pull more air from the underfloor for more downforce.

Whereas the slot formed in the front of the sidepod is purely for extra cooling, this solution is similar to last year. This slot is far enough forward on the sidepod to be legal and even though the outlet is ahead of the radiators, hot air can be pulled forwards and vent through the slot.

PIRELLI

The tyre supplier is testing new thermal 'tell-tale' stickers on the sidewalls of the tyres.

These will show the maximum temperature the tyre has been pre-heated to in the blankets in the garage. They will not be of use once the tyre has been run on track, merely for how the tyre has been treated before fitting to the car.

Pirelli states a maximum 110C but it's believed teams have pre-heated their tyres to higher temperatures to alter the curing process for greater longevity.

With these stickers, such overheating will be monitored by FIA inspection and Pirelli tyre technicians in the garages.

With tyre warmer use also banned from 2015, this will be a key part of policing tyre use.