Chinese GP technical blog

With the early races out of the way, Formula 1 teams are now starting to introduce more performance parts, aided by the two-day test that followed the Bahrain Grand Prix.

Due to Shanghai being so demanding aerodynamically, with its long straight and the abundance of corners, this is a good track to trial updates even though it will be at next month's Spanish GP that we see the big upgrade packages introduced.

MERCEDES

Mercedes' much-vaunted new nose ran during Friday practice. The new set-up is similar in concept to the nose that has raced so far this year, but is a little shorter.

The previous nose formed an inverted U-shape in order to raise its obstruction to the airflow as high as possible within the low nose tip rules.

In this guise, the nose overhung the centre of the front wing and the U-shape extended to form the wing-mounting pillars. This gave Mercedes the highest possible nose tip to feed more air underneath and to the aerodynamics at the back of the car.

Now the nose is shorter, but still forms the U-shape. This makes the nose the shortest allowed under the regulations, as its structural part is approximately in line with the trailing edge of the central section of the front wing.

This leaves just the 50mm front nose tip overhanging the front wing. This section is just a thin carbon fibre skin and doesn't form part of the crash structure.

As a result of this, Mercedes now can feed more under the nose to the leading edge of the sidepods, and this will then allow the underfloor to produce more downforce.

FERRARI

One technical development revealed in the post-Bahrain test was Ferrari's blown front hubs. Ferrari has enlarged its front brake duct scoops and these feed ducts inside the spinning axle to blow air out of the middle of the wheelnut.

This isn't a new idea as both Red Bull and Williams have raced similar versions. But with the demand for better wheel retention systems last year, Williams dropped its blown axle.

Ferrari has overcome this with a slot in the wheelnut that is secured after pitstops with a pin extending from the axle.

It's understood this is an idea brought to Ferrari by aerodynamicist Dirk de Beer, who was hired from Lotus. Lotus is believed to have a similar design ready but unmanufactured.

With the wheel retention issue resolved, Ferrari is able to gain an important advantage from this solution. As front wings are narrower this year, the endplate has a tougher job turning the airflow out around the front tyres.

With this airflow emerging from the axle, it pushes the front wing wake outwards. This improves the outwash effect of the front wing.

MCLAREN

McLaren is running improved software for the power unit, and also a modified front wing.

In Bahrain, the front wing gained a vane on top the cascade winglet. For China, the outer face of the front wing changed with a new flick.

Back in Melbourne, McLaren added a flick up to the endplate, now this is split into two flicks for a subtly different aero effect.

FORCE INDIA

Having the Mercedes power unit, with its unique log-style exhaust system, which is far narrower than the more usual individual pipes and collector set-up, Force India has been able to narrow the rear bodywork.

Tested in Bahrain, the new sidepods sweep in more tightly to take advantage of the exhaust set-up.

It is understood this exhaust design, which is one of Mercedes' secret weapons, was only revealed to the customer teams in pre-season testing, preventing them taking full advantage of it.

CATERHAM

One detail from Bahrain was the new rear-wing pillar on the Caterham. Having launched with a pair of vertical supports mounting the rear wing, development in the Toyota windtunnel has produced a y-shaped support.

As is the case on the McLaren, the wing is now supported with an inverted y-shaped support, where an arched pair of legs mount to the gearbox and merge to form a single pillar under the wing.

This has the advantage of the wing being obstructed by only one support. The arched gearbox mount actually helps cooling as the air exiting through the arch is entrained with the exhaust flow to help suck it out of the sidepod.