US GP tech: No sign of let-up in F1 developments

The end of the 2014 Formula 1 season is just three races away, but in America teams were still trialling aerodynamic and chassis developments.

Much of this development work is aimed at designs for next season, although both Ferrari's rear wing and McLaren's nose revision are for this year.

FERRARI

Ferrari ran a full package of technical updates for assessment, split between ones focused on 2014 and 2015.

Starting with the rear wing, the assembly gained a complex new endplate.

This features a flatter profile, with the rear wing flap no longer merging into the endplate. Instead, the flap butts up to the endplate's flat inner face.

Replacing this detail are new slots in the endplate, placed just below the rear wing profile. These bleed high-pressure air outside the endplate to blow under the wing tip.

This reduces the drag induced by the vortices created at the endplate. A similar solution was also used by Red Bull earlier this year.

Ferrari also ran revised rear suspension geometry on Kimi Raikkonen's car. This was a development aimed at improving traction and in turn tyre degradation for excessive slip.

The Finn's car also sported a range of aero sensors during free practice. A pod just inside the front wheel was filled with pressure sensors to record the complex airflow passing inside the front tyre.

McLAREN

Having tried a range of aero updates in recent races, McLaren had a small update for Austin and it is expected to bring a far larger upgrade package to the double points final race in Abu Dhabi.

Unlike Lotus, the change to the nose was an update for the 2014 car, as the noses will be tidied up for 2015.

Now its anteater nose extension has an underside blended into the crash structure behind it. This is likely to be a bonded-on section, rather than a new nose, so should not require further crash testing to be conducted.

With the old nose, the finger had a rounded cross section and merged immediately in the wedge-shaped nose behind it.

Now, the extension forms a tear-drop shape in cross section, and to be more streamlined the new fairing extends far behind the upper nose shape.

LOTUS

Lotus has boldly been the first team to introduce a nose close to the 2015 regulations. During free practice, the E22 was tested with a low wedge shaped nose replacing the distinctive twin tusk design.

With Lotus unable to run the nose at full scale, using it in practice allowed it to gather aero data on the different nose.

Obviously more wedge-shaped and lower than any 2014 nose, the new design sports a tip that sits halfway along the front wing centre section.

This is the shortest length possible under the new rules, while it's still legal next year to have a far longer nose.

The wide, flat tip sits just 10 millimetres above the front wing section as per the new rules. This makes some use of the close proximity of the nose to the wing by creating a dipped nose side profile just behind the wing to create a low pressure region aft of the wing for some extra downforce.

Another feature of the nose is its steep upper surface. New rules for next year prevent the crash structure being above a diagonal line between tip and chassis.

It is possible to fit a vanity panel above this line. In Lotus's case it has a simple angled flat upper surface. Its abrupt join with the chassis has required a new bodywork panel fitted on top of the chassis to blend the join in more sympathetically.

Hanging below the new nose is an unmodified front wing. As the twin tusk nose mounts to the wing near its leading edge, the shorter new nose needs forward reaching pillars to meet these mountings.

These aren't expected to be a feature of a 2015 nose, and would have to be moved back to a more conventional position at the trailing edge of the wing.

Running this nose in free practice requires a crash test to be passed.

For this year running such a nose would not create a performance benefit so it's not likely to be raced, but may appear in other free practice sessions.

FORCE INDIA

For 2014, along with the new power units, the FIA allowed a complicated LCD dash display for driver information.

This was widely adopted, but Force India was one of the teams not to update its steering wheel, keeping the simpler old LED dash display (pictured).

Mindful of the driver radio restrictions that have been introduced already, and the further limits next year, the team has updated its steering wheel to use the more functional display.

It can now display more information to the driver, to allow them to keep tabs on the cars performance, rather than have the pits radio such information.