Australian GP: Tech images from the F1 pitlane explained

A small but interesting feature was added to the rear wing pylon on the Ferrari SF-24 in Australia, as the team employed a winglet on either side of the assembly. It’s somewhat surprising that we haven’t seen teams do this before, given it’s clearly allowable within that box region.

Red Bull fitted a pair of cameras on the bridge of the RB20’s nose that looked sideways at the front wheel deflectors. These also had target stickers affixed to them in order to assess how much they’re deflecting when the car is in motion.

A top-down overview of the Sauber front wing and nose assembly, which notably has a different camera arrangement looking at the outboard section of the wing.

A close-up of the outboard section of the VCARB01’s front wing, which features twisted flaps and two downwash winglets to help generate more outwash.

An overview of the new front wing being used on the Sauber C44 this weekend, which features a revised upper flap configuration, whilst also having a semi-detached flap and endplate arrangement.

A close-up of the Mercedes W15’s front wing, which is unchanged from previous rounds but still has a lot of detail in the outboard section and the novel upper flap arrangement for us to pay attention to.

Mercedes had already hinted ahead of the Australian Grand Prix that it would perform some additional experiments with the W15 in an attempt to better understand some of its foibles. We can see here there are some additional sensors placed on the front wing.

A close-up of the Red Bull RB20’s rear end, including the slim beam wing arrangement, diffuser and lower rear brake duct deflectors. Note the thickness difference from top-to-bottom.

A close-up of the floor and edge wing on the RB20 shows how the two are stacked on top of one another to combine their potency.

A wider angle of that region shows the scrolled edge wing design, complete with the angled strakes used to help control the airflow’s trajectory.

Unlike in Saudi Arabia, the louvred side panel on the engine cover is in place in Australia, which provides a means to reject the heat generated by the coolers being fed cool air by the halo intakes.

An overview of the rear end of the Ferrari SF-24, with the team opting for just a single outlet in the engine cover’s interchangeable side panel.

A close-up of the floor and chassis interface blister which is carefully shaped to help the airflow find a route to the vertical sidepod inlet and the undercut thereafter.

A close-up of the bypass duct on the side of the Ferrari SF-24’s chassis and below the main sidepod inlet.

The McLaren MCL38 set up with a single-element beam wing to help reduce drag and boost its top speed. Note the metal inserts added to the upper corners of the rear wing to reduce flexion too.

The twisted and scrolled front section of the edge wing on the McLaren MCL38.

A close-up of the bi-plane style beam wing on the Ferrari SF-24, with the small upwash wing on the back of the crash structure and the flattened oil breather pipe above the rain light, also notable features.

A close-up of the detailed work undertaken by Ferrari around the rear leg of the halo, including the arching swan neck section that meets with the bypass duct’s outlet beside the halo.

The forward floor and sidepod section of the Aston Martin AMR24 is full of interesting details, including the underbite panel and shallow sidepod inlet arrangement and the chassis and floor interface which forms flow conditioning contours to improve flow downstream.

A close-up of the rear section floor on the Red Bull RB20 shows just how contoured the surfaces are in order to better manage the airflow. Also note the mouse house hole in the diffuser’s sidewall which helps to manage vorticity.

A rear-end shot of the Alpine A524 shows off the bi-plane style beam wing arrangement it has in use, whilst the short lower brake duct deflector is also notable.

Sauber outfitted the C44 with Kiel probe rakes behind the front wheel assembly to assess the impact of the front wing it introduced in Australia.