British Grand Prix: seven teams make changes, including McLaren

Despite its domination in the constructors’ championship, McLaren arrives at the British Grand Prix with technical upgrades. The Woking team is one of the seven outfits that have chosen to bring modifications to their cars for Silverstone. Red Bull accompanies McLaren among the leading teams with its own innovations, unlike Ferrari and Mercedes, which have decided not to modify their cars this time.

McLaren continues its development

McLaren arrives at Silverstone with a complete overhaul of its floor. The objective is to improve the airflow conditioning under the car and redistribute the suction to optimize overall aerodynamic performance. Another notable modification: the inlet of the rear brake ducts has been reworked, an intervention that improves both cooling and airflow in this area.

These changes come as McLaren literally dominates the constructors’ championship with 417 points, 207 points ahead of its pursuer Ferrari, which has only one point more than third-placed Mercedes. The reigning constructors’ champion team continues the technical development of its car to maintain its superiority.

Aston Martin bets on a complete package

Aston Martin presents the most ambitious evolution program of the weekend: four distinct modifications. The main body of the floor has been redesigned to improve flow structures under the car and increase local load on the lower surface.

The floor winglets have been redesigned with a revised curvature and modified local details. The floor edge hasn’t been neglected either, with minor changes to the edge winglet and the main floor upstream. These modifications are accompanied by an evolution in the engine cover profile, developed in parallel with the floor edge details.

Fernando Alonso explained that although this package is less important than the one in Imola, the team hopes it will exceed expectations as previous developments had done.

Red Bull responds with its own floor

The Austrian team brought the second part of an evolution started at the Austrian Grand Prix. The floor of the RB21 features reprofiled surfaces that improve the distribution of pressures along its entire length. The goal of this change is to increase aerodynamic load while preserving airflow stability.

The engineers in Milton Keynes have repositioned the floor fins, moving them laterally at the leading edges. This change, though subtle, optimizes the pressure distribution and allows for extracting additional load without compromising the stability of downstream flows.

Haas seeks stability at high speed

The American team also made four changes focused on improving the management of flow under the floor. The main floor expansion rate has been modified to improve the efficiency of ground effect during lateral loads.

Esteban Ocon and Ollie Bearman’s team is working on enhancing cornering stability, increasing mid-corner speeds, and providing their drivers with more confidence through more predictable aerodynamic behavior.

The winglets have been realigned and the edge winglet reduced. The pontoon entry has been reshaped, with an update to the mirrors to improve the local alignment of the flows and allow for cleaner air delivery to the rear of the car.

Other developments in the mid-table area

Racing Bulls has chosen a different approach by focusing on the front wing with a new flap geometry. The elements have been modified for smaller profiles, suitable for the low balancing requirements of Silverstone and the following events.

At Williams, it’s the geometry of the floor vane fins at the leading edge that has been reworked. The leading edge is positioned more inward than the base configuration, and the geometry features more 3D curvature as it returns to the original vane profile.

Sauber continues the development of its floor with modifications in the front area, thereby gaining effective aerodynamic load. The team has introduced a new front wing flap design, offering a more effective low-balance option.

Only Alpine did not bring any technical innovations to Silverstone, with the French team apparently focusing on optimizing its existing setup. This lack of development comes while the team occupies the last place in the constructors’ championship.

The technical battle continues at Silverstone, with different approaches depending on the teams and a distribution of strategies that reflects everyone’s priorities at this mid-season point: consolidation for the leading teams and progress for the challengers.