Aston Martin’s Belgian Grand Prix upgrade package includes a modified nose for its Formula 1 car.
This is attached to the second element of the front wing, creating a slot gap, rather than being connected to the first, lowest element as before.
I’m pretty sure this nose development comes from an Adrian Newey suggestion. As everyone says he can see airflow, and for a critical area like this that is exactly what you need to be able to see.
As I have said many times, it will be very difficult to quantify an improvement from windtunnel data by separating the most forward front wing element from the nose to open up that slot gap.
This is mainly because it is impossible to run the windtunnel model as low in the tunnel as the actual car runs on the track. It is at very low ride heights when airflow separation problems really start to affect the underfloor performance, and in turn the diffuser performance.
Andy Cowell, Aston Martin’s team principal, acknowledged that the change was all about "flow quality" when asked to explain it.
"Flow quality underneath the wing, particularly for a sort of medium/higher-downforce circuit," he continued.
"So its benefit here, because it’s a very low-downforce circuit, is small. Still positive, but small, so we’re less likely to take the risk of carrying on with it, but for places like Budapest, it should be a good addition."
Indeed, as it’s a sprint weekend with limited running available, it was no surprise that it came off after practice. But I am pretty sure Aston Martin will feel a benefit from this on all tracks once it's in regular use.
When you run more front wing angle for high downforce tracks, the benefit will be greater, but consistency of the airflow going to the leading edge of the underfloor will make optimising the set-up just that step easier - or at least less confusing for both the driver and the engineer.
Aston Martin's latest upgrades explained
Scott Mitchell-Malm
Aston Martin has brought a mix of circuit-specific and general performance updates to Spa, although not all of these will race.
In addition to the nose that seems like it has been taken off for the remainder of the Belgium weekend, there is a new front wing described as a “test item” that Fernando Alonso used in FP1.
He back-to-backed it with the old front wing, which team boss Cowell suspected would be used for the rest of the event given it is a sprint format and practice time is limited.
Both the front wing and the nose are designed to be more beneficial on higher-downforce tracks, so this is primarily about checking the data rather than needing the parts on the car here.
The low-downforce rear wing and beam wing used in FP1 is a new variant of the existing family of wings, though, and will continue to be used as it suits the demands of Spa.
Similarly, Aston Martin has an older-spec floor on the car, despite having an upgrade at the previous round at Silverstone. Cowell said the old floor better suits the low downforce and high ride height demands of Spa.
In terms of upgrades, Cowell suggested there are no more active aerodynamic developments ongoing, although more circuit-specific parts will still be rolled out.
“These are the last new bits that we plan to bring,” he said.
“I'm frowning a little bit because sometimes somebody comes up with a good idea that can be delivered with 10 seconds work, but it's rare!
“So at the moment there are no specific plans. We've got some circuit-specific cooling requirements and downforce requirements, but other than that the same family of aerodynamic parts for the rest of the year.”
