AlphaTauri has had a disappointing start to the 2021 season, with the team’s results not living up to the pace shown in qualifying in particular. This has been due to a mixture of driver errors and strategic mistakes that the team will look to put right from this weekend’s event in Portugal. For Imola, a new aerodynamic package was introduced to the car, with further developments expected in the upcoming back-to-back races.
Starting with the bargeboards, most of the changes were around the tips along the upper edge. Where there were previously three slots, there are now six, with each of the previous elements effectively split into two. While this will offload the overall bargeboard, it will improve the vortex roll-up and reduce the losses which propagate downstream towards the leading edge of the floor. Note that the slots defining these upper elements now terminate at the height of the horizontal upper wing, and no longer extend further down. This should help to regain some of the lost bargeboard load and reduce the global change in the pressure field in this particularly sensitive region of the car.
Further back on the bargeboard, the rearward tips have also been altered. Due to these elements being quite rearward-facing, they contribute noticeably to drag, and therefore detail work in this area can yield some efficiency improvements. Typically, raising them will reduce drag but improve control of the front wheel wake, giving some forward floor load improvements, while lowering them deducts drag and reduces the roll-over of the top of the tyre wake, improving rear downforce. The third-from-outboard tip is now slanted, meaning it can work with the next element outboard in a more conventional fashion.
Just further rearward, the forward part of the floor edge has been developed, with an additional five outwashing elements introduced on the top surface. A number of teams have similar devices, but they are located a little further inboard than on the AT02. They should help to push the lower wheel wake outboard, which may offer some improvements in terms of the flow under the diffuser – this is because further rearward, wheel wake losses can get drawn under the floor from the suction of the diffuser expansion, particularly at higher yaw angles.
Looking at a side view of the floor edge, the upwashing curl is now less aggressive and supported by a flap above. Given the change in continuity rules for 2021, the longitudinal slots just inboard of this curl were removed, and it was a surprise to see AlphaTauri have such an aggressive curl when most other teams had gone in the opposite direction, employing two flaps to support the curl’s underside boundary layer. This new design should improve flow quality and reduce the losses propagating downstream.
Racing Tech 