Designed to give young drivers a platform to climb the single seater ladder, it includes updated safety features and similar styling to current-generation Formula 1 and Formula 2 machinery.

The car, which has been developed around a Dallara carbon monocoque, will be powered by a six-cylinder, 3.4-litre naturally aspirated Mecachrome engine producing around 380hp at 8000rpm. It uses a six-gear longitudinal gearbox from 3MO, instead of the Hewland unit found in the latest FIA Formula 2 car that was launched last year. The paddle shift is driven by a Marelli electro-hydraulic command.

Marelli is also supplying the vehicle control unit, which has been carried over from F2. The car is compatible with virtual safety car (VSC) systems and features a drag reduction system (DRS) to aid overtaking on straights.

The championship is planning to run its new car on 100 per cent sustainable fuel from Aramco. New 16-inch Pirelli tyres will be used, with three compounds available.

The car completed 2000km in testing before its unveiling at the Italian Grand Prix. The first shakedown was undertaken at Varano in Italy by Tatiana Calderon, as was the case for the current F2 machine. Formula 3 teams will receive their first car before the end of the year and then receive a further two cars in January. The 2025 FIA Formula 3 season begins at Albert Park in Australia on March 14-16.

‘The 2025 F3 car has been designed to provide exciting racing, with a lot of overtaking opportunities,’ said FIA F3 CEO Bruno Michel. ‘We have also worked to ensure this new car fits all types of drivers, taking into account the FIA’s requirements regarding the steering effort. With this in mind, we have enhanced our car’s driveability and comfort to further ensure the new generation car is more inclusive.’

The new FIA Formula 3 car will be valid for three seasons, up to and including 2027. It sits one year behind F2, which last year introduced a new car that will be valid until the end of 2026.

The post New FIA Formula 3 Car Unveiled for 2025 Debut appeared first on Racecar Engineering.

The resurfacing, part of a recently-completed €21 million (US$23,400) facility upgrade project, paved the full 5.739km lap in fresh asphalt. Many drivers have been vocal about the replacement of kerbs that helped give Monza an ‘old-school’ feel, but the new track surface is also playing a key part in the weekend. Before the Italian GP, F1 tyre supplier Pirelli predicted (based on a July track inspection) that track temperatures could reach 50degC in sunny conditions. This is because the new, black surface reflects more light from the sun as heat than its predecessor. The track surface smoothness causes more grip. Both of these factors increase degradation, defined as the deterioration of a tyre’s performance over time due to the impact of heat on the rubber.

Pirelli’s temperature estimation turned out to be true, as the track surface in Practice 1 – just after lunch on a glorious Friday – hovered between 49.6 and 51.9degC. In second practice, held between 5 and 6pm, the range was 41.6 to 48degC.

Central to the degradation challenge is that the new track surface generates graining. Graining occurs when the inner part of the tyre (the carcass) is colder than the outer surface of the tyre. This imbalance creates movement in the rubber that prompts small pieces to detach and stick to the surface, forming irregularities that reduce grip and contribute to rapid tyre degradation. Graining often occurs in cold conditions, but can also appear on a new track surface.

‘The adhesive grip is quite high, so the tarmac is grippy, said Pirelli’s chief F1 engineer Simone Berra. ‘But, on the other hand, the tarmac is very smooth. The mechanical grip of the tyre is not that high. That [imbalance] is why we are generating this level of graining. The adhesive grip is okay, but the hysteresis grip is not high.’

According to Berra, graining will inevitably occur after a couple of laps. Teams can try to delay it until slightly later in the stint, but they will all face it at some point at Monza. The low-downforce nature of the track doesn’t help because any aerodynamic load changes to ease pressure on the tyres will sacrifice too much crucial speed. At other tracks, graining occurred either on the front or rear axle, enabling teams to manage their tyres accordingly. However, at Monza, the graining has been present at both ends. It is a difficult balancing act.

‘If you are suffering from understeer and generating graining on the front axle because you are protecting the rear, you are using the rear axle to rotate the car,’ said Berra. ‘But then you are generating graining on the rear axle. It is very difficult on this circuit, compared to others, to find a good compromise to protect one axle [so that] it’s fine. At Spa, we had high graining on Friday in practice. But, in the end, it was just on the front axle. The teams worked a lot to protect the front axle, and it ended up, on Sunday, being a good race without graining being an issue and a one-stop [strategy] was possible.’

The new track surface will influence how teams approach their tyre strategy during Sunday’s 53-lap race. They are still expected to favour the one-stop approach, rather than pitting twice to spend less time on more degraded rubber. They will probably only shift to a two-stop if the graining doesn’t improve as the track evolves over the weekend.

Pirelli has brought the same compounds to Monza as last year: the C3, C4 and C5. These are the hardest tyres in its slick range. The C3 (softest) and C4 (medium) compounds were used extensively on Friday, with teams preferring to save their harder tyres for the race. The pace difference (or delta) between C3 and C4 in practice was around half a second, correlating to Pirelli’s simulation.

‘We are seeing high levels of degradation compared to 2023,’ said Berra. ‘At the moment, we are not thinking about going to a two-stop race. Even the teams are not thinking about it. They are keeping two hard compounds for the race; they want to be safe in case degradation values are higher, or there is a safety car, and they can exploit this window to pit and put a new set [on]. I think the degradation level and thermal management of the tyre will be the key to complete the race on a one-stop.’

While the Monza track surface is fresh for now, its characteristics will soon change, for new asphalt usually evolves very quickly. Since F1 is the first major series to race at Monza (and there had only been a few GT car tests before the GP) high evolution was expected in practice. Pirelli observed a high rate during FP1 and some stabilisation in FP2.

‘We didn’t have much pick-up, which is clear sign that the track can improve and evolve, become more grippy, for the next sessions,’ added Berra. ‘I think the evolution will continue throughout the next few days, especially during the race. For example, I would expect the second stint to be easier to manage than the first stint.

‘The teams cannot really work to improve the graining. They just have to wait a bit for the track evolution and improvement on track conditions. We do think they can improve a bit for Sunday. I don’t think it will disappear completely like it did at Spa.

‘You can make a difference if you are able to manage the tyres better [than others], especially with this level of graining. Here, in the past, it was easier to manage just the thermal deg [because] the graining, in general, was very low.’

The post The Challenges of Racing on a Brand-New Track Surface appeared first on Racecar Engineering.

Alex Albon’s qualifying result was expunged after the FIA found his car’s floor body to ‘lie outside the regulatory volume’ mentioned in Article 3.5.1a of the technical regulations. That line in the regulations identifies a floor body reference volume, which consists of several measurements that are further defined in Point 5 of the rulebook appendix.

Williams didn’t dispute the accuracy of the FIA measurement system at Zandvoort and accepted its sanction, but pointed out that its own measurement system produced a different result.

Ahead of this weekend’s Italian GP at Monza, Vowles explained what Williams did next, both to ensure the car was legal for the race at Zandvoort, and to maintain compliance for subsequent F1 rounds. For the former, Williams removed the surplus floor body material from Albon’s car with 400-grit sandpaper to ensure it could race on Sunday. Albon went on to finish 14th after starting from the back row, but the British-Thai driver reckoned he could have finished in the points without his qualifying DQ.

‘[The] investigation still ongoing, which tells you how complex the problem is,’ said Vowles. ‘We have two sign-off methods at the factory. The first is in a jig, fundamentally, that is replicating the legal floor width. It fits within that. In other words, it is legal to the width of the jig. The second is on-car, in the factory, which was completed on Tuesday. Both of those checks revealed that the car was effectively legal.’

To double check the width ahead of the Italian GP at Monza, Williams conducted one further measurement on Thursday that showed the car as being ‘slightly over’ the FIA’s limit.

‘By slightly over, I mean decimals of a millimetre,’ added Vowles. ‘However, we did two things. You are always adjusting the floor to make sure it is aerodynamically in the correct region. I personally believe that one of those adjustments put the floor into a region where it was slightly more illegal than that. That pushed us over the limit.

‘With these situations, you’re always trying to get things to about zero. You don’t want to be under by two millimetres. It’s not important everywhere on the floor, but there are a few regions where it is important.’

According to Vowles, the rear section of the floor where the width was beyond FIA limits is not one of those more important areas. The floors on current F1 cars are responsible for producing downforce through ground effect, as air is accelerated through Venturi tunnels carved into the bottom of the car.

‘[It] is not important aerodynamically whatsoever at all,’ claimed Vowles. ‘We could have easily been under that. What it ultimately comes down to is we didn’t do a good enough job scanning and replicating the exact procedures the FIA do. When you’re talking about decimals of a millimetre, it doesn’t [take] much to move you out of that position.’

The Dutch GP was a tumultuous event on the other side of the Williams F1 garage too, as Logan Sargeant crashed heavily in third practice. The impact with the left-side metal barrier, after the American put his car’s right wheels on wet grass, caused a fire that destroyed some components. Sargeant was then dropped from the team on Tuesday and replaced by Williams junior Franco Colapinto, although Vowles was adamant the crash did not influence the timing of his decision.

The accident was, however, damaging because Williams had brought a substantial upgrade package to the Dutch GP, which included the new floor geometry.

‘If you have attrition or an accident that happens when the update kit is about four races old, you can write it off to a certain extent because you can replace it with new,’ said Vowles. ‘When it happens about 200km in, that’s painful. [It is] the most painful time for the team to have attrition – it hurts.

‘We have an amount planned into the budget. Where it’s more hindered me, is we have more updates coming and we’re now spending time building componentry that I wish we wouldn’t at this point in time. [It is] distracting us away from the future.

Albon described the Dutch GP package as the first half of a two-pronged attack towards the end of the season.

‘In terms of balance, not really anything to say,’ he commented. ‘Just a bit more load. All the numbers came back positive. They were up, so that’s nice. I think we’re more in the mix with the midfield. It’s still close and we would need a bit more to get in front of everyone.

‘This is part of a double package, so we’re waiting for a second part of it a bit later into the season, and hopefully that will just tie up some of the balance problems, because we’re not just missing load, we’re missing a bit of balance as well.’

The post How Williams Responded to Albon’s Zandvoort Qualifying DQ appeared first on Racecar Engineering.

While the development is set to inform the engineering direction for next year’s car, it is unlikely to be the same kind of upgrade as in 2023, when the American-owned team radically changed its concept to an outwash aerodynamic solution. Haas picked up the wooden spoon in last season’s standings; its change of direction for round 19 at Austin arguably came too late to have a substantial impact on its campaign.

One of the priorities for new team principal, Ayao Komatsu, when he replaced Guenther Steiner at the start of this year was to bring more upgrades to the track sooner. The idea behind this approach was to give Haas a better chance at keeping pace with its rivals in the bottom half of the table.

‘I would say that’s something we still need to work quite hard on,’ Komatsu said at pre-season testing, referring to Haas’ pace of producing new parts. ‘I don’t think our lead time is one of the best in the field.’

A quicker rate of progress for the team, which spreads its operations between Banbury in the United Kingdom and Maranello in Italy, was achieved this season. It rolled out a suite of five performance-related updates to round five in China. That was topped up with front and rear end changes for Imola, before another comprehensive package arrived in time for round 12 at Silverstone.

‘After [Monza], you have Baku and Singapore,’ said Komatsu. ‘It doesn’t make sense to bring a package to them, and after that, it’s Austin. That coincides pretty well with the shutdown as well. After we’ve finalised the Austin package, we are free [to focus on] 2025.’

When asked what Haas’ priorities are for the Austin package, Komatsu pointed towards the team’s most recent major technical change for the British GP in July.

There, Haas introduced seven performance-related adjustments, including a new floor designed to increase the ground effect suction that keeps the car planted through corners. The sidepod inlet was given a longer upper lip to facilitate cleaner airflow to the rear, which in turn required the sidepod to protrude further rearward. During the Silverstone race, Nico Hülkenberg finished sixth to equal Haas’ best result of the season, matching his position at the previous round in Austria.

‘It’s similar to Silverstone,’ said Komatsu of the planned Austin upgrade. ‘We worked on the floor and bodywork and found performance. Those assumptions of what we expected in the wind tunnel [and] CFD [testing] that materialised at Silverstone… [it will be] continuation of that, and a couple of other areas which we find interesting. That is the next stage.’

One of the problem areas for Haas this year has been speed through medium-speed corners, although Komatsu pointed out that certain slow-speed corners can also be a thorn in its side when certain variables are at play.

The team is yet to find out what is causing its lack of pace through the medium-speed turns.

‘We clearly improved high-speed,’ said Komatsu. ‘There are some parts of the car that suggest why high-speed correlation wasn’t great before. We improved [that, however] medium is still poor. I personally don’t have an explanation. In low speed, we are at least competitive. But you can look at Zandvoort: [at] Turn 9 and Turn 10, everybody was complaining because of the wind and track surface. But I think we suffered more compared to the others.

‘So, it’s not just in medium-speed corners where we are poor. In certain slow-speed corners, with certain characteristics, we are poor as well. There are many areas that we need to understand. I don’t pretend to understand everything. But we are working on that.’

It doesn’t necessarily bode well for the next two races on the streets of Baku and Singapore, where there are several 90-degree corners to contend with. However, Haas is hoping that the Austin upgrades can put it in a better position for the run-in. It currently sits seventh in the championship standings on 27 points, seven behind RB.

Regarding this weekend’s Italian GP, held at the fast Monza track, Komatsu suggested that Haas has a better chance than in previous years considering its increased focus on low-downforce capabilities for the VF-24. On last year’s visit to Monza, Nico Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen finished one lap down in 17^th and 18^th.

‘It’s very difficult to predict how competitive or uncompetitive you are going to be at each event,’ Komatsu acknowledged. ‘At Spa, I didn’t think we were going to be that uncompetitive [finishing 14^th and 18^th]. At Zandvoort, we clearly underperformed in qualifying and didn’t get much out of the car.

‘Here [at a] low-downforce track… it’s always [been] a bit difficult because we never had a competitive low-downforce package. This year we have a reasonable low-downforce package, but the new [track] surfaces and changes to the kerbs, how we get on top of it, is a big unknown.

‘I still think we can fight close to the points; that’s always our target. But it’s very difficult to predict accurately.’

The post Haas Plots Further VF-24 Upgrade for United States GP appeared first on Racecar Engineering.

Central to simulator testing is the simulator driver, who is typically a professional racer in their own right. Despite not being regular faces at grand prix events, they have a significant part to play in what transpires at the track. So, what does the life of an F1 simulator driver entail? We asked the Aston Martin F1 team’s Nick Yelloly, who has been virtually testing F1 cars for a decade, to find out.

How much time does the job demand?

Yelloly has been an F1 simulator driver since 2014, working for three iterations of the same team lineage: Force India, Racing Point and Aston Martin. Seven or eight years ago, he would carry out more than 70 days a year, although the number has reduced slightly since.

‘When I was racing in Carrera Cup or Supercup in Germany, I had much more spare time for it than I do nowadays,’ says the Brit. ‘Nowadays I’ll do 40 to 50 days a year.’

That is still a lot when you consider that Yelloly is also a BMW factory driver, this year competing in the nine-round IMSA SportsCar Championship and various high-profile GT races. That leads to around 20 days per year at the BMW M Motorsport simulator in Munich, in addition to track testing responsibilities. When everything is put together, it is rare for him to have more than two or three days at home during the European racing season.

Yelloly’s racing programme with BMW has priority over his F1 simulator role, but he still needs to be flexible in case Aston Martin gives him a late call-up. The F1 team has several simulator drivers to choose from in addition to main drivers Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, such as reserve drivers Felipe Drugovich and Stoffel Vandoorne, or Aston Martin F1 junior Jak Crawford. This means there is some flexibility depending on schedules.

‘I am very flexible when I’m at home and will, at the drop of the hat, be able to go into the simulator and test things,’ says Yelloly. ‘If I’m free on a race weekend, I’ll do race support. For Hungary, we had a few new parts, and I was there until almost 2am. That tends to happen when we have new parts, because we need to extend test sessions more often. Generally, I’ll try to fit in one or two sessions a week.’

What does a simulator test consist of?

No two simulator sessions are the same, but there are certain types of session that reoccur during an F1 season.

‘It’s very dependent,’ says Yelloly. ‘You’ll have typical car performance days, sometimes you’ll have tyre development days, purely for correlation. Other times you’ll be doing pre-event work to get the basic set-ups ironed out for the race drivers before they come in. So, it’s broken up into three or four types of session.’

A standard car performance engineering session will focus on trying out new parts that have been modelled for the car. If they work as intended or bring lap time gains in the simulator, they are taken through into production.

‘Typically, it will be about trying new parts that they create in their software and modelling before we go and put them in the wind tunnel, or even CFD, to see if directionally that is correct or not,’ says Yelloly. ‘We can see if it’s bringing the tools or drivability that we may have been lacking, and creating load in the areas that we need. In F1, you need as much load as you can get without the drag. It’s quite a fine trade-off, and some configurations work better at some tracks than others. A lot of different aero and ride height scans are done between races, depending on track grip level and downforce expectations.’

Aston Martin has a core team running the simulator, supported by a larger group of staff in the performance engineering department who can request items that can be tested and signed off before going onto the real car.

How does a sim driver contribute on race weekends?

The personnel at the track constitute only a portion of an F1 team’s staff count during an F1 grand prix. An army of engineers will be watching along at the factory, processing data and returning their findings. There will also be a simulator team in constant communication with the track squad, trying out set-up options that can’t be completed in the limited practice time available.

These race weekend simulator sessions are more intense than your standard engineering or tyre runs, for there is the added pressure of an event schedule to follow. Unsociable working areas can be expected for those at base, especially if it’s a flyaway race in a remote time zone.

‘We will do some pre-emptive set-up work to predict what they may ask for at the track,’ says Yelloly. ‘Sometimes, it isn’t the direction they want to go, but it could give them extra information on ways not to go for Free Practice 2. The main running that we try and dial in, at least for performance, will be one of the first couple of runs in FP2, because that’s when most teams tend to do their performance running.

‘We’ll start working on correlation, making sure grip levels are correct, and ride height and downforce levels are aligned. Once we’ve done that, we will listen in to debriefs, driver comments and engineer thoughts. There are so many different departments in Formula 1 that it’s quite a sizeable debrief length. As that’s happening, we will start to get test requests from the track. I like to think of it as them using us as an extended test session, for stuff they couldn’t get done in FP2 or ideas they have. Each direction they would like to try, they will send to us, and we give our feedback on yes or no, in terms of balance, feeling, drivability, general lap time consistency, and whether it’s more of a qualifying set-up or race style.’

The number of requests sent to the simulator team sometimes enters double digits across the two Aston Martin AMR24s. These can cover a wide range of topics spanning aerodynamics and mechanical matters. After testing an item or set-up option, the simulator team will relay their findings to the track team.

‘At that point, they either say it’s fine, or they can send more options if they are looking into more specific areas,’ says Yelloly, who acknowledges that pressure is high on the simulator team in these scenarios.

‘It can be quite tough,’ he adds. ‘We are structured in time limits, as to when they get their test requests across. After that, we usually don’t get out of the simulator until we’re done. At Hungary, it was three or four hours constantly doing laps. No matter what time it gets to, you’re going to struggle! Luckily the 24-hour race weekends that I’ve done plenty of seem to help with that.’

As professional racers, all simulator drivers are physically fit, but that doesn’t mean it’s not tough.

‘In a simulator you haven’t got adrenaline, which keeps you going in a racecar,’ notes Yelloly. ‘So you have to just be able to run on fumes, which you do at the end of a 24-hour race. I actually think my simulator work in the early days probably helped me with my endurance career, to start with. And then it’s helped full circle.’

Does a sim driver need a particular driving style?

Adaptability is the key word. F1 race drivers usually conduct several hours of simulator testing to prepare for a grand prix, yet there is still a need for dedicated sim drivers to go through the full mountain of items that a team needs to test. Simulator drivers must be able to mimic the driving style of the race drivers, to ensure their findings about a particular part or set-up will correlate with the real-world experience. If they can’t mimic those very detailed, individual actions, there is a danger their feedback could lead the trackside engineers down the wrong path.

‘It’s something that I learnt to do quite early on,’ says Yelloly. ‘Even the different gear usages: some people may attack the corners more and not worry about the exit much, and vice versa. Also, different lines and corner radii that each driver takes, I have to adapt to them. How I do it, is I go about my normal driving, and then I’ll ask if this is the correct [approach] to Alonso or Stroll. [The engineer] will give me feedback – “you need to carry in more speed or turn in a bit later” – and I’ll be able to fix it and mimic what they were doing. When you first start copying someone else, it’s a bit unusual and different. But now I’m at the stage where it’s relatively comfortable. Having worked with them for a few years, you know how to go about it.’

Do they ever get to drive a real F1 car?

Yes, and Yelloly has done. In fact, it’s necessary for the driver’s understanding between what is being experienced at the track, and what he feels during his many hours in the sim. This is especially important when F1 goes through technical regulation overhauls, as it did between the 2021 and 2022 seasons and will do again in 2026.

‘[A real-world test] usually tends to occur once there’s been a rule change,’ says Yelloly. ‘The first time I drove was in 2016, then it was 2019 when we had the bigger tyres and more downforce. And again, a few weeks ago in a PR day, they had me driving the ground effect car, just to have an idea of how it feels inside the cockpit and how it reacts. We also have bigger rims now than when I last drove an F1 car.’

How accurate are current F1 simulators?

The lack of real-world F1 testing nowadays has placed heavy emphasis on teams purchasing and developing the most accurate simulator possible. It is one of those unseen battlegrounds away from the track: investing in simulators is worth it because a better simulator should give more precise feedback on car characteristics that translate to good engineering decisions.

The term ‘latency’ is often used to describe simulator performance. This is the delay between something happening in the virtual environment and the driver being able to recognise that it is happening. Top-of-the-range simulators today boast latency of around 3-5 milliseconds.

‘Every simulator will have some subtle form of latency, whether that’s from the platform or tyre model behaviour,’ explains Yelloly. ‘When we had our current simulator installed, we did a lot of work on trying to minimise that and getting the car feel correct, in terms of how it slides, what type of slide it is and how fast the car or tyre recovers. Then, [F1] changed the style of the car to ground effect and a different tyre. So, we had to do a different step to make this closer again, which we’ve managed to do.’

Yelloly has driven multiple high-grade simulators, including the F1 rigs at Mercedes and Williams, and says the current Aston Martin one is at ‘a very good level’. The team has a new sim on the horizon, as it gradually equips its state-of-the-art new factory at Silverstone.

‘We have a great simulator team at Aston Martin that are constantly trying to improve things and looking for the next step forward, whether it’s immersion or how the simulator moves,’ says Yelloly. ‘There are so many different modelling, software and hardware tools that you can use to gain all these little feelings for the drivers. It’s cool and exciting to be a part of.’

How involved is the sim driver in a team’s season?

Although simulator drivers rarely attend F1 races – Yelloly says he’s only been two or three times – that doesn’t mean they are detached from the team’s progress throughout a campaign. It’s not simply a case of the driver being given parts to blindly test before the engineers take their feedback and squirrel away to make changes for the real car.

‘I feel quite involved, if I’m honest,’ says Yelloly. ‘I’m definitely not a face at the circuit. But, if I go in on the Monday, I will have usually worked the Friday, so I will know what items we were trying to get correct into qualifying. I’ll then have quite detailed reports when I’m back at the factory on how things went, driver comments, and how we went about trying to fix them from an engineering point of view.

‘Then, we will correlate the Saturday and Sunday, usually on the Monday, to make sure we are fully up to speed on what we are doing. And then we will try to progress to the next circuit…’

In the world of F1 where teams are constantly developing upgrades to improve performance, there is never a shortage of work on the simulator side. It is a vital process to validate the bright ideas from engineers before they are applied at the track.

Header image courtesy of Mercedes

The post Inside the Role of an F1 Simulator Driver appeared first on Racecar Engineering.

In a Q&A session, the chief executive and chief technology officer at Audi Formula Racing go through the bench testing that has been completed so far and what’s to come.

The German manufacturer is joining F1 in 2026 under a new technical regulations cycle, which includes refreshed hybrid power unit rules. The 1.6-litre V6 internal combustion engine has been retained, but the MGU-H has been dropped and the MGU-K has been uprated to produce almost three times the amount of power as the current electrical system. Audi is developing its powertrain in-house at Neuberg, but components are also being built at Hinwil, the current base of the Sauber F1 team in which Audi is purchasing a 100 per cent stake.

On what has been achieved so far

Adam Baker, Audi Formula Racing CEO: ‘After just two years, our power unit, consisting of a combustion engine, electric motor, battery and control electronics, is running dynamically on the test bench. Successfully marrying the various components into a single unit is the result of hard work and great teamwork. The Audi power unit has already covered simulated race distances on the test bench. We gained a lot of testing time with the individual components in 2023 and were able to incorporate the experience gained into the next construction stages in parallel. Significant milestones and goals have been achieved, which gives the entire team a good feeling.’

Stefan Dreyer, Audi Formula Racing CTO: ‘We implemented a very ambitious modernisation and expansion of our test facility. Today, we have 22 state-of-the-art test benches at the site. Our new development tools are state-of-the-art and have enabled us to achieve a steep learning curve. By testing on the test bench under simulated racing conditions we gain important insights in this phase of the project. After the successful race distances with the power unit we will soon be doing the same with the entire drive system, which means the combination of power unit and transmission. At the same time, we are going full throttle with performance development in order to achieve the goals we have set ourselves.’

On the tracks that have been used in bench testing

SD: ‘We run the power unit on the test bench with different layouts from the current F1 calendar, depending on the purpose of the test. For example, Las Vegas is interesting for our development team in terms of overall energy management. Several alternating fast and slow corners and almost two kilometres of full throttle driving on the Las Vegas Strip provide the perfect development environment for fine-tuning the combustion engine and the ERS (Energy Recovery System) components.

AB: ‘Hearing the Audi power unit being simulated today on tracks like Spielberg, Singapore or Las Vegas, not only gives everyone involved goosebumps, but also gives us the feeling that we are a big step closer to our first race in 2026.’

On setting up the F1 development team

SD: ‘It was particularly important to establish a broad base in all areas, to create a good foundation for the development of the individual components – combustion engine, electric motor, battery, control electronics, software – to coordinate them with each other at an early stage. Our experience from previous motorsport projects with high-voltage technology, Le Mans, Formula E, but also from the current Dakar project, has helped us a lot.

‘We have already proven in the past that we can develop conventional, hybridised and purely electric drivetrains. Nevertheless, the challenge in Formula 1 is a completely different one in terms of cutting-edge technology and competition. This also applies to our partners and suppliers – we are experiencing a very strong commitment from all sides.’

On the work to come 

SD: ‘Intensity is a good keyword for our performance development. The regulations allow a total of three test benches for single-cylinder tests, for example, which are not limited by the FIA in terms of operating times. We use this maximum number at the facility as intensively as possible for the development of combustion processes for internal combustion engines.

‘So far, we have achieved all the targets we set ourselves for performance and efficiency in this phase. In addition, our fuel development has been running since 2022 with a strong partner who has many years of experience in Formula 1. This is a really decisive factor for our project, as the new sustainable fuel for 2026 will have even greater competitive relevance.’

AB: ‘There have been special milestones almost every month since the start of the project in spring 2022, for example the start of construction for our infrastructure expansion, the start of testing for the single-cylinder, the first test bench run of the electric motor and the V6 engine and the first race distances with the complete power unit.

‘The fact that our entire team can fully concentrate on the development of the power unit for 2026 is an advantage for Audi. The remaining time until 2026 is all about achieving our development goals in terms of maximum overall vehicle performance with full focus. It will remain exciting until the first race – and after that, of course, too.’

On how F1’s cost cap rules influence operations

AB: ‘Like all other Formula 1 teams and power unit manufacturers, we were faced with the challenge of setting ourselves up accordingly. It’s all about cost-cap efficiency and cost-cap conformity. One advantage was that we were able to start on a blank sheet of paper, so to speak, creating our own company, Audi Formula Racing GmbH, for the project. We had a clear picture of structures, systems, processes and the right mindset right from the start.

‘The topic of finance has a direct impact on performance due to the cost cap. There has never been such a direct link between operational efficiency and sporting success in Formula 1. The fact that we can operate at the limit of the cost cap with PU development puts us on a par with our competitors.’

On the importance of Neuberg, a site with existing motorsport facilities

SB: ‘The infrastructure created by Audi for motorsport in 2014 has been a very good basis. It has put us in a position to start Power Unit development in 2022. To adapt this infrastructure to the Formula 1 use case, we built a new building for additional test benches, state-of-the-art workshops and laboratories in parallel with our development activities. All new test benches are now in operation and enable us to continue development at full throttle.’

On the recruitment drive for a German-built power unit

AB: ‘The local proximity to our parent company Audi in Ingolstadt is a great advantage for us in many ways. There are many technical experts in the region, especially for the development of drivetrain components. The other F1 Power Unit manufacturers are based in the UK, France, Italy and Japan. If you want to bring in employees from competitors, they usually have to move to another country – that’s a challenge, but it’s no greater for us than for anyone else. People not only have to be prepared to change employer, but also the country.

‘The fact that we were successful in recruiting experienced engineers and technicians from all other power unit manufacturers shows that our project and the location are attractive – also for international experts and talents. We now have a broad mix in the team with employees from 23 countries.’

SD: ‘Not only do we have a broad international base, but we have also strengthened our existing motorsport expertise at Audi Sport with external F1 expertise. This has helped to accelerate our learning curve considerably. Everyone is giving the project maximum speed and is eagerly looking forward to entering Formula 1. Motivation is extremely high, and we sense a strong team spirit.’

On the split operations between Neuberg and Hinwil

SD: ‘On the technical side, we are already working in a genuine factory team mode across both sites. The focus here is on integrating the power unit with important details such as thermal management. There is also close cooperation on the gearbox.

‘We develop the internals in Neuburg, while the structural parts such as the gearbox housing and rear axle are produced in Hinwil. Testing of the complete drive, consisting of the Power Unit and transmission, then takes place on our powertrain test bench. This division is expedient in terms of performance and expertise.’

AB: ‘We made an early start with the 2026 concept team in Hinwil back in January 2023. This work is now being intensified with the current chassis regulations. Our goal is clear: to fully exploit the advantages and possibilities of a factory team in terms of packaging and integration of the power unit.’

The post Audi Gives Update on Formula 1 Power Unit Development appeared first on Racecar Engineering.

After announcing the 2026 power unit regulations two years ago, the global motorsport federation has worked on the rest of Formula 1’s technical roadmap. The vision for 2026 is to improve ‘raceability and close racing’ according to an FIA statement. Downforce will be reduced by 30 per cent and drag by 55 per cent, as the rule makers seek to make it easier for cars to follow each other while minimising the impact of ‘dirty air’.

The chassis will be smaller and lighter than the current 2022 generation of Formula 1 cars. The maximum wheelbase has been shortened from 3600mm to 3400mm and width has slimmed from 2000mm to 1900mm. The maximum floor width will be reduced by 150mm. The FIA has confirmed a minimum weight of 768kg, down 30kg from today’s machinery. Tyre mass is set to be around 46kg, putting the car and driver weight at 722kg.

The 18-inch wheel size will remain unchanged, however tyre width will be reduced by 25mm on the front and 30mm on the rear. The goal is for grip loss to minimised.

On the aerodynamics side, there will be less reliance on generating downforce through ground effect, which was one of the pillars of the 2022 rules. From 2026, Formula 1 cars will have partially flat floors and a less effective diffuser, reducing teams’ reliance on stiff and low set-ups.

Formula 1 is also making big changes to its active aerodynamics. Cars have used a drag reduction system (DRS) as an overtaking aid since 2011, but from 2026 it will be used by all cars at all times. The revised active aero system will involve movable front and rear wings. It is designed to increase cornering speeds with the standard ‘Z-Mode’ deployed, while on the straights drivers will switch to an ‘X-Mode’ low-drag setting for optimised straight-line speed. The lower beam wing has been axed, while the rear wing is set to feature three elements. A two-element flap for the front wing’s active aero system will be fitted, while the front wing will be 100mm narrower than today.

The role of DRS as an overtaking tool will be assumed by the Manual Override system, which boosts the amount of electrical power for a chasing car. Electric power deployment of a leading car will taper off at 290km/h, reaching zero at 355km/h, whereas the chasing car will use the MOS to get 350kW of electric power up to 337km/h, plus 0.5MJ of extra energy.

‘If you are within a given distance, before the end of a lap to the car in front of you, then for the following lap, you will be given the possibility to use more electrical energy than your opponent,’ adds FIA single seater technical director, Jan Monchaux. ‘And that boost of electrical energy is there to replace what used to be the rear wing opening, to give a car that extra push to potentially go and try to overtake.’

Elsewhere in aerodynamics, front wheel arches will be removed as part of efforts to improve wake performance. Wake control boards that use in-wash will be positioned on the front of the sidepods to help control the wheel wake. Teams will be allowed to start aero testing in January.

On the safety front, a two-stage front impact structure will be mandated. This is to prevent incidents where the structure detaches close to the survival cell after an impact, leaving it exposed in case of a second hit.

The 2026 concept also offers improved side impact protection around the cockpit and fuel cell without adding weight. Roll hoop loads will increase from 16G to 20G and test loads will go up from 141kN to 167kN. Homologated rear endplate lights will be made brighter than today, while lateral safety lights will display a stationary car’s energy recovery status.

The full 2026 Formula 1 technical regulations will be published once they have been ratified by the FIA World Motor Sport Council at its next meeting on 28 June.

‘With this set of regulations the FIA has sought to develop a new generation of cars that are fully in touch with the DNA of Formula 1 – cars that are light, supremely fast and agile but which also remains at the cutting edge of technology, and to achieve this we worked towards what we called a ‘nimble car’ concept,’ said FIA single seater director, Nikolas Tombazis. ‘At the centre of that vision is a redesigned power unit that features a more even split between the power derived from the internal combustion element and electrical power.’

‘On the chassis side we have managed to reduce the size and weight of the car by 30kg resulting in a much more dynamic car. In addition we are introducing two exciting new features to enhance racing – active aerodynamics to achieve very low drag on the straights and the Manual Override system that will provide drivers with an on-demand burst of battery power when close enough to the car ahead of them.

‘Lighter, more powerful and more focused on driver skill, the 2026 FIA Formula 1 technical regulations have been designed to provide closer racing among drivers, increase the competition between teams and improve the spectacle. In addition, we have opted for a higher electrical component of the power unit, a more efficient car overall, and fully sustainable fuels, as part of our drive towards a more sustainable future for our sport.’

The post FIA Announces Details of 2026 Formula 1 Technical Regulations appeared first on Racecar Engineering.

Aston Martin has implemented the largest number of updates with nine, while Mercedes has also made a suite of changes for the first European round of the season. Some teams developed upgrades to be applied at the first six flyaway rounds, such as McLaren in Miami, but this weekend marks the biggest collective display of changes for the Europe-based organisations.

Reigning champion Red Bull has fitted its points-leading RB20 with performance upgrades to the floor, front wing and nose. The Milton Keynes-based outfit undertook CFD simulations to see how it could extract more load from the floor edge, and found that it could do this by repositioning a section under the rear wing. It also found that it could bring the upper surface of the floor down slightly to improve airflow to the components behind.

The leading edge of the front wing endplate has been repositioned and flap elements have been redesigned to extend the chord (the distance between the leading and trailing edges). Extending the chord means that Red Bull can extract more load from the flaps. As an offshoot of revising the flap elements, Red Bull also adjusted the nose box fairings.

‘I think the visibility of the upgrade is maybe not as apparent from outside, but it’s something interesting for us,’ said Red Bull technical director Pierre Waché on Friday, when Max Verstappen had a couple of off-track moments in practice. ‘What we put on the car now [and] how we develop the car will depend on our tools [and our] response to the performance.’

Ferrari is marking the first of two home races with a comprehensive set of updates. A key change is the introduction of a new sidepod inlet. The SF-24 started the season with an underbite-style inlet to direct air for cooling the internal components at the rear of the car. The new inlet, which now has an upper lip that protrudes slightly further than the lower one, is designed to improve flow quality over the floor edge.

Airflow-related changes to the floor edge and engine cover have also been made. The engine cover volume is smaller than it was before, improving flow quality towards the coke bottle-shaped rear section of the car. An expansion of the diffuser offers a load increase in that area. Ferrari has also updated the SF-24’s front and rear wings. The latter now has a swept flap tip and enlarged mainplane to endplate roll junction.

Ferrari started the Imola weekend strongly as Charles Leclerc topped both practice sessions on the first day of running.

On the Aston Martin AMR24, the central section of the front wing has a revised shape and relationship to the first wing element. This is designed to alter the loading distribution on the wing’s lower surface, and has led to a new nose being fitted.

Lower surface load has also been increased on sections of the floor, while the diffuser has been modified to improve airflow characteristics. A revised central trim at the centre of the engine cover is smaller than the previous version that Aston Martin ran with. This modification has been made for cooling purposes.

Additionally, the external fairings of the rear suspension have been revised. This appears to be an aerodynamic measure as the rear corners of the car affect air flow around the rear wheel.

Mercedes has brought two performance-related upgrades to Imola, as well as three circuit-specific changes pertaining to the 4.9km track.

Looking at the performance side, the Brackley-based team has made a minor modification to the floor fence alignment that is aimed at improving the quality of airflow to the rear of the floor and onwards to the diffuser. Mercedes has also modified the volume of the tunnels carved into the underfloor to generate downforce through ground effect. This changes the trajectory of the vortex generators positioned along the floor edge, increasing load on these parts.

Despite Imola being its home race, the RB squad is the only team that has not declared any updates for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. Click here for a full list of each F1 team’s declarations.

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Company chairman and CEO Michael Andretti, and his father, the 1978 F1 world champion and 1969 Indianapolis 500 winner Mario Andretti, were among the leadership figures present for the move-in ceremony this week. They were joined by 80 staff from Andretti Cadillac UK.

‘The flexible space will house manufacturing facilities, including pattern, model and machine shops, ADM, electronics, R&D and additional office and meeting facilities,’ the team said in a statement.

‘This new space will continue to work hand in hand with our principal Andretti site in Indiana, and our Formula E facility in Banbury and will be a collaborative site for our global family of race teams.’

The team declared that the opening of the new facility sees Andretti embark ‘on the next stage of our preparations to enter the FIA Formula 1 World Championship.’

Andretti submitted a formal entry request in cooperation with engine manufacturer Cadillac, but F1 rejected the application in January following a lengthy commercial assessment. Part of F1’s reasoning was that it felt the championship would provide more value to Andretti than the other way around. Although the setback prevented Andretti and Cadillac from joining the grid in 2025 or 2026, the door was not entirely closed because a 2028 entry point remains possible.

‘Our preparations began some time ago with a focus on critical activities such as assembling key staff and focusing on long lead-time activities including aerodynamic design, mechanical design and vehicle dynamics,’ the statement continued.

‘The new facility will be completed in phases according to commercial and sporting needs and workforce requirements.

‘We have said that our work continues at pace – this new facility embodies that work. While we are building an American works team, having a European base is a great way to attract the best in F1 talent and install state-of-the-art machinery.’

So far, the Andretti F1 project has been organised in a transatlantic capacity across Silverstone, Indianapolis and the General Motors technical facility near Charlotte, North Carolina.

Andretti currently runs cars in IndyCar, Formula E, Extreme E and also has partnerships with other teams in IMSA GTP and Australian Supercars. Last month, it revealed plans for a brand new 90-acre campus in Indiana. The first 400,000 square foot (37,161 square metre) phase of the project that will house Andretti’s IndyCar, Indy NXT and IMSA operations is due to open next year.

The post Andretti Opens New Silverstone Facility as Part of F1 Push appeared first on Racecar Engineering.

The American-owned team’s backward momentum was followed by team boss, Gene Haas, overseeing a major staffing overhaul, headlined by the departure of Guenther Steiner from his long-held post as team principal and promoting technical director, Ayao Komatsu, in his place. Considering he is the face of a new era, Komatsu came out surprisingly pessimistic about the Haas VF-24’s potential ahead of the new season, stating that he expected the car to start ‘towards the back of the grid, if not last.’

The bar could not have been set lower, but the team wants to raise it as the season progresses, not least Komatsu who has a chance to prove himself as team leader. The organisational shuffle included the promotion of former chief designer, Andrea De Zordo, to technical director, and some other movements within the staff hierarchy.

Despite Komatsu’s downbeat outlook (based on his claim that Haas lost two months of VF-24 development time as it worked on a late-season 2023 upgrade) the latest car has not been a disaster. That’s probably enough to be considered a success considering how badly the previous campaign went. At round two in Saudi Arabia, Nico Hülkenberg ended an eight-race pointless streak to give the team’s 2024 programme an early boost.

Tyre wear was the main reason why last year’s Haas floundered in races. The VF-23 was occasionally hot in qualifying, reaching the final session 11 times, but points were only scored on four occasions. Correcting that imbalance has been high on the agenda for 2024 and Haas hammered that point home when it prioritised long runs during pre-season testing in Bahrain, where it clocked the most laps.

‘Probably the characteristics of the car last year were not the best,’ admitted De Zordo. ‘It performed very well in certain conditions, but in others it had big losses. This made it a lot more difficult to drive. When you have new tyres, it covers some of these bad characteristics and makes it easier for the drivers.’

Haas wanted to make the VF-24 more stable and predictable for the team’s experienced drivers, Hülkenberg and Kevin Magnussen, who are in their second season as teammates.

‘This is a big help for the tyre,’ De Zordo noted. ‘At the same time, there is also driving style and how you manage [it]. During the last year, we improved a lot and understood better how to do [that]. Only as we improve that, as we [improve] the general performance of the car, the others are making improvements more than us. Even in the last part of the championship, when we understood better how to use the tyres, we lost some competitiveness, and the results didn’t come. So we are working this year to put both together.’

The early signs have been promising, although Haas is still far off the competitiveness it showed in its first three F1 seasons when it was regularly challenging for the top five.

‘I’m kind of pleased – not over the moon, as we didn’t score points – but it seems like we have a car which is a bit better on the tires this year, not necessarily quicker than last year but at least better on tires, and I think we’ve shown that today,’ said Magnussen after finishing 12th at the Bahrain season-opener, held at a circuit with an abrasive surface that produces high degradation.

Things got better at Jeddah – a smoother track with greater focus on outright speed – as Hülkenberg finished 10th after getting some help from Magnussen to bottle up a group of rivals.

The design of the VF-24 can trace its roots back to last year’s United States Grand Prix where Haas rolled out the 2023 car’s only major upgrade. Fully embracing the downwash-producing sidepod profile that Red Bull made so effective, the package also featured tweaks to the downforce-generating floor, the front brake duct and cooling system. While Komatsu described that rollout as a burden on the VF-24’s development, De Zordo later said that it did at least help to inform on some design aspects. However, it’s not a straight carry over.

The sidepod inlets on the VF-24 are narrower than those seen at COTA, complementing a deeper undercut. Haas also further developed the front wing, adding a third exposed flap to the rear outer corner of each end plate, and re-working the dive plane on the outside of the end plates to become some of the most detailed in the field.

‘This car is just the development of that [update],’ said De Zordo. ‘[It is] the same direction, just before [at COTA] it was just at the beginning. Now it’s a lot more developed. Even if it didn’t perform as you would hope from a big upgrade package, it was in line with what the numbers said it should have been. So it was positive.’

After a disastrous 2023, the VF-24 has emerged as an acceptable starting point with consistent attributes that can be improved on. With its changes to the management structure, Haas now has a greater focus on engineering from the top. Komatsu, an experienced engineer who has been in F1 since 2005, and De Zordo plan to oversee significant updates at an earlier point in the season compared to last year, which could help to drag Haas out of the murky depths and free up development resources for its 2025 car.

Click here for the full article about the Haas VF-24 in the April issue of Racecar Engineering.

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