It is not a rarity to see some of the best concepts introduced in the championship history from the cars that are far from winning. Aston Martin introduced their AMR22 in February with an original design concept that has been copied by several F1 rivals like Ferrari and Red Bull in this year’s championship. The Aston Martin AMR22 featured a keel wing under the nose. This allows usage of the design freedoms in the car’s particular area to provide a bit more downforce.
Further, Ferrari took note of the concept and installed a similar keel wing in the F1-75 during its launch. Many experts felt that the Italian team came up with the idea, but that might not be the case. The Scuderia’s team principal Mattia Binotto discussed that the engineering team in the Maranello factory responded quickly after watching what the other teams had been up to. Binotto revealed at the time that F1-75 already had a detail from a rival car that was presented in February. The team principal acknowledged that all teams watch their rivals closely, especially during the first phase.
The convergence of designs is not a new instance in F1. However, there was only a seven-day gap between the launch of Aston Martin and the Ferrari’s car. Hence, it was an amazing feat for Ferrari as the team put the concept through the CFD and the wide tunnel before manufacturing a physical version of the concept.
Red Bull Introduced A Keel Wing After Aston Martin & Ferrari
Red Bull took a little longer to consider the merits of the keel design. The racing team had to find ways to work on a new concept during an already cramped schedule at the season’s initial stages. The keel design houses a series of different components, with Red Bull choosing to put some of their electronics there instead of the sidepods. The design has allowed Red Bull to install a tall and narrow inlet to keep the components cool. Like many other teams in the circuit, Red Bull has a sprung element fitted between the chassis and the bib, which limits the surface’s shape.
Further, the team narrowed the main body of the keel facade to include some wing elements on either side. Hence, it took Red Bull longer to come up with the design as it was a little complicated. The winglets would alter the local pressure distribution and flow behavior. The design also sheds a pair of vortices that can power up or quieten the shed by the bib below. This depends on how the team wants the winglets to behave. Moreover, Alpine also introduced the keel wing at the Imola F1 race. Fernando Alonso received some new parts during the Weekend in Imola along with the new wing.