Tech Preview | Imola weekend crucial to define hierarchies among top teams

The Imola Circuit is one of the very few “old-school” layouts still on the calendar. It has grass and gravel just over the white line, leaving no room for errors for all the drivers. The combination of fast corners, medium-speed corners, slow-speed chicanes, and high kerbs makes it extremely difficult for all the engineers to find the right balance around here, especially since the weather could be quite unpredictable. 

Red Bull and Ferrari with important upgrades

Red Bull are expected to bring a new floor and a new front wing this weekend. Although on Thursday, it was still not possible to see visible changes to the car (most of the teams set the updates on the car on Friday morning to prevent scratches and damages during Thursday’s practice pit stops), we could have a look at the rear wing chosen for this weekend. 

After adopting the least loaded rear wing last time in Miami, the Red Bull Racing team has decided to adopt the most loaded rear wing of all top teams this weekend in Imola:  the main plane has a very pronounced spoon shape and a rather high chord. The spoon extends very wide before tilting slightly at the outermost portion to connect with the endplate.

This solution increases the air flow rate and generates more downforce. To reach this goal, the main plane also has the leading edge inclined upwards to increase the air flow on the profile itself. The DRS flap has a smaller chord than the main plane but is still greater than the version adopted by the other top teams. It has a completely straight trailing edge, with a small Gurney flap in the central part to reduce drag by improving the interaction between the high-pressure area (in the upper part of the wing) and low-pressure (in the area below).

Furthermore, this spec is characterised by a new solution regarding the endplate transition between the mobile flap and the endplate itself. As already seen last year, a cut is now made in the endplate transition to reduce drag. This small component, however, has a sharper shape on the outer edge to "break" the vortex generated by the DRS flap itself into many small vortices, improving aerodynamic efficiency even when the DRS is closed. 

The decision to use a much higher downforce rear wing than their competitors may depend on different reasons. First, Imola is well known for being a twisty circuit, where aerodynamic stability is crucial to be fast. Moreover, the new front wing should add downforce on the front axle, and to better balance the car, more downforce is needed on the rear as well. Finally, this is clearly the best Red Bull spec for this kind of medium-downforce layout: the main plane produces a lot of downforce, while the DRS flap increases the top speed by quite a lot when it opens. The risk of rain for Sunday’s Grand Prix could also have forced the team to make a decision of this kind and only the results on track will tell if that’s the right choice. 

Ferrari brought a completely new car to Imola this weekend, which we already analysed in a dedicated article. As Leclerc pointed out during Thursday's press conference, Ferrari expects quite a step forward from this package: "I am positive and optimistic about the future. And occasions like Miami won't happen often this year. So we should always be there and hopefully catch the next one."

Expectations are clearly high for their first Grand Prix, but as said for Red Bull, only the results on track will tell how much of an improvement these upgrades offer. 

McLaren to do an encore this weekend? 

McLaren are on a high after victory in Miami last time; they’ll try to replicate their win this weekend. The Imola layout certainly smiles at the MCL38, seeing all the medium downforce and high-speed corners present here. Moreover, Oscar Piastri will benefit from the fully upgraded car, which means that the Papaya team will certainly be hoping for a tighter battle against Ferrari and Red Bull. 

Despite this, Land Norris pointed out that they’re still too far behind Red Bull to catch up: “[...] don't think at the minute we have the package from the beginning of every weekend to the end of every weekend. I think we have more work to do. I don't think we're on par with Ferrari and with what Red Bull have, but we're getting closer, so I think we need a couple more of the steps that we had in Miami".

Norris’ words point out that both McLaren and Ferrari still need to improve to get closer to Red Bull, but one thing is clear: this weekend will be crucial to establishing the hierarchies among the three top teams until mid-summer when the next packages will be provided. 

For all these reasons, everything is set for an exciting weekend of racing, which will offer interesting food for thought, as often happens.