Closing the mouth of the radiators is the dream of every F1 designer. It's an impossible challenge, even if Aston Martin came very close in an exercise in which it might have seemed heretical to go beyond the ultra-tight grips of the Red Bull RB19.
The AMR24, among the five single-seaters revealed so far, is certainly the one on which most has been dared in the search for aerodynamic efficiency of the side: the “green”, in the frontal view, is surprising because there is almost no light due to of the long lower tray that slopes far in front of the mouth.
Aston Martin AMR24
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
Keep your mouth (mostly) shut!
Dan Fallows, Aston Martin technical director, evidently isn't afraid of putting the reliability of the Mercedes power unit at risk. In reality, the Silverstone team has been developing this theme for over a year and it seems that they have found an effective down wash effect of the flows arriving from the nose and the upper part of the frame, without paying too much in resistance to the advancement of the mouth.
Aston Martin AMR24
Photo by: Aston Martin
The tray becomes a central hunting wing
The innovative concept that Ferrari had already introduced with good results on the SF-70 in 2017 has been taken to the extreme. Simply speaking of a tray is limiting because the lip has the profile of a wing and, as on airplanes, has a side bulkhead that serves to control leaks, while the upper mouth of the intake has been significantly moved back, to also use the rear-view mirror support as an air conveyor useful for down washing.
Radiators placed higher
The effect is that the AMR24 has increased the passage of air in the undercut which is intended for the bottom: the lower side takes on the shape of a wing, taking up in a less exaggerated way the idea of ​​the “double bottom” which had characterized the not happy Aston Martin 2022. To re-propose a significant channel under the belly it was necessary to raise the radiators with a new cooling system.
Aston Martin AMR24
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
The… Canyon remains a fixed point
With the reappearance of a central wing in a curious new interpretation, the upper part of the belly has also been revised. At Silverstone they were not convinced to adopt the slide of the Red Bull RB19, instead maintaining the design of the Grand Canyon, the external “wall” less conspicuous than on the AMR23 which distances the turbulence generated by the front wheel from the car body. Between the frame and the Canyon wall there is the interesting grooved part that is narrower than the Alpine one: the novelty is that the initial almost flat portion then corresponds to an excavation that becomes very deep.
The feeling, therefore, is that the new Aston Martin, although it is completely new, is not the result of a design started from a blank sheet of paper, but represents the radical evolution of last year's “verdona” which had greatly impressed in the first half of the championship and it had disappointed expectations in the second part of the season, only to relaunch itself in the very last events, when, on some details such as the fund, steps had been taken backwards.
Aston Martin AMR24
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
Front suspension: remains push
The body is the result of a new design: the front suspension attachments have been revised which, however, remains faithful to the push rod scheme. The interventions concerned the accentuated inclination of the arms to ensure the anti-dive effect, i.e. the sinking of the nose when braking, but to this positive effect which allows the height from the ground to be stabilized more to the advantage of the load aerodynamic, it also adds the opportunity to direct more flow towards the Venturi channels. The front arm of the upper triangle is almost cantilevered over the body.
Aston Martin AMR24
Photo by: Aston Martin
Muzzle short and narrower
In the front part, the shorter and narrower nose is striking: while the other single-seaters seen so far have the nose that rests on the main profile, the Aston Martin rests on the second element, apparently to favor the flexions allowed by the wing. We can also observe the flare in the lower part, the result of painstaking work which allowed it to pass the frontal crash test with flying colours. The front wing is new and is designed to increase the out wash effect with the slots in the side bulkhead.
New Mercedes short gearbox
Aston Martin continues its collaboration with Mercedes: it uses the Brackley wind tunnel while waiting for its own one to arrive ready, but also adopts the gearbox and rear suspension on the AMR24. La Stella, in the revision of the disappointing W14, decided to shorten the transmission case to move the driver further back. Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll, therefore, will also be sitting slightly more towards the rear, going in the direction of Red Bull, but with a smaller movement of the drivers on the black arrow.
Aston Martin AMR24
Photo by: Aston Martin
The rear suspension becomes push rod
The aim is to find a different weight distribution that allows the tires to be preserved during race stints. The big change to the rear also concerns the suspension: the pull rod scheme disappears, in favor of the strut. The kinematics have been raised in the gearbox to free up space at the bottom in order to facilitate better flow passage towards the diffuser.
If the transmission and suspension are Mercedes, the carbon arm covers and the revision of the entire rear corner are Aston Martin branded. The change in layout also required the redesign of the hub holders and the brake duct with attached fins.
Aston Martin AMR24
Photo by: Aston Martin
Stella type airbox but narrower
The airbox maintains the classic Mercedes design, even if Luca Furbatto's staff has reduced the section of the two side ears lower. The bonnet covers the central radiator, while at the root of the engine cover there is a very profiled bazooka which channels the hot air to be expelled at the tail. No gills are observed which will be opened depending on the characteristics of the track and climatic conditions.
The rear wing, supported by a single pylon, is not yet the one we will see in the tests in Bahrain. The fund is also an evolution of the one that concluded the 2023 season in Abu Dhabi, but a new one will arrive soon.
Aston Martin, after having collected many podiums with Fernando Alonso, must consolidate the work of last year and the ambition is to start winning at least one GP: Lawrence Stroll has invested significant sums to give a new modern headquarters to the team and to consolidate the technical staff. Now the time has come to start reaping the fruits sown…
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