The Spanish Grand Prix promises to be the most interesting of the entire season on the technical front. In addition to the complexity of the search for optimal balance on one of the most complete tracks in the World Championship, there is also the debut of aerodynamic and mechanical updates for almost all the teams entered on the grid. Among these is Mercedes, for which significant interventions on the fund are expected to counter porpoising, a phenomenon to which the top management of the team refer all the critical issues of the Silver Arrows. The goodness of the Barcelona evolution package will be crucial for Brackley’s team to determine whether it is still worth investing time and resources on the W13 or whether to develop another aerodynamic concept for the 2023 single-seater.
On Thursday at the Circuit de Catalunya, the main updates remained hidden inside the stables, with journalists and photographers kept at a safe distance from the cars. However, from the few shots taken in the pit lane it can be seen how the rear wing with the spoon profile has returned to the W13 in Spanish guise, after the straight wing used in the race in Miami. The return to the previous specification, however, is not to be understood as a rejection of the innovations brought to Florida, but as a normal operation of adapting the aerodynamic configuration to the greater load imposed by the Catalan track. It is particularly surprising how the Brackley team seems to lean towards the maximum load configuration, with the upper profile of the wing having the maximum rope, no longer being carved as it did from the second race onwards in an attempt by the team to reduce drag. aerodynamics.
At the front, Mercedes confirms the new wing introduced in Miami, demonstrating how the update seen at the front of the W13 in America was not specific to the trip overseas. The new front wing of the Silver Arrows had been discussed for the interpretation of the technical regulation, maintaining the connection between the profiles and the vertical endplate strip as required by the legislation, but offering an outlet in the rear part which thus generates eddies at the lateral end of the wing.
With the exception of the specific rear wing for high-speed tracks such as the Miami one, the confirmation in Spain of the updates brought to Florida on a radically different track represents a positive sign for the Brackley team, averting the risk of correlation problems. The most important verdicts, however, are expected from the Catalan track, on which the innovations in the cross-country area will be tested.
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