Giorgio Piola and Sutton Images bring you a selection of the best technical images from the Barcelona pitlane and track action on the first morning of Formula 1 testing in 2020.

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Williams FW43 in the garage

1/25

Photo by: Franco Nugnes

Early doors: peeking into the Williams garage and getting a shot of the front suspension and chassis layout.

Ferrari SF1000 front brakes detail

2/25

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Ferrari has made changes to the brake drum design for 2020, as the team looks to move even more airflow through the assembly and out through the wheel face. Of course, this is an aerodynamically driven decision, rather than one that improves brake cooling, as the team looks to try and replicate the type of performance that the now banned blown axle provided.

Red Bull Racing RB16 detail

3/25

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Red Bull is also looking for a similar gain with the brake duct assembly, installing a massive inlet in order to capture airflow and not only distribute it to the various braking components but also fire it out through the wheel rim to affect the wake generated by the tyre.

Red Bull Racing RB16 detail

4/25

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Staying with the Red Bull brake duct theme we move to the rear of the car, where it’s easy to see how much work has gone into improving the aerodynamic properties of both the winglets connected to the main vertical fence and also the drum itself. Note the small blister-like protrusions which gently redirect errant flow toward its intended path.

Mercedes F1 W11 rear brake detail

5/25

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Moving over to Mercedes and we can see that it has pushed several concepts used last season a little bit further still. The main one of which is the expansion of the chamber in the suspension upright that can feed airflow into the air gap between the drum and wheel rim, thus helping to cool the surface of the wheel rim and by extension the bulk temperature of the tyre.

Racing Point RP19 front brake detail

6/25

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Were it not for the pink paint and BWT logo on the nose alongside you may have confused this brake and suspension assembly with the Mercedes, such are the similarities. Racing Point has even gone to the extent of using the vortex generating nozzles within the crossover section of the drum design that Mercedes introduced in Japan last season.

Mercedes F1 W11 mirror detail

7/25

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

This image of the forward face of the Mercedes W11’s sidepod shows what appears to be a temporary solution that’s being used to cool the electronics packed into the base of the sidepod.

Esteban Ocon, Renault R.S.20

8/25

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

This image of the RS20 sat in the garage with the covers off is possible this year owing to the removal of the screens that teams used to put up when returning to the garage. It affords us a great insight into the architecture of the Renault power unit, its ancillaries and the various coolers.

Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes F1 W11

9/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

A pair of large kiel probe rakes were fitted behind the front wheels of the W11 in the early laps of testing. These are used in order to collect airflow data, giving the engineers a clearer picture of whether the airflow is doing as was intended when they designed the respective parts of the car.

Esteban Ocon, Renault R.S.20

10/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The Renault RS20 out on track with a smaller, more closely knit kiel probe rake is mounted low down in order to measure the wake coming off the front tyre and its impact on the Y250 vortex.

Renault R.S.20 front detail

11/25

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

The Renault RS20 features a much narrower nose assembly than its predecessor, which entitles it to carry a very large cape solution. Note though, how an inlet is placed a little further back in order to improve localised flow and assist inboard.

Carlos Sainz, McLaren MCL35

12/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

McLaren opted for flo-viz paint as their medium with which to correlate data at the track with what was anticipated back at the factory. This green paint, in the case of McLaren at the rear of the car, produces streamlines that the engineers will take photos of and evaluate in the coming days and weeks.

George Russell, Williams FW43

13/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

George Russell at the wheel of the Williams FW43, which is outfitted with two large kiel probe rakes to measure the total wake created by the front tyres and how that may influence the structures aft of them.

Carlos Sainz, McLaren MCL35

14/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The MCL35 has been outfitted with some larger structures on the roll hoop which enclose additional cameras, which capture additional thermal imagery of the tyres to help build a better picture of how they can be managed throughout a stint.

Sergio Perez, Racing Point RP20

15/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The Racing Point RP19 is also outfitted with a similar rig, albeit with a more bullet-like design in order that they don’t impinge on the aerodynamic performance of the car.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF1000

16/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Ferrari also took to spraying flo-viz on their rear wing, with the green paint visible on the forward face of the mainplane in this image.

Esteban Ocon, Renault R.S.20

17/25

Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images

This close up of Esteban Ocon and his Renault RS20 with the covers off gives us a great view of the upper side impact support spar, which like most of the grid is in the lower, more forward position. If you’re wondering, the green structure is simply used as a support for the wing mirror stalk whilst the sidepod bodywork isn’t installed.

Daniil Kvyat, AlphaTauri AT01

18/25

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

This rearward view of the Alpha Tauri AT01 gives us a good indication of how narrow the cars sidepods are, with the various aerodynamic appendages around it stretching out to cover the allowable distance to the edge of the car.

Robert Kubica, Alfa Romeo Racing C39

19/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

This side-on shot of the Alfa Romeo C39 affords us a good view of their sidepod deflector array, a neat design which not only has a very narrow vertical slot in the forwardmost axe-head element but which also blends very pleasingly into the horizontal arched venetian blind-like panels.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

20/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

A rear shot of the Red Bull RB16 showing off just how high the rear suspension is this year and also affording us a view of the ‘Mickey mouse’-style exhaust layout.

Sergio Perez, Racing Point RP20

21/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

This side view of the RP20 gives us a clearer indication of the infra-red cameras that are mounted within the bullet-like airbox pods.

Kevin Magnussen, Haas VF-20

22/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

This image is a fine example of when you don’t think that teams are doing correlation work, as they don’t have flo-viz or massive kiel probe rakes on their car, they still are. Check out the row of kiel probes on the floor of the Haas VF-20, these will be capturing airflow data as it passes by them.

Carlos Sainz, McLaren MCL35

23/25

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

More flo-viz on the McLaren MCL35, this time on the left flank's bargeboards and sidepods, as the team looks to gather even more data about their new challenger.

Red Bull Racing RB16 front detail

24/25

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

The bulkhead of the Red Bull RB16 reveals note only some of the packaging details of their suspension but also gives us a clear indication of the work that's gone on in order to carve out space for internal pipework that’ll power the S-duct.

Red Bull Racing RB16 front detail

25/25

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Another view of the bulkhead, this time with the vanity panel in place. Also note an old approach that’s been reborn on the RB16 – the bellmouth beneath the chassis, which collects airflow to cool the electronics.

Read Also:

• Tech insight: A closer look at the Alfa Romeo C39
• Gallery: The best photos from the Barcelona F1 test
• Tech insight: Can Williams rise again with its new FW43?

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