Barcelona F1 2022 testing: The latest technical images

Williams FW44 front wing detail

A look underneath the Williams FW44’s front wing which is far less complex than we’re used to, as teams can no longer used strakes or overtly complex flap geometries. Also note the camera mounted to the FOM camera pod.

AlphaTauri AT03 floor detail

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

The AlphaTauri AT03 has a floor cutout midway along its length where a flapped section is mounted above the floor in its place.

Alpine A522 side detail

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

A nice overview of the Alpine A522 from the side, note the floor strakes protruding out the front corner of the floor and the cutout and rolled section thereafter.

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT03, with aero paint applied

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

The AlphaTauri AT03 with green flo-viz paint applied gives a general idea of some of the flow streams as it makes its way down the car.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Red Bull also joined in with the paint party, albeit their use of flo-viz was a little less liberal and more localised.

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Alpine probably thought that by using blue flo-viz we might not notice it against its livery, but we did. Here it is daubed all over the car's rear end, as Fernando Alonso kicks up some gravel on the track.

Flow-vis paint on the car of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

More flo-viz on the Red Bull RB18 towards the end of the first day of testing, albeit more targeted than some of their rivals in order that it can understand specific flow structures.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

Red Bull also changed one of the panels on the RB18’s sidepods and engine cover during the afternoon session to one with a succession of cooling gills.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13

Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

Mercedes also switched out a panel beside the cockpit which incorporated some additional cooling gills.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Flo-viz on the leading edge of the floor and underfloor tunnel strakes of the Ferrari F1-75.

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Rear view of the Red Bull RB18 which shows not only the diffuser, rear brake duct winglets and their uniquely stacked beam wing design, it also shows the size of the upper cooling outlet.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Comparatively, the McLaren MCL36’s cooling outlet looks a little wider.

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The Ferrari F1-75 has a much smaller rear cooling outlet but this is due to the cooling gills it has pressed into the sidepods upper surface.

Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

By comparison the Aston Martin AMR22’s rear cooling outlet is even smaller but it also has the cooling gills atop the sidepod to help reject the heat being generated within.

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Alpine has the rear cooling outlet situated lower down but it’s also supplemented by the cutaway and louvred section in the engine cover’s spine. It was running with an asymmetric cooling gill layout at this point, with the left-hand side of the car open, while the right was closed.

Red Bull Racing RB18 sidepods detail

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

The Red Bull RB18’s sidepods feature a displaced leading-edge arrangement, with the lower lip housed much further forward to artificially increase the size of the inlet, while also serving to act as a flow conditioner for the sidepod’s undercut. Also note the multi-element mirror housing design.

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT03

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

A triple fin arrangement on the edge of the AlphaTauri AT03’s sidepod.

Nicholas Latifi, Williams FW44

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The Williams FW44 with laser ride-height sensors fitted on the side of the floor to keep track of the floor's attitude compared with the track.

Aston Martin AMR22 floor detail

Photo by: Giorgio Piola

The Aston Martin AMR22 was also fitted with laser ride-height sensors on the edge of the floor.

The front wing on the car of Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The top edge of the Alpine A522’s front wing differs from its competitors, with a notch taken out the surface.

The rear wing of Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

A look at the Alpine A522’s rear wing with the relatively flat leading edge mainplane, rather than the spoon-shaped one seen elsewhere. Also note the rear wing mounting pillar connects directly to the DRS actuator pod, rather than to the mainplane, which should give a small boost, aerodynamically, as there’s cleaner flow to the underside of the wing.

The rear wing on the car of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Red Bull’s rear wing also features just a single mounting pillar that’s connected to the DRS actuator pod, rather than the leading edge of the mainplane.

The rear wing of the Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Here’s the DRS actuator pod assembly from the rear on the Red Bull RB18, which looks very different to its predecessor.

The nose of the Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

An extreme closeup of the driver cooling hole in the Red Bull RB18’s nose tip, which appears to be part of an interchangeable panel so that it can run without the hole if necessary.

The front wing on the car of Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT03

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

The mainplane’s leading edge is arched up and exposes the underside of the nose on the AlphaTauri AT03.

The front wing on the car of Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB18

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

In contrast the mainplane on the Red Bull RB18 dips down and the nose is connected to the second flap in the sequence.

The front wing on the car of Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin AMR22

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Conversely, Aston Martin has a high central mainplane with the nose fixed to the second front wing element.

The front wing on the car of Charles Leclerc, Ferrari F1-75

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Ferrari has yet another layout, with a dipped mainplane, whilst the nose stretches all the way to the leading edge.

Yuki Tsunoda, AlphaTauri AT03

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

AlphaTauri placed a pitot tube array in the mouth of their airbox to collect some data and make sure it’s performing as expected.

Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36, with aero paint applied

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

The McLaren MCL36 doused in flo-viz paint in order that the team can get visual confirmation of what aero surfaces are working as expected and where gains can be made.

The steering wheel for the Alpine A522

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

An overview of the Alpine A522’s steering wheel and the various buttons, rotaries and switches used to control the countless chassis and power unit functions.