Bite-size tech: Toro Rosso STR11 rear wing
Toro Rosso has spent the last few GP's trying to assess and understand why the 'B-specification' package introduced before the summer break in Germany hasn't yielded the results expected.
Giorgio Piola's F1 technical analysis
Giorgio Piola is the preeminent Formula 1 technical journalist. View our full selection of Giorgio's technical illustrative content
The team expected the update to provide a significant improvement in performance, perhaps enough to overcome the power unit deficit it faced at Spa and Monza from running a year-old Ferrari powe unit.
When that didn't materialise it left the team in a quandary, one it worked through intelligently to understand, with both drivers back-to-back testing the old and new specifications.
It is understood that this study highlighted that the predicted downforce gain was largely met by the update, however, a disproportionate and unexpected increase in drag also came with it, nullifying to a large extent the downforce gains made.
As such, in Malaysia it is no surprise to see the team install a new rear wing design which appears to work on the compromised relationship between downforce and drag.
The butterfly style design mainplane features a much shorter chord in the central part of the wing, whilst retaining a tall chord height at the outboard sections.
The DRS actuator pod has also been redesigned to take this into account, along with the shape of the top flap, which now features a broader V groove.
The open ended louvres pioneered by the team at the start of the season are retained and run in the higher downforce configuration of three louvres to help displace the vortices generated at the wing tips.
Share Or Save This Story
The fascinating story behind McLaren's most iconic F1 car
Emilia Romagna GP: F1 technical images from Imola's pitlane
The F1 downforce choices that proved key at the Saudi GP
“I’m not enjoying life” – How Yuki Tsunoda’s Red Bull F1 stint “exhausted” him
Red Bull insists “there is nothing wrong” with Isack Hadjar's recovery
How Arvid Lindblad has shown that he's found his feet in F1
Hendrick to bring back iconic neon yellow car numbers for 2027
NASCAR changes wet-weather tire policy for Bristol to give teams more control
Max Verstappen beats the 100 in blistering time as it happened
Beyond the silverware: Nick Yelloly reflects on true impact David Salters leaves at HRC USA
F1 doesn't need to change its VSC rules despite Lando Norris' Spain loss
Why Lando Norris doesn’t buy George Russell’s driving style theory
How Kimi Antonelli is proving unbeatable, even when he's beaten
How Norris unfurled a surprising - and "unrepeatable" - Spanish GP pole lap
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments