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Tech gallery: How the Toro Rosso STR12 evolved throughout 2017
A selection of the best technical images of the Toro Rosso’s 2017 challenger, the STR12, courtesy of Giorgio Piola, Sutton Images and LAT images.
Matt Somerfield
Edited: Dec 19, 2017, 11:48 AM
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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 heater (inside the silver bag) maintains a steady temperature for the brake caliper while the car is in the garage.
A close-up of the floor slot and scrolls utilised by Toro Rosso.
A close-up of the two element, hooped T-wing used by Toro Rosso. Note also the elegant swan neck style supports that protrude from the shark fin.
Toro Rosso, like Mercedes, took the decision to raise the upper wishbones connecting point on the suspension upright.
The floor slot found alongside the sidepod on the STR12 was optimised in China, as the team looked to improve flow along the car's flank.
The reflective rear brake drums/cake tins used by the team to improve thermal management.
The rear brake assembly without the brake drum/cake tin attached shows the detailed pipework used to cool the brake caliper.
The STR12 being run with an asymmetric cooling outlet.
The updated front wing for the STR12 features a slot in the last element of the mainplane (red arrow), a design feature that was subsequently copied by McLaren. The flap tips, which had been divided into two for the first part of the season were also optimised (blue arrows).
A nice three-quarter view of the complex area ahead of the sidepods.
In this picture of the front brake duct we can see that the designers have opened up a small window above the brake disc to evacuate heat.
Various front wing solutions to cater for the demands of the Baku street circuit were tried by Toro Rosso, of which two can be seen here on the pitlane stand. Note the differing upper flap configurations.
The brake cylinders are moved up out of the way as the brake and steering systems are bled.
A look at the detail of the front brake assembly without the brake drum fitted which show off the various bits of pipework and ducting used to improve thermal and aerodynamic efficiency.
The car on stands as it’s prepared for action by the mechanics.
Fascinating shot of the STR12’s front end including exposure of the suspension, such as the third ‘heave’ element which is caged and runs horizontally across the upper section of the chassis.
A rearward shot of the turning vanes which were revised in Hungary to feature these serrated footplates.
A look at the high-downforce rear wing and monkey seat used by the team in Hungary.
Close-up of the STR12’s floor which features an additional flap on its already upturned edge (arrowed).
A look at the rear brake duct, where a reflective surface is used to control the temperatures. Note also the complex array of floor slots ahead of the rear brake assembly and the diffuser's outer edge which sees the detached Gurney trims reach around and rearward to manipulate the edge vortex.
The team used a spoon style rear wing in Italy in order to reduce drag on the straights. Note also the use of an asymmetric cooling outlet at the rear of the engine cover.
The team testing with the Halo mounted to the car and also a selection of pitot tubes inside the airbox inlet to establish how much the flow stream is disturbed by the safety structure.
Toro Rosso introduced a new nose for the Singapore GP with a slightly wider profile matched to longer front wing pillars.
As a comparison the older nose featured a narrower tip and shorter wing pillars.
A side on shot of the bargeboards which had their leading element reduced in height for Singapore.
A comparison of the new (bottom) and old (top) specification wings, with changes made to the mainplane arc (highlighted in yellow) endplate (green arrow) outer wing profile (yellow arrow) and ‘r’ cascade (red arrows).
The double element coat-hanger style T-wing introduced by Toro Rosso in Malaysia.
A look at the area ahead of the sidepods with the ever more complicated turning vanes, bargeboards, deflectors and sidepod airflow conditioners.
A kiel probe array is mounted to the rear quarter of the sidepod as the team looks to gather data that can bring improvements for future races or cars.
This shot of the underside of the front wing and nosecone presents us with details about the Naca style inlets for their ‘S’ duct and the position and size of the strakes under the front wing.
The under nose/chassis turning vanes introduced in Hungary were divided into three vertical elements and have multiple serrations in the horizontal footplate.
This image of the rear of the STR12’s steering wheel shows us an insight into the clutch and gearshift paddles.
Flo-viz applied to the rear wing and T-wing to assess whether the real world parts correlate with the information from the teams simulation tools.
The STR12 with the covers off shows the team's unique layout solutions, including the side saddle oil coolers.
A close-up of the front wing.
Toro Rosso tested an aerodynamic fairing on the Halo during the test in Abu Dhabi.
The aerodynamic fairing tested by Toro Rosso from a rearward angle.
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