AlphaTauri wow the F1 paddock with new extreme rear wing design

Jamie Woodhouse 21 Jul 2023 7:30 PM

Daniel Ricciardo drives upgraded AlphaTauri AT04. Hungary, July 2023.

AlphaTauri unveiled a range of upgrades for their AT04 challenger at the Hungaroring, but it is the new rear wing which above all else caught the eye.

F1 2023 has so far been a rather disastrous campaign for Red Bull’s sister team, who arrived for the Hungarian Grand Prix, Round 11 of the season, with only two points on the board.

这两个我们re scored by Yuki Tsunoda, courtesy of P10 finishes in the Australian and Azerbaijan GPs.

AlphaTauri去·拉迪奇al with new rear wing

The Faenza squad then face a tall task to get their campaign back on track ahead of a major makeover into next season, and a cluster of upgrades have arrived for the Hungarian Grand Prix in the search for a much-needed pace boost.

And AlphaTauri have caught the eye with their interpretation of the regulations on the rear wing, with their upgraded specification for the Hungarian GP signalling a move away from the traditional curvature of the upper and main element into the endplates which has become common under these regulations introduced from 2022.

This new rear wing on the AT04 though sees the upper element detach from the endplates.

#F1: interesting rear wing of the Alpha Tauri. Different connection from the flap to the endplate.#AMuS,#HungarianGP pic.twitter.com/y206NBLm9C

— Andreas Haupt (@andihaupt1)July 21, 2023

AlphaTauri state that the modifications to the rear wing flap tips have been made in an effort to “give an efficient increase in loading of the wing elements”.

Update baru di mobil AlphaTauri AT04 yang cukup ekstrim di bagian sayap belakang. Flap bagian atas selain kemiringannya dibuat semaksimal mungkin, bagian pinggirnya juga dipisah dari endplate.

Tujuannya jelas untuk meningkatkan efisiensi rear-wing dalam menghasilkan downforce.pic.twitter.com/QqJzzk8jx0

— F1 Speed Indonesia (@f1speed_indo)July 21, 2023

In addition to that upgraded rear wing, AlphaTauri have also introduced changes to the nose, front wing and floor on their AT04 for the Hungarian Grand Prix.

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Both the nose and front wing alterations have been made in a bid to increase the amount of downforce generated, while the widening of the central part of the rear floor has come about in a bid to generate “increased load through local surface curvature changes which accelerate the local flow and generates lower pressure under the floor as a result”.

The AT04 is not the only thing which has changed for AlphaTauri this weekend, as their driver line-up has too.

Daniel Ricciardo is now in to partner Yuki Tsunoda for the remainder of the F1 2023 campaign, replacing Nyck de Vries who was axed after an underwhelming 10-race spell in his rookie F1 campaign.