During the first day of testing in Barcelona, the Alpine team unveiled an aerodynamic solution that immediately caught the attention of engineers and observers. Beneath the nose of the A526, flow diverters have reappeared under the front wing, a concept that had been banned during the ground-effect era. By contrast, Mercedes focused on detailed airflow analysis, using coloured flow-vis tufts to study the behaviour of the air.
For Flavio Briatore, Alpine—now powered by Mercedes power units—must become a competitive team once again, or at the very least capable of climbing back up the Constructors’ Championship standings after finishing last at the end of last season.
The A526 began its first day of collective testing in Barcelona with Franco Colapinto at the wheel, featuring a front-wing solution that has come back into fashion after four seasons dominated by ground-effect cars. Under the main profile of the car designed by former Ferrari engineer David Sanchez, a vertical fence appeared on each side, similar to what was commonly seen up until 2019.
According to the long-standing Formula 1 principle that nothing is ever truly discarded and that every idea can be recycled when regulations change, vertical fences were prohibited during the Venturi tunnel era. That restriction now appears to have been lifted with the arrival of more agile cars. This is another sign that teams are once again trying to recreate the outwash effect, directing airflow around the outside of the front wheel to clean up the wake and ultimately improve performance.
On other cars, such as those from Cadillac and Racing Bulls, flow diverters have also appeared on the footplate, the shaped section located on the outside of the lateral fence. The original intention of the FIA was to force designers towards an inwash effect, with airflow directed towards the inside of the front wheels. The aim was to keep the car’s wake less disturbed, preventing a significant loss of front downforce for following cars and therefore improving overtaking opportunities.
Alpine, however, has also introduced a small step on the inner face of the lateral fence, fully aware that this is a sensitive area of the front wing where targeted intervention can lead to tangible performance gains.
Mercedes, for its part, chose a more analytical approach to monitor airflow behaviour across the two movable flaps. The Brackley-based team fitted yellow flow-vis tufts, allowing its aerodynamicists to clearly visualise how the airflow changes with the wing profiles in open or closed configurations.
The Mercedes W17 completed 56 laps during the morning session with Kimi Antonelli at the wheel—before handing over to George Russell in the afternoon—collecting a vast amount of aerodynamic and power unit data. According to paddock rumours, the young driver from Bologna performed better than the team had initially expected.
Leave a Reply