The late arrival of the contentious STR2 left the Faenza team with precious little time to complete its preparations before it was thrust into the 'flyaway' sequence of events in Australia, Malaysia and Bahrain, and the break since round three has allowed for detailed examination of key parts of the package.
“Like most teams, after the first three grands prix, we have a significant upgrade to our aerodynamic package, including the major element of a new rear wing,” chief engineer Laurent Mekies, "The aero package update also includes new side pod wings, which are the two elements easy to see from the grandstands.
"In addition, however, the main aspect of our aero update is one that is harder to spot, but one that we believe is as important as the more obvious items. We have paid very close attention to the quality of all components that affect the aerodynamics on the car. As everyone knows, we really had to rush simply to get parts ready for the first three races and the price we paid for rushing was that the quality level was not up to the standard we wanted.
"Now, we have worked on the aero quality of the parts, which involves ensuring that there is a better fit between all the bodywork components. There are a large number of bodywork components and the quality of the fit between them can have a significant effect on their aero efficiency.
“Furthermore, the flexibility - or rather the stiffness - of these parts, to ensure they do not flex in the wind, is also important, as is the actual smoothness of each piece of bodywork. We have worked hard on the quality of the surface of our aero parts to get more performance out of them and, to this end, we have now removed all the stickers from the bodywork and replaced them with paint. This not only makes for a smoother less resistant surface, it also brings with it a weight saving benefit. And, from an aesthetic point of view, the car also looks much nicer!
