The Haas Formula 1 team’s British GP update package is focused on the “sensitivities” of the car and further improving tyre management. Aerodynamics team leader Luca Metelli says that making the VF-24 easier to drive for Nico Hulkenberg and Kevin Magnussen will, in turn, allow them to manage their tyres more effectively.
The team has brought a substantial package to Silverstone, focussed mainly on the floor. But it also includes modifications to the sidepod inlet and mirror stay.
“We just worked quite a lot on improving the sensitivities on the car,” said Metelli. “We saw that compared to last year, this car was better in tyre management, and mainly because of not just overall downforce, also sensitivities.
“We just received the feedback from the drivers saying compared to last year, we improved a lot this area.
“And so we want just to keep on pushing that area. To make the car easier to drive for the drivers, and in this way, manage the tyres better.”
Metelli expects the gain from the Silverstone package to be comparable with earlier updates introduced in Shanghai and Imola.
“From the simulations, I would say that it is roughly in line with the upgrades we already brought in race five and seven,” he said.
“But every time that you bring a big package on track, it’s always a big question mark. Because it depends on correlation with the wind tunnel, it depends on how actually the drivers can get the maximum out of all the package. So, how you manage to optimise the set up updated with the new package?
“So it’s always like a big question mark. We are pretty happy with what we have seen with the wind tunnel results and simulations. Hopefully, it’s going to translate it into a good this weekend.”
Haas target high-speed performance
Earlier this year the team has put a focus on performance in high-speed corners, which in turn helps the tyres.
“The high speed of course was something that we were lacking at the start the season,” said Metelli. “Already with the previous upgrades, it’s something that we improved quite a lot. If you see Austria, we were quite good.
“And so we just work also more in order to improve the consistency of the rear load. In order to make the drivers avoid sliding and destroying the tyres, and improve the tyre management.”
Metelli also acknowledged that after the earlier 2024 updates, the team has been lacking more in medium-speed corners.
“The honest answer is that it was a surprise also for us because we were struggling at high-speed corners,” he said.
“With these two packages, it’s fair to say that when we introduced them, they were not proper high-speed corners. So it was hard to read. And then, in the last races, we saw that actually, we managed to improve it.
“And actually, the bottleneck was more medium-speed corners. But this package was not focussed on high speed, but overall on improving consistency. And overall raised the level of downforce.”
