How F1 teams actually produce car upgrades in five steps

F1's current rules have gradually led to the closest grid in history, which means a minor upgrade can make the difference between scoring points and being out in Q1. Paired with tricky ground-effect cars and limitations on spending and aerodynamic testing, it has made the margin for error in the development process even smaller, with every update carefully considered and requiring total integration of every department involved.

The same is true for Racing Bulls, which has been on both sides of that tight midfield over the past 18 months. Other than taking a power unit, gearbox and suspension from big brother Red Bull Racing, Racing Bulls builds everything in-house with over 500 people at its main headquarters in Faenza and another 200 at its Milton Keynes campus. That's where the five-step journey from aero idea to running on track starts.

Step 1: Aerodynamics

Every aero performance upgrade starts with an idea conceived by the aerodynamicists, which in the case of Racing Bulls are chiefly located at the team's new UK headquarters in Milton Keynes, although the team's new location free approach is now also allowing people to work from Faenza. The benefit of moving to the Red Bull Technologies campus is easy access to Red Bull's wind tunnel, which is why most aero staff are based there, as well as a small team designing and producing 60% scale windtunnel models of all new aero surfaces.

Under F1's budget cap every team has to be much more disciplined regarding how many ideas it fleshes out, as there are not only budget restrictions but also limitations on wind tunnel hours and CFD work. But teams have been able to compensate for those restrictions by increasing the efficiency and accuracy of their methods.

"The first step of the process is CFD evaluation," says Matteo Piraccini, Racing Bull's operations director, as he guides us around a tour of the squad's compact but modern Faenza facilities. Piraccini, who is based in Faenza, ensures both factories are firing on all cylinders as they produce the fastest possible F1 cars in the most efficient manner. "If we are starting from 10 aero shapes, then two or three of those will be passing through the wind tunnel. At the end we collect all the data and then decide what the best solution is.

"That doesn't just involve the aerodynamicists. They are working very closely with VPG - the vehicle performance group - which passes a new aero surface through a simulation to see if it would really be a net gain on the actual circuit. You have to take into consideration car balance, circuits characteristics like bumpiness and different requirements for the car. After all, aero numbers are just numbers."

Racing Bulls VCARB 02, front wing

Photo by: Roberto Chinchero

Those considerations have been especially relevant for the 2022 generation of ground-effect cars, with several teams having found it hard to translate virtual numbers into  real-world benefits. That includes Racing Bulls with its 2024 Barcelona 'downgrade', but bigger squads including Ferrari and Aston Martin have also struggled.

Depending on the size of the upgrade package, minor tweaks can be signed of by performance managers while bigger revamps go all the way up to the level of the technical director. Their approval is called the 'aero release', an official communication within the team that gives the go-ahead to the next link in the chain to get to work; the design office. That decision not only takes into consideration the performance gain of the part but also timing, as certain circuits require specific upgrades. Plenty of teams produced bespoke high-downforce wings in time for Monaco, while Baku would be one circuit where lower downforce parts are being introduced. It is a careful juggling act to ensure the right parts are in the pipeline and ready for the right circuit.

Step 2: Design

The aero shapes are sent from Racing Bulls' UK aero department to its design office is based in Faenza, where designers are tasked with taking the conceptual surfaces and turn them into actual parts. It isn't just about getting the shape exactly right, but also about designing them with the right level of structural integrity, which is done with CAD and structural software. The Barcelona weekend is a good example, with teams being forced to beef up their front wings to comply with the FIA's stricter load tests as it clamps down on front wing flexing. It is expected all 10 teams will have to make changes to their wings, even those who don't particularly exploit flexing.

"On the design specification there is the aero shape requirement and different requirements which are linked to reliability and to FIA requirements," Piraccini explains. "Bodywork is more straightforward, because it just has to have a legal shape. But when we are talking about a structural part, such as the front wing, rear wing and floor, we have also to match legality both from dimensional and structural point of view to comply with the FIA's tests.

"In the technical regulations there is a procedure with a load being applied in a few areas. Corresponding each step of the load, the deformation of the flap or wing has to stay within certain limits. That is all part of the design specification, which has now changed for Barcelona."

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Other constraints include leaving enough space for complex cooling systems, wiring looms, and cutouts for over 200 sensors. Designers aren't just designing the carbon fibre parts themselves but also all the tooling required to produce them. A new floor design also means a new mold required to shape it, so these processes are being synchronised as much as possible.

"All our designers are able to work in real time with the same information, and that's why one of the most important tools of the design office is virtual mock-up of the car," Piraccini adds. "If you have a group working around the floor and a different group of working around the body work, and they are not talking at the same time in front of the same information, we can have a floor which is not matching the bodywork, and we are going to lose efficiency in our design process"

Step 3: Production

It is important to stress that this is not a linear process. The production department isn't twiddling its thumbs waiting for the full design specification to be finalised. To further improve "time to race", one of the biggest KPIs in car development which means how long it takes for an aero concept to appear on the actual race car at the circuit, the production department is pressed into action before the full design specification is finalised.

"A front wing is made up of different parts and we are not waiting for the last bit to launch the production process," says Piraccini. "Once the main plane of the front wing is released, the production department is starting the manufacturing process. Like an orchestra conductor, the product management officer is managing information and timing to ensure that the time to race is as short as possible.

Producing carbon fibre composites requires a very specific process. Works shifts to a "clean room", where carbon fibre sheets are laminated using resin to obtain what is called a wet ply. As the name suggests the clean room is a carefully controlled environment to avoid particles contaminating the ply, which could compromise the quality of the end product. Debris left in between carbon fibre layers could even cause cracks once the parts are being used and stressed.

As soon as the part has been laminated with wet ply, it passes through a cure cycle into an autoclave, which is a large oven that can be set to a certain temperature - commonly 100 to 250 degrees - as well as three to seven bars of pressure. That's where the carbon fibre composite is cured and receives its favourable strength to weight ratio. Once it's out of the oven, the part gets a first check-up and passes through a trim department which cleans and polishes it to further remove any dirt.

One of the autoclaves, or giant pressurised ovens, used to cure carbon fibre composites.

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Quite how many spare parts are being produced for each upgrade depends on the circumstances, as no one wants to produce more than necessary both for cost and physical resources. "There is no magic number," says Piraccini. "Monaco requires high-downforce rear wings and we all know how risky that track is for damage, so we based on our risk assessment we might choose to produce four or five wings. But sometimes you prefer risking it and getting just one or two wings out if you can, because it's performance.

"In the case of Barcelona's front wings, however, it's not a new aero package that is just 'nice to have', but a mandatory update from the FIA. In that case we cannot run any risks, so work started in advance to ensure that in Spain we will have enough spares that pass the FIA's new tests."

Step 4: Quality

The fourth major step in the process is the quality department, which validates the freshly produced component. As well as dimensional checks to ensure the end product complies with the design specification, there are also two ways of testing a part's integrity. There's a "destructive verification procedure" or DVP that tests a component to failure, and non-destructive testing [NDT] procedures that each individual part is subjected to before going onto the car. This is where the team double-checks if its new Barcelona front wing is rigid enough to comply with the FIA's stricter load tests.

But as Piraccini explains, this isn't a linear process either, as the quality department is already supporting the production process at an earlier stage. "Those competences are already required during production phase, and we want to speed up the time to race. If we are to detect an issue, it's crucial to detect it before the end of the process so we don't have to start over again. We also conduct tests during the part's life cycle while we are servicing it. A front wing is checked when it's brand new, and again after a certain mileage to ensure that there hasn't been any external influence from on-track running that has affected the stiffness."

Non-destructive testing

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool

Step 5: Assembly

The final phase is the assembly process where sub assemblies are being put together, such as the full suspension and the entire nose box including front wing. As Piraccini takes us through the department, we are laying our eyes on the squad's new floor for Imola that is being fitting with wiring looms. No pictures allowed, naturally. Those assemblies are then moved to the workshop area. Meanwhile, the paint shop is applying the livery and sponsor decals on each part.

Usually, cars are being shipped in parts before being fully assembled at the track. But at the time we are nosing around, the team is fully assembling the cars of Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson in the race bays. There is such a thing as a home advantage in F1, as Faenza being just 20 minutes down the road from Imola means Racing Bulls can shift some of its deadlines a bit later before having to release its cars.

How the process has changed

What has become clear is the intense choreography required to further cut down on the time and money it takes to thrash out new parts, further driven by F1’s aero restrictions. Efficiency is the buzz word, and so is effective communication.

The same mantra applies both on-track as it does back in the factory. Every millisecond counts.

Photo by: Red Bull Content Pool