McLaren’s first major update

McLaren have brought their first major upgrades of the year to the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, with an updated diffuser and rear brake duct winglets.

The reshaped diffuser appears to have been grafted onto their existing floor to allow the team to assess and isolate its performance. The team say it is aimed at improving overall flow conditioning in this area as they look to gain aerodynamic performance.

A new rear brake duct winglet arrangement will result in “an improvement in local flowfield around the rear corner”, according to McLaren, which they say will translate to an increase in aerodynamic efficiency.

Oscar Piastri will run these new specifications over Friday’s practice sessions, with Lando Norris using the older ones to provide a baseline. Depending on which they feel is most performant, decisions will then be taken for the specifications to use for the remainder of the weekend.

Rear wing options for Ferrari

Ferrari are a team who have brought two different rear wing specifications to assess and analyse over the free practice sessions, even carrying over one set of components from last year.

Their first reported rear wing upgrade is aimed at adapting to “the peculiarities” of the Jeddah circuit and its requirements in terms of aerodynamic efficiency. The team say it is aimed at “adding granularity in the available downforce level options on the baseline rear wing”, pointing to some playing with downforce levels likely happening in the Ferrari garage over Friday’s sessions.

Their second rear wing upgrade seems to come in conjunction with one to the beam wing too, which will “provide a larger step” compared to their other upgraded option this weekend.

Interestingly, this set of options are carried over components from last year’s low-medium downforce events, with the single element beam wing also able to be combined with the different top wing assemblies.

Cooling things down at Red Bull

On a weekend where all Honda powered cars have taken new power unit components (within their allowances for the year, so no penalties), Red Bull Racing’s upgrades come with an emphasis on cooling.

They have updated their coke/engine cover to enlarge the central exit to “reject the heat needed for cooling” over what’s looking to be a weekend of high temperatures.

The team also have a beam wing update aimed at reducing the downforce level at a given speed to observe the lift/drag requirements of the circuit.

Less aggressive rear wing for Aston Martin

Aston Martin are another team with a new rear wing for circuit specific reasoning. They have brought a “less aggressive rear wing flap to fit an existing assembly” to Jeddah, in what they say is part of “standard development”.

It’s a wing that should have less load and therefore drag to suit the circuit’s characteristics.

Haas pick up where they left off in 2024

Haas are another team, like Ferrari, who’ve brought rear wings to Saudi Arabia that were used last year. In fact, the team have two from their VF-24 car, both with reduced drag and load levels which they’ve achieved through raising and de-cambering the profiles.

They also have a circuit specific front wing update which has a more relaxed flap profile to suit the lower drag levels they’ll be running – therefore aimed at ensuring the correct balance level.

Esteban Ocon’s car has also been fitted with a new exhaust system.

New wings of all sorts for Racing Bulls

All of Racing Bulls’ upgrades are for circuit specific reasoning, either in relation to the car’s balance or drag level.

Their new front wing’s flap has a reduced chord length which the team says “results in less load being generated by the front wing at a given flap angle”, therefore balancing out the lower rear wing levels they expect to run at the Jeddah circuit.

A new rear wing and beam wing are both aimed at efficient drag and downforce reduction. The upper wing of the rear wing has been de-cambered and the leading edge has also been raised, which they feel makes it a “good option” for achieving the “optimum lap time” here.

To efficiently reduce the drag of the beam wing, the team have reduced the load generated by its lower element.

Suite of upgrades for Kick Sauber

Sauber are a team who’ve moved beyond the wings in their upgrades, though these do also feature heavily. They have a new floor body this weekend which has changes to the central floor geometry to improve flow characteristics around the rear floor, aimed at efficient downforce gain.

A new front wing with a smaller flap will reduce the load generated by the wing to help rebalance their lower-drag rear wing, also introduced this weekend. The team say this new rear wing mainplane can be combined with several flaps to help them tune the load and drag levels.

Along with these new rear wing elements, Sauber also have a circuit specific update to their rear wing and beam wing endplates to increase overall efficiency at lower downforce levels.

Alpine take new engine components

Alpine may have no listed upgrades for this event, but they have fitted a new internal combustion engine, MGU-K and exhaust system to Gasly’s car, with new turbochargers and MGU-Hs for Gasly and Doohan.