A close look at Aston’s Martin’s controversial upgrades

However, there are some other changes – both big and small – that differentiate it from the car that was last rolled out in Miami.

First up, the team has introduced a new rear wing configuration, with an onus on increasing downforce for the challenges posed by both the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and Monaco that the wings already at its disposal wouldn’t have resolved.

The design is most closely aligned to the one used in Bahrain, with the elements filling up more of the legality box and being angled more steeply too.

The team has also used different downforce offerings at the other circuits, with a spoon-shaped design to help reduce downforce and drag was deployed at both Jeddah and Miami, and a more conventional shape was favoured in Imola.

There have also been several changes to the halo and its fairing, not least the change from green paint in the front section to black instead, which begs the question as to why it didn’t choose to save even more weight and just leave it carbonfibre.

The team also mounted a new pair of fins on the rear upper section of the halo for FP1 that they removed during the session (red arrow), whilst another fin has been added ahead of the rear mounting (blue arrow), which is likely an improvement based on the side-mounted winglet that’s been taken on and off the car during the first few races (purple arrow).

Aston Martin AMR22 Halo winglets

Photo by: Uncredited

Moving down the car, the first elements that we come across that bear all the hallmarks of the Red Bull RB18 design philosophy is Aston Martin’s switch to the twin outer floor strake layout that, until now, had been individual to Red Bull.

Aside from them being stacked next to one another they also feature a stepped design ahead of the transition into the floor, which should produce vortices that interact with one another and increase performance locally and downstream.

Aston…