Why Barcelona will be a reference point for teams in F1's development race.
The Spanish Grand Prix weekend will offer F1 teams a valuable reference point as to how far they have been able to develop their cars during the opening five races of the season, says Williams driver Nicholas Latifi.
‎16‎ ‎May‎ ‎16‎:‎10
Author Tom Leach

F1 returns to Europe after a busy weekend in Miami, with an interesting reference point approaching in the upgrade battle. After a weekend of rest following the Miami race, F1 will head back to Barcelona this weekend for the first time since pre-season testing. It was this behind-closed-doors test that allowed teams to run their newborn cars in anger.

But since then, developments have been bolted on in the quest for either more performance or fixes for gremlins, with the return visit giving teams a chance to see how far - or not - they have come.

So far, Red Bull appear to have made the most progress, closing in on Ferrari and securing back-to-back race wins in Imola and Miami. However, the Spanish GP could bring big upgrades throughout the field.

‘Big Upgrades and Development Reference Point’;

https://racingnews365.com/why-barcel...velopment-race


Ferrari aiming to reduce drag with Spanish GP upgrades
Both Ferrari and Red Bull are bringing upgrades to the 2022 Spanish Grand Prix as the championship battle intensifies.
16 May 2022
by Rob Kershaw

A new diffuser is among the changes that Ferrari are making to their F1-75 at this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix as they look to improve the straight-line speed of their 2022 challenger.

Ferrari plan to amalgamate different parts that they have been testing in recent rounds of the championship, including the new “skids” they brought to the Miami Grand Prix.

The floor they used at the controversial tyre test in Imola was the same one that they had already used in pre-season testing in Barcelona, but changes have now been made after they managed to cross reference its performance, and the floor in Spain should now be the optimum version of it.

Ferrari Diffuser Upgrade’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/ferrari-a...h-gp-upgrades/


Mercedes admit they could bring radical upgrade for Spanish GP
The new technical regulations have wreaked havoc with Mercedes in 2022.
10 May 2022
by Rob Kershaw

They unveiled a new design of the W13 at the second pre-season test in Bahrain which saw the sidepods all but removed from the car, leaving the underbody exposed as the resulting extrusion only seemed to aggravate the bouncing.

New winglets in Imola did little to improve their fortunes, but a revised front and rear wing as well as much a much thinner wing beam appeared to make somewhat of a difference, but their pace was still a long way away from Red Bull and Ferrari.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has said that anything is possible as the Silver Arrows ponder the changes they might make in a bid to improve the performance of the car.

‘Mercedes Radical Upgrade’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/mercedes-...or-spanish-gp/


Red Bull to develop even bigger aero upgrade package after Spanish GP
Red Bull's upgrade at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix has helped Max Verstappen to two consecutive victories.
17 May 2022
by Rob Kershaw

Red Bull are reported not to have exceeded 18 percent of their development budget in 2022 amid reports that they had almost exhausted it.

They are so happy with their current situation within the spending cap, in fact, that they have already begun work on an upgrade for the British Grand Prix in Silverstone which is set to feature “major aero changes.”

Assessing the areas of improvement are part of the reason that Ferrari have waited until the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend to unleash their first batch of major upgrades, which include a new diffuser and a revised floor. Red Bull were slightly less circumspect in their approach, and they opted to bring their first evolution of the RB18 to the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.

‘Red Bull Bigger Upgrade After Spanish Grand Prix’;

https://formula1news.co.uk/red-bull-...er-spanish-gp/


McLaren outline aims for Spanish GP after Miami struggles
17/05/2022, ‎14‎:‎30
Author Anna Francis

Like many teams, McLaren will be bringing updates to their car in Barcelona, and Norris is optimistic about the impact this could have.

"The team are working flat out to bring upgrades to the car as we speak, so hopefully that will give us the boost we need as we head into this double-header. Let's keep at it!" the Briton added.

Team boss Andreas Seidl: "We are bringing some upgrades to the car for the weekend. I know it's been an extremely busy week or so for many of the teams making changes ahead of Barcelona, so it's going to continue to be a tight fight for points.”

McLaren Updates and Upgrades for a boost’;

https://racingnews365.com/mclaren-ou...iami-struggles


Norris: McLaren working flat out to bring upgrades
16 May, 2022
Editor

McLaren are working flat-out to get upgrades to their car for this weekend’s 2022 Spanish Grand Prix, so says their driver Lando Norris who suffered a DNF in Miami last time out. Zak Brown’s team may fancy a shot at dysfunctional Mercedes, who are currently ahead of them on points. But it is early days.

In the McLaren preview of the Grand Prix weekend in Spain, Norris revealed: “The team are working flat out to bring upgrades to the car as we speak, so hopefully that will give us the boost we need as we head into this doubleheader. Let’s keep at it!”

Team principal Andreas Seidl confirmed: “We performed well at this track in pre-season testing so it will be interesting to see how our car will perform with the upgrades we’ve made since then. Hopefully we can have some good battles and get both cars back into the fight for good points,” concluded Seidl.

‘Flat Out McLaren Upgrades’;

https://www.grandprix247.com/2022/05...sh-gp-preview/


Alfa want ‘easier’ Barcelona weekend with new upgrades
Date published: May 16 2022
Jamie Woodhouse

Alfa Romeo will roll out the upgrades for the Spanish Grand Prix, which they hope will be a trouble-free race weekend.

The ideal scenario is a clean, productive run through the practice sessions, gathering as much data as possible, but such an experience has been hard to come by over at Alfa Romeo, with Valtteri Bottas losing out on a big chunk of practice time in Imola and Miami.

So, team boss Frederic Vasseur is now very much hoping for a change of fortunes come Barcelona. “I would love to have a more easy weekend, something very calm with good sessions,” he told Motorsport.com.

‘Alfa Romeo Hope Upgrades, Trouble Free and Easy’;

https://www.planetf1.com/news/alfa-r...h-gp-upgrades/


Alpine to bring new F1 rear wing to Spanish GP
May 17, 2022, 4:06 PM
By: Jonathan Noble
Co-author: Matt Somerfield

Alpine is to bring a new rear wing to Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix as part of its upgrade push to help Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon.

With a lot of squads bringing developments for Spain, Alpine team principal Otmar Szafnauer has revealed that the most notable upgrade for its A522 will be at the back of the car.

“We’ve got a new rear wing coming for Spain,” he said. “It should be more efficient than the last time we ran there and it should be a little bit more performant, so we will have that for both cars.”

‘Alpine New Wing Upgrade’;

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/a...h-gp/10305712/