Only McLaren and Stake have submitted new items to the FIA as a tripleheader of consecutive race weekends comes to an end at this weekend’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
While the majority of teams had new parts at Circuit of The Americas two weeks ago, there were fewer upgrades introduced in Mexico City due to the timing of three events in a row and even fewer at Interlagos. Only two teams have submitted new components as part of the FIA’s car presentation list, with McLaren’s solely focused on the downforce levels required for the circuit.
A new rear wing has been designed that works at medium downforce levels, with McLaren saying it is aimed at “increasing overall wing efficiency over the existing medium downforce wing.” There are also two beam wing options — one high downforce and one low downforce — that have been required to complement the new rear wing design.
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The only other team with a submission is Stake, with a performance upgrade around the front suspension. New outboard suspension pick-up points provide more freedom for the team’s mechanical setups, while there are re-optimized suspension fairings as part of the update.
Stake also has a new beam wing that it says is circuit-specific, increasing efficiency in this area for the Interlagos layout.
Although there are no other teams with new components listed, some second sets of upgrades are coming online following their initial introduction in recent races. One such example is at Mercedes, where a new floor is again available to both drivers after George Russell was forced to use an older specification in Mexico City due to his heavy qualifying crash at COTA.