Aston Martin’s AMR21 was one of the most impressive cars to see during the busy start-up phase, largely due to the fact that the team didn’t really hold back much.
The images shown at launch and later published did little to hide some of the fine details that some rivals have tried to hide. That’s a pretty bold statement and, in a way, shows just how ambitious the team is.
After looking at the world’s best Mercedes W11 for a whole season, has Aston Martin copied Mercedes’ homework again or really injected its own DNA into the AMR21?
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Racing RP20, Aston Martin Racing AMR21, Mercedes AMG F1 W12, front brake duct
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
At the front of the AMR21 we see a design aspect that was heavily questioned in 2020 – the front brake channels.
The images released by the team suggest that the 2020 brake duct design has been carried over, with the inverted L-shaped inlet still collecting the oncoming airflow to cool the brakes and create an aerodynamic effect that resembles that of the Airflow generated by the front wing is supported.
Mercedes decided to deal more aggressively with the turbulence in the front tire in 2021. This will most likely try to keep that turbulence out of the now narrower floors and has resulted in a bulkier inlet with the wider section now placed at the very bottom.
Identity crisis
Aston Martin took a design turnaround in 2021, choosing to revert to the periscope-style side box inlet arrangement and lower-mounted side impact bar (SIPS) that were a feature of the 2019 Challenger.
This arrangement came at the expense of two design features, but will no doubt unlock more aerodynamic performance, allowing the design team to pull the side box body much closer to the interior of the car while helping to mitigate some of the losses associated with the narrower floor.
The changes made to incorporate the lower SIPS on the chassis of the AMR21 also appear to coincide with a jammed section that creates a route along the side of the chassis to the side box inlet – which appears to be even narrower than the Mercedes W12 when also completely different shapes.
Aston Martin AMR21, Mercedes AMG F1 W12, side pods
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
As we can see above, when viewed from the front, the sidepods of the AMR21 have a significantly more rounded shape than those of the W12, especially in the shoulder area, which means that a wider control flag protrudes (red arrow).
While Mercedes chose to connect the horizontal side box rod to the main horizontal deflector of the side box, Aston Martin returned to the 2019 solution (blue arrow). This corresponds more to what we see at Red Bull – the elements are detached from each other, the end of the lamella is hooked in to throw off a more specific vortex.
When it comes to the side pods, the engine cover and the general rear architecture of the four Mercedes vehicles, it becomes clearer how much the AMR21 and the W12 have in common – but also how subtly they differ.
The engine covers of 2021 Mercedes-powered cars
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
Mercedes and Aston Martin have clearly been very aggressive when it comes to how far they are willing to push the cooling limits to get the aerodynamic compromise, with bulges and bubbles enveloping the power unit and its ancillaries. The largest of these bubbles are in the middle part of the engine cover, where you would expect the intake plenum, which is rumored to have changed for 2021 as well.
Williams and McLaren were a little less adventurous, the latter returning to the Mercedes family this year. That’s not to say that it makes their aerodynamic packages weaker, but it does mean that they have room to make improvements in this area.
Mercedes W05 detailing PU106 power unit installation, turbo compressor arrow insert
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Interestingly, the Mercedes factory team is the only Merc-engine team to use a liquid-to-air intercooler system during the hybrid era, with the teams that supply them all preferring air-to-air intercoolers. It’s still unclear at this point if that will remain the case for 2021, but given that the AMR21 has similarly tight packaging as the W12, this could indicate that it will be the first to make the switch.
Regardless of whether the AMR21 has the layout or not, there are arguments for using both types of system. Mercedes seems to prefer the symmetrical layout for reasons of cooling, packaging and aerodynamics, while with the intercooled option the packaging, design and weight of the entire system are slightly lopsided.
The other important consideration is the length of the boost tract, with the charge cooling system allowing a much shorter path from the turbocharger to the engine plenum, potentially improving the performance of the unit.
Aston Martin AMR21 detail
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
Aston Martin also received a token-free upgrade for the transmission and rear suspension, which Mercedes was particularly proud of last season (below). This essentially flips the wishbone, mounting the rear leg as high and far back as possible while placing the tie rod in front of the drive shaft instead.
Mercedes AMG F1 W11 rear suspension
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
This improves airway passage through the rear of the car, especially the diffuser ramp, which has become more of a burden since the new rules were introduced in 2017 (below).
Diffuser rules
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Independent thinking
A new design reference on the end plate of the rear wing shows once again that Aston Martin is stepping out of the shadow of Mercedes and distinguishing itself from its design frame. Never seen before on the Mercedes and nowhere else to be seen, the front corner of the end plate has been reduced in thickness so that another upward stroke can be installed in the recess.
Aston Martin AMR21 detail
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
This will undoubtedly affect the airflow in this region and naturally change the composition of the tip vortex ejected behind it. This development is due to the fact that teams are constantly looking for ways to compensate for some of the losses associated with the ban on slots and fins in the endplate, which the FIA introduced in 2019 and which resulted in increased drag.
Using a year-old design clearly gave Racing Point an edge when it came to gaining a foothold in midfield, but adopting the design of a car from a previous year, even the one that won a championship, would always put you behind the top so is the rate of progress over the season.
Sebastian Vettel, Aston Martin Racing
Photo by: Aston Martin Racing
The success of the strategy of catapulting Racing Point to the top of the midfield perhaps led to the conclusion that Aston Martin would take the same approach for 2021, which would result in a car that looked identical to last year’s Mercedes, but with one A hint of green color.
However, with a year to learn and develop a technically non-stand-alone concept, it is clear that Aston Martin has broken that barrier – it has essentially jumped a year, missed a generation in the gene pool, and created a car, that resembles the 2021 W12 more than last year W11.
It will be interesting to see how Aston Martin fares in the early stages of 2021 and where the focus of its development is. Of course, it will be a tough balancing act for everyone to weigh 2021 ambitions against developing a completely new car for new regulations rolled out in 2022.
The post How Aston Martin continued from the Mercedes F1 clone controversy first appeared on monter-une-startup.
