BMW-Sauber has radically modified its single-seater

Despite BMW announcing its withdrawal from the Formula 1 World Championship at the end of this season, the team brought a major upgrade to its car in Singapore. More than just an aerodynamic development, the team completely redesigned its car.

«Everything is new except the steering wheel and the cockpit, » according to the director of engineering, Willi Rampf, who believes that the new updates will practically bring an extra second to the lap times of the car.

BMW believes that despite significant changes in technical regulations for the 2010 season, such as narrowing the front tire width or banning refueling during races, which means a significantly larger fuel tank, any developments made to the 2009 car can be applied to the 2010 model. Thus, these developments will not only be useful for the remaining four races this season but also help in the development of the next car [if the team is participating in the 2010 championship with a new promoter].

Aerodynamically, the new front wing and the endplates at each end are largely inspired by the design used on the Brawn GP single-seater. BMW-Sauber has ultimately abandoned the very square design of its endplates introduced last year.

A little further back on the car, on each side of the cockpit, a mini version of last year’s vertical winglets appears. Despite their resemblance to mirror stalks, they are actually flow control devices channeling air over the fins ahead of the air intakes. Meanwhile, the mirrors themselves remain on the large vertical wings used to channel airflow towards the radiators.

At the rear, the design of the gearbox has radically changed. It is thinner to allow more space for the double diffuser. Finally, the rear wing has also been significantly modified. Its profile has been refined, but the wing is not more flexible thanks to the addition of vertical support winglets, and a vertical wing has been added above the main wing to channel the airflow and this time limit aerodynamic drag. Changes have also been made to the chassis to adapt it to the absence of KERS since BMW has abandoned the system for this end of the season.

The three practice sessions confirmed BMW’s progress despite several other teams also bringing updates to Singapore.