Sunday, October 10, 2004
JAPAN GP 2004 TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
Minardi PS04 - new endplate winglets
The Italian cars retained the same general configuration seen in China, but the endplates of the front wing featured wider, curved winglets, shaped to reduce the effects of turbulence created by the front wheels, while also adding a small amount of downforce.
Jaguar R5 - light chassis
Jaguar provided Christian Klien with a new, lighter B-version of the R5 chassis, which was tested the week before the race. The revisions were not in the external shape but mainly in the carbon fibre and composites moulding concept. In particular the team managed to make the wall of the chassis slightly thinner so reducing the weight, but at the same time making it stiffer.
Williams FW26 - new turning vanes
A shorter, less sculpted design than previously, with a saw-tooth type profile (2), coupled with a pointed extension to the lower edge of the sidepod (1), very similar to the one used by Renault since Monaco. The underbody was also altered, split into two parts with the foremost including the splitter which acted as a ballast location (3).
