Technical innovations presented in Austin

      The US Grand Prix continues a trend characteristic of the second half of the season: teams are doing less development work on the cars, having fully switched to preparing for 2026. Haas F1 decided to take advantage of this and brought to Austin, as the American team’s press office put it, "a number of small updates."

      That is, the hope is that all this will at least slightly improve things relative to their direct rivals and, with a bit of luck, improve Haas’s position in the standings, which currently sits second-to-last, in 9th place in the Constructors' Championship.

      But let’s start at the other end of the pit lane, since Mercedes also reported some changes affecting peripheral elements of the W16’s aerodynamic bodywork.

      Mercedes

      In Mercedes’ case the changes are indeed small and concern the rear of the car, specifically its "rear corner" — in Formula 1 terminology.

      They involve adjusting the geometry of the upper part of the rear brake ducts and reducing the width of the small auxiliary winglets mounted on them.

      The first change is aimed at improving the quality of the airflow passing through this area of the car and flowing around the upper triangular suspension arm. The winglet sizes have been reduced to increase the clearance between them and the rear tyre.

      Haas F1

      The list of upgrades presented by Haas F1 consists of five items, and compared with Mercedes these changes can hardly be called small, since three of them concern the car’s floor.

      At the front of the floor the configuration of the Venturi tunnel baffles has been altered, and in the area closer to the rear wheels the additional winglets mounted on the edges of the floor have been reduced in size. It is also mentioned — without specifics, however — that the geometry of the main part of this crucial element of the aerodynamic package has been adjusted.

      These refinements are an evolution of solutions that appeared on the cars of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman before the Silverstone round, and they allow an increase in downforce levels, which should primarily manifest in high-speed corners.

      In addition, it is reported that the mentioned changes required adjustments to the geometry of the additional winglets located around the rear wheels. Finally, the mirror stalks were slightly reworked — this allows their effect on the airflow to be optimized.