The American team has made big revisions to the sidepod, engine cover bodywork and floor of the VF-23 ahead of the final five races of the current campaign – in the process becoming the final F1 squad to switch to Red Bull’s downwash sidepod design path.
But with little time between the Qatar and United States Grand Prix flyaway rounds and with lengthy customs checks in the former to consider, the team opted not to assemble the new parts on its cars at its Banbury base.
Speaking in the Austin paddock on Thursday, Steiner outlined how “the cars came here [and] we rented a workshop outside here”.
He added: “We got the cars on Sunday [a week after the Qatar race and five days before practice at the Circuit of the Americas], we took the cars to a workshop and the new parts were flown in from Europe and we fitted them and we brought the cars into the paddock here on Tuesday.”
When asked if anything on the VF-23 had changed other than to the upper and lower aerodynamic surfaces, Steiner said: “The radiator ducts a little bit, which you cannot see.
“Otherwise, we left the radiators in the same place because to change these things so late is also not possible.
“Because the main thing is the side impact structures – you would need to homologate a new chassis and that is just too much at this stage.
Source: Autosport