Canada tech: Teams adapt to front wing rule

With two of the four Formula 1 engine manufacturers using the first of their development tokens and all the teams having to adapt to the low downforce nature of the track and a new FIA directive on front wing flexing, the Canadian Grand Prix pitlane has been a busy place.

Montreal always demands special attention anyway - one of the calendar's three low-drag races, it is punctuated by slow turns, adding a huge braking and traction demand to the straightline speed requirement.

FIA FRONT WING TEST

After Monaco the FIA issued a technical directive to combat the flexing front wing flaps seen from on-board footage throughout this season.

Even after the clampdown in Abu Dhabi last year it's been evident that at speed some teams are allowing their front wing flaps to flatten out. This is deliberate flexing aimed at improving performance and not simply lightweight parts not being stiff enough.

A flexing front wing flap can reduce drag by a number of methods, and also reduce front downforce, creating a more stable understeer effect at high speed.

Previously there was no specific front wing flap deflection test, so the directive now sets out a 60N (6kg) load to be applied to the trailing edge of the front wing flap, for a deflection of no more than 3mm.

As a result we have seen some teams make detail changes to the front wing flaps and for others some changes of the underlying carbon fibre structure of the flap.

These changes will be for two reasons. Firstly, a previously legal front wing may have design details that do not allow the wing to pass the test, so some teams have added small supports in between previously unsupported sections of wing where the old design was never meant to have a 60N aero load applied to it.

Secondly, some teams will have had designed-in flex that could not meet the 60N test, so changes will have made to allow the wing to just pass this new test.

Onboard footage from first practice still showed wings deflecting at speed, before springing back to full height as braking reduced the speed and thus aero load on the wing's flap.

So far it can be said the test will have prevented blatantly flexible wings, but there remains movement far in excess of that seen on rear wings, which have been scrutinised by FIA tests for many years.

POWER UNIT UPGRADES

Ferrari and Honda have used development tokens for this weekend as Renault is still to sign off its big performance update and Mercedes is saving its updates for the mid-season power circuits of Spa and Monza.

Unfortunately the FIA release didn't specify the area of the power unit on which Ferrari and Honda have spent their tokens, only that Ferrari has used three and Honda two tokens.

The token spend is far smaller than expected and in itself suggests the area on which the developments have been applied.

For Ferrari, it is widely believed that the combustion upgrade has been used.

This amounts to three tokens and allows almost all of the parts touching the combustion chamber to be changed.

This means most of the top end of the engine can be updated and should provide Ferrari with a healthy power increase, leaving it very close to Mercedes in terms of peak power.

Honda, meanwhile, remains quiet as to the specific development used, suggesting it's both for power and reliability.

As Honda is known to be having issues with both turbo and MGU-H, either of these parts would be ripe for update and each could be tackled with just two tokens.

The next race on the calendar is at higher altitude in Austria, where the thinner air means the turbo needs to spin faster to create the same boost pressure, thus both the turbo and the MGU-H directly coupled to it will need to spin faster.

This could create issues for reliability and power output if the current spec is not up to the job.

But as the MGU-H impact on this is very much secondary to the turbo compressor, it's perhaps more likely the compressor with its innovative compact design has been changed.

Even then the change has to be limited, as repackaging the turbo compressor would require additional token spend to alter the surrounding parts, such as the inlet plenum, hydraulic connections and MGU-H.

RED BULL

With Renault still without its big performance upgrade Red Bull has been left to work harder on its chassis. For Montreal this means revised sidepods, brake ducts and turning vanes.

The sidepods are an interesting update, as the RB11 uniquely sports a one-piece sidepod and engine cover, whereas other teams have the bodywork in several pieces to allow parts to be changed to suit the conditions.

Red Bull's one-piece bodywork means cooling has to be tuned with a completely different part, forcing the team to bring several large sets of bodywork to races.

Whatever saving on weight and aero performance this single bodywork brings is an expensive trade-off for the logistical problems of carrying such large parts around.

The new bodywork set-up tested on Daniil Kvyat's car features not only a reshaped coke bottle, but also a removable panel around the tail. This allows the team to run different cooling outlet panels to trade cooling for reduced drag.

On the other side of the garage Daniel Ricciardo's car was set up to test some revised brake ducts and new front turning vanes.

Mounted under the front suspension, the new elements follow Mercedes' design - with three vanes mounted to a common footplate.

The effect of these changes was assessed with aero probes mounted behind the front wheels.

MERCEDES

In post-Spanish GP testing Mercedes tried extra cooling for the ERS water radiator mounted over the gearbox.

This set-up used a pair of extra inlets either side of the roll hoop.

It could be presumed the test was a success, because in Canada the team has fitted a larger radiator, which has necessitated a pair of blisters on the engine cover, which itself has been slimmed slightly for this race.

This radiator cools the energy recovery system, which gets heated by the transfer of electrical energy between the MGU-K and the battery.

The reason for the cooler size increase could either be to better manage the energy levels already passing through the system, or to allow a greater rate of energy exchange.

The former would aid reliability and the latter would add more performance.

TORO ROSSO

To reduce drag, Toro Rosso brought a flatter rear wing - as it does for most high-speed tracks.

The shallower angle of attack means the wing's mounting pillar, DRS pod and endplates have to be modified.

Thus, the wing's mounting pillar is extended upwards meaning the DRS pod's mounting pillar is shorter. The louvers in the endplate have also been modified, reducing the drag created at the wing tip, which furthers aids top speed.

Despite the 29G crash that Max Verstappen's monocoque suffered in Monaco, the nose cone and barriers did their job and absorbed the impact. Indeed, a portion of the nose cone remained intact despite the crash.

Although a new tub is being raced this weekend, the Monaco monocoque will be repaired and used again.

WILLIAMS

Another team to run a shallower top rear wing for Montreal, Williams has also modified its Y100 Monkey seat winglet.

Whereas the old winglet used two aerofoil elements and the slot between them extended forwards into the endplates, the new set-up is a single element with no slotted endplates.