The Sochi tech tweaks amid the midfield arms race

As races at Sochi go, the 2020 Russian Grand Prix had a surprising amount of liveliness bubbling away - largely a legacy of Lewis Hamilton's penalty for producing a practice start further down the pit exit than permitted.

But there was also plenty of close racing and passing moves, eschewing the usual procession that breaks out around the former Winter Olympic Park thanks to a mix in strategies. It certainly wasn't a classic by any stretch, but it also wasn't a race that could court the fury of social media onlookers either, who had perhaps prepared to be dismayed by a turgid spectacle.

With two weeks between the previous race at Mugello and the event at Sochi, the teams had more time to finalise new parts for the trip to Russia - and to also further their investigations into some of the developments at a more well-known circuit.

Unlike the last race, where teams had to use the practice sessions to build up a picture of an unfamiliar venue, the data for Sochi already exists within the constructors' databases - and so can conduct more accurate comparison work throughout. Although the asphalt lining the circuit has changed over the years, with the billiard-table smooth surface having developed a few more imperfections with use, the general layout remains the same.

Each team now has a little under two weeks available to digest the data from Sochi before the field heads west to the Nurburgring for the first time since 2013.

McLaren finally picks its new nose

Having experimented with a Mercedes-style nose in Mugello, McLaren continued to assess the new design throughout the Sochi weekend. Making the call to run it throughout the rest of the weekend on Lando Norris' car, the MCL35 looked handy in qualifying and ingratiated itself among midfield rivals Racing Point and Renault - although Carlos Sainz Jr was faster with the older design.

McLaren had already created a thinner nose at the start of the year, strengthening the crash structure within to ensure that it could shrink its width and improve the airflow towards the underside of the car. Mercedes has pursued that path for a number of seasons, and at the start of the year it came a design trend that other teams sought to pursue - including Renault and Red Bull.

"In terms of performance compared to the baseline, [the new nose] is not a step forward really, because it's just the beginning of a package we're bringing over the next couple of races" Andreas Seidl

Although McLaren and Red Bull's designs have persisted with the mounting pylons at the side of the nose, retaining the thumb-tip crash structure, McLaren has now elected to round off the nose and position the front wing mounting points to the underside to reduce the blockage of airflow passing around front end.

There were a few amendments to the front wing in order to improve the interaction with the new nose, including a change in geometry for the second and middle elements. Here, there's a reduced level of curvature on the second element's inboard section which the third element follows, responding to the change in the airflow's direction and form instigated by the new cape.

In isolation, team principal Andreas Seidl says that the new nose doesn't represent too much of a change, but it falls in context among a greater wave of upgrades planned for the following races.

"So far we're happy with how the nose was working," Seidl said. "The reason why Lando kept the nose on was because he did the main work also with this nose [on Friday]. We're quite restricted at the moment with the number of parts.

"It did what we expected from it, in terms of performance compared to the baseline at the moment it's not a step forward, really, because it's just the beginning of a package we're bringing over the next couple of races, where we obviously then hope that we can make a good step forward in terms of performance."

Ferrari's brand new clothes

Returning to its normal red livery having shrugged off the burgundy robes run at Mugello, Ferrari also arrived in Sochi with a smattering of new updates. At the front, the SF1000 sported new turning vanes mounted to the nose, with a reprofiled cape to redirect airflow around the wheels, with the ends clipped slightly to interact with the new vanes.

The team also added new rear wing endplates, reprofiling the overhanging strakes in a manner similar to a design Mercedes developed earlier in the season. Ferrari had seven strakes previously, but the new endplates now have three longer-chord strakes all attached to a ridge on the lower side. The top edge of the endplate also has the stepped trailing edge.

All of these additions change the way that the air rolls off the back of the rear wing, and it appears to be part of Ferrari's efforts to reduce the overall drag produced by the 2020 car. One of the biggest bugbears of this year's car is its lack of straightline performance, and although an large portion of that is down to the powertrain, the attempt to add downforce over the off-season dialled in a large amount of drag.

Ferrari had looked more competitive in practice compared to its poorer showings in the previous triple header, and although qualifying was stymied by Sebastian Vettel's qualifying crash, Charles Leclerc's race performance seemed to be a step in the right direction on his route to sixth place.

"I think there are a few positives," said Ferrari principal Mattia Binotto. "First is the result, the second best thing, the relative pace in the race, certainly with Charles. But I think compared to the last races at least, [we were] a bit more competitive in the race. We've brought some new bits. It's not a big step forward, not yet sufficient, we are fully aware, but it's important to go in the right direction for at least the remaining of the season."

Renault continues steady 2020 progress

Renault's impressive rate of progress continues to accelerate, and the team made a few tweaks to its front end to dial in a little more downforce. The team, like Ferrari, made a few amendments to the cape underneath the nose, and had also experimented with an added Gurney flap to the upper element of the front wing.

"I think watching the onboards [from last year] the car looked a little too good to drive, and in the end it was slow. So it was just trying to try to find comfortable in the uncomfortable" Daniel Ricciardo

The Renault front wing is unique compared to the others on the grid, with two straightened upper elements of equal chord length. The central element is larger than the rear, presumably generating most of the downforce before using the upper elements to keep the airflow attached over a greater camber.

Although the changes were small, and Renault elected to remove the Gurney flaps to trim off for qualifying and the race, Daniel Ricciardo praised his new set-up direction after qualifying.

"[We did] a fair bit of just data stuff, looking over last year, looking at on boards," Ricciardo said. "I feel normally if you're not particularly strong in a circuit, there's normally a bit of a reason as far as the setup you normally like, maybe it doesn't work for this circuit.

"[We pushed ourselves] to do something that maybe doesn't work on other tracks but it might work here. I think last year, watching the onboards the car looked a little too good to drive and in the end it was slow and so it was just trying to try to find comfortable in the uncomfortable."

Stroll lasts four corners with new Racing Point parts

After Lance Stroll's shunt at Mugello at Arrabiata 2, Racing Point didn't have the time to build another two aero packages between the second Italian race and the flight to Russia. The team had to make do with just one, leaving Sergio Perez on the old parts as Stroll once more collected the new upgrade owing to his superior drivers' championship position.

Those upgrades included a small tweak to the front and rear wing endplates, a new engine cover with a tighter fit around the sidepod radiators, and a few changes to the bargeboard package too.

For Sochi, both cars also had use of a new rear suspension package, which seemed to play nicely with the team's bid to secure third place in the constructors' championship. Technical director Andrew Green stated that he was "happy" with the new suspension package, although put Stroll's muted performance in practice down to "overdriving".

Although Stroll dusted himself down come race day and made one of his trademark dynamite starts, making up ground past the AlphaTauris and Charles Leclerc, a touch from Leclerc at Turn 4 speared the Canadian into a spin and, subsequently, the wall.

Thankfully, most of the bodywork appeared to be unscathed, and should ensure that both drivers get a run-out with the new kit at the following Nurburgring race. However, should a similar fate befall Stroll next time out, Racing Point might be best served attempting to call on the services of an exorcist rather than an aerodynamicist.