The latest moves in F1's new aero war

Amid a run of races on unconventional circuits since May's Spanish Grand Prix at Barcelona, it's been difficult to get a proper read on what kind of progress Formula 1 teams are making in their relentless aerodynamic development war.

The unique demands of Monaco require specialised high-downforce packages, with little regard paid to the consequent drag penalty; Montreal and Baku require more of a compromise on set-up for the long straights. The cornering challenges at each venue are all relatively low-speed, and the track surfaces smooth, requiring particular technical approaches that are not really representative of the majority of tracks on the calendar.

But the last two races have been held on what might be called 'conventional' F1 circuits. Austria's Red Bull Ring is a medium-downforce circuit with a couple of high-speed corners; Silverstone has a blend of high-speed sweeps and long straights that allow F1 cars to really flex their muscles and place the onus on efficient aerodynamics.

So we can start to get a better read again on who is moving forward and who has stalled since Barcelona, as teams continue their quest to unlock the aerodynamic potential of these immature regulations.

Some outfits are clearly enjoying a more productive period than others in this regard.

WILLIAMS GETS IN A MESS

Williams brought a raft of developments to the Red Bull Ring - bargeboards, underfloor and front wing, but the team's poor performance suggests correlation between the windtunnel, CFD [computational fluid dynamics] and the track is not quite right.

The bargeboard area is heading towards Mercedes' levels of complexity, with a multitude of slot gaps on the base of the bargeboard used to power the underfloor.

The small horizontal fin on the side of the chassis just above the bargeboard will set up a powerful vortex that will travel down the sidepod undercut. This works a bit like a skirt, sealing the underfloor and improving its overall performance.

The floor in front of the rear tyre now has more louvers. These manage the airflow displaced when the wheel rotates and should improve the underbody performance as rear ride-height increases.

To get the tyres working on both axles, the most important thing is aerodynamic balance and that just didn't exist for Williams at the Red Bull Ring. The result is a lack of overall grip, especially over one lap.

At Silverstone, the team spent the practice sessions mixing and matching parts, trying to hone in on components that might not correlate with the windtunnel results.

Williams also brought a small development to the front wing mounting pillar fairing. The new fairing has a small duct through the vertical section and the trailing edge is now more inboard, with a sharper intersection to create a more powerful vortex.

These two developments will be aimed at pulling more of the mass airflow into the centre of the car, to produce more downforce from the bargeboard and underfloor assembly.

FERRARI SPREADS ITS WINGS

Ferrari introduced a new front wing in Austria. The central mandatory FIA single element section remains the same, but the main plane section - the first element of the wing closest to the ground - has become a single element rather than two elements.

This will produce more downforce when the front of the car gets nearer to the ground. To manage airflow separation problems more consistently, the section where it joins to the mandatory FIA profile centre-section has been lifted slightly to allow more airflow through.

The outboard tunnel where the red section joins the black section still retains the extra slot gap, and has also been increased in size and height. This will also improve aerodynamic stall consistency by allowing more airflow to be pulled through this tunnel - especially when the front wing is close to the ground during braking, and during roll while cornering.

Ferrari was also asked to increase the stiffness of its floor by the sidepod. Normally, you are trying to use this area as a mini-diffuser and improve the aerodynamic performance of the entire underfloor, so stiffness is quite important.

For Silverstone, Ferrari added a two-element horizontal vane to the top inner edge of the endplates, placed about half way along each endplate.

The outboard end of the front wing is designed to optimise the airflow around the front tyre and minimise the disturbance on the rest of the airflow that is used to produce downforce.

This vane will reduce the airflow that is spilling over the top of the endplate and keep it lower, allowing the very interacted detail at the trailing edge of the wing section to work more efficiently.

RENAULT GETS BUSY WITH BARGEBOARDS

The bargeboards on current Formula 1 cars heavily influence the downforce produced by the front wing and underfloor.

Their main task is to work like a vertical wing section and pull airflow through from underneath the raised front section of the chassis, which in turn increases the velocity of airflow passing over and under the front wing, as well as the mass airflow at the leading edge of the sidepods.

The foot of the bargeboard plays a large role in how the airflow spills off the vertical section and Renault has increased the number of louvers it has in this foot section.

This will make it work more powerfully and more consistently.

Renault also brought a new floor for Nico Hulkenberg's car to Silverstone, which the German suggested was key to him being the top midfield performer in the British GP.

MERCEDES DIGS INTO THE DETAIL

Mercedes introduced a narrower nose and under-nose belly in Spain in May, and at the following races spent a bit of time in practice sessions covering it with flow-vis, trying understand the airflow over the surfaces just that little bit better.

In Austria, Mercedes added a small turning vane to the lower outer corner of this component. Detailed optimisation of any new component always takes a little time, and this small addition is just an example of discovering some small area of airflow separation and implementing an add-on to rectify that problem.

FORCE INDIA SETS OUT ITS STALL

Force India targeted Silverstone for a big update package and brought a new front wing to the VJM10.

It differs from the old version in that the leading element is now a longer chord, while the team has also made the wing more complex.

Overall, the main wing section is still a five-element component, but it will have very different aerodynamic characteristics. It should produce more downforce, but the aerodynamic stall on that increased chord length leading element will be more severe.

It depends on the balance of the car and what the driver wants from it as to which direction you need to go with front wing aerodynamic stall characteristics.

If you have a driver that turns in on the brakes, then more front wing stall is advantageous as the rear of the car will be more stable. If you have a driver that brakes more in a straight line and then turns the car, less front wing stall is important because he needs more front grip to get the car turned in.

I would advise having two front wing packages with different aerodynamic stall characteristics available, so you can choose which one to use depending on circuit requirements.

RED BULL'S CONSTANT EVOLUTION

Red Bull brought a couple of small modifications to the RB13 for Silverstone.

The outer upper corner of the front wing flaps now has an extra slot gap. The design in this area does not produce a massive amount of downforce and is more used as a front wheel fairing. Consistency in airflow around the tyre is very important, as it allows the more inboard front wing components to work more efficiently and produce consistent downforce.

Red Bull also added some more detail to the bargeboard arrangement - mainly on the second and third elements. The second element was a simple rectangle, but now has an angled upper trailing edge and the third element is reduced in height with a slot gap in the lower foot.

Instead of trying to split the airflow with the horizontal foot, which in turn will create a horizontal vortex that spills down the outer side of the underfloor, this new design will induce a more powerful vortex spilling down the side of the floor, improving the underfloor performance as it acts like a skirt sealing the underfloor.

A more substantial upgrade package is expected for the next race in Hungary, where Red Bull will probably expect to be more competitive than ever in 2017 on a high-downforce track with short straights.

All the while it suffers a horsepower deficit from the Renault engine, unconventional street-style circuits like Monaco, the Hungaroring and Singapore's Marina Bay represent Red Bull's best chance of success and are therefore important races to target with updates.