Belgian GP tech attack

After Jarno Trulli's accident at Silverstone, Renault revised the specification of its unique one-piece rear wishbone system. It retains the one-piece concept, but the material has been changed from carbon fibre to titanium since Hockenheim. This gives a small weight increase and a rigidity decrease, but neither was judged to be a significant safety issue.



The triangular fin ahead of the rear tyre has been removed. This was a pre-planned tweak for fast circuits. Hence the car will appear in this new form at Monza, but the fin is expected to reappear at Suzuka, where the downforce/drag compromise swings back towards the former.



Williams tried new rear bodywork at Spa. The side flip-up (1) was much longer with a pronounced banana profile, rather like Renault's. There was a steeper curve to the profile (2) and the chimney/winglet combination (3) was different, with the chimney now partly overlapping the winglet.



A variation of the team's Canada wing was brought to Spa, although it was slightly different in that the profile of the lower section, which is usually twisted, was straight. The flap at the outside of the endplate is gently cut at the corners. For qualifying and the race at Spa the team reverted to the twisted lower profile.