F1 tech secrets on show in Australia

The first race of the Formula 1 season usually reveals all the clever little aero innovations that people wanted to hide during testing, but Melbourne's rain prevented teams risking new prototype parts in case the car crashed.

We didn't see a lot of the real new stuff, but the open pitlane means that the team can't hide their cars' mechanical underpinnings, so we were still able to seek out lots of 2016 secrets that were previously kept under wraps.

Mercedes

Mercedes' season got off to a tricky start, with the wet conditions prompting the team to keep the new S-duct nose off the car, and then losing precious track time with Rosberg's crash.

So the F1 W07 was closer to launch-spec than it should have been, but with the multiple turning vanes and the serrated rear wing. The revised nose and updated front wing were left off.

Now laid bare inside the garage, the car is very similar to the all-conquering F1 W06 - the power unit, radiators and gearbox layout look similar.

At the front of the car the suspension rocker and multi-purpose heave element are new, with the rocker projecting vertically through the top of the chassis rather than the side. The heave element, consisting of the inerter and hydraulic spring, then sits between the rockers.

Unlike last year there is no mechanical heave spring. The weight of the car is supported by the torsion bars, and the hydraulic link to the cylindrical unit in the right-hand sidepod looks after the change in heave stiffness required to keep the car's splitter from dragging on the ground.

Much secrecy surrounds the heave unit that was previously tested at the last races of 2015. To keep it hidden from view when the bodywork is removed, a special tool tray with a moulded base designed to sit on top of the chassis is used.

Ferrari

As in testing, the Ferrari has barely changed from its launch specification. And exposed in the Melbourne garages, the car's mechanical set-up is clearer. Like most teams, now that the Ferrari has pushrod front suspension, the multi-function heave unit is visible through the top of the footwell.

Ferrari, like Mercedes, has an inerter and hydraulic spring set-up, but the Ferrari unit also uses a large coil spring to support the car.

Evident at the back of the car when the bodywork is removed is the new multiple-intercooler set-up. With the turbo again fitted inside the gearbox, the tall intercooler mounted above uses unusual aluminium-ribbed finned side-tanks. The charge air is then ducted to the water intercooler in the back of the fuel-tank area.

Aerodynamically, the car has new rear brake ducts and the front wing's inner tip has a series of teeth cut into it, somewhat like Mercedes' serrations in its front wing.

Red Bull

With just a few detail updates to the car's bodywork seen in testing, such as the revised front-wing flap and endplate, the RB12 is much like the 2015 car under the skin.

The Renault power unit still requires two large intercoolers, and Red Bull's preference to mount the ERS in the sidepods persists; other teams mount the control electronics on the batteries in one unit under the fuel tank.

The front heave-element packaging is similar to Mercedes, although as with last year Red Bull also runs a diagonally mounted roll damper. It's one of the few teams with such a unit visible from the outside.

Williams

With Williams still awaiting the new even-shorter nose and front-wing update, the rear half of the car is where most of the team's new concepts are visible. We've now seen its aluminium gearbox case, which lacks the sophistication of its rivals.

It is longer than Mercedes' to suit Williams's preferred long-wheelbase set-up, but the unit does little to lift its sump clear of the floor of the car in the way Ferrari's does. This will compromise aero over the diffuser to some degree.

While it's waiting for the new nose, the Williams is the sole car with a painted monocoque at the front of the chassis. All other teams lower the chassis front and cover it with a body panel, which is useful if an S-duct is to be integrated into the front bulkhead.

Its pushrod enters the side of the chassis in a conventional manner, and also gains the benefit of solutions often used for the trackrod. These suspension members are mounted on special bearings, with a pin-and-slot arrangement to the bearing clevis, so they can twist as the suspension moves and the wheels turn.

Williams has now done this to the pushrod mounting, so unwanted rotation is controlled by the guided mounting.

The team has new front brake ducts, with a vertical vane trailing the inner face of the duct. This design, which mimics something Mercedes ran last year, was fitted on Thursday but was removed for the risky wet sessions on Friday.

Toro Rosso

Having received a lot of updated aero in the second winter test, it's no surprise that the STR11 is unchanged in that department. But one interesting detail on the car is the gearbox case, which has undergone revisions to accommodate the switch to a 2015 Ferrari engine.

The old format used an aluminium gearcase mated to a carbonfibre bellhousing. Now it's all carbonfibre and made in one piece, as it needs to surround the Ferrari turbo. The front-top section is similar to last year's Ferrari casing, which arched up high over the turbo.

Force India

The VJM09 closely follows what we saw from Force India late last year. However, the car does have a new steering wheel, which adopts the colour digital display the team had avoided using for two years. Now the wheel has a 3D printed fascia to guide the driver's hands to the relevant buttons.

McLaren

As with Force India, a lot of late-season development means the car doesn't look too different from the 2015 car. Also like Force India, McLaren has a new steering wheel. While McLaren already had the digital screen, the wheel was large and the button and dial layout didn't suit Fernando Alonso. Now the wheel is smaller and better arranged.

Sauber

The Sauber was unchanged for Melbourne while the team awaits the new front wing.

The installation of the Ferrari engine differs from both Ferrari and Haas - the car has conventionally mounted radiators, each in one flat panel, rather than the V arrangement we've seen on the other cars.

Sauber has also produced its own rear intercooler, with smooth side-tanks formed from sheet aluminium, not the machined ribbed set-up used by the other teams running the current-spec Ferrari engine.

Renault

After years of racing in black, the switch to matt-yellow paint makes the car look quite different, although no obvious changes are evident on the RS16 from testing.

There are no novelties, and the car is waiting for a new front wing to be introduced.

The effort to adapt last year's gearbox from the Mercedes power unit back to Renault is evident by the mounting-points receiving a layer of carbonfibre to add support.

Haas

Aside from a slightly revised livery, the Haas is unchanged from testing. The scope of the Ferrari-supplied parts is evident - the suspension is much the same, as is the steering wheel.

However, the shape of the nose, monocoque and roll-hoop all show that the Haas is an independent design where the rules demand it.

Manor

It's clear from what you can see in the garage that this is a very different car from that raced over the past two years. The front suspension and roll structure are all very different, while the car also enjoys a new front wing, having run with a slightly revised version of the 2014 design last year.