Piola on the 2019 Monaco tech specials

It's tough to drive a Formula 1 car around the streets of Monaco. Taking a car lacking in downforce around the tight two-mile circuit is one of F1's greatest challenges, and hence the round is usually accompanied by a burst of aerodynamic appendages to capture a little more grip.

As top speed around Monte Carlo is usually an irrelevance, the aero devices that crop up are usually creators of 'dirty downforce', from which the cost of drag is a lot greater but that is less of a hindrance when considered against other circuits.

Red Bull has brought the most visible changes to Monaco, dropping its nose scoop for a more conventional design to clinch a little more front-end stability, while the floor also got an overhaul with a selection of multi-faceted fins. But there were other additions on show further down the field.

Giorgio Piola's images show the extent to which teams will go to dial up the downforce levels, aiming to squeeze out more performance and traction from the car.

More T-wings, vicar?

Taking advantage of the tiny box at the bottom of the engine cover, multiple teams have elected to bolster their T-wing package to score a few extra Newtons of downforce at the rear end.

Haas is just one of the teams to do so, dropping the single-element wing for a double T-wing - looping around at the ends to minimise the tip vortices produced. The lower section is made up of two elements, aiming to improve the overall flow attachment and develop a little more downforce at the expense of less drag.

There's also the added effect of cleaning up the airflow passing underneath the wing, helping to increase the pressure differential between the top and bottom surfaces - ultimately the biggest benefactor of downforce.

Also situated between the wing mounts is a single winglet - very much a route-one approach to boosting the rear wing performance. Having struggled to keep its tyres within an ideal operating window so far this season, Haas's strong performance at Barcelona stemmed from the high-energy corners supplying the tyres with the requisite warmth to perform. It will have its work cut out to find a similar silver bullet in Monaco.

Racing Point has also got involved in multiplying the number of T-wings at the rear, featuring two twin-element wings at the front. Although it seems counterproductive to lift the leading edge of the first elements up, the team will have trialled a number of wing angles and slot gap measurements within CFD and windtunnel testing. Often, depending on the wing profile, this change can result in a greater downforce output.

Renault aims to turn the tide

In the wake of a disappointing Barcelona weekend, in which Daniel Ricciardo said his team "underachieved", Renault has thrown a few more bits and pieces onto its troublesome RS19 - hoping that some of them will stick.

Firstly, the team has added a couple of 'bunny ears' to the front bulkhead, either side of the S-duct outlet, similar to those Mercedes has on its W10.

This takes advantage of a small zone that allows bodywork at the point at which the bulkhead sweeps down to meet the nosecone. While this is largely to address the variation in bodywork, and allow teams to use the area to include coverings for the suspension inerter, Mercedes and Alfa Romeo are two teams who have taken advantage of that grey area already.

Ultimately, it doesn't produce downforce, but instead guides the airflow moving up the nose outward, allowing it to spill down to be picked up by the top edge of the bargeboards.

This also assists the function of the S-duct, clearing some of the high pressure air out of the way to boost the suction through the system.

Renault also continues with the T-wing it brought to Barcelona, but a closer view shows it in greater detail. As the top section cambers upwards slightly to deliver a small hit of downforce, the bottom piece is another twin-element design to build downforce out of the air shed from the bodywork.

The curved section attaching the two also curves inwards to minimise any small pockets of drag, while also minimising tip vortices produced here.

Suspension changes key to steering lock

Three-time F1 champion Nelson Piquet once said that driving around Monaco was like trying to ride a bicycle in your living room. While nobody, presumably, has thought to check that hypothesis, it's nonetheless difficult to thread the eye of the Monte Carlo needle with a hulking great F1 car.

What's even more difficult is being able to turn the car around the Loews hairpin, which is one of the few corners on the F1 calendar that requires full steering lock to get the car through cleanly.

Special concessions have to be made for Monaco in the suspension wishbone designs to reflect that, and Ferrari has created a small dip in the trailing edge in response - marked with a red arrow.

This protects the wishbone from any damage on the off-chance that the rotating wheel begins to rub against it while at full lock. With the angles of the Ackermann steering set-up, the inside wheel turns more - at the hairpin, the elevation of the kerb results in a small amount of compression in the left front suspension. So as the suspension lifts, there's more chance that the inside of the wheel can make contact.

Mercedes' suspension design means that it's not something it has to cater for, as the top wishbone is mounted further inboard. The team has also created an extension for a suspension bracket out of the upright, shortening the pushrod and helping the team achieve a larger level of negative camber.