Tech: Sweeping changes from Monaco to Montreal

As Formula 1 switches from high-downforce Monaco to low-downforce Canada, teams have to change the emphasis of their cars, with engines also under the microscope at the Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Acceleration and braking take priority over mid-corner speed, and teams trim their wings back and cut cooling to boost top speeds. Engines, brakes, and suspension (due to the kerbs and the proximity of the walls) are all under pressure around this track.

MERCEDES

The W07 arrived in Canada with yet another package of new aero devices. For Montreal there are new parts front to rear: front wing strakes, turning vanes, sidepod vanes, S-Duct and monkey seat winglet. Mercedes is understood to have tried the swoopy rear wing in preparation for Baku - the next race on the calendar in a week's time.

On the front wing the flap has been given a series of strakes following the broad direction of the airflow over the wing, following Mercedes' current principle of splitting up normally simple airflows into complex multiple flows. These strakes serve to finely control the airflow off the front wing and around the inner face of the front tyre.

Also controlling airflow along the car are the new turning vanes under the nose. Just two races after the four vanes were split into seven little fins in Spain, the shape has changed to turn the rear two vanes into 'L' shapes, reaching forward to overlap the front two vanes. In some respects this is a rare simplification of an aero device for Mercedes.

Downstream the complex vanes around the sidepods have been subtly revised, with the hard to spot vane inside the main vertical vane being changed in shape.

Above all this the S-Duct exit on top of the nose has been flattened, to form a straight rectangular exit, rather than the slight curved shape of the original exit.

The monkey seat winglet has switched to a unique rounded shape, the wing becoming a near 3D shape expanding around the exhaust tailpipes. This is with the aim of being able to radiate the exhaust energy up under the rear wing to spread the slight blown effect to a wider area than just the 20cm width above the monkey seat.

It's hard to characterise this package of updates, as much of it does not seem to be specifically aimed at the low drag requirements of Montreal. How much of the upgrade remains on the car at the upcoming races will perhaps serve to explain if these are just performance and not track specific upgrades.

FERRARI

Although not to the same level as Mercedes, Ferrari did bring its own package of upgrades to Canada. Pre-race rumours suggested a new nose and rear suspension were destined for Montreal, although it transpires the rear suspension has not been fitted and the new nose was a red herring and not due for change.

However, revised front wing details, front brake ducts and sidepod exits have been fitted to the car. Engine development tokens have been spent on another turbocharger design, too.

On the front wing tiny changes have been added, with the 'r' shaped flag vane featuring a return of the 'V' notch cut out on its top edge - something that has not been seen on the front wing since it gained its revised flap design in Russia.

The small strake on the outside of the endplate has also changed, with only the front portion attached to the endplate, rather than along its entire length. Allied to the front wing tweaks, the front brake duct design gained a reshaped scoop and a rearrangement of the fins mounted behind it. None of these changes are a big step, merely a reworking of the details.

More specifically for Montreal, the tail ends of the sidepods have been trimmed, both for the cooler conditions and to reduce the drag of the bodywork. The top trailing edge of the sidepod has been cut away and then a step panel set inside the open bodywork, to duct the hot air out of the lowered sidepods.

RED BULL

It transpires the rumoured new nose that had passed crash tests was a Red Bull development. The already short RB12 nose has been shrunk back to the absolute minimum. However, it's understood that Red Bull will not run the new set-up this weekend, although such a small dimensional difference may prove hard to detect.

As is common for Friday free practice, Red Bull ran a series of aero tests around the front end of the car, although no visual changes were evident on the RB12.

WILLIAMS

Williams is one of the teams to bring a Montreal specific rear wing this weekend. This spec features a smaller flap and revised louvers on the endplate. Both are common alterations to reduce the load on the rear wing to reduce the drag it creates.

McLAREN

McLaren has its usual array of aero updates for this weekend, and some power unit updates from Honda.

On the chassis side, the front wing endplates and front brake ducts are yet again revised, but all based around the newer parts seen in Spain and Monaco.

More importantly the Honda engine gained a new turbocharger and a fuel upgrade. Changes to the turbocharger aren't understood to be aimed at more horsepower from the petrol engine, but to aid energy recovery from the turbo.

The fuel change is partly aimed at consumption, but the team also estimates it to be worth a small laptime gain, probably just under a tenth of a second per lap.

With more energy recovered and better fuel management these changes should boost McLaren's race pace, although there might not be a noticeable step in qualifying trim.