The top five tech ideas of F1 2016 so far

The first Formula 1 test of 2016 showed that this will be a year of evolution rather than extreme solutions.

The track running revealed definitive race bodywork and details that were hidden at launches and, unsurprisingly given F1 is into the third year of this regulations package, all the teams are working on finer details to add performance.

As the season progresses it's these details that will receive further attention. With far-reaching rule changes coming in for 2017, teams will lack resources for dramatic innovations or 'B-spec' cars. It's going to be a season of paying close attention to the details.

Here are the most eye-catching and intriguing developments spotted during the first week of running.

MERCEDES' KNIFE-EDGE VANES

Alongside the new S-duct nose and subtle front-wing alterations, the most interesting aspect of the F1 W07 Hybrid is the new bargeboard vanes installed after the first day of testing.

Despite playing a critical role in directing airflow under and around the car, the bargeboards mounted low down ahead of the sidepods have been downsized over the years and have become increasingly complex to alter the airflow structures trailing off them.

As appears to be Mercedes' trend this year, these parts have been dramatically altered from a large curved panel to a series of knife edges and vanes, comprising some 15 elements in all!

Mounted in the corner of the floor's leading edge, where the relatively straight airflow coming from the nose is being turned sideways to part around the sidepods, are nine knife edges.

Their radiused profile is used to both meet the floor's curvature regulations and to direct the airflow under it. This will send airflow in one of two directions, firstly out under the rolled lip on the side of the floor and also underneath it towards the diffuser.

The breaking up of a large bargeboard means the pressure distribution under the car can be tailored more easily by the multiple elements.

Mounted to these knife edges are six vertical vanes, which are working the airflow passing low around the sidepod undercuts. Much like a wing, the slots between the vanes help turn the airflow in a tighter curve.

We have seen slotted and multi-element set-ups in this area before, but not of this complexity. It serves to show the level of detail work now required to find gains within the current regulations and mature aero designs.

WILLIAMS'S REAR BODYWORK

While awaiting definitive Melbourne-spec parts at the front of the car, the Williams was launched with a neat piece of bodywork-shaping at the rear, and the surrounding area has also seen an incremental increase in complexity.

The FW38's more conventionally shaped sidepods have given the team the opportunity to play with the newly extended bodywork to help shape the flow over the back of the car.

Taking a similar Mercedes bodywork vane as a precedent, Williams has added a second layer of bodywork extending from above the gearbox area to loop around the tail of the Coke-bottle section towards the floor.

While Mercedes uses its vane to turn the airflow sideways, Williams points the vane downwards to create a downwash over the rear of the car.

This makes the diffuser and wing work more effectively. So while the vane creates lift overall, more downforce is created - which is a neat little trick.

McLAREN'S REAR-WING SLOTS

By the middle of 2015, McLaren already had all the key signature trends for 2016: a short, pointed nose, an S-duct, 'size-zero' rear end, and a lot rake in the set-up. So it's the details that define the new MP4-31, key among them being the rear-wing endplate.

As the rear wing contributes so highly to drag, anything to reduce this negative force will help top speed. With the team's Honda engine still not at the top of the league, work on the rear-wing details will somewhat offset the power deficit.

In McLaren's case the slots in the endplate are the area where work is being done to reduce drag. Most of an F1 car's rear-wing drag is induced by a powerful vortex forming at the wing tip, as the high-pressure air above the wing meets the lower-pressure regions to the side and below.

Reducing this pressure differential helps to cut drag. It will cost some wing performance, but it's a worthwhile compromise.

Already teams have louvres above the wing to direct air out from this area to equalise the pressure at the wing tip. Now McLaren has added a series of slots in the endplate below the wing to achieve the same effect in reverse.

Some teams already have one or two of these lower slots, but in F1 the trend is to multiply any good solution, so McLaren has added four such slots to increase the effect.

RED BULL'S BRAWN-STYLE INVERTED WINGLET

The area under the raised front of the chassis is ripe for development. Turning vanes and aero details work with the front wing to create the Y250 vortex, a strong airflow that spirals between the front wheel and chassis to keep the wheel's turbulence from upsetting the car's central bodywork.

In its work on this area, Red Bull has taken ideas from both Brawn GP and Mercedes by adding a large upturned winglet on top of the T-tray splitter.

The gap between the splitter and the chassis above is unregulated as long as the aero bodywork doesn't extend too far sideways, so there's enough room to create a powerful aero effect here.

Brawn added a huge snowplough-like vane on its splitter in 2009, which was copied by Williams in '10. Mercedes has its subtler version of the bat-wing, a smaller inverted wing fitted high up and further forward.

Red Bull's inverted wing is mounted to a short strut projecting up from the splitter. The wide wing shape features a slot across the middle, and the harder-working tips are folded down to help create the diverging wake that works with the Y250 vortex.

RENAULT'S NOSE

As a squad still scaling up its engineering team and reigniting its aero programme, Renault has produced a simple and neat looking car in the RS16.

Though launched with a version of the 2015 nose, the development version it briefly tested late last year as Lotus has reappeared and is a very distinctive design.

Sitting conceptually between the narrow Mercedes nose and the wider Williams type, the narrow Renault nose features a slight thumb-tip on its end.

But most interesting is that the cross-section of the nose is near triangular. With the thumb-tip extending directly backwards as the tip of the triangle, this creates a slanted under-surface to guide air back up under the car, working with the wing mounting pylons as a guide vane.

Not surprisingly the front turning vanes under the suspension are also altered with a new-shape vane and a flap extending between them.