French Grand Prix: All the Upgrade Details

After a two-week break since the last event in Austria, teams have made use of the time to green light a series of tweaks that they hope will further boost their performance.

Mercedes

Mercedes will be running with a revised cooling duct on the nose that was spotted on Thursday, they have also made changes to the floor edge and the front brake duct. On the floor there is a reduced curvature on the edge ahead of the rear tyre.

The addition of internal louvres at the front brake duct exit are aimed at improving cooling, with very hot temperature expected in France this weekend.

Ferrari

Ferrari has revised the front and mid floor and tweaked diffusers. The team explained that the changes were part of a normal development cycle, and would be carried forward for future races.

"It aims at improving the overall aerodynamic performance through the entire car operating envelope and is not specific to the Paul Ricard circuit," explained the team in documents submitted to the FIA.

Red Bull

Red Bull has also made changes to the floor area, with revised fence geometries that extend to the edge. The RB18 will also be fitted with a revised upper wing cascade behind its rear brakes. This is again targeting improved downforce but without disrupting the lower wing cascade or the adjacent brake duct exits.

The team explained: "The fence layout has changed to redistribute the local pressure distributions to improve load while maintaining the flow stability."

Alpine

A new revised underfloor strake targets a higher energy to improve airflow underneath the floor and its edges. Tweaks to the fences should help improve airflow to the rear of the car.

Alpha Tauri

Alpha Tauri has brought the biggest upgrade for their car. They have brought new floor, panels and perhaps everything. The floor body, fences and edge have all been revised as part of the update, including a complete reprofiling of the floor body in a bid to increase the amount of aerodynamic load.

The outer-most fence on the floor is shorter and the camber line has changed, while the inboard fence has a more rearward trailing edge position, according to the team. Alpha Tauri also opted for a narrower floor edge with a cut out, as well as adding a small flick downstream of the existing floor edge wing.

Tweaks have also been made to the diffuser, which has more aft camber added on the trailing edge and a cut-out in the sidewall removed, while the shoulder bodywork on the engine cover has been made taller and moved wider, creating a gulley in the top deck.

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