Mercedes
This years dominate outfit continued on the road of development. The world champions applied a four element turning vanes under the bulkhead of the W06. The reason being is that they collect the front wing wake and flow to then pass it onto the bargeboard’s of the leading edge of the sidepod. They are key to creating a cleaner flow to the back of the car.
The neater the vane’s are the more successful and less turbulent the flow will be as it gets passed on. Which is why Mercedes have done a lot of changes here over the past three years.
Ferrari
On the front uprights, Ferrari changed the brake disc cooling elements they have. There is a piece of carbon for protection, but Ferrari changed it to a smaller profile for more cooling in the hot conditions of Bahrain.
Red Bull
Red Bull continue to have power unit and chassis issues, but they have a new front wing endplate in use. At the trailing edge is a violent sliced out section. This is to over rotate the spiralling vortex to then be out washed by the blow front wheel nuts of the car.
So Red Bull are trying to get the flow to the rear diffuser and wing a cleaner flow to work with. Once this has been accomplished the rear will produce more downforce.
Lotus
Lotus added a gurney flap to the trailing edge of the rear diffuser. The reason being is that the rear gurney will created subtle changes to the flow as well as adding extra downforce as the airflow hits the flap. The gurney will help the car in creating a much smother profile for the flow as well as gaining downforce with creating minimal drag in the process. Something Lotus need.
Imges courtesy of Mercedes AMG Petronas and Scuderia Ferrari
