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2014 F1 development race: Who did what?

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Formula 1 teams are notorious for their relentless search for tenths of seconds. Having rounded off the first part of the season, we take a look at the most obvious developments shown on some of the leading teams' cars.

Please note that this list only contains the main developments to give an impression what certain teams have been concentrating on. They have brought much more new parts than listed below.

Mercedes AMG F1

Mercedes F1W05 rear wing detail
  • Malaysian GP:
  • Bahrain GP: Modified front wing - new vertical vortex generators
  • Chinese GP: Shorter nose cone by approximately 7cm; Modified barge boards with an additional mini flap
  • Spanish GP: Additional mini turning vane to the outer skirt of the main air intake; Modified front wing with an additional fin on the main plane; Modified barge boards with an additional slot in the main element
  • Monaco GP: Modified bigger money seat; Modified front push rod; Modified front wing: additional mini flap
  • Canadian GP: Asymmetrical front brake ducts
  • Austrian GP: New double monkey seat with a much more curved posterior element
  • British GP: Modified turning vanes beneath the nose cone
  • German GP: Changes to the gear box
  • Hungarian GP: Tiny changes to the front end suspension to cope with the removal of FRIC

Red Bull Racing

  • Malaysian GP: New front wing - more complex in terms of separation of air
  • Bahrain GP: New nose without front wing exclusively designed for pit stop practise; New T-tray; New front wing: main plane and five flaps without upper flaps; Modified rear brake ducts and support flaps; Modified rear wing; Modified front brake ducts – two additional mini turning vanes
  • Chinese GP: Modified front wing: after the wing without any upper flaps the team returned to the conventional wing with upper elements; New slot in the floor in front of the rear tyres; New front brake ducts
  • Spanish GP: New nose cone: slightly bigger dip in the vanity panel; New front wing with a modified upper flap; New turning vanes under the nose
  • Monaco GP: New double Monkey seat; New outboard housing for the front cameras
  • Canadian GP: New Brembo brake disc s exclusively designed for Red Bull Racing; Modified rear wing endplates: one long vertical and three short horizontal slots; Modified nosecone; Lower downforce front wing
  • Austrian GP: Modified floor – two additional vertical vortex generators in front of the rear tyres; Modified rear bodywork with tighter rear end around the tail pipe
  • British GP: New mono-pillar for the rear wing; Modified rear wing end plate: introduction of large vertical slot; New front wing wint modified upper fins
  • German GP: Returning to conventional front wheel nuts after using blown ones; New front wing with modified end plates which was sidelined for qualfying after initial tests; New rear wing with modified DRS activator housing, modified rear wing support pillar and additional slots on the end plate
  • Hungarian GP: High downforce front wing with modified main plane and top flap of bigger surface; High downforce rear wing with additional horizontal element

Ferrari

  • Malaysian GP: Air outlets on the upper leading edge of the engine cover; Two different brake housings
  • Bahrain GP: New L-shaped turning vanes around the outer air boxes
  • Chinese GP: Blown wheel nuts
  • Spanish GP: New mono-pillar rear wing support element; New DRS activator; Monkey seat with double flaps; Sensors on the front wing which measure the tyre temperature; Testing of both the blown wheel nut and the old one; Different vertical turning vanes; Tighter engine cover
  • Monaco GP: Bigger air outlets around the exhaust pipe; Modified front suspensions necessary to round Loews corner; New T-tray
  • Canadian GP: New tighter engine covers tried out on Friday – due to overheating the introduction was postponed; New L-shaped turning vanes around the outer air boxes; Returning to the old double rear wing support elements
  • Austrian GP: New L-shaped turning vanes around the sidepods; Tighter sidepod bodywork at the rear; Asymmetric sidepod air inlets
  • British GP: New diffuser – modified gurney flap and different vertical elements; New brake discs for Kimi
  • German GP: New L-shaped turning vanes around the sidepods; Returning to the old double rear wing support elements; Tweaked front wing – different mainplane; Trying out two versions of engine cover
  • Hungarian GP: Tweaked diffuser – four vortex generators on the lower leading edge; Trying out two versions of engine cover, one aimed for Spa and Monza

Williams

  • Malaysian GP: -
  • Bahrain GP: -
  • Chinese GP: Vertical openings on the fin of the upper rear bodywork; New rear brake ducts: new channels pointing upwards
  • Spanish GP: Testing of new rear view mirrors
  • Monaco GP: -
  • Canadian GP: New front wing: modified upper flaps
  • Austrian GP: New rear brake ducts; New flaps around the rear brakes
  • British GP: -
  • German GP: Refined vertical openings on the fin of the upper rear bodywork
  • Hungarian GP: New rear brake ducts; New profile for the upper camera housing; New rear wing

McLaren

  • Malaysian GP: New higher and longer nose; Bigger air inlets to cope the Malaysian heat
  • Bahrain GP: New front wing with an additional upper vane to channel air from the front tyres
  • Chinese GP: Modified front wing endplates – two additional curved flaps
  • Spanish GP: Testing of rear suspension with and without the upper „butterfly” housing; New diffuser
  • Monaco GP: Testing of two brake disc types: one of Brembo and one of Carbone Industry
  • Canadian GP: New outer edge for the floor; Modified suspension housing – the upper blocker was eliminated
  • Austrian GP: New front brake cooling inlets; New turning vanes under the nose; New front wing
  • British GP: New slots in front of to rear tyre to reduce turbulence; Smaller brake ducts
  • German GP: Modified rear wing – two additional mini flaps; Modified rear wing – toothed main plane and flap
  • Hungarian GP: Returning to the double butterfly rear suspension housing

Lotus

  • Malaysian GP: New cooling outlets for internal electronics at the meeting point of the engine cover and floor; Additional splitter in between the two elements of the asymmetric nose cone
  • Bahrain GP: Modified brake ducts – three additional vanes on the upper end of the duct; Due to reliability issues enlarged air openings at the meeting edge of the engine cover and floor
  • Chinese GP: New diffuser – additional vortex generators; New engine cover – larger leading edge on the top
  • Spanish GP: Modified nose; Two additional mini vanes and modified upper flap on the front wing; New moneky seat
  • Monaco GP: New front brake ducts
  • Canadian GP: New vertical and horizontal mini flaps on the front wing; Modified main profile on rear wing
  • Austrian GP: -
  • British GP: -
  • German GP: Modified endplates and triangular upper flap on front wing
  • Hungarian GP: -

Clearly, teams have also been busy developing items underneath the skin of their cars, with Williams known to have introduced updated components at nearly every circuit. For obvious reasons, the nature of those updates have not been disclosed. It is safe to assume however that teams have focused on weight saving, lowering the centre of gravity and improving internal cooling efficiency.