Technical: Ferrari with the most aggressive, Mercedes with the biggest rear wing in Montreal

The current four top teams, Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes are set to use a medium downforce configuration rear wing at the Canadian Grand Prix, with the Brackley-based outfit opting for the most downforce spec rear wing. F1Technical's lead journalist Balazs Szabo reveals the top teams' choice for Montreal.

The current Montreal circuit features high top end speeds thanks to its long straights. Combined with its rather short length, it's also the shortest lap of the season for an F1 car, going round in approximately 75 seconds.

The straights are linked by tight hairpins where the cars brake down to a little under 60km/h so the challenge is to combine this strong top-end power with effective engine braking and pick up on the entry and exits to the slow speed corners.

Allied to this, the two hairpins and the chicane mean the internals are intensely loaded three times a lap and then stressed further under the acceleration forces, leading Montréal to be called an engine breaker in the past.

The long straights usually prompt teams to opt for lower downforce wing as it is not only important for achieving the best overall performance, but a lack of top speed could also make a driver vulnerable down the back straight which offers an excellent overtaking opportunity.

However, as it is always the case in Formula One, the choice of the optimal downforce configuration is far from obvious. The intense braking zones require a stable car which would then favour a higher downforce configuration.

The biggest task is for the engineers to choose the optimal downforce level for the Montreal circuit which is probably more difficult than on any other tracks.

The images of respected journalist Albert Fabrega reveal that all top outfits elected for a medium-downforce rear wing. However, there are small, but significant differences.

Ferrari appear to have the lowest downforce rear wing at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Their mainplane is extremely small with the U-shaped convex curve of the central section being less pronounced than the rivals' solutions. The same is true for the mandatory concave section between the outer part of the mainplane and the endplate which is also the least pronounced among the top four squads' designs.

By contrast, Mercedes opted for a rear wing assembly that features a very pronounced inner spoon-shaped section which leads to an aggressively-designed concave outer segment. Thanks to this enormous parabolic central section, Mercedes was able to design a flap that is less steep.

McLaren and Red Bull sit between Mercedes and Ferrari in terms of their choice. Red Bull's assembly sports a pronounced central section, but it is less aggressively-designed than the one of Mercedes. In turn, the flap of the Milton Keynes-based squad's rear wing is much steeper.

McLaren has a similar design to Ferrari in terms of rear wing, but the outer concave section is more pronounced, albeit the two teams have opted to different flap. Ferrari's assembly features a more aggressively-designed tip section while the Scuderia also uses a Gurney flap.

Teams are divided in terms of the V-shaped cut-out on the flap that sits over the DRS mechanism. Red Bull and McLaren opted for a relatively big cut-out while Ferrari and Mercedes elected to use a flap that sports a linear edge.