As teams showed off their low-downforce aerodynamic configurations at the Cirucit de Spa-Francorchamps, it has emerged that Ferrari will use a prominent, wide parabolic cut-out on the trailing edge of its rear wing's flap. F1Technical's lead journalist Balazs Szabo delivers his latest technical analysis.

Track layout and setup difficulties

The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, in its current 7km iteration, is the longest circuit on the current calendar, and a firm favorite among the Formula 1 drivers. It features fast and flowing corners such as Pouhon, Blanchimont and the Eau Rouge/Raidillon complex, along which drivers ascend flat out through the Ardennes Forest.

Spa-Francorchamps also requires a trade-off for teams and drivers to settle upon the best approach. The power-hungry first and third sectors – which are almost flat-out bar the La Source hairpin and Bus Stop chicane – are counteracted by the lengthy middle sector with an abundance of medium- to high-speed corners.

This characteristics makes it difficult for the teams to identify the ideal aerodynamic compromise. In fact, it is not unusual to see cars that are very strong in the fastest first and third sectors, struggling in the second slower one, or vice versa.

Some combinations of corners, for example, Eau Rouge-Raidillon are very demanding and have unique characteristics, in this specific case a strong compression which puts a lot of stress on both the driver and the car.

As teams packed out their low-downforce configurations for this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, it has emerged that all four leadings outfits have elected to use a low-downforce rear wing. However, as usual, there are key differences to the way the teams want to generate downforce with their assemblies.

As far as the rear wings are concerned, Ferrari and McLaren appear to have opted for slightly lower downforce compared to Mercedes and Red Bull.

While Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull went for a spoon-shaped main plane, the leading edge of the main plane of Mercedes' rear wing is linear. In turn, the outer section sports a prominent concave curvature as it connects to the endplate of the wing.

By contrast, the connecting point between the main plane and endplate on McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull's rear wing feature only a moderate concave curvature just to meet the technical regulations in this area.

In terms of the flaps, there are also key differences. McLaren and Red Bull opted for a slight V-shaped cut-out which is very much in line with what the two outfits have been chasing with their rear wing configurations this season. Mercedes opted against any cut-outs.

Ferrari, which has mostly used a linear trailing edge on its different rear wing versions so far this year, has adopted a prominent, wide parabolic curvature on the flap which has been not seen so far this season.

The Scuderia might pursue an extremely low-downforce configuration which could be an attempt to eradicate the bouncing that has hindered its performance since the introduction of the Barcelona upgrade package.

The Maranello-based outfit has managed to mitigate this negative side effect of the new package in Hungary with a revised floor, but with the Hungaroring being a slow, twisty, narrow circuit, the fast and flowing Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps will pose the first real test to Ferrari's latest solution.

While Ferrari and Red Bull opted for a rectangular tip section that features an upward sweep, Mercedes and McLaren's tip sections are bent downwards.