However, with a close battle against Red Bull that excels in places like this, the world champions team pulled the stops with a suspension overhaul aimed at healing the Achilles’ heel.
We’ll never know whether the changes helped or not, as Valtteri Bottas was able to get more out of his car than Lewis Hamilton at the weekend.
It was clear, however, that the scope of the revisions certainly led Mercedes to understand how best to extract the pace from the car and tires – which could well have contributed to its disappointing result.
Major changes
The progress made by Mercedes in the opening races of the season is largely due to the fact that the correct setup, be it mechanical or aerodynamic, has been understood and applied. Visible stern instability in preseason has been addressed with just a few subtle updates.
However, the team unveiled what was probably the most visible upgrade of the season in Monaco when a new arrangement for steering, suspension and braking was put in place.
MERCEDES W12 comparison
Photo by: Not in the credits
The slow challenges of the Monte Carlo street circuit are like no other on the calendar, and that’s why all teams make concessions for them.
But with a sedan-like wheelbase, the W12 may need a little more help than most when it comes to navigating like the famous Fairmont hairpin.
As can be seen in this comparison of the car from above, the tie rod and lower wishbone have been redesigned to hit the post further forward than before.
Not only is the tie rod (yellow dotted line) wider, but it can also be clearly seen how much more dominant the bend is when it meets the brake duct inlet (inset).
There’s also a much larger gap between the two elements, as seen by the green dotted line on the front arm of the lower wishbone.
The changes made by the team to improve the W12’s low-speed maneuverability clearly had an impact on the design of the brake duct as well.
Mercedes W12 front brake duct comparison
Photo by: Not in the credits
The changes made to accommodate a revised tie rod and wishbone assembly are evident in the bulkier housing for the tie rod (highlighted in yellow), which meant that a similar volume was obtained for the portion of the inlet that is meshed (blue highlighted)) The team had to sacrifice the rest of the inlet and make changes to the partitioning.
This means that the space is only divided by a single stile instead of being divided by another horizontal section as in the normal arrangement.
This also shows how the brake duct is used both to cool the brakes and as a medium to move the airflow through the aerodynamic reinforcement assembly, the latter being sacrificed to maintain the required level of cooling for the tram.
Red Bull
Red Bull Racing RB16B diffuser comparison
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Probably the most interesting development of the weekend goes to Red Bull for the metal inserts on the outside corner of the diffuser as the two gurneys in the middle of the assembly had jagged edges.
These gears create a series of small eddies that make the airflow feel a little harder, which is especially important as cars drive less quickly on the streets of Monte Carlo.
A redesigned front wing was also added to his car, with a number of subtle changes that the team hoped would give it the performance boost it needed for the slow speed characteristics of the street course.
Red Bull Racing RB14B front wing detail
Photo by: Not in the credits
The revisions start with the leading edge of the main aircraft, which is shaped differently in the outer area, whereby the strakes under the wing are also slightly changed.
In the meantime, the shape of the upper flap has also been refined, with the inclination in the middle part providing the most visible reference point for how the wing is more heavily stressed in the outer area.
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Racing C41 ground comparison
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Alfa Romeo is the ninth and likely last team to adopt the Z-shaped floor configuration this season as Haas has no plans to make significant improvements to the VF-21 this season.
The bottom introduced by Alfa Romeo contains today’s tariff – a cutout paired with two outwardly angled fins. Or at least that’s what you’d assume.
However, those two angled fins were already a fixed point on the bottom of the C41 and weren’t placed in an outboard position to match the cutout as you’d expect.
In addition to the removed floor rollers, four more twisted and outwardly angled ribs have been added to the floor, which will likely force the airflow towards the new floor cutout to improve its effectiveness.
This is a similar design feature to several cars this season, with Red Bull, Alpha Tauri, Williams and Aston Martin all sporting their own variants.
The cutout allows a portion of the floor to be returned parallel to the centerline of the vehicle, giving the designers an aerodynamically more familiar behavior than the tapered floor according to the intended rules.
However, how much of the soil needs to taper in front of and beyond the parallel section depends on how much the ground tit is willing to cut away.
The rest
Aston Martin Racing AMR21 floor
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Aston Martin was most aggressive in this regard, cutting off a substantial portion of the ground so only a short section needs to be tapered before the rear tire.
McLaren MCL35M new floor
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
McLaren featured its Z-shaped floor at the Spanish GP and still has a fairly large, tapered section at the rear.
Ferrari SF21 floor
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Ferrari tested their Z-shaped floor in Portugal but only drove it for the first time in Monaco
Red Bull Racing RB16B ground comparison
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Red Bull had the Z-shaped floor at the beginning of the season but made tweaks during the first few races with the fin and the separated floor rollers now forming an intersection at the cutout.
Mercedes AMG F1 W12 floor
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Mercedes hid its bottom during the car’s start to prevent other teams, who may not have looked into the arrangement, from getting a head start in developing their own variant. It only has a very short section of floor that has been returned parallel to the center line of the car as it has focused its attention more on the rear section which, while tapering, also has a significant amount of aerodynamic furniture on the top and was turned around in front of the rear tire.
Alfa Romeo has also retained the scroll-like edge on the side of its bottom as it tapers towards the rear tire, with the designers using this as a way to manipulate the airflow to reduce the disruption that could otherwise be caused to the diffuser.
Alpine A521 bargeboard
Photo by: Not in the credits
alpine continues to look for performance with race-wise tweaks, with the bargeboard cluster being the subject of those changes for the Monaco GP.
The team not only added a substantial horn-like winglet that hangs from the main vertical element (red arrow), but also deleted some of the ‘teeth’ from the cluster (inset, highlighted in yellow).
In connection with this, the Monaco team also performed a slightly different floor configuration, suggesting that options are available depending on the prevailing circuit characteristics and the total load required.
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