Ferrari roll out major upgrade as McLaren introduce significant development

Ferrari has confirmed the rollout of a major new upgrade it hopes will lead to a turning point in its indifferent season. Heading into this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix, the Scuderia has slipped to third in the constructors' championship, and after 10 races has only three podiums to its name, all courtesy of Charles Leclerc. At the same stage last year, it had won two grands prix, and scored seven additional podiums. The lack of overall performance from the SF-25 has constantly been bemoaned by Leclerc and seven-time F1 champion team-mate Lewis Hamilton, and with the clock ticking on when Ferrari shuts down its development programme for this year and switches solely to next season's new regulations. For the event at the Red Bull Ring in Spielberg, the cars will sport a completely new floor, whilst the diffuser has been redefined. In technical terms, Ferrari states the package "features updated front floor fences targeting an enhanced vorticity released downstream. "The reshaped boat and tunnel expansion have been subsequently reoptimised, together with the floor edge loading and diffuser volume distribution, leading to an overall load gain across the car operating envelope." As for its rivals, championship leaders McLaren has updated the front suspension and modified the front corner of the car. Of greater significance is the fact that it has also revised the rear corner. Notably, there is "alternative rear suspension geometry which requires a revision of rear corner aerodynamic surfaces to maintain clearances as well as aerodynamic performance". Red Bull, meanwhile, has unveiled a new floor edge on its RB21s, in particular new surfaces with a vent ahead of the rear tyre. In performance terms, it is "intended to maintain the established flow stability and improve the load extracted from this region of the floor". Mercedes, which leapfrogged Ferrari into second in the constructors' standings after its one-three performance from George Russell and Kimi Anontelli last time out in Canada, also has significant new parts on the W16s, albeit they are circuit-specific. These include a large brake duct inlet and exit to aid the brake wear at the track, and an engine cover that will assist with cooling. Of the other teams, only Racing Bulls and Stake have new components. On the Bulls, there is new front-wing flap geometry to help with aerodynamic performance, as well as updated circuit-specific rear-wing profiles that target downforce and efficiency level for the circuit. The Stake cars have made changes to the mid-floor area, including the outboard floor edge and diffuser to "improve flow-field conditions for the underfloor from front to back" to "gain some efficient downforce". Additionally, there is a new rear-wing assembly more suited for higher downforce tracks for the remainder of the season.