Monaco is a unique circuit, but it no longer has unique high-downforce requirements for Formula 1 teams.
Increasingly, teams are running high downforce at most tracks, but Monaco doesn't have a sensitivity to drag compared to conventional circuits, as the average speed is so slow. As a result, teams do not tend to produce the extreme Monte Carlo aero set-ups that we have seen in the past. But the same basic tricks still apply: maximum downforce, raised suspension, and bodywork trimmed to allow maximum turning angle.
Brakes run at high temperatures here, mainly because the callipers and brake fluids retain heat, rather than because of elevated disc temperatures.
Heat from the rear brakes needs to be kept away from the rear wheel, to avoid increasing the rear tyre temperatures, which are already elevated from the traction they need to create around the principality.
Conversely, front tyre temperatures benefit from heat from the brake passing through the wheel into the tyre.
MONKEY SEATS
Although teams do not tend to bring Monaco-specific high-downforce aero kits, many do prepare their most aggressive monkey seat winglets for this track.
These winglets sit in a free zone for bodywork, in an area 100mm from the car's centreline under the rear wing.
This gives rise to the technical name 'Y100 winglet' - based on the CAD (Computer Aided Design) term for the dimension, although 'monkey seat' is the more popularly understood name for the device.
Many think of the monkey seat's main use being to create downforce, although its key function is actually to help turn the air upwards, to join up the airflow from the diffuser to that of the top rear wing.
This is at least partially aided by the effect of the exhaust blowing underneath the winglet, although this is not as strong an effect as an exhaust-blown diffuser.
Helping the airflow under the rear wing means the airflow stays attached to the top rear wing's undersurface, making the downforce it creates more consistent.
The cost for this effect is some drag. At high-downforce tracks, or tracks where long corners demand greater stability from the rear wing downforce, monkey seats can be used despite their drag penalty.
The trend for these devices is converging, with a tall winglet with two sets of aerofoil elements fitted between the endplate, then supported by an arched cantilever mounting, becoming the most popular version.
Deviations from this theme can be seen at Toro Rosso (pictured), which uses a three-element winglet complicated by slots on the endplate and wing sections.
Mercedes mounts its winglet from elongated endplates joined to the gearbox.
Ferrari has a simple two-element winglet and Sauber a single-element set-up.
Some teams choose not to run them, notably Williams and Red Bull in Monaco.
RED BULL - NOT JUST AN ENGINE UPGRADE
After its recent success in Spain things are looking up for Red Bull, and its development pace is brisk too. Novelties for the RB12 in Monaco include the uprated Renault power unit and a pair of new rear wing endplates.
In the case of the much-anticipated Renault combustion upgrade, the mileage put on the engine during post Spanish GP testing gave Renault the optimism to deliver one new engine to each of its two teams.
Little is known about the upgrade to the combustion technology, but it is understood to relate to the same sort of lean-burn technologies that Ferrari and Mercedes have - focusing on maximising performance while allowing a very lean mixture to be run.
Although Ferrari is known to be running a pre-chamber technology developed by Mahle, Mercedes and Renault are not necessarily following this specific technical route, as there are other lean-burn solutions out there that could be applicable to F1.
On the chassis side Red Bull's new rear wing endplates were brought to Spain but never run, so Monaco is their track debut.
Following the common route for wing endplates, the two key changes are the three strakes rising up the sides of the endplate and the breaking up of the lower edge from three to 11 vanes.
Each of these changes alters the flow through and around the wing, increasing upwash and through flow to make the wing more efficient.
TORO ROSSO - PUSHING THE LIMITS ON AIR DUCTS
Aside from its sophisticated looking monkey seat, Toro Rosso innovated with a tiny vane hanging from its front lower wishbone.
Vanes around the front brake ducts are already common and increasingly complicated, but are generally mounted to the brake duct assembly.
Mounting the vane to the wishbone stretches the definition of brake 'air ducts' within the technical regulations to the limit.
These fins are defined under the air duct rules and not as suspension members, as they sit within the 120mm allowed for the brake air duct bodywork.
Therefore they are not subject to the symmetry and angle of attack rules applied to suspension members.
Already similar interpretations have been applied to the rear suspension and Toro Rosso itself had a unique interpretation of rear suspension member geometry on the 2015 car, creating an asymmetric shape to the rear lower wishbones. So there is a precedent set for bodywork in this area.
The function of this vane is very similar to the vanes fitted to the brake ducts themselves, which is to turn the airflow around the inner face of the wheel and tyre.
Toro Rosso's first run of these vanes was conducted with flow-vis paint applied, which the team then photographed to check the track results matched those predicted by its simulations.
McLAREN - BRAKE QUIRKS
The level of change on the McLaren in Monaco was less than we've come to expect from previous races.
But the MP4-31 did feature new monkey seats of the common two-paired element design described above, and a new V6 engine for Fernando Alonso, albeit one of the same performance spec as before, while Honda waits on a planned combustion upgrade. The only modifications made were for reliability.
McLaren did continue to run the late-arriving set-up from the Spanish GP, with the complex outswept front wing and the front brake variations.
What's interesting is that the front brake duct set-up can be run in two parts.
The inner part that sits around the front tyre was the same on both cars - the new spec with a flatter shape and prominent inlet scoop.
But the internal brake drum varied between the cars, with Jenson Button using the older shape and Alonso the newer shape.
Clearly the two sections are independent and can be mixed and matched.
FORCE INDIA - COMPLEX NEW SLOTS
With its comprehensive aero update from Spain still fitted to the car, Force India also added a significant series of slots ahead of the rear tyre.
A run of 16 small slots feeds air underneath the floor to offset the turbulence created by the tyres, which upsets the diffuser's performance.
While numerically the Force India solution is complex, it does without the extra 'L' shape slots that most teams run in the area directly ahead of the rear tyre.
RENAULT - TOUGH START WITH NEW SUSPENSION
Aside from the new power unit fitted to Kevin Magnussen's car, the RS16 also ran with a new front suspension, which made its debut in testing.
Little is known about the new front suspension set-up, so it's not clear if the expected performance boost relates to external geometry or clever new inboard springs/dampers.
Renault is satisfied the design should give it several tenths of laptime gain, though Magnussen's negative comments about the car following Thursday practice in Monaco suggest more time is needed to understand how to get the most from the new design.
Monaco is a unique circuit, but it no longer has unique high-downforce requirements for Formula 1 teams.
Increasingly, teams are running high downforce at most tracks, but Monaco doesn't have a sensitivity to drag compared to conventional circuits, as the average speed is so slow. As a result, teams do not tend to produce the extreme Monte Carlo aero set-ups that we have seen in the past. But the same basic tricks still apply: maximum downforce, raised suspension, and bodywork trimmed to allow maximum turning angle.
Brakes run at high temperatures here, mainly because the callipers and brake fluids retain heat, rather than because of elevated disc temperatures.
Heat from the rear brakes needs to be kept away from the rear wheel, to avoid increasing the rear tyre temperatures, which are already elevated from the traction they need to create around the principality.
Conversely, front tyre temperatures benefit from heat from the brake passing through the wheel into the tyre.
MONKEY SEATS
Although teams do not tend to bring Monaco-specific high-downforce aero kits, many do prepare their most aggressive monkey seat winglets for this track.
These winglets sit in a free zone for bodywork, in an area 100mm from the car's centreline under the rear wing.
This gives rise to the technical name 'Y100 winglet' - based on the CAD (Computer Aided Design) term for the dimension, although 'monkey seat' is the more popularly understood name for the device.
Many think of the monkey seat's main use being to create downforce, although its key function is actually to help turn the air upwards, to join up the airflow from the diffuser to that of the top rear wing.
This is at least partially aided by the effect of the exhaust blowing underneath the winglet, although this is not as strong an effect as an exhaust-blown diffuser.
Helping the airflow under the rear wing means the airflow stays attached to the top rear wing's undersurface, making the downforce it creates more consistent.
The cost for this effect is some drag. At high-downforce tracks, or tracks where long corners demand greater stability from the rear wing downforce, monkey seats can be used despite their drag penalty.
The trend for these devices is converging, with a tall winglet with two sets of aerofoil elements fitted between the endplate, then supported by an arched cantilever mounting, becoming the most popular version.
Deviations from this theme can be seen at Toro Rosso (pictured), which uses a three-element winglet complicated by slots on the endplate and wing sections.
Mercedes mounts its winglet from elongated endplates joined to the gearbox.
Ferrari has a simple two-element winglet and Sauber a single-element set-up.
Some teams choose not to run them, notably Williams and Red Bull in Monaco.
RED BULL - NOT JUST AN ENGINE UPGRADE
After its recent success in Spain things are looking up for Red Bull, and its development pace is brisk too. Novelties for the RB12 in Monaco include the uprated Renault power unit and a pair of new rear wing endplates.
In the case of the much-anticipated Renault combustion upgrade, the mileage put on the engine during post Spanish GP testing gave Renault the optimism to deliver one new engine to each of its two teams.
Little is known about the upgrade to the combustion technology, but it is understood to relate to the same sort of lean-burn technologies that Ferrari and Mercedes have - focusing on maximising performance while allowing a very lean mixture to be run.
Although Ferrari is known to be running a pre-chamber technology developed by Mahle, Mercedes and Renault are not necessarily following this specific technical route, as there are other lean-burn solutions out there that could be applicable to F1.
On the chassis side Red Bull's new rear wing endplates were brought to Spain but never run, so Monaco is their track debut.
Following the common route for wing endplates, the two key changes are the three strakes rising up the sides of the endplate and the breaking up of the lower edge from three to 11 vanes.
Each of these changes alters the flow through and around the wing, increasing upwash and through flow to make the wing more efficient.
TORO ROSSO - PUSHING THE LIMITS ON AIR DUCTS
Aside from its sophisticated looking monkey seat, Toro Rosso innovated with a tiny vane hanging from its front lower wishbone.
Vanes around the front brake ducts are already common and increasingly complicated, but are generally mounted to the brake duct assembly.
Mounting the vane to the wishbone stretches the definition of brake 'air ducts' within the technical regulations to the limit.
These fins are defined under the air duct rules and not as suspension members, as they sit within the 120mm allowed for the brake air duct bodywork.
Therefore they are not subject to the symmetry and angle of attack rules applied to suspension members.
Already similar interpretations have been applied to the rear suspension and Toro Rosso itself had a unique interpretation of rear suspension member geometry on the 2015 car, creating an asymmetric shape to the rear lower wishbones. So there is a precedent set for bodywork in this area.
The function of this vane is very similar to the vanes fitted to the brake ducts themselves, which is to turn the airflow around the inner face of the wheel and tyre.
Toro Rosso's first run of these vanes was conducted with flow-vis paint applied, which the team then photographed to check the track results matched those predicted by its simulations.
McLAREN - BRAKE QUIRKS
The level of change on the McLaren in Monaco was less than we've come to expect from previous races.
But the MP4-31 did feature new monkey seats of the common two-paired element design described above, and a new V6 engine for Fernando Alonso, albeit one of the same performance spec as before, while Honda waits on a planned combustion upgrade. The only modifications made were for reliability.
McLaren did continue to run the late-arriving set-up from the Spanish GP, with the complex outswept front wing and the front brake variations.
What's interesting is that the front brake duct set-up can be run in two parts.
The inner part that sits around the front tyre was the same on both cars - the new spec with a flatter shape and prominent inlet scoop.
But the internal brake drum varied between the cars, with Jenson Button using the older shape and Alonso the newer shape.
Clearly the two sections are independent and can be mixed and matched.
FORCE INDIA - COMPLEX NEW SLOTS
With its comprehensive aero update from Spain still fitted to the car, Force India also added a significant series of slots ahead of the rear tyre.
A run of 16 small slots feeds air underneath the floor to offset the turbulence created by the tyres, which upsets the diffuser's performance.
While numerically the Force India solution is complex, it does without the extra 'L' shape slots that most teams run in the area directly ahead of the rear tyre.
RENAULT - TOUGH START WITH NEW SUSPENSION
Aside from the new power unit fitted to Kevin Magnussen's car, the RS16 also ran with a new front suspension, which made its debut in testing.
Little is known about the new front suspension set-up, so it's not clear if the expected performance boost relates to external geometry or clever new inboard springs/dampers.
Renault is satisfied the design should give it several tenths of laptime gain, though Magnussen's negative comments about the car following Thursday practice in Monaco suggest more time is needed to understand how to get the most from the new design.
