When the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix revealed that straight‑line DRS would be disabled, several teams flooded the rear‑wing area with ad‑hoc winglets, exploiting a grey‑zone in the technical regulations to harvest extra downforce.
Innovative appendages across the grid
Mercedes, McLaren, Red Bull and Williams each fitted bespoke cascade winglets designed to boost rear‑wing load while nudging the main element into a more aggressive operating range. Smaller tab‑like extensions appeared on the uppermost rear‑wing section of Audi and Cadillac, echoing a solution first tried by Ferrari. Red Bull pushed the envelope further by attaching triangular protrusions to its Gurney flap, converting the rear wing into a more potent aerodynamic device.
Historical precedents of Monaco‑specific aero tricks
Monaco’s tight circuit has long inspired rule‑bending inventions. In 1974, McLaren’s M23 ran a narrowed “winklepicker” nose that widened the front wing and added visual upstands to delineate wing edges for the driver. Ferrari’s 1979 312T4 featured front and rear wings mounted close to the chassis, increasing rear‑wing depth while respecting maximum dimension limits and reducing the risk of barrier contact. Jordan’s 1996 “mid‑wing” perched atop the engine cover, leveraging ambiguous wording to generate its own downforce. Tyrrell’s 1997 X‑Wings, perched high on the sidepods, produced a dramatic lift‑increase before the FIA banned them for safety concerns. Ferrari’s 1999 F399 employed an unusually flapped rear wing, sacrificing straight‑line speed for cornering grip – a classic Monaco trade‑off.
Recent balance‑of‑performance tactics
Williams, in 2000, introduced an air‑box winglet that channeled airflow toward the rear wing and added a side‑pod winglet for additional balance. Arrows and Jordan, in 2001, trialled aggressive nose‑mounted winglets that echoed the high‑wing era of the 1960s; the FIA intervened and revoked the devices before they saw a qualifying run. Meanwhile, teams like Haas, Alpine and Racing Bulls retrofitted existing bodywork with opportunistic winglets, while Cadillacs and Audis refined the concept with smaller upper‑element tabs.
These stop‑gap aerodynamic tricks illustrate how F1 engineers repeatedly turn regulatory ambiguities into performance gains at Monaco, where extra rear‑end load is essential to keep the car planted through the circuit’s low‑speed bends.
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