The Spanish round of the Formula 1 season is famous for aerodynamic and mechanical upgrades on the cars, and this year is no different. Here is what you need to know about who is bringing what to Barcelona.

McLaren

McLaren have been talking up their changes for Barcelona, and are optimistic that the front row in qualifying is a possibility. There are major aerodynamic tweaks on the MP4-25, including on the front and rear wings. The team’s chief engineer Tim Goss said:

“We have certainly closed the gap. After the Barcelona test at the end of February, we were quite confident that we were there or thereabouts. So we were a little bit taken aback in [the opening race in] Bahrain. We were some way off, especially off the Red Bulls.

“In China, bar the slip-up Lewis had in qualifying, we proved that we had closed the gap in qualifying. We were probably only 0.2-0.3 seconds off Red Bull in qualifying trim.

“Barcelona depends very much on the technical changes and the results of the upgrades. We’ve made a big step forward, but the other teams like Red Bull and Mercedes are making some significant changes, Ferrari have announced that they are going to bring their own drag reduction rear wing, so I think it’s very difficult to make predictions for Barcelona. Although I’d like to think that we can put a car on the front row.”

Ferrari

Ferrari will head into the European leg of the season with their engine woes solved after the FIA gave the Scuderia permission to tweak the V8 which caused them problems at previous races. A glitch with the pneumatic valves in the engines was to blame for the failures.

That’s not the only change for Ferrari – they head to the Circuit de Catalunya with an F-duct! Whether they will use it or not at this early stage in its development is unclear. Red Bull say that an F-duct is on the way, but it shouldn’t be introduced for a while yet.

Mercedes GP

Mercedes are bringing a significantly revised W01 to Spain. In addition to a major aerodynamic and bodywork package, the length of the car is to be increased in order to improve its weight distribution and use its tyres more effectively.

They have also created an innovative air intake, with the regular single intake replaced with two separate holes on either side of the car.

Renault

Renault are making minor changes for Barcelona with a new front wing and other aerodynamic features, and the Enstone-based team are concerned that the longer wheelbase of the Mercedes may mean that the gap between the two widens. Alan Permane, the team’s chief race engineer explained:

“Mercedes may move away from us a little bit but we’ve got a new front wing and some other new aerodynamic parts that should help us make another step forward. It’s not the biggest update we’ve had this year, but it continues our approach of adding new parts at each race.

“It will be very interesting to see how the situation shakes out between the different teams.”

Force India

Force India have some aerodynamic improvements all over the car, with refinements to the front wing and bargeboard area, plus some mechanical changes aimed at improving lower speed corner performance, meaning that the Silverstone team are not concerned about losing pace to faster-developing rivals.

Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso’s STR5 will feature a new engine cover and the car will also carry new brake ducts this weekend, and team boss Franz Tost is targeting a Q3 session at Barcelona:

“In the last couple of races we already saw an improvement in our package, so in Barcelona, I would hope that if we do everything perfectly, we could get at least one driver through into Qualifying 3 for the first time this season, or if not, then at least very close to tenth on the grid, so that more points has to be a realistic target for us this weekend.”

Lotus

As you would expect at a team with Mike Gascoyne at the helm, Lotus are bringing substantial updates to Barcelona. The T127 will have an aero package with revised sidepods, front wings and brake ducts, and a number of mechanical changes.

Sauber

Sauber are bringing a package of updates to the Spanish Grand Prix, with particular focus on the front end and diffuser. The team are also trying to push their own version F-duct system.

Virgin Racing

Only Timo Glock will have a VR-01 with a big enough fuel tank after the fallout from ‘the Volcano’ meant that Virgin only had time to make 1 new chassis. Glock will also get an aerodynamic upgrade for this weekend’s race, while di Grassi will only have some new parts on his car and not the whole package.