As teams prioritise their resources between development of the current cars, creating their 2020 machines and researching for the new regulations of 2021, something has to give... In the case of Mercedes, with this year’s championship effectively already decided in its favour, development parts for the W10 have rather dried up of late. The last major update for the car was at Hockenheim five races ago. “It was planned this way,” confirmed Toto Wolff in Sochi. “You’ve got to manage your resource in the right way, also looking into next year. That is something that we consider very carefully.”

Ferrari, with a more problematic 2019 car, have pressed on with their development programme

READ MORE: Mercedes daring to dream of sixth world title By contrast, Ferrari, with a more problematic 2019 car, and with the regulations staying the same in 2020, have pressed on with their development programme and took a major step forward with their aerodynamic upgrade introduced in Singapore. In Sochi, this updated package once more beat Mercedes to pole position and looked to be the faster car in the race too, even if the VSC-influenced result did not reflect that. It all just emphasises the speed of development in F1, that the previously dominant car can be surpassed in just a few races if it’s not constantly improved. READ MORE: 2021 F1 car set for more futuristic front wing after revisions Similarly Red Bull, with a car that only became truly competitive near the mid-point of the season, are pressing on with aero development and in Sochi ran with a new barge board arrangement that had appeared briefly in Singapore but wasn’t raced there.

Next Previous Enlarge 1 / 3 Mercedes are readying for 2021 with a new front suspension heave spring, which controls vertical suspension stiffness Currently, Mercedes' spring rate is hydraulically managed but they're now readying for a potential ban on that Mercedes may well continue with this new system in 2020, to get used to it before 2021's new era Info Close

However, one non-aero part that did appear on the Mercedes in both Singapore and Sochi was new – and is almost certainly related to the expected ban on hydraulic suspensions for 2021. The new component was a different version of the front suspension heave spring. The heave spring on an F1 car controls the vertical stiffness of the suspension. On the Mercedes of the last few years, the spring rate was hydraulically-controlled. Internal valves would determine the rate of flow from one chamber to another and thereby control the stiffness. But, following the example of Red Bull, the spring rate of the new component is determined by Belleville washers. These are cone-shaped springs and are often used in preference to conventional coil springs because they are much easier to package. READ MORE: How Red Bull evolved the RB15 into a race winner For 2021, hydraulic suspension elements are expected to be banned. So it would make sense that Mercedes may wish to become more attuned to the alternative system, using the 2020 season to understand any nuances ahead of its enforced introduction the following year. There are expected to be further small development parts on the W10 in Suzuka but, as with the heave spring, the focus is on the future. “There will be some small things that we are just interested to explore,” confirmed Wolff, “but not the big steps that we had and we pushed very hard with until the summer.”

Next Previous Enlarge 1 / 2 Conical Belleville washers, currently used by Red Bull, are easier to package Internal washers control spring rate in the Red Bull RB15 - and this might become the norm Info Close

Red Bull’s barge board upgrade was very much focused on this season, and essentially comprises an opening out of the gap between the trailing edge of the under-nose guide vane and the leading edge of the barge board. Previously, this gap was tiny – encouraging much of the under-nose airflow in that area directly to the underfloor. By trimming back the barge board’s leading edge to create a bigger gap, the space is created to channel more of that flow to create a more powerful outwash. The alignment of the mini vanes on the barge board’s base indicate where they are directing that flow.

Red Bull ran a new barge board in Russia after briefly trialing it in Singapore