F1TECH: How did Racing Bulls upgrade its car in Montreal?

Racing Bulls arrived in Montréal with a focused but meaningful upgrade package, centred around a new floor, revised rear corner aero devices, an updated beam wing, and a reprofiled exhaust tailpipe bracket.

While not as visually dramatic as some of the larger packages seen elsewhere in the paddock, this was a structural aerodynamic update — the kind that can shift a car’s behaviour across an entire operating window rather than at a single circuit.

Racing Bulls introduced a new main floor geometry for the Canadian Grand Prix, marking the most significant aerodynamic change to the VCARB03 since the early season updates. According to the team, the redesigned floor is intended to deliver “an efficient downforce increase generated by the underbody of the car, across a range of operating conditions.”

This is a crucial point: the team is not chasing peak downforce, but consistent, stable load — something the car has lacked at times in low speed corners and under braking.

The new floor body was expected to result “in an efficient downforce increase generated by the underbody of the car, across a range of operating conditions.”

Racing Bulls’ new geometry likely includes changes to the floor board, tunnels, and diffuser throat to improve mass flow and reduce separation. The goal is to stabilise the car in slow speed corners — a known weakness — and improve traction on corner exit.

Rear corner devices (often called “cake tin winglets”) help control the wake around the rear wheels and feed the diffuser. When a new floor is introduced, these devices must be re optimised to match the altered flow structures. Racing Bulls’ update suggests the team is trying to improve diffuser efficiency and reduce rear instability under load.

“Working in conjunction with the floor update, the changes to the rear corner devices improve the flow management at the back of the car,” Racing Bulls noted.

The beam wing is a critical extractor for the diffuser. By modifying its profile and incidence, Racing Bulls aims to increase rear downforce, improve the diffuser’s pressure recovery, and stabilise the car under braking and in medium speed corner This is a classic complementary update: the floor generates the load, the beam wing helps extract it.

“Supporting the changes made to the floor and around the exhaust, the Beam Wing changes help extract additional load from the rear wing assembly.”

This may seem minor, but the tailpipe bracket sits in a sensitive aerodynamic region. Reprofiling it helps clean up the central wake, improving the efficiency of the beam wing and diffuser.

It’s a small but necessary adjustment to ensure the new floor and beam wing operate as intended. Racing Bulls explained the tweak: “The tailpipe bracket update improves the flow management around the centreline of the car as part of the surrounding changes on the Beam Wing and floor.”