Ferrari arrived at Monza with four declared updates – a revised floor board, a shortened mirror stay, a rear‑corner brake‑duct cascade removal and a slotted RV tail winglet – plus a new ADUO‑2 power unit. The floor work targets the high‑speed floor flow, while the mirror‑stay cut and rear‑corner clean‑up reduce drag at the expense of a modest down‑force margin.
Power‑unit centric upgrades
Ferrari’s power‑unit change, made at the home race, suggests a focus on peak‑power delivery rather than reliability gain. Mercedes declared three items: rear‑wing winglets removed, front‑body mirror stays trimmed and a full new power unit for George Russell, which carries a grid penalty. The power‑unit swap, like Ferrari’s, is a peak‑power move, but the aerodynamic changes show Mercedes accepting a loss of rear‑end down‑force to stay competitive on Monza’s long straights. Haas submitted three aerodynamic updates and a power‑unit change. The upgraded Ferrari ADUO‑2 engine mirrors the power‑unit strategies of Ferrari and Mercedes, indicating a shared belief that extra power compensates for any down‑force loss.
Aerodynamic drag‑cut strategies
McLaren’s two updates centre on rear‑wing aerodynamics and floor conditioning. An alternative straight‑line flap position on the rear wing reduces camber and drag, while the reworked floor furniture aims to smooth the under‑tray flow. Alpine’s upgrades focus on the front wing endplate and the rear wing pod fairing. Redesigning the foot‑plate vane reduces local drag, and removing the straight‑mode pod fairing from the rear wing further cleans the rear‑airflow. Cadillac introduced a higher‑outboard floor‑board stay and an outboard diffuser vane. Both parts improve floor conditioning and rear‑sidewall flow, subtly enhancing down‑force without a large drag penalty – a balanced approach rather than a pure low‑drag sacrifice. Audi declared no updates for Monza, effectively accepting the baseline low‑drag configuration from the previous race.
Balancing drag and rear‑end stability
Red Bull Racing listed four upgrades – a rear‑corner revision, a floor‑body tweak, a new exhaust tailpipe and a front‑wing alteration. Although the exact nature of the floor‑body work is not detailed, the combination of a revised rear corner and an exhaust tailpipe points to a balance between drag reduction and maintaining rear‑end stability. The front‑wing change likely refines low‑drag flow, suggesting Red Bull is trimming downforce where the circuit penalises it most. Aston Martin’s two updates target the front suspension fairing and the floor edge ahead of the rear tyre. The revised fairing improves airflow onto the front wing, while the floor edge work aims to increase load on the rear tyre without adding drag, a nuanced compromise that seeks to retain corner grip while staying competitive on the straights.
The common thread is a deliberate drag‑reduction agenda, even if it means surrendering some rear‑end down‑force.
Overall, the upgrade landscape paints a picture of teams converging on low‑drag philosophies for Monza. Ferrari, Mercedes and Haas lean on fresh power units to offset aerodynamic losses, while McLaren, Alpine and Aston Martin pursue finer flow‑conditioning tweaks. Red Bull balances modest drag cuts with rear‑corner stability, and Cadillac opts for incremental floor work. Audi’s lack of updates underscores the baseline low‑drag setup already in place. The collective emphasis on straight‑line efficiency highlights where each team believes its performance ceiling lies on the high‑speed circuit.