Anyone studying the rear of the fastest cars in the Monaco pit lane this weekend will have noticed something distinctly unusual. Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren have all arrived in the principality sporting an array of additional winglets mounted on their rear wings – an eye-catching solution born from the singular nature of the track and a quirk in the 2026 regulations.
The key to the design lies in the deletion of Straight Mode for the Monaco Grand Prix. Across most of the calendar, teams run active aero systems that adjust the wings to shed drag on the straights, controlled by an actuator. At Monaco, where flat-out running is minimal, that system is switched off – and suddenly the hardware that would normally house the actuator becomes surplus to requirements.
The three teams have each seized on that freed-up space, but in subtly different ways. Mercedes has gone the most aggressive route, removing the actuator pod entirely and installing a highly complex set of winglets that stretch further back. Red Bull, by contrast, has repurposed the actuator pod itself, using it as a mounting point for two simpler winglets. McLaren has followed a broadly similar path to Red Bull.
In each case, the winglets extend higher than the main wing structure, positioning them in cleaner, less disturbed airflow. That elevation is deliberate: by working in better-quality air, the small surfaces can generate proportionally more downforce for their size, squeezing extra performance from a tightly regulated area of the car.
The logic only makes sense because of where the race is held. Monaco is both the least power-sensitive and the least drag-sensitive circuit on the entire Formula 1 calendar. Around its barriers and hairpins, top speed counts for almost nothing while mechanical and aerodynamic grip count for everything. The usual trade-off – where added downforce brings a drag penalty that hurts on the straights – simply does not apply here. Downforce is king, and drag an afterthought.
That explains why these particular devices are a Monaco special rather than a season-long development. At a conventional track, the drag generated by such winglets would outweigh any benefit; at Monaco, the calculation flips entirely. Teams are effectively exploiting a narrow window in the regulations, which define wing dimensions strictly but allow a degree of flexibility around the central wing-turning mechanism.
It is a reminder that Monaco continues to push engineers down unique design avenues, even in the active-aero era. With qualifying so often decisive around a circuit where overtaking is famously difficult, every fraction of downforce that can be coaxed from the rear of the car could prove the difference between the front row and the midfield. The radical winglets may look odd, but the thinking behind them is ruthlessly logical – and a neat illustration of how the sharpest teams turn a rule change to their advantage.
Source: newsformula.one