Red Bull and Ferrari front wings
- Thread starter MCLS
- Start date
That's pretty much how I understood it from the Autosport article.
That would be seriously tricky to measure because you could argue that the nose was moving around due to suspension travel and not because of any flexing.
Much like the 6cm ground clearence rule of the early 80's, the teams know that the only realistic method of the measure of flex and movement is when the car is stationary.
To quote(ish) the FIA rules any part of the car that influences the aerodynamics must be rigidly fixed to the entirely sprung part of the car. Rigidly fixed means to have no degree of movement.
Much like the 6cm ground clearence rule of the early 80's, the teams know that the only realistic method of the measure of flex and movement is when the car is stationary.
To quote(ish) the FIA rules any part of the car that influences the aerodynamics must be rigidly fixed to the entirely sprung part of the car. Rigidly fixed means to have no degree of movement.
Were reading into whats happening far too much! IMO
The wing bends, that's it. McLarens one now does the same, go look at some on board replays of Japan, then compare to 2/3 races ago. At Japan you can see it bouncing up and down on the end plates when going over bumps and you can clearly see the end fences lowing to the ground as the car speeds up. Their wings previously were very rigid and vibrated at high frequency, not wobble as they now do like the RBR wing, look at some Mercedes or Williams wings, they are flat and rigid at speed, and the same over bumps/curbs, just as the McL wing was until two weeks ago...
The McL wing is not quite as effective at getting the fences to the floor as the RBR wing yet, but we know they are changing it again next week...
If the nose itself dipped in any way shape or form, this would change the angle of the end fence to the floor... It does not change on any of the suspect cars, staying parallel to the ground at all times....
The wing front edge is FLAT, horizontal when stationary, at 100+ mph it is banana shape...
On-board shots of all suspected cars do not show any visible sign of movement on the nose, even when you can see the wing ends lowering and raising clearly...
RBR have several other features that help, they run high rake and they have softer suspension than McLaren allowing the entire front of the car closer to the ground at speed. This is more of a fundamental difference between the two car designs and as such is why McLaren still lack time in the high speed turns in comparison.
Also, McLaren this week also completely backed out of making attacks and comments 'toward' the FIA and other teams that they had been voicing so much previously, certainly Ross Brawn was still pushing the point, while Martin Whitmarsh quietly passed judgement when asked......
The only thing that perplexes me a little about RBR is whether or not they do have a ride height device. Its entirely possible this is part of their solution to getting the end fences down, it is only part, but they have done a good job of allowing attention to be diverted away if this is the case.
Rest assured though, there is an awful lot of speed locked up in getting the end fences to the ground and if RBR had it 'taken away' or McLaren or Ferrari can develop a system the same, ie getting the fences to touch the ground, RBRs speed would be completely neutralised (IMO).
The front wing is the airs first encounter with the car, the front wing pretty much dictates where the air goes and how the air performs as it is moved aside for the car to come through. It does not just give front downforce, it 'sets-up' the air to do what the aerodynamicists want it to down the car. For example, damage to the front wing end fences can cut the rear wing downforce by anything up to ~30% because they are important for 'lining up', 'straightening out', channeling and increasing/decreasing the pressure of the air and 'placing it' on the various aerodynamic aids. so if you can loose 30%, likewise you can make BIG gains if you can control this air better. This is why it is such a big deal IMO.
The wing bends, that's it. McLarens one now does the same, go look at some on board replays of Japan, then compare to 2/3 races ago. At Japan you can see it bouncing up and down on the end plates when going over bumps and you can clearly see the end fences lowing to the ground as the car speeds up. Their wings previously were very rigid and vibrated at high frequency, not wobble as they now do like the RBR wing, look at some Mercedes or Williams wings, they are flat and rigid at speed, and the same over bumps/curbs, just as the McL wing was until two weeks ago...
The McL wing is not quite as effective at getting the fences to the floor as the RBR wing yet, but we know they are changing it again next week...
If the nose itself dipped in any way shape or form, this would change the angle of the end fence to the floor... It does not change on any of the suspect cars, staying parallel to the ground at all times....
The wing front edge is FLAT, horizontal when stationary, at 100+ mph it is banana shape...
On-board shots of all suspected cars do not show any visible sign of movement on the nose, even when you can see the wing ends lowering and raising clearly...
RBR have several other features that help, they run high rake and they have softer suspension than McLaren allowing the entire front of the car closer to the ground at speed. This is more of a fundamental difference between the two car designs and as such is why McLaren still lack time in the high speed turns in comparison.
Also, McLaren this week also completely backed out of making attacks and comments 'toward' the FIA and other teams that they had been voicing so much previously, certainly Ross Brawn was still pushing the point, while Martin Whitmarsh quietly passed judgement when asked......
The only thing that perplexes me a little about RBR is whether or not they do have a ride height device. Its entirely possible this is part of their solution to getting the end fences down, it is only part, but they have done a good job of allowing attention to be diverted away if this is the case.
Rest assured though, there is an awful lot of speed locked up in getting the end fences to the ground and if RBR had it 'taken away' or McLaren or Ferrari can develop a system the same, ie getting the fences to touch the ground, RBRs speed would be completely neutralised (IMO).
The front wing is the airs first encounter with the car, the front wing pretty much dictates where the air goes and how the air performs as it is moved aside for the car to come through. It does not just give front downforce, it 'sets-up' the air to do what the aerodynamicists want it to down the car. For example, damage to the front wing end fences can cut the rear wing downforce by anything up to ~30% because they are important for 'lining up', 'straightening out', channeling and increasing/decreasing the pressure of the air and 'placing it' on the various aerodynamic aids. so if you can loose 30%, likewise you can make BIG gains if you can control this air better. This is why it is such a big deal IMO.
The FIA specifically changed the rules and stipulated the number of sections the plank could have so I think it's safe to assume that some teams were using some kind of device to lower the front part of the nose.
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/ ... 11216.html
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/ ... 11216.html
I have become used to these massive front wings, not because I like them but because they have been there long enough that I have suppressed my feelings about them. Then I stumbled across a photo from 2007 and was reminded what the old ones were like. If we can ignore the rest of the car below and all the bits hanging off of it, you might see why I think that driving a modern F1 car is a bit like boxing in a sombrero.
They're not banning front wings at last, are they?
That'll put the whole "Schumacher Accident Unit" at Brackley out of a job!
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