132 replies to this topic

[CocoPops]

11/1 odds on button

5/1 @ Ladbrokes
7/1 @ William Hill

[siztenboots]

betfair , matched bet http://sports.betfai...x=1&origin=LHMA

[siztenboots]

more FI VJM05 pics from Craig here

[siztenboots]

fantastic illustration from Craig of the McLaren profile

[CocoPops]

The FI nose has an interesting front wing mount.

[elwill]

the top mounting of the mclaren's front suspension looks to be something special. Its virtually on the edge of the top of the nose.
that seems to be where the other teams have needed the bulge

Good spot.

Looks... fragile.

[techieboy]

Not sure Nev would approve

[Judderman]

Not sure Nev would approve

Haha Love it

[elwill]

Interesting idea of what to do with the exhaust gases I guess, but surely a bigger wing would do the same but better?

[garyk220]

So McLaren are the only team so far to position the forward bulkhead as low as the regs permit which allows them to design a more aesthetically pleasing and presumably aerodynamically efficient line to the nose. The others appear to have placed the top surface of the nose cone and the bulkhead at the highest position allowed in the regs to get as much air under the car as possible to compensate for the loss of the blown diffusers. Will be interesting to see: 1. what way the Red Bull design goes, and; 2. whether McLaren have another aerodynamic master stroke like the F-duct, as that seems like a lot of potential rear downforce to be giving away, to avoid an ugly front end.

[VXT Tim]

So McLaren are the only team so far to position the forward bulkhead as low as the regs permit which allows them to design a more aesthetically pleasing and presumably aerodynamically efficient line to the nose. The others appear to have placed the top surface of the nose cone and the bulkhead at the highest position allowed in the regs to get as much air under the car as possible to compensate for the loss of the blown diffusers.

Will be interesting to see:
1. what way the Red Bull design goes, and;
2. whether McLaren have another aerodynamic master stroke like the F-duct, as that seems like a lot of potential rear downforce to be giving away, to avoid an ugly front end.

[CocoPops]

Interesting BBC video discussing the MP4-27

http://www.bbc.co.uk...rmula1/16864721
With Gary Anderson and Jake Humphrey

[elwill]

So McLaren are the only team so far to position the forward bulkhead as low as the regs permit which allows them to design a more aesthetically pleasing and presumably aerodynamically efficient line to the nose. The others appear to have placed the top surface of the nose cone and the bulkhead at the highest position allowed in the regs to get as much air under the car as possible to compensate for the loss of the blown diffusers.

Will be interesting to see:
1. what way the Red Bull design goes, and;
2. whether McLaren have another aerodynamic master stroke like the F-duct, as that seems like a lot of potential rear downforce to be giving away, to avoid an ugly front end.

Well reading the Scarbs article it would suggest that the design of their "snow plough vane" compensates for this:

When compared to the maximum heights (the dotted line on the drawing), its clear this is a very low nose overall.

The snow plough vane under the nose might be part of the secret to a low nose
This creates less space under the raised nose, but the teams snow plough device under the nose works aggressively as a turning vane, so perhaps the team don’t need the higher chassis to get the correct airflow to the sidepods leading edge. McLaren also find the lower nose provides the classic vehicle dynamics benefits of a low CofG and a less extreme front suspension geometry. This trade off works for McLaren and goes to prove not everything in F1 has to be a compromise in search of aero advantage.

I doubt another F-duct but Scarbs does also seem to suggest they may be trying something cunning with their exhausts, where they can alter the direction of the flow of gas between the rear wing, and the rear brakes, depending on what the circuit demands.

[siztenboots]

gary anderson slates the McLaren front end describing it as a development dead end

[elwill]

gary anderson slates the McLaren front end describing it as a development dead end

Perhaps a tad harsh interpretation of what he said!

If anything I'd say he was more scathing of the exhaust.

Still, love to know what he made of the Ferrari.

[techieboy]

Still, love to know what he made of the Ferrari.

The step on the top of the Ferrari chassis mystifies me. What it does allow them to do is to have the underside of the chassis higher because, unlike other cars, they do not need to mirror the concave top surface with a convex bottom surface. But a curved underside is actually more efficient in terms of airflow than a flat-bottomed one. The exhaust clearly points at the rear wheels, but they'll need a very narrow-diameter pipe to get enough gas velocity to make a difference in terms of downforce. Pull-rod front suspension does have some centre-of-gravity benefits but they are very small compared to the aggravation of the design

[siztenboots]

"So its about the vision of where your gonna try get to , its not about today, you can't prove it today, you might be able to prove it tomorrow or next month or month after. I think they might have got themself in a little box there which is not as good a way out as some the other teams." , Gary Anderson talking about exploiting the maximum cross-sectional area within the rules and the McLaren.

[elwill]

"So its about the vision of where your gonna try get to , its not about today, you can't prove it today, you might be able to prove it tomorrow or next month or month after. I think they might have got themself in a little box there which is not as good a way out as some the other teams." , Gary Anderson talking about exploiting the maximum cross-sectional area within the rules and the McLaren.

gary anderson slates the McLaren front end describing it as a development dead end

Perhaps a tad harsh interpretation of what he said!

I stand by that!

[VXT Tim]

Find out today what Newey has come up with in the RB8.

[techieboy]

Well, yesterday's LRGP online launch didn't last long until their website broke down.

Still, they managed to make a less ugly nose than Ferrari, Force India and Caterham