Formula One car development blog
Force India continue intense development
Force India have shown their much improved pace at Germany that was largely thanks to its new aerodynamic package, including this totally revised front wing and endplate assembly. Although it is clearly a development of the previous version, the most inward, unmoveable part of the flaps have a changed profile to improve airflow along the inside of the front wheels.
The decked elements remained unchanged but it is now fixed differently with a seperate support (in unpainted black carbon) just aside of the endplate. The rest of the changes on the endplates are basically copy and paste work from other teams.
Was the Renault RS27 getting too hot?
Renault have had a great deal of work with their sidepods since the beginning of the season, but for the first time this year they have modified the air inlets to provide cooling to the engine and the car's internal parts. The larger inlet was debuted at Silverstone but was used again at the Nürburgring, surprisingly two of the more chilly events of the year.
The team has optimised internal airflow by merging the 2 cooling inlets together and separating the flow later on in the sidepod. While larger inlets often add drag to the car, it certainly helped the R29 because it was a lot quicker at Germany than what we have seen so far from this car.
Ferrari drivers running different front wings
Kimi Raikkonen and Felipe Massa have run the German Grand Prix with different front wing profiles. Raikkonen's car was equipped with a version that has been used for a long time - upper part of the image - while Massa had a new upper flap section. With all the rest of the wing indifferent, the new upper flap features a cutout and is not folded back behind the base plane in its most inward section.
While this change will influence the air fed into the brake cooling ducts, both drivers ran the same ducts.
McLaren add vented front wing endplates
McLaren have decided to continue to develop its MP4-24 in a little more conservative way as previous highly anticipated updates did not pay off. At the Nürburgring one of the new aerodynamic things was a revised front wing endplate which now includes small vents that catch air flowing along the outside of the wing towards the inside. The idea was pioneered by Toyota but has since March found many more followers.
Additionally, the team also reverted to its more traditional front wheel fairings. As marked in the image, the fairing is identical to last year's version and does not overlap the sidewall of the tyre - like the inside panel still does.
It needs no explanation that the front wing endplates highly influences the airflow around the front wheel, hence requiring continuous evaluation in that area.
Another new diffuser for the Red Bull
It was only back in Monaco that Red Bull introduced its revised package aimed to benefit from a new double decker diffuser, and now again the RB5 is fitted with an update. The element is possibly as good an improvement as the original DDD was.
This time around the new diffuser now spans the maximum width, while previously the team, along with Toro Rosso, was the only not to use this. All diffusers of the RB5 in the first 7 races were the width of the rear wing, with its endplate extending down to form the diffuser walls. Although now they are still attached, the endplates only reach onto the diffuser, not down to the reference place.
Also note the added hot air exhaust in the engine cover to cool the car's internals better.
BMW revise front wing, again
BMW Sauber have introduced another update to the F1.09's front wing. Now that the team is completely focused on improving the aerodynamics of the car after ditching KERS, all parts have evolved from being simple to less simple. To no avail it appears though, as BMW was again in a troubled position during the British GP weekend.
The updates however include a new endplate which is slightly bent, allow a little more air to be accellerated under the front wing rather than pushed around the front wheels. Aside of the front wing adjuster, the fixed panels have also been revised, now featuring a curvature of the lower element.
New nose for Red Bull RB5
Red Bull were starting to miss their duck resembling noses and hence changed the previous one to one that more fits its tradition. The new nose is wider and also slightly higher than the version which the team used for the first 7 Grand Prix. In order to prevent the obligated camera housing from mixing up the airflow too much, the team chose to move them forward as much as possible, effectively putting them to use as straighteners for the airflow alongside the nose cone.
Also note the marked ride height sensor that it attached in a carbon fibre hub under the nose cone. It was used on Friday by the team to measure the influence of the car's new parts - which also include a new diffuser.
Improving front wheel aero on the TF109
The Toyota TF109 has also seen some updates at the Turkish Grand Prix weekend, including aerodynamic tweaks in the front. New for instance is the modified front wing endplate of which the outer small panel now features an upward flip to help manage airflow ahead of the front wheels.
This area is particularly interesting as the wheels generate a lot of drag while a steadier airflow can also help to keep the brakes cool. Therefore the team also changed the cooling inlets while the wheel fairings allow for a clean exit of the brake air and dust. The design of the fairing alone for instance can be good for a few percentages of extra downforce at the rear end of the car.
BMW introduce their own DDD
BMW Sauber have taken a long time to design and manufacture a double decker diffuser to replace the more conventional one that followed 'the spirit of the rules'. The new version immediately proved effective as Robert Kubica was there within the points, while in Bahrain they were no where near the midfield.
The new diffuser resembles much that of Brawn with an empty keel structure in the middle and an early exit above it for additional downforce. It also pick up an idea of Toyota by creating a small extension to the diffuser under the rear crash structure - with the safety light, the only area where the diffuser is allowed to extend further behind the rear wheels.
New front wing for BGP001
The Brawn GP design team have been looking carefully at Ferrari's front wing compared to their own. Previously that resembled a lot to BMW Sauber's design as it features two upper flaps with the actuator mechanism in the middle of these flaps. The new wing however is completely different and sports only one flap. The most important advantage of this will be the adjustability for the drivers. Previously they only has control of a small panel of which they could change the angle of attack, but adjusting the new single flap by 6° will greatly change downforce at the front end.
