Formula One car development blog
Force India introduce outboard mirrors
Outboard mirrors are more and more becoming the standard, and Force India is now jumping on the bandwagon by replacing its inboard mirrors - connected to the cockpit sides - with mirrors fixed on top of the sidepod panels.
BMW Sauber is one of the teams to have made the same design change during this season. Renault on the other hand are using conventional inboard mirrors after having introduced this type of mirror positioning on their Renault R27.
Renault's last minute front wing adjustment
Renault have introduced another new front wing. Fernando Alonso tested it on and off during Friday and Saturday free practices before deciding to use it in qualifying and the race. This time it consisted only of a minor adjustment, but considering its position it may well have an interesting influence on the airflow further downstream.
The team added a vertical split panel on top of the wing, approximately where Brawn and BMW have similar items. Renault's version is however only for aerodynamic purposes and does not house the front flap adjuster system.
McLaren use new front wing endplates
In a vigorous attempt to get the team back to the front of the field, McLaren is again introducing some updates on its car. First of all there is a shorter wheelbase version of the chassis - only at the disposal of Lewis Hamilton - which should help handling in the corners and enable a better weight distribution.
Additionally, the front wing endplates were again revised. The previous version, used since the German GP already looks too simple again, with the new item featuring a complication connection with the front wing's panels. The front wing endplate is now more a combination of plates, much alike the ideas at Brawn GP.
The Ferrari engine is a hothead
As of the Hungarian Grand Prix, both Toro Rosso cars are now equipped with the latest updates from Red Bull technology that have put the Red Bull Racing cars at the front since Silverstone. With a new double deck diffuser, new nose, changed floor, new rear wing with slot opening in the middle part, the STR was clearly more efficient than before - note 11th position of Buemi during qualifying.
However, the update also shows the car's differences, and most importantly the cooling requirements of the respective engines. Although it wasn't a secret anymore, the Ferrari engine in the STR4 is clearly running much hotter than the Renault, hence the team had to open up the engine cover more than Red Bull was ever required to.
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 express support for Abruzzo
It's not all politics and money in Formula One. Ferrari have slightly changes their car livery by adding a support message for Abruzzo, Italy. This Italian province has been badly struck by repeated earthquakes in recent weeks, making several hundreds of victims. Toyota's Jarno Trulli has earlier declared that he will be looking to raise some money among the drivers for the unfortunate Italians.
2009: The long awaited return of slicks
One of the positives of the new regulations will no doubt be the return of ungrooved, dry weather tyres. While the FIA has moved to drastically reduce the aerodynamic grip of the car and hence lower the apex speed in fast corners, the increase of mechanical grip will allow the cars to go faster in the slowest corners.
The change isn't however as simple as one may expect, as the tyre compounds and structure will be different. It has also emerged that because of this change, teams will have to move even more weight towards the front of the car, another challenge for the previously Michelin shod teams, who are grown accustomed to a rearward weight bias.
As usual, Bridgestone will supply the tyres, 2 different compounds at each Grand Prix, selected between 4 different types over the span of the season.
2006: Arguable FIA interference
The 2006 season has been above all a year to remember doubtful interference by the FIA, the governing body of the sport. After a pretty peaceful start of the year, the race directors woke up at Monaco after Schumi deliberately parked his car on the circuit during qualifying. The German was, surprisingly, punished for his actions. Later on, it looked like payback time after the mass dampers were disallowed at Renault after a possible Ferrari complaint. All the way through the season, marshalls were also handing out penalties during qualifying for (un)deliberate blocking, the most blatant being for Alonso at Monza. And even then, the teams were prohibited the use of flexible wings early in the season while Ferrari was allowed to run the aerodynamic carbon rings in the rear wheels. While some teams were obviously experiencing hard times and are thinking through their 2007 strategies, the FIA have a lot more to reflect on.
