Red Bull RB8 Renault

[richard_leeds]

So far, I see only Force India put their fans on the nose cone, the mechanics don't need to hold it. cmmiw

[img]http://a7.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-prn1/s720x720/559427_347447735315991_100001523014249_1002662_1355288649_n.jpg[img]

[raymondu999]

Generally teams will have a flexible hose they "plug" into the brake duct and leave the fans wherever they have a flat surface

[Crucial_Xtreme]

So far, I see only Force India put their fans on the nose cone, the mechanics don't need to hold it. cmmiw

@raymondu Have you read Scarbs most recent blog post? He says:

With the tunnel closed off the issues complicating the exhaust and starter motor hole flow have been cleared up. But there still remains an issue with how the sidepod undercut flow reaches the rest of the diffuser. Sauber appear to manage this, but there still may be some potential airflow performance that is lost with this set up. Although the overall effect of an exhaust aimed accurately at the tyre\diffuser gap may be a greater gain that that loss.
However with the tunnel gone there is a less complex route for the exhaust to reach the diffuser. With the exhaust flow better managed the intended exhaust effect will more consistent resulting in a better feel for the driver at different throttle positions and car attitudes.

Scarbs Red Bull: Bahrain Sidepod Analysis

[WhiteBlue]

When you read the whole saga at Scarbs you can only be amazed that plugging the tunnels improved the car so much. The good thing that they will have a simple benchmark to test any new solutions that they come up with. And it did not come too early.

I wonder what they could have done if the stop gap solution had been found earlier like in Barcelona. Perhaps this what went down:

Seb: The spec A is so much more stable. What has spec B that spec A does not have?
Adrian: Lots of things and the tunnels.
Seb: Can we plug the tunnels to see how it feels?
Adrian: Possible but we believe you will get a lot less downforce
Seb: Lets do it anyway, I need the reliability that spec A without tunnel had
Adrian: I think you are wrong but lets try it.

Just silly imagination but perhaps true.

[marcush.]

I think they will reintroduce the duct in barcelona but the ducts exit will be a lot further downstream ?

[WhiteBlue]

I think they will reintroduce the duct in barcelona but the ducts exit will be a lot further downstream ?

What do you mean by duct? What Scarbs called the tunnel under the exhausts? To change the tunnels they always have to design a new floor and sidepots, but plugging the tunnels always is an option for verification.

[marcush.]

ok,tunnel....they have closed the tunnel at both ends and yes creating space to move the exit further back will likely be a major exercise..but then everything is when you are packaging all that stuff as tight as you have to in F1...I don´t think they shy away from doing this.

[flyboy2160]

Without good photos this is hard to show or know for sure, but just from watching the race on TV, did it seem to anyone else that Red Bull was back to running more rake than everybody else and more rake than they had in the previous races?

Or maybe the Amount of Beer affected my judgement.....

[flyboy2160]

Maybe they were having problems with a thick boundary layer developing in that tunnel and causing drag/blockage. I know it was short but it was also very narrow and there was speculation that TR might have had similar issues with their double floor last year.

+1

[Crucial_Xtreme]

Without good photos this is hard to show or know for sure, but just from watching the race on TV, did it seem to anyone else that Red Bull was back to running more rake than everybody else and more rake than they had in the previous races?

Or maybe the Amount of Beer affected my judgement.....

Yes they're back to running rake levels similar to 2011.

[flyboy2160]

...Yes they're back to running rake levels similar to 2011....

I believe either Martin Brundle or David Coulthard said that for the first time this year the Red Bulls looked "planted" like they were last year.

Like everybody, I thought the rake/EBD diffuser seal to get downforce was a genius idea. I suspect that they're now figuring out how to help seal off the diffuser (and perhaps the sides of the floor) via vortex generation as a substitute for exhaust blowing, but I haven't been able to see some absolute tell-tale strakes or vortex generating edges. I'd love to see a photo of the floor bottom near the front outer edge of the diffuser. Maybe when one of them gets craned away........

[Kiril Varbanov]

Undoubtedly, lots of rake on RBR:

[WhiteBlue]

I'd love to see a photo of the floor bottom near the front outer edge of the diffuser. Maybe when one of them gets craned away........

You find it at Scarb's analysis of the Bahrain sidepots
http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2012/04/2 ... -analysis/
http://scarbsf1.files.wordpress.com/201 ... =300&h=225

[Rikhart]

Redbull running a ddrs already?

[raymondu999]

That was in the cars in FP2. It turned out to be a sensor.