AMuS: Mclaren and Red Bull tilting front wings?

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JimClarkFan
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Joined: 18 Mar 2012, 23:31

Re: RUMOR: FIA inspections on Mclaren and Red Bull front win

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Old Bernie enforcing the rules at pivotal moments to help out his old pal montezemolo....not that I mind :mrgreen:

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FrukostScones
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Joined: 25 May 2010, 17:41
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Re: RUMOR: FIA inspections on Mclaren and Red Bull front win

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Image
Finishing races is important, but racing is more important.

adam2003
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Joined: 23 Aug 2012, 11:53

Re: AMuS: Mclaren and Red Bull tilting front wings?

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If this story is big surly it would have been posted on
http://www1.skysports.com/formula1/ already?
but its not

jdlive
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Joined: 23 Oct 2011, 12:16

Re: RUMOR: FIA inspections on Mclaren and Red Bull front win

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Ferrari International Assistance at play once again. Alonso needs to win at all costs.
"There is a credit card with the Ferrari logo, issued by Santander, which gives the scuderia a % of purchases made with the card...

I would guess that such a serious amount of money would allow them to ignore the constant complains of a car that was nowhere near as bad as their #1 driver tried to sell throughout the season.

Heck, a car on which Massa finishes in the podium or has to lift so that his teammate finishes ahead (As we saw often in the final races of the year) is, by no means, a "bad" car."

andartop
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Joined: 08 Jun 2008, 22:01
Location: London, UK

Re: RUMOR: FIA inspections on Mclaren and Red Bull front win

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Is there any indication Ferrari had anything at all to do with this or is it just the usual conspiracy theories that dictate every time anyone cheats in F1 it is naturally Ferrari's fault?
The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. H.P.Lovecraft

donskar
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Re: RUMOR: FIA inspections on Mclaren and Red Bull front win

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andartop wrote:Is there any indication Ferrari had anything at all to do with this or is it just the usual conspiracy theories that dictate every time anyone cheats in F1 it is naturally Ferrari's fault?
Ferrari haters need no substantiation. The rabid hatred is always there, just looking for the tiniest reason to be unleashed.

But seriously, the best designers are always looking for any loophole that can be exploited for even the tiniest performance gain. Newey is certainly one of the best at "interpreting" the rules. No sour grapes here: Newey is a great designer.
Enzo Ferrari was a great man. But he was not a good man. -- Phil Hill

f1316
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Joined: 22 Feb 2012, 18:36

Re: RUMOR: FIA inspections on Mclaren and Red Bull front win

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andartop wrote:Is there any indication Ferrari had anything at all to do with this or is it just the usual conspiracy theories that dictate every time anyone cheats in F1 it is naturally Ferrari's fault?
And, if this does contravene a regulation, what on earth could be wrong with reporting it?

Of course designers will want to find a loophole, but they will also be prepared for that to close if and when they are found out.

.poz
43
Joined: 08 Mar 2012, 16:44

Re: RUMOR: FIA inspections on Mclaren and Red Bull front win

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donskar wrote:But seriously, the best designers are always looking for any loophole that can be exploited for even the tiniest performance gain. Newey is certainly one of the best at "interpreting" the rules. No sour grapes here: Newey is a great designer.
If they change the mandatory neutral area of the front wing it's not a loophole exploited, it's cheating because there is no space for any interpretation of rules.

superdread
16
Joined: 25 Jul 2012, 22:04

Re: RUMOR: FIA inspections on Mclaren and Red Bull front win

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.poz wrote:
donskar wrote:But seriously, the best designers are always looking for any loophole that can be exploited for even the tiniest performance gain. Newey is certainly one of the best at "interpreting" the rules. No sour grapes here: Newey is a great designer.
If they change the mandatory neutral area of the front wing it's not a loophole exploited, it's cheating because there is no space for any interpretation of rules.
The rules do not mandate that the section is aero-neutral, they define what aerofoil shape (one symmetrical to the x-y-plane) it has to have. This shape has to be mounted parallel to the reference plane, but relative to the ground and the oncoming flow it can have a noticeable inclination and therefore not be aero-neutral.

.poz
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Joined: 08 Mar 2012, 16:44

Re: RUMOR: FIA inspections on Mclaren and Red Bull front win

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superdread wrote:
.poz wrote:
donskar wrote:But seriously, the best designers are always looking for any loophole that can be exploited for even the tiniest performance gain. Newey is certainly one of the best at "interpreting" the rules. No sour grapes here: Newey is a great designer.
If they change the mandatory neutral area of the front wing it's not a loophole exploited, it's cheating because there is no space for any interpretation of rules.
The rules do not mandate that the section is aero-neutral, they define what aerofoil shape (one symmetrical to the x-y-plane) it has to have. This shape has to be mounted parallel to the reference plane, but relative to the ground and the oncoming flow it can have a noticeable inclination and therefore not be aero-neutral.

It's not a question of being aero neutral: If the section tilts it is's no more parallel to the reference plane so it's illegal.

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ecapox
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Joined: 14 May 2010, 21:06

Re: RUMOR: FIA inspections on Mclaren and Red Bull front win

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.poz wrote: It's not a question of being aero neutral: If the section tilts it is's no more parallel to the reference plane so it's illegal.
And that is the major issue here i believe and how the penalties can, and in my opinion WILL, be different to last years flexi wings.

superdread
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Joined: 25 Jul 2012, 22:04

Re: RUMOR: FIA inspections on Mclaren and Red Bull front win

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.poz wrote:It's not a question of being aero neutral: If the section tilts it is no more parallel to the reference plane so it's illegal.
As that only happens on the move, it has to be emulated with load tests and engineers will always find a way around them (or the FIA will waste hours with different load tests every scrutineering).

Richard
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Joined: 15 Apr 2009, 14:41
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Re: AMuS: Mclaren and Red Bull tilting front wings?

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Lets not go down the old road of "any deflection is illegal" again. Nothing in the world is perfectly rigid. All parts of the car deflect under aero and mechanical loads. That's basic physics, it can't be changed.

It's just a question of how much deflection is acceptable, and that is defined by the FIA deflection tests. That's a rule that exits in B&W. Even if some people say it "looks" like it is deflecting too much, a wing that passes the test is legal. So no point in arguing about that either.

There are 149 pages debating this over the last 2 years, we don't need a reheat the tired old "cheats" and "perfect rigid" debates. Please! [-o<

:arrow: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=9629
:arrow: viewtopic.php?f=6&t=8764

The pertinent questions for this forum are "Does it exist" and "How does it work"?

My guess is that the nose and wing would need flexible connections that used the inherent flexibility of the CF material. To use bolts with preloaded springs or rockers would be a flagrant breach.

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WhiteBlue
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Re: AMuS: Mclaren and Red Bull tilting front wings?

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This is the only technical thing that was written about the new wings in Michael Schmidt's AMuS article:
Bei genauerem Hinschauen ergab sich, dass die beiden Pylonen der Nase das Hauptblatt des Flügels nur noch mit jeweils einer Schraube an der vorderen Kante festhalten. Um diese herum kann sich der gesamte Flügel um die Querachse drehen.
Translation:
At closer observation it transpired that the two wing struts of the nose cone attach the main blade of the wing with only one bolt each. That bolt is located at the forward edge of the wing. The wing can tilt around the pitch axis (defined by that edge).
In my view the main source of flexibility would come from the cantilevered positioning of the fixtures. If you fix the wing only at the leading edge the load will necessarily flatten it and give you less resistance on the straight.

Earlier in the article they also talk about the mechanism that was used in the flexi wings of earlier years:
Der Trick soll in den Karbonstrukturen versteckt gewesen sein, die sich zuerst verdrehen mussten, bevor sie in der Lage waren sich in die gewünschte Richtung zu biegen. Doch das Geheimnis lag offenbar nicht nur in den Flügeln selbst, sondern auch in den Stelzen, an denen die Flügel aufgehängt sind. Als sich abzeichnete, dass es die FIA mit den neuen Belastungstests ernst meinte, mussten einige Teams neue Nasen konstruieren.
Translation:
The cleverness was in the carbon structure which had to experience a torsional deformation before it was in a condition to bend into the desired direction. Apparently the secret was not in the wings alone but also in the struts that carry the wings. When it became obvious that the FiA was serious about new load tests some teams had to design new noses.
If Michael Schmidt is right with this article we will see new load tests pretty soon if not in Suzuka already. Martin Whitmarsh hasn't actually denied that McLaren have a wing following the described design principle. He has only said that their wing is legal compared to the current deflection tests. So one has to observe who will have to change the wing design if the FiA brings a new load test to one of the next races. Typically they do not react to such issues in one or two days. Usually it takes a bit of time to evaluate what is needed to stop the trick designs.
Formula One's fundamental ethos is about success coming to those with the most ingenious engineering and best .............................. organization, not to those with the biggest budget. (Dave Richards)

aral
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Joined: 03 Apr 2010, 22:49

Re: AMuS: Mclaren and Red Bull tilting front wings?

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Does the rule not require that the wing is fixed rigidly to the nose?

So if it is working as described, then it would be a movable aero device, and thus illegal.