diffuser wrote: ↑03 Jul 2024, 15:37
Waz wrote: ↑03 Jul 2024, 10:25
Well, look how a new front wing has transformed the Mercedes. But finding the ideal ride height is something Mercedes battled with all of last year too.
The Merc is a completely different car.
Understeer in the middle of the corner means something is going wrong with the flow under the car in the corners that they're losing DF, probably the very front section of the floor. The part where the air exits right at the front part of the floor that is fed by the outer most section of the floor inlet would be my guess. Could be ride height tilt from the curve, could be turbulence from somewhere in the front, could be something wrong with the floor itself and could be a bunch of other things I haven't thought of.
Is the tyres!
We have to go back to the time when Aston Martin was good in the corners and one of the best in terms of tire degradation. Just look at the AMR23: they used a lot of wing at the front and rear, and their floor was so simple, with just two tunnels and no fancy elements. This simple floor and the extensive use of wings tell me that Aston Martin generated more downforce from the wings than from ground effect. A lot of wing caused drag, while the floor didn't create significant drag. Now look at the AMR24; it looks like a bird without wings. They literally don't have front wing flap curves, almost flat. They also reduced the rear downforce for higher DRS efficiency and top speed. So, basically, they lost a lot of downforce from the wings. The floor probably still doesn't make enough downforce to compensate for the losses from the front and rear wings.
Without enough downforce from the floor they will struggle forever with those small wings. I would say they should find at least 15% extra downforce on the floor to get close to Mercedes and McLaren and extra extra 20% to Redbull.
So basically without enough downforce car won't turn, won't be ballanced, just will slide instead of stick to the asphalt. This why Aston have tyre issues and slow. Don't forget, you can't find seconds in the setup ,but you can find seconds in the tyres.