Mercedes GP MGP W01

[tok-tokkie]

Angle of attack. Speed is increased on outside but angle of attack on outside is reduced. Converse on inside.

[vinuneuro]

Does anyone know which windtunnels (their location) apart from Brackley were used in developing last year's car?

[aral]

Does anyone know which windtunnels (their location) apart from Brackley were used in developing last year's car?

Judging by their lack of aero performance this year, I doubt that they even used Brackley.

[i70q7m7ghw]

Does anyone know which windtunnels (their location) apart from Brackley were used in developing last year's car?

Judging by their lack of aero performance this year, I doubt that they even used Brackley.

He said last year's car. Thanks.

[Halgovern]

The WO1 has problems. It has been suggested that the balance may be wrong. A persuasive argument was made that it is the insufficient stiffness of the tub is the problem. I noticed this picture and was struck by the front wing. The air has to be guided away from impacting the front tires head on. Mercedes are deflecting it away to the side. There are thus two (balanced) aerodynamic forces acting sideways to the car right at the front. However, when the car tries to change direction the angle of attack of the inside wing fence increases &, conversely, the outside one reduces. The nett effect is an increase in the aerodynamic force opposing the direction change of the car. The effect is greatest on high speed sweeps and least on low speed hairpins.



Now look at what some of the competitors do. They deflect much more air upwards over the tyre as against sideways around the tyre. That does two things – 1. Reduces the centering force & 2. Increases the downward force.

Ferrari


Red Bull (I looked for a decent overhead picture but failed to find one)


McLaren.


Renault.




I am no aerodynamicist but it was mentioned that the front wing is generating 2000N (per side?) of downforce and it seems that Mercedes is deflecting a lot of air sideways so the lateral forces are probably significant giving an understeering car.

you seriously need to send this to mercedes =D>

[tok-tokkie]

If just one side was on the rear of an aircraft it would be like the rudder was at some absurd (impossible) angle sending the plane into a flat spin. Imagine the lateral aerodynamic forces created by deflecting the air with those end plates on the front wing.

[i70q7m7ghw]

If just one side was on the rear of an aircraft it would be like the rudder was at some absurd (impossible) angle sending the plane into a flat spin. Imagine the lateral aerodynamic forces created by deflecting the air with those end plates on the front wing.

I suspect the idea behind this is managing the drag from the wheels.

[TRICKLE69]

If just one side was on the rear of an aircraft it would be like the rudder was at some absurd (impossible) angle sending the plane into a flat spin. Imagine the lateral aerodynamic forces created by deflecting the air with those end plates on the front wing.

When is this picture from?? This is not what was just raced in Singapore....Please can someone post some pics of the last race to compare. The wing in the race were dark on the inside of the front outer end plates and these are silver.

[raymondu999]

Best I could find:

[TRICKLE69]

Best I could find:

Thanks for the pic!!! Look at the different sponsors on the nose and many other differences between the 2. The cars are not the same so now I wonder when is the first pic from? The launch of the car?

[raymondu999]

That was the launch spec W01, yes

[747heavy]

Singapore spec front wing

[747heavy]

Hungary front wing in detail


Spa

[rich1701]

The WO1 has problems. It has been suggested that the balance may be wrong. A persuasive argument was made that it is the insufficient stiffness of the tub is the problem. I noticed this picture and was struck by the front wing. The air has to be guided away from impacting the front tires head on. Mercedes are deflecting it away to the side. There are thus two (balanced) aerodynamic forces acting sideways to the car right at the front. However, when the car tries to change direction the angle of attack of the inside wing fence increases &, conversely, the outside one reduces. The nett effect is an increase in the aerodynamic force opposing the direction change of the car. The effect is greatest on high speed sweeps and least on low speed hairpins.



Now look at what some of the competitors do. They deflect much more air upwards over the tyre as against sideways around the tyre. That does two things – 1. Reduces the centering force & 2. Increases the downward force.

Ferrari


Red Bull (I looked for a decent overhead picture but failed to find one)


McLaren.


Renault.




I am no aerodynamicist but it was mentioned that the front wing is generating 2000N (per side?) of downforce and it seems that Mercedes is deflecting a lot of air sideways so the lateral forces are probably significant giving an understeering car.

Perhaps this goes some way to explaining the ease of Sutil's move on Schumacher at Spa. It is odd that the front wing has remained pretty much the same all season, you would of thought this problem would of been identified and relatively easy to improve or cure. I know the W01 has a lot of internal problems as well, Ross Brawn said the fuel tank is not in an optimised position compared with 2009 and the centre of gravity is much too high.

[shamikaze]

Given the repeated message that brawn has stated the front-tyres are saturated (or very to to), I'd expect MGP to keep this approach to avoid overloading the front-tyres and destroying them in the process. Hence the FW is build to deflect more air around the tyres as this will not increase DF, but also avoid saturation

Like most here, I would agree there is something fundamentally wrong with the weight balance of the car prohibiting MGP from increasing downforce/grip on the front to enhance turn-in and mid-corner grip.