HRT F111 Cosworth

[Muulka]

I'm glad to have actually finally contributed to the technical discussion on one of the car threads

EDIT: Just watching FP2 on iPlayer, and the new mirrors are vibrating alarmingly much at high speed, especially over those big bumbs before turn 12. That can't be helping the aerodynamics, but they seem to have jumped the Virgins.

Could this be down to the rear wing slots? I read that the HRT had had a decent amount of downforce, but the car had an awful lot of drag. I know that the purpose of these slots is to reduce the vortices from the endplates, which cause a large amount of drag.

I feel smart

[Holm86]

There is also a new small box installed on the nose. What could be the function of that? Maybe some kind of sensor?

Almost certainly the areal for pit communication/telemetry. Not sure why it might become longer – maybe they had reception problems – maybe it's a better aero shape.

Aint that a part of the roll over safety mechanism??

[beelsebob]

Aint that a part of the roll over safety mechanism??

I'm not quite sure what you expect it to do if you roll over – draw a line from the roll hoop down to it – it'll intersect the driver's helmet.

[Holm86]

Aint that a part of the roll over safety mechanism??

I'm not quite sure what you expect it to do if you roll over – draw a line from the roll hoop down to it – it'll intersect the driver's helmet.

No thats the point ... they use a measuring bar from the rool hoop down to that part in front of the cockpit. And the drivers helmet must stay below that bar.

[beelsebob]

Aint that a part of the roll over safety mechanism??

I'm not quite sure what you expect it to do if you roll over – draw a line from the roll hoop down to it – it'll intersect the driver's helmet.

No thats the point ... they use a measuring bar from the rool hoop down to that part in front of the cockpit. And the drivers helmet must stay below that bar.

I haven't checked the tech regs, but that's seriously narrow – surely it would be mandated to be nice and wide, in the same way as the roll blades must be.

[thestig84]

Aint that a part of the roll over safety mechanism??

I'm not quite sure what you expect it to do if you roll over – draw a line from the roll hoop down to it – it'll intersect the driver's helmet.

No thats the point ... they use a measuring bar from the rool hoop down to that part in front of the cockpit. And the drivers helmet must stay below that bar.

Yeah Im pretty sure your spot on there.

[Formula None]

Yes, its part of the forward roll structure.

[Muulka]

I remember seeing a clip from Fith Gear where they had one of the presenters in an old Williams. They had to make sure that his head wasn't going to hit the ground by taking a stick and using a block like the ones on this car.

And a good quali lap from Liuzzi! Finally Virgin are being caught!

EDIT: HRT's front wing appears to be flexing an awful lot, judging by onboard footage from Liuzzi in quali. I wonder if this is intentional or simply bad manufacturing. Either way, it must give them an extra little bit of downforce

[bot6]

Are you saying HRT made a bendy wing before Ferrari did?

[shelly]

Why do you find it laughable bot6? Maybe hrt has already found (or stumbled upon) a good flexi layup while ferrari have not yet.

[bot6]

I'm not laughing at HRT, I'm laughing at Ferrari!

[dice782]

I know Luizzi lost time because of problems at the Pit stops, but 5 laps down is pretty bad and Narin was 3 laps down. Also looking at the Live timing Hispania's race pace didn't look that great. I was hoping for something better with the upgrades but it seems like we will have to wait until Spain or even Monaco.

[cbbcisace]

They seem to losing a lot of time in the race, but can't pin it down to one thing, maybe the car is not balanced in race trim?

i.e mercedes this year.

Anyway there is a major upgrade for the Spanish GP next.

[dice782]

They seem to losing a lot of time in the race, but can't pin it down to one thing, maybe the car is not balanced in race trim?

i.e mercedes this year.

Anyway there is a major upgrade for the Spanish GP next.

That's probably a reason, also once they get lapped by the mid-field then race pace falls off a cliff because they must loose loads of time letting others pass.

[Muulka]

The flexy-wing may be unintended- the whole car- even the mirrors- bounces all about the place at speed. Really it might be losing them time- it could mess up the aerodynamics, and as we know, the front wing is one the most important part of the car for tweaking airflow, as it is the first thing that the air hits.