Renault R31

[matt21]

According to a German source Renault will scrap the FEE.

http://translate.google.de/translate?hl ... 71040.html

[Dipl-Ing.]

Not actually true, he said they will bring a new configuration to Germany. He didn't specify if it was going to be a FEE or not. Can't see them doing anything radical like changing to a RedBull system.
What is intresting is that he said there Windtunnel isn't matching up, explains why there performance has taken a nosedive.

[govind112]

the amount of hype around this car early season was just crazy, i always knew they would drop to the mid field,even with Robert i doubt it would qualify top 10 in the current configuration!

And early on i remember being critizised for saying this car was all hype. now look whos right!

[Donuts]

It'll be interesting to see how the R31 will perform with a "regular" exhaust exit. Right now it's seems easy to say that the FEE was a misstake, that they should have developed the R30 and not made such a drastic change, when they had a car that was on very close to the top three.

I'm somehow in all this tragedy, happy that he(Robert Kubica) did'nt have to drive that car(dog) on the streets of Monaco.

[zgred]

[Formula None]

Thanks zgred. Is that from Silverstone? If so it looks to be unchanged from earlier this season. For comparison:

[Blackout]

They tested a new beam wing in friday or saturday...

http://f1.f-e-n.net/images/f1/2011/2011 ... 0C8004.jpg

[Carlo's]

Yep, curious why they ditched it. It seems to be generating more rear downforce.

[Blackout]

Maybe it's better adapted to the future package witch would generate more rear downforce...

[hardingfv32]

"It seems to be generating more rear downforce."

What data is this statement based on?

Brian

[Carlo's]

Well, it is quite bigger than previous version of their beam wing, with central section visibly raised. You can deduce that it should be generating more downforce at the rear of the car.

[horse]

Just saw this on the BBC F1 Rumours page:

Renault are ready to prove at this weekend's German Grand Prix that their 2011 season is far from a lost cause as it begins a major update push for the R31. The team have abandoned their radical forward-exiting exhausts for a more conventional design, and are also changing the way they run the car, introducing a lot of rake in the manner of Red Bull. (Autosport magazine)

Interesting to hear that they are going to rake the car up as well. Considering the car was not designed with a lot of rake in mind, you would think that this would not be that easy to do.

I'm really interesting to see if and how the sidepods change and whether they try and push packaging forward in order to not upset the CoG too much when they do this.

[dren]

I am curious too to see where they end up with this Red Bull rake. I would think a lot of changes would need to be made. Mclaren and Ferrari haven't changed their rake much, if at all.

[Carlo's]

You can see new beam wing there (tested in Silverstone):

[madly]

EDIT: Removed Sauber photo.