Lotus E23 Mercedes

[OO7]

Asymmetric side pod cooling outlets:

[wesley123]

Looks symmetric to me.

[Just_a_fan]

Some people don't understand perspective and angles...

[stefanf1]

I like the front mainplane, doesn't make a to bigger vortex so not over sized wake, very good.

[itix]

Looks symmetric to me.

Me too... that's probably just angle.

I read something about Maldonado driving around with bodywork off/loose. Anyone has pictures of that?

Yeah, plenty in the twitter feeds...
It was even in the official story line they post after every FP/quali/Race
https://storify.com/LotusF1Team/2015-ma ... fp2-report

Have they changed something since last race in Australia aerodynamically ?

I don't see anything of difference but I may be wrong...

Yeah plenty. The front wing is new (two different versions possibly for evaluation), new side pods (why they remolded them I have no idea because they look the same to me... possibly repackaging in the engine bay and some small curve somewhere is changed?), seemingly new rear wing but that could just be difference in angles.

On another note I was first suspecting they ran different aero set ups in FP1 but from what I can see from pictures (I couldn't watch it on TV) they ran the same set ups so why on earth was Romain so much faster? Maldonado is not that much slower normally. Possibly different set ups for evaluation :/

Hopefully no more PU problems and tomorrow's (today's) FP3 and quali will go all right!

(btw this is a really well moderated and tidy forum... possibly the tidiest I have ever seen)

[OO7]

The rear bodywork is definitely, 100% asymmetric. The image I posted doesn't show that fact well, but footage from FP1 & 2 proves this to be the case.

[SectorOne]

Car looks symmetric from this angle though, especially the cooling outlets you mentioned.

[OO7]

Car looks symmetric from this angle though, especially the cooling outlets you mentioned.

http://i.imgur.com/ZTkIEDi.jpg

I'll try and see if I can get an iPlayer screen grab from FP1/FP2.

[OO7]

Below are the screen grabs from BBC iPlayer, illustrating the asymmetric side pod cooling exits. The first image in each pair is 'clean', while the second is illustrated. Notice how the right-hand side pod cooling exit is consistently larger and wider than the left-hand exit (furthest edge of right-hand exit is closer to the right-hand rear-wing end-plate than corresponding items on the left to the left rear-wing end-plate). Click on thumbnails for larger images:

Taken from FP1:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... practice-1
Time on iPlayer footage - 11:51/01:39:04 to 12:05/01:39:04




Time on iPlayer footage - 01:01:30/01:39:04 to 01:01:35/01:39:04








Time on iPlayer footage - 01:05:55/01:39:04 to 01:06:05/01:39:04








Taken from FP2:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b0 ... practice-2
Time on iPlayer footage - 01:08:45/01:39:04 to 01:08:46/01:39:04




Time on iPlayer footage - 01:27:05/01:39:04 to 01:27:09/01:39:04

[SectorOne]

Nice, much better pictures! I think you´re right, got some good eyes

[OO7]

Nice, much better pictures! I think you´re right, got some good eyes

Trust me, it's much easier to notice the difference from the video footage than the images.

[Artur Craft]

I don't know what it is but this car has some good aero there

Maldonado's S2, on qualifying, was on par with Hamilton(only half a tenth slower) and 4 tenths from Rosberg. The best behind the Mercedes.

S2 is all about downforce and the thing is that Lotus had very high top speed(325kmh), unlike the Mercedes(318kmh). So E23's L/D is very good

[henra]

S2 is all about downforce and the thing is that Lotus had very high top speed(325kmh), unlike the Mercedes(318kmh). So E23's L/D is very good

Hmm, then the question remains why they haven't been able to show much of this in the last two Races and its Qualifyings?
They have with the Merc engine arguably the best PU available and if you would add among the best L/D you would surely have difficulties in preventing excellent results which they managed quite well so far...

[AlainProst]

Do they have changed front wing since 2014 at Lotus ?

My feeling is that they have the same front wing, the same rear wing, the same sidepods deflector, but differents sidepods and nose... It can't be consistent isn't it ?

[godlameroso]

I wonder if there's any benefit to direct the cooling outlets towards the wheels, maybe that extra hot air can aid in whatever effect they want to get from blowing the rear hubs.