More Questions

[m3_lover]

1) What is the point of having those slits on the endplates on the rear wing, is it for vortices that are created from the endplate/rearwing or maybe something with flexing the rear wing?

2)Have anybody noticed that that Mclaren is the last team not to adopt the new ears on the front wing like other teams, anybody have a reason why they do not do it?

3) There a lot of exposed screws on the bodywork, wouldn't it be good to cover them up so they would create less drag since the bodywork is not smooth anymore?

[Jason]

1) What is the point of having those slits on the endplates on the rear wing, is it for vortices that are created from the endplate/rearwing or maybe something with flexing the rear wing?

2)Have anybody noticed that that Mclaren is the last team not to adopt the new ears on the front wing like other teams, anybody have a reason why they do not do it?

3) There a lot of exposed screws on the bodywork, wouldn't it be good to cover them up so they would create less drag since the bodywork is not smooth anymore?

1) Slits is to reduce turbulence, don't you know?
2) I suspect Mclaren does not need so much downforce since the front wing has lot of downforce
3) Some circuits need downforce and drag e.g Monaco

[Sawtooth-spike]

i think the slits are to do with Reducing Drag, if they are the ones i think you mean

http://www.formula1.com/insight/technic ... 1/250.html

Well the fact the Mclaren has its horns says to me that it uses the air around the car differantly. Last season did they looked like the lacked front end grip? i dont think they did, so why add something you dont need.


The Screw thing, is porbably to do with the fact you want to take the engine cover off a number of times during the weekend. I think is as Smoothing as it can be but it is Functional.

[Jason]

1) Ferrari already have 3 slits on top so why put another 3 smalle ones on the bottom?

[Sawtooth-spike]

Read the Artical on the page you got that picture from???????

[wowf1]

lol am I reading this correctly Jason? Why would you want drag at Monaco, or anywhere for that matter? Teams want as much downforce, and as little drag as possible. The fact that these two parameters are intrinsically linked is just a rule of aerodynamics.

From what I have read, the slits in the wing endplate allow some air to spill outside of the confines of the wing and help reduce the turbulence and induced vortices. This all contributes to decreased drag around the rear wing.

Concerning the 'ears', they are not for downforce (in the applications I've seen a la Toyota). Like Mclaren's horns, they are more targeted at controlling the airflow and managing where the air passes as it progresses over the car. This could result in increased downforce at a certain point, but the 'ears' or horns do not directly contribute to downforce. In fact, looking at the Toyota ears (which are big! poor child) they look as though they would provide lift.

On your last point, yeah it's true any exposed screw/lumps/bumps will add drag. However, if you look closely all the screws on the body, they are recessed or countersunk. One of the teams who continually impress me with their attention to detail (inspired by Ron Dennis' way of doing things no doubt) is Mclaren. In most teams, you often see holes where the wishbones mount inboard etc. But Mclaren's join seamlessly with the body work. All these little touches no doubt help, but won't make or break the car aerodynamically.

rob

[m3_lover]

Wowf1, I not trying to be mean or anything, but the ears are referring to the new winglets on the front wing (a la renault) in case you didn't know what I said, I do not know if that helps or not, sorry if I overstated my boundaries?

[wowf1]

lol no you're not. I'm pretty sure those additions to the front wing are not called ears though.

[m3_lover]

Hey wowf1, I just assume that are called ears because they were on the site under the williams entry, I thought that is what they call it now??



http://www.formula1.com/race/technical_ ... 2/255.html

[wowf1]

Ok lol, it seems as though there is the same word for 2 different aerodynamic components, which has caused the mix up here! All is ok now.

[Jason]

Ok lol, it seems as though there is the same word for 2 different aerodynamic components, which has caused the mix up here! All is ok now.

I thought Renault already have it last year
http://www.formula1.com/insight/technic ... 6/118.html

[Tp]

2)Have anybody noticed that that Mclaren is the last team not to adopt the new ears on the front wing like other teams, anybody have a reason why they do not do it?

The reasoning behind this could be because placing these winglet ears may affect the aerodynamic balance across the car. This area is particularly important becuase it governs the airflow back to the sidepods. You can't just whack these winglets on and hope for the best, you have to look at the area as a whole to see if anything else is affected by this change.

[walter]

Mclaren perhaps has enough aero efficiency in the front wing area(desired downforce level), the brakes probably dont need any more air. I those little winglets DO cause more aero resistance, so if the car can turn well without them there is no reason for adding more weight to the furthest corners from the center of gravity of the car.

[Tp]

Concerning the 'ears', they are not for downforce

If we're talking about the front wing........"The two ears work in the same way as a double-decker front wing, but are more efficient at raising the speed of the peripheral airflow, hence increasing downforce, with a minimal drag penalty" F1.com

The horns also on the MP4-20 also produce downforce, but more importantly they split and direct the airflow to the rear wing while increasing the speed of the airflow over the rear of the sidepods, improving air extraction from the back of the car.

[wowf1]

I thought that it had been deduced that the horns had essentially 0 angle of attack, and therefore no downforce?

Clearly the extra elements ('ears') on the front wing provide downforce, but the 'ears' either side of the nosecone above the suspension (like toyota and renault use) are for managing the air, not downforce.