Mclaren Mercedes MP4-25

[f1ssk]

My guess is that the mclarens have worked on the system for so long that they have 3 blown wing setups... with knee and hand , hand only , knee only ...
wild guess though
would have got the idea of using the hand part from other teams ferrari's ... also would have been easy to implement cause most teams have electronics wiring ducts at the side.

from this guess, and the video Lewis uses the hand for the short bursts between turns ... where he cant take his leg of the brake to use it for f-ducting ..
Being a Mac fan .. i dont like it .. Im against f ducks in the first place.

[jason.parker.86]

I originally thought the system was so simple, yet so effective. However looking at how other items seem to be struggling to get it to work makes me think that it is not as simple as one thinks!

I personally would have thought that the DDD wud have been harder to apart the car around, especially with gearboxes, etc etc!

Out of interest..... would it work more better if they stalled the front wing??

[Confused_Andy]

I originally thought the system was so simple, yet so effective. However looking at how other items seem to be struggling to get it to work makes me think that it is not as simple as one thinks!

I personally would have thought that the DDD wud have been harder to apart the car around, especially with gearboxes, etc etc!

Out of interest..... would it work more better if they stalled the front wing??

Im no expert but surely if you stalled the front wing then you'd loose all grip, the rear is stalled because perhaps enough downforce is produced from the body of the car to keep it on the road. Plus, the front wing doesn't have as greater angle of attack so it would be very difficult to stall for perhaps a tiny tiny tiny advantage.

[shamikaze]

I'd think rear is of less importance since body-work is generating some downforce, the diffuser generates downforce. Under acceleration, you also have the balance-shift towards the rear which presses the tires onto the tarmac. Even if the acceleration is happening at an already high-speed you'd see this (what we would call "mechanical grip". I must admit that I don't know how F1-cars are designed to work with this and how the suspension reacts on this. Does it block the chassis tilting down at the rear (reducing the rake) or is the geometry and suspension set-up to allow this to happen within certain limits because it actually brings the diffuser closer to the ground enlarging it efficiency.

However, stalling the front-wing would imho result in low-orbit flying cars or ballistic projectiles heading for a crash. I would expect that stalling the front-wing would not only result in large loss of front-end grip, but since the front-wing prepares the air for the diffuser, you can expect a large drop in DF there as well.

GReetz,

S.

[Mysticf1]

I don't think we would see airborne f1 cars due to stalling the front wing...how many times have we seen front wings break off without taking flight?

The front wing has a huge influence on airflow around the car so stalling it prob is not beneficial to drag reduction, it could potentially have the opposite effect in a big way.

[ringo]

I knew the other teams would have problems from the begin.

I remember months back, some posters were criticizing Mclaren putting testing instruments on the car; saying they were in a bind and grasping for straws because the car was another silver donkey. Boy were they wrong. Mclaren's in field tests are paying off big time now.

[shamikaze]

I don't think we would see airborne f1 cars due to stalling the front wing...how many times have we seen front wings break off without taking flight?

The front wing has a huge influence on airflow around the car so stalling it prob is not beneficial to drag reduction, it could potentially have the opposite effect in a big way.

That is true, but no driver that has lost his front-wing kept driving at onto his top-speed, which is where you would activate the FWF-Duct (Front-Wing-F-duct ).

I don't know enough about the exact influence of the front-wing in-, over, around- and under the car to state for sure that the car would go airborne or not, but I do consider it a realistic possibility, especially when these 650kg heavy cars are travelling at (or close to) their top-speeds of >320km/hr (200mph). The slightest lift of the front-axle will only accelerate this possible resulting in (un-sustained) flight. But as stated, it's something I'd expect, but surely it's perfectly possible the car would stay glued to the ground.

S.

[Afterburner]

I knew the other teams would have problems from the begin.

I remember months back, some posters were criticizing Mclaren putting testing instruments on the car; saying they were in a bind and grasping for straws because the car was another silver donkey. Boy were they wrong. Mclaren's in field tests are paying off big time now.

That's not that simple, Mac gambled a LOT, FIA could have banned it at first place, they were very lucky...

[ringo]

I don't think it was so much of a gamble. It was pretty logical, and obeyed the regulations to the letter.
What would have also cushioned them had the f duct been illegal is their development pace. They would simply focus their energies on other parts of the car instead of the duct.

[zgred]

[Carlo's]

Holy sh*t, that rear wing is a turkey spec? They will have a huge amount of downforce in comparison to others

Just take a look at Renault rear wing:

[ringo]

looks like it is being further developed as well. More pipes than before it seems.

Makes you wonder what else they are trying to achieve besides switching the wing on the straights.

edit: not quite, the silver part is just on upside down. ?

[Afterburner]

I don't think it was so much of a gamble. It was pretty logical, and obeyed the regulations to the letter.
What would have also cushioned them had the f duct been illegal is their development pace. They would simply focus their energies on other parts of the car instead of the duct.

How could they focus to other areas after the testing time is over? Their advantage came directly throw their testing km's throw the offseason... Now the other teams are trying to the same as Mac spending 10% of the time they did.

[Afterburner]

I was watching renault's W wing center pillar and was thinking, could they fit the f-duct blown device there?

[ringo]

Well they couldn't put in the work during testing that's for sure.
They would have been throwing stuff at the car like the other teams are, but their developement rate would mean they would throw more and chances are a few would work.

As it is, i think they are working on body downforce and also the suspension. They seem to have lost that characteristic curb riding ability of Mclaren.

They might lose a lot of time over the curbs in Canada if they don't sort out their suspension.