Mclaren Mercedes MP4-25

[marcush.]

mclaren front wing flutter at top speed ....
and 6km down on top speed ...lets see how quick the car is without f-duct now!

[adrianjordan]

Mclaren had a pretty steep AoA in FP1 (one of the steepest, if not the) , while Mercedes GP and Lotus ran the lowest as far as I saw on TV...

Confirmed on the BBC Red Button coverage.

McLaren had the most wing on the car, with Ferrari second. Mercedes had the lowest amount...certainly of the top teams.

OT but, interestingly Karun Chandock was in the commentary box and pointed out that at Monza the newer teams will struggle as they cannot reduce their downforce enough!!

[marcush.]

hehehe ..drivers...
nothing easier than cutting of a piece of your flap to get rid of downforce..or will that very flap be needed for Singapore ??? sometimes it is quite bizarre what experts feel the need to tell the public...

[horse]

OT but, interestingly Karun Chandock was in the commentary box and pointed out that at Monza the newer teams will struggle as they cannot reduce their downforce enough!!

I think that is a bit unfair. He was making the point that the cost of developing a completely Monza specific aero package might be beyond the resources of the small teams.

[murtoidf1]

Even thought McLaren were 1 and 3 in FP1 they should be removing the F duct and using their low downforce wing for FP2.

they seems quite a bit down on top speed... surely having a low top speed makes them sitting ducks on the straight.. it doesn't matter how late they can brake if the opposition is already ahead/alongside them into turn 1.

[adrianjordan]

Even thought McLaren were 1 and 3 in FP1 they should be removing the F duct and using their low downforce wing for FP2.

they seems quite a bit down on top speed... surely having a low top speed makes them sitting ducks on the straight.. it doesn't matter how late they can brake if the opposition is already ahead/alongside them into turn 1.

BUT with the extra downforce they can carry more speed through the corners...especially the Parabolica. I think their thinking is that they'll be far enough ahead after the corner that by the time the cars that are faster in a straight line catch up with them they'll be at the braking zone...

[feynman]

You could argue it might work out OK either way.

As above ^ the thin wing cars are scrabbling and sliding out of corners, when you exit faster and have the power on already, sure they'll catch you by the end of the straights, but they've got to get it slowed down with those tiny wings, so they'll be first on the brakes by a large margin. With your hand/elbow/knee off the f-duct, you've suddenly got a barn door to help aero-brake, and have more grip meaning you need to slow down less anyway and not get spat out at the turn exit.

However, if they do get ahead, all that extra downforce helps negate or part-mitigate the dirty air effect, allowing you to follow them more closely in the corner. Let them punch a hole in the air for you down the straight, negating much of the big wing drag, and then, we just described what happens on the brakes.

That said, I wouldn't mind seeing just a few more kph in the speed trap, to be comfortable, but who knows how far the engine is turned down for Friday practice.

Let's see what shape rolls out in FP2....

[murtoidf1]

Even thought McLaren were 1 and 3 in FP1 they should be removing the F duct and using their low downforce wing for FP2.

they seems quite a bit down on top speed... surely having a low top speed makes them sitting ducks on the straight.. it doesn't matter how late they can brake if the opposition is already ahead/alongside them into turn 1.

BUT with the extra downforce they can carry more speed through the corners...especially the Parabolica. I think their thinking is that they'll be far enough ahead after the corner that by the time the cars that are faster in a straight line catch up with them they'll be at the braking zone...

well thats what it hinges on.. im not too sure it will work though. depends if the car behind can stay close behind them in those corners or if the dirty air will hinder the car behind. this is all assuming they are in front in the first place...

If their car is suited to this track and probably fast in low downforce mode i don't see why they feel the need to take this strategic set up.

They made a compromise like this in Germany ( with lower downforce and a high top speed so they could overtake at the end of the straight) but their car was weak there

we shall see wht happens to them in FP2.

[feynman]

From reading between the lines of a Button quote, I don't think they chose low DF for Germany because they thought it faster or for strategy ... it was because they didn't have an efficient high DF configuration. (ie, adding DF cost them more in drag than they were gaining from the DF).

It wasn't that they thought low was fastest or smartest, it was just that low was the least worst of their options ... if they had a working, tuned, higher DF setup available they would probably have ran it.

[astracrazy]

just seen hamilton in garage, they look like they running without fduct (by looks of rear wing)

[murtoidf1]

just seen hamilton in garage, they look like they running without fduct (by looks of rear wing)

yup, and he has been half a second slower than button a few laps in a row.

[zgred]

[gridwalker]

Boy does that car look weird without an F-Duct ... kinda hunchbacked!

[murtoidf1]

what is happening to the air going into the intake usually used for the f duct, the one above the engine intake? are there any vents behind it?

[Hangaku]

just seen hamilton in garage, they look like they running without fduct (by looks of rear wing)

yup, and he has been half a second slower than button a few laps in a row.

no longer. 8 tenths faster? jeez.