McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[scarbs]

If they had front exit exhausts, they could do a F-duct-like control, with a "T" in the pipe leading into the cockpit, when the driver needs extra downfroce he puts his hand over the pipe and it re-directs to the front exit and hey presto, instant downnforce...! Can't see a problem with that at all....

[Sawtooth-spike]

If they had front exit exhausts, they could do a F-duct-like control, with a "T" in the pipe leading into the cockpit, when the driver needs extra downfroce he puts his hand over the pipe and it re-directs to the front exit and hey presto, instant downnforce...! Can't see a problem with that at all....

I thought a mouth pipe they could blow on would be easyer to control

[volarchico]

If they had front exit exhausts, they could do a F-duct-like control, with a "T" in the pipe leading into the cockpit, when the driver needs extra downfroce he puts his hand over the pipe and it re-directs to the front exit and hey presto, instant downnforce...! Can't see a problem with that at all....

+1

Tired of the one exhaust up front and one in back mumbo-jumbo. Your pictures were pretty clear (with arrows) where the exhaust were in the back.

[raymondu999]

If they had front exit exhausts, they could do a F-duct-like control, with a "T" in the pipe leading into the cockpit, when the driver needs extra downfroce he puts his hand over the pipe and it re-directs to the front exit and hey presto, instant downnforce...! Can't see a problem with that at all....

Aren't drivers not allowed to be able to influence aerodynamics now though?

[volarchico]

Aren't drivers not allowed to be able to influence aerodynamics now though?

Pretty sure that he was being sarcastic about the hot exhaust gases...

[imightbewrong]

From a spanish twitter, click for high-res:


And before anyone starts going on about "four visible pipes", the ones below are a reflection (IMO).

[timd]

Aren't drivers not allowed to be able to influence aerodynamics now though?

Pretty sure that he was being sarcastic about the hot exhaust gases...

Solved!

[dave34m]

Aren't drivers not allowed to be able to influence aerodynamics now though?

Pretty sure that he was being sarcastic about the hot exhaust gases...

Solved!

Its a bit Hi-Tech

[paipa]

Think I've worked it out... It's not a tube at all - it's an IR camera looking at the front tyres. Hence the duct tape. The channeling of air into the 'duct' is in fact just a way to create a clear line of sight.

They surely wouldn't mess with the splitter's aerodynamics for that when they can just mount IR cams in the mirrors.

[myurr]

Think I've worked it out... It's not a tube at all - it's an IR camera looking at the front tyres. Hence the duct tape. The channeling of air into the 'duct' is in fact just a way to create a clear line of sight.

They surely wouldn't mess with the splitter's aerodynamics for that when they can just mount IR cams in the mirrors.

They mess with it by fitting huge big pitot rakes, etc. Understanding these tyres during these early mechanical setup tests and checks is probably more important to them than ultimate aero performance.

In this case I think they're videoing the tyres from multiple angles with this being a side view (possibly looking at the deformation of the tyre rather than specifically temperature). It's the most logical explanation that I can find, and fits the brightened image I supplied on the previous page.

[Martin Keene]

From a spanish twitter, click for high-res:


And before anyone starts going on about "four visible pipes", the ones below are a reflection (IMO).

I'm not sure they are real exhausts. They are firing straight at a carbon suspension arm, which has no heat protection on it at all.

Neither does the top of the diffuser.

[Raptor22]

Think I've worked it out... It's not a tube at all - it's an IR camera looking at the front tyres. Hence the duct tape. The channeling of air into the 'duct' is in fact just a way to create a clear line of sight.

They surely wouldn't mess with the splitter's aerodynamics for that when they can just mount IR cams in the mirrors.

They mess with it by fitting huge big pitot rakes, etc. Understanding these tyres during these early mechanical setup tests and checks is probably more important to them than ultimate aero performance.

In this case I think they're videoing the tyres from multiple angles with this being a side view (possibly looking at the deformation of the tyre rather than specifically temperature). It's the most logical explanation that I can find, and fits the brightened image I supplied on the previous page.

whyhide the video camera if thats what the device is? If you videoing then mount camera and be done with it.
to me it looks more like a local pressure sensor for measuring the pressure on the splitter

[forty-two]

From a spanish twitter, click for high-res:


And before anyone starts going on about "four visible pipes", the ones below are a reflection (IMO).

I'm not sure they are real exhausts. They are firing straight at a carbon suspension arm, which has no heat protection on it at all.

Neither does the top of the diffuser.

I've looked at this image again and again and I can't see any way in which the lower pipes could be a reflection. I wonder in fact if the UPPER ones (i.e. the ones marked with red arrows) might be a reflection of the lower ones?

[Callum]

From a spanish twitter, click for high-res:


And before anyone starts going on about "four visible pipes", the ones below are a reflection (IMO).

I'm not sure they are real exhausts. They are firing straight at a carbon suspension arm, which has no heat protection on it at all.

Neither does the top of the diffuser.

I've looked at this image again and again and I can't see any way in which the lower pipes could be a reflection. I wonder in fact if the UPPER ones (i.e. the ones marked with red arrows) might be a reflection of the lower ones?

If you look at the Hi-Res picture, the left hand pipe 'reflection' the circle of the pipe is distorted which leads me to believe that it IS a reflection and the surface it is reflecting off is distorting it.

[myurr]

whyhide the video camera if thats what the device is? If you videoing then mount camera and be done with it.
to me it looks more like a local pressure sensor for measuring the pressure on the splitter

I don't think they have hidden it, certainly not any more than any of the other tyre monitors. It could well be a pressure sensor - I'm certainly not wedded to it being a camera although I still think that the most likely explanation due to the shaping of the splitter in front of it giving line of sight to the tyre.

But what it definitely isn't is an exhaust or cooling duct.