McLaren Asymmetric bodywork - Sepang

[Mikey_s]

Did anyone else notice that Monty's car had a large chunk of bodywork removed on the right hand side during yesterdays race? There's a picture of it in the Malaysia GP gallery on pitpass - the radiator is clearly visible, but only on the right hand side.

I guess there is some sort of aero penalty to pay for such asymmetry, but probably better than meltdown!

[vyselegend]

I read somewhere Ron Dennis saying they had to sacrifice downforce in order to improve cooling. It may be part of it.

[Tp]

Yeah I don't fully understand why teams have asymmetrical bodywork. Why is this preferred to symmetrical bodywork in certain circumstances, such as, like you said removing bodywork of the right hand side?

[Scuderia_Russ]

I'm guessing water radiator one side, oil cooler the other? Maybe they have different requirements.

[Steven]

That is probably for cooling purposes indeed.
I expect the car to be faster if you only open it up where needed, instead of keeping it symmetric. I mean, a hole costs some aero efficiency, and at least that was still optimal on the closed site.

[mcderd]

the increased drag is something that could be easily sorted out my playing about with the car setup anyhow... or am i wrong? would it all come down to driver skill? suspension setups etc would have to be adjusted...

[Jason]

if there are holes then extra cooling is needed......if they adjust means downforce.......if the hole is big then it's knocked by another car

[zac510]

if there are holes then extra cooling is needed......if they adjust means downforce.......if the hole is big then it's knocked by another car

What?

[Scuderia_Russ]

if there are holes then extra cooling is needed......if they adjust means downforce.......if the hole is big then it's knocked by another car

What?

I'll second that!

[f1.redbaron]

If only the Germans had this kind of an enigma machine in WWII.


I think that what he's trying to say (in the first part) is that if we see the extra holes, it must mean that cooling is an issue, i.e. holes are there for the cooling purposes.

In the second part, he is suggesting that those holes might produce more downforce - I think he made a mistake...he was probably trying to say drag.

In the third part, I believe he is trying to say that those holes will create a dirty air which will mess up the aerodynamics of the car behind it.

That is the best I can do.

[zac510]

If only the Germans had this kind of an enigma machine in WWII.

I'll run it past Bletchley Park and see what they say.

[West]

I first noticed assymmetric bodywork on the FW25 (Williams 2003). The right-hand exhaust port has a taller enclosing than the left-hand side. I would assume that this would be for the water cooler, and the left-hand side would be for oil.

[Tp]

Ferrari had asymmetrical cooling vents at Barcelona '05, Supposedly to meet the cooling needs on the track- which has a prevalence of right handers.

[DaveKillens]

There is no need to assume a car is symmetrical in setup or aero balance. For instance, in oval racing, a car's setup favors turning one direction against another. And in Grand Prix, where every factor is carefully scrutinized, it may be advantageous to sacrifice one type of corner, or direction change to gain a larger advantage on another direction. For instance, Shanghai has two super-critical right handers, the one at the end of the pit straight, and the one leading to the long back straight.

[joseff]

In fact, if you take your hands off the wheel of an oval racer, the car would turn left.