McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[i70q7m7ghw]

I think it should be pretty obvious that you're not going to get much air into an opening like that.

Sure.

[Raptor22]

[quote="Raptor22
Looks a bit,.........er stalled to me..

but then you don´t know what the xit configuration was like maybe they want to find the limit of controlling flow by using different exit restrictors? Or is it like someone said close the door at the end to a small gap and you get net thrust ... [/quote]


Sure, I'm not saying the concept sucks or that they don;t know what they;'re doing, just coimmenting on the picture. I have every faith in McLAren that they do know what they're doing and they'll be fast in Melbourne. I may be alone in that thinking though since the pitch fork mob are out in force today.

[Lurk]

Any reason to have flow-viz on a known wing?

[myurr]

Any reason to have flow-viz on a known wing?

It's a new front wing (as seen on Tuesday), so it's not known.

[volarchico]

@speedsense, forty-two, etc: I thought the same thing when I saw that picture and was staring at it trying to figure out the slot/gurney/odd paint strip. But the "flatness" might just be a trick of the camera. The steepness of the third element looks very asymetrical on the left and right side in this shot:

[adrianjordan]

@speedsense, forty-two, etc: I thought the same thing when I saw that picture and was staring at it trying to figure out the slot/gurney/odd paint strip. But the "flatness" might just be a trick of the camera. The steepness of the third element looks very asymetrical on the left and right side in this shot:

Very good point. I think the shape of the inner edge of the element is making it look flatter than it really is.

[Dragonfly]

Having in mind the picture with the flow-viz at that part, could it be they ran the wing with different flap position left and right to asses the effects by comparison?

[adrianjordan]

In fact, look at the reflection on the camera housing...I think it is steeper than it appears.

[bot6]

Having in mind the picture with the flow-viz at that part, could it be they ran the wing with different flap position left and right to asses the effects by comparison?

No way, that would make the car behave strangely for the driver, which could make it unsafe.

If you look at that top foil on the FW, it clearly has a lot of twist. Much flatter inside than out.

They probably use the outer bit to create downforce and throw the air over the tyre and the inner bit to stabilize the flow going onto the tea tray and sidepods, a bit like what Ferrari used to do with the double decker front wing.

[Lurk]

Any reason to have flow-viz on a known wing?

It's a new front wing (as seen on Tuesday), so it's not known.

I thought it was the old one nevermind

[Just_a_fan]

Looks a bit,.........er stalled to me..

That went through my mind too. I wonder if they're relying on this entry point for much of their rear end cooling and this is causing the reliability issues they've had. I wonder if it works with the back end fully open and they've been running with the 'exhaust' partially blocked off from what I've seen.

I would think, if that's the case, that it's a detail issue rather than a concept issue. At least they're "working the problem" rather than redesigning the whole car from scratch as required by half of the "pitch fork mob"...

[murtoidf1]

@speedsense, forty-two, etc: I thought the same thing when I saw that picture and was staring at it trying to figure out the slot/gurney/odd paint strip. But the "flatness" might just be a trick of the camera. The steepness of the third element looks very asymetrical on the left and right side in this shot:

in this picture both sides of the wing look totally different.

even the edge of the silver inner winglets looks curved on the left side ( closer side) and diagonally cut on the right.

[HampusA]

I think the wing is exactly the same on both sides.

It´s just that the angle is so wierd plus add the fact that the camera will distort everything just slightly and you get a picture like this.

[volarchico]

Agreed! And our eyes are so used to seeing "regular" shapes, that when you have to take a still 2D image of such complex 3D geometry, things appear "off", when like HampusA says, the wing is probably perfectly symmetrical.

[forty-two]

Button running with the "red nose" again today: