McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[myurr]

At the end the wing were within the regulations.

No they weren't, passing the FIA deflection test does not mean conforming to the regulations. The reg. says the wing can not flex more than a certain amount. Theirs did..

Isn't it nice to know that you are more knowledgable than the FIA. The FIA do state that the wing cannot flex more than a certain amount, but under a specifically designated load, which they test. The wing passed all the tests, so therefore complies.

No their rules state that parts may not flex at all, full stop, end of. They then say that they will test this rule using a given set of criteria. They even explicitly say that this test can be updated at any time if the FIA deem it necessary in order to enforce the no flexing rule.

That their criteria are inadequate to catch Red Bull's flexing wing does not mean that Red Bull are not in breach of that original rule.

[Hangaku]

+1 on that. Who says that the part after the 'ceramic box' isn't for heat diffusion ? I still think McLaren are suffering the after effects of spygate. They're made to pay the price.

Yeah, I reckon this could be the case too.

[Steve S14]

No their rules state that parts may not flex at all, full stop, end of. They then say that they will test this rule using a given set of criteria. They even explicitly say that this test can be updated at any time if the FIA deem it necessary in order to enforce the no flexing rule.

That their criteria are inadequate to catch Red Bull's flexing wing does not mean that Red Bull are not in breach of that original rule.

thanks for clarifying

[Just_a_fan]

The irony of the banning of this item (if it has been banned) is that McLaren will probably now spend a fortune either designing something else or getting the original design to work in "traditional" materials. Hardly a cost saving judgement really...

[balalev]

McLaren stuff Hmmmmmmmmmmmmm

[myurr]

That could explain why they couldn't lower the crash structure...

[bogi]

I still can't spot octopus box on the real pictures

[Owen.C93]

I still can't spot octopus box on the real pictures

Look at how the diffuser is in this picture:
http://i.imgur.com/R1fb1.jpg
Now from above there should be a dip in the middle if the floor was thin, but instead form above you can see a bulge covered in a different material with a duct.
(Blue Circle)
http://i.imgur.com/aQcb0.jpg

[forty-two]

Hate to say so guys, but I pointed out quite a few days ago the section beneath the rain light which McLaren (and Ferrari actually) have conspicuously always covered with either black glass reinforced tape, or a temp sensor.

If there is an "octopus", I would guess that this tape is covering one of it's exits.
What's more, I think Ferrari have been doing the same since the first test, as Chalke suggested back on the 19th of February:

Now I'm sure I'm being paranoid here, but with all the heat shielding, heat-reactive stickers and the hole at the bottom of it, are ferrari passing something through the lower half of their rear crash structure? Exhaust gases would be impossible, right?

[murtoidf1]

Hate to say so guys, but I pointed out quite a few days ago the section beneath the rain light which McLaren (and Ferrari actually) have conspicuously always covered with either black glass reinforced tape, or a temp sensor.

If there is an "octopus", I would guess that this tape is covering one of it's exits.
What's more, I think Ferrari have been doing the same since the first test, as Chalke suggested back on the 19th of February:

I thought the ferrari exhausts have been visible during all the tests, and had been directed over and towards the centre of the diffuser..

For this system the two exits of the exhausts have to go into the octupus chamber.. If you can see the end of the exhaust, then surely thats evidence of no chamber?

[forty-two]

Hate to say so guys, but I pointed out quite a few days ago the section beneath the rain light which McLaren (and Ferrari actually) have conspicuously always covered with either black glass reinforced tape, or a temp sensor.

If there is an "octopus", I would guess that this tape is covering one of it's exits.
What's more, I think Ferrari have been doing the same since the first test, as Chalke suggested back on the 19th of February:

I thought the ferrari exhausts have been visible during all the tests, and had been directed over and towards the centre of the diffuser..

For this system the two exits of the exhausts have to go into the octupus chamber.. If you can see the end of the exhaust, then surely thats evidence of no chamber?

It might be if you were seeing a race spec car, but we have all only seen test cars, so who knows what little treats they might be keeping schtum about fot now?

It occurred to me that a crash structure must be approved and crash tested by the FIA, so even if any one team thought that they might be able to use such a channel later in the season, it's inclusion in the tested unit would be helpful. Even if they never actually got it working. Kind of a "room for future development".

Didn't Ferrari recently poach someone from McLaren's design team?

[Just_a_fan]

Didn't Ferrari recently poach someone from McLaren's design team?

Yes, but history shows that only McLaren get punished for possessing other team's design info.

Hint, for those who don't understand the reference: Renault had McLaren design info, no punishment; Toyota had Ferrari design info, no punishment; McLaren had Ferrari design info, $100M fine and exclusion.

[halllo_fireball]

Certainly wouldn't be a great idea to use the crash structure as an exhaust. You couldn't really determine the material behaviour in the event of a crash because of the wide temperature range - no matter what material is actually used (cfrp or alloy).
So basically even if someone would come up with that idea (which is very unlikely), it would certainly be banned by the FIA.

[vall]

The irony of the banning of this item (if it has been banned) is that McLaren will probably now spend a fortune either designing something else or getting the original design to work in "traditional" materials. Hardly a cost saving judgement really...

what an argument! It is McLaren's responsibility to design a car within the regulations. If they don't and get caught, then they will pay the price. The argument that the piece should not be banned because it will be too expensive to re-design the car simply does not hold. What about the DDD in 2009? 7 teams spent a fortune to redesign the cars because of a stupid decision that a hole in not a hole......

[scotty86]

The rules say only one exit per engine bank is allowed. I can't see how a team could go and claim such a system is just car bodywork when it's role is to channel gases from the engine, the very definition of what an exhaust does!