McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[hollus]

Thats ok, the 'technical' names are a bit bogus. This is how i think it works:



Left is a normal Gurney. They can't make it taller (and increase DF) as it will stall. Perforated (middle) refers to a gap at the bottom of the gurney allowing air through so it won't stall and can be taller. On the right is the RBR style flap. They angle it back to get even more height and DF without it stalling.

Someone with more experience than me, please correct this post if I'm wrong.

In the Red Bulls, the "slotted gurney" is not only angled, it is airfoil shaped (read Scarbs' blog). It looks to me like the same is going on here.

[MIKEY_!]

Oh yes, thanks for that.

[Javert]

In comparison to MP4-25, could we say this car is faster in all sectors or there are things that were better in -25?

The -26 seems stronger but never been in the championship challenge while the -25 has been the leader of that season ('til a certain point)

I'd say the -25 has less drag and, maybe, better braking.
Maybe it had also more "basic" downforce (excluding DDD!) than -26 which is thought around the blown diffuser

[raymondu999]

Most cars would have less downforce because of the loss of the 2nd diffuser deck. I would guess this to be the case with the -26 as well. The -25 led for a bit; but that was mainly because all of the contenders made bumbling hashes of their title charges last year.

[Lycoming]

the 26 doesnt appear to be very stable underbraking to me. mad porpoising in turkey, and the front wing was scraping the ground in spa under braking for bus stop during qualifying.

[raymondu999]

The 25 did that too. The front porpoised a lot under braking; but that I don't think is sign of braking instability

[ringo]

The 26 is a better car overall.

If we look at when they put on the redbull style exhuasts.

It's just that the rb7 is much more rounded that the rb6.

The 2010 ferrari was better than the 25 too.

[MIKEY_!]

+1 ringo

[Vasco]

Looking at where this car was before the season started, massive credit has to be given to Mclaren for turning this car around and being second to RBR. It is a better car overall than the 25.

What Mclaren seem to have lost is the Mechanical grip advantage they had in the past years. Both the 25 and 26 seem to be lagging behind RBR here.

[wesley123]

Disagreed here. The 26 seems to have really good mechanical grip, kerbriding and under the braking the car is rpetty magnificent, out of corners it is slightly less though. What shocked me a little is how good this car was in high/max downforce trim, I'd expected it the other way around, mainly due to the U-sidepods. Imo next year U-sidepods are the way to go.

The 26 was imo mainly lacking on development, there were barely any new bodywork parts, certainly compared to previous years.

[beelsebob]

Disagreed here. The 26 seems to have really good mechanical grip, kerbriding and under the braking the car is rpetty magnificent, out of corners it is slightly less though. What shocked me a little is how good this car was in high/max downforce trim, I'd expected it the other way around, mainly due to the U-sidepods. Imo next year U-sidepods are the way to go.

The 26 was imo mainly lacking on development, there were barely any new bodywork parts, certainly compared to previous years.

The good high downforce setup doesn't surprise me. It doesn't have the same peak downforce as the RB7 produces, but it does produce the downforce much more efficiently – that was pretty much the point of the U pods wasn't it?

[raymondu999]

Is it really though? I mean in Suzuka they were fast in S1, matched in S2 and were slow in S3. S3 is the straight line section while S1 is esses

[beelsebob]

Is it really though? I mean in Suzuka they were fast in S1, matched in S2 and were slow in S3. S3 is the straight line section while S1 is esses

Right, but was this not because the red bull could open it's DRS through 130r and be flat, but the McLaren couldn't. Meanwhile, in the esses, neither could open DRS, and the McLaren was able to produce the downforce more efficiently.

So... Red bull, more downforce, less efficiently, able to shed it well and still have enough downforce. McLaren, somewhat less downforce, better efficiency, not able to shed it because they didn't have enough.

[raymondu999]

Yes but better downforce levels would still show more in S1 would it not?

[beelsebob]

Yes but better downforce levels would still show more in S1 would it not?

You would think, wouldn't you. Perhaps the explanation then is that the McLaren DRS is shedding more downforce than the RBR one? That would explain them being faster in S1, but unable to open it up in 130r.