Toro Rosso STR7 Ferrari

[beelsebob]

Plus, they weren't faster than the Mercs overall in the last races, it just happened that the last races involved a lot of straight line stuff, and their car was even slipperier than the Merc.

[wesley123]

Indeed. 4th fastest is a bit too optimistic imo, certainly with two rookies.

Last years car was pretty competitive, but the car suggested me the feeling the never really extracted maximum performance out of it. The car was there in one race, and the next it was nowhere to be found. The midfield was close last year yes, but other teams still were pretty constant.

[raymondu999]

It's interesting reading Mark Hughes on this a while back in his column on Autosport magazine. He says that if you stood trackside; there was a sense that; from the car's body language; Buemi and Alguersuari could never extract the maximum from the options given a "twitchy" feel the car had. The primes didn't have that apparently; and Buemi and Alguersuari were visibly on the limit on those tyres - just not on the options.

[volarchico]

The floor will have cut outs mid way along the length, where the venturi of the double floor will entrain air from beneath the car. Expect to see the the side pods much more compact.

How is this allowed? I thought there weren't any holes in the floor allowed anymore.

[StrFerrari4Ever]

I'm interested to see how the car looks, I wonder how different it will be from the STR6. I'm guessing they'll ditch the double-floor concept in favour of a more conventional design but then again they might retain it or try something different altogether. Hopefully they produce another reliable car and they can extract the maximum from it and get it on the pace from the get go.

[jordangp]

The floor will have cut outs mid way along the length, where the venturi of the double floor will entrain air from beneath the car. Expect to see the the side pods much more compact.

How is this allowed? I thought there weren't any holes in the floor allowed anymore.

A cutout isn't a hole. A hole has to be surrounded by floor for it to be classed a hole. If a part is cut out from the side, it's still 1 whole piece, without a gap (hole) in the middle.

[beelsebob]

The floor will have cut outs mid way along the length, where the venturi of the double floor will entrain air from beneath the car. Expect to see the the side pods much more compact.

How is this allowed? I thought there weren't any holes in the floor allowed anymore.

A cutout isn't a hole. A hole has to be surrounded by floor for it to be classed a hole. If a part is cut out from the side, it's still 1 whole piece, without a gap (hole) in the middle.

Yep, the issue is with the rule that between a certain point back from the splitter (don't remember where, but it's pretty far forward), and the rear axle, when viewed from the bottom, you must be looking at one of 1) the reference plane 2) the step plane.

[PlatinumZealot]

This is an illustration of my speculation..

[beelsebob]

This is an illustration of my speculation..

It's not legal...

3.12.1 With the skid block referred to in Article 3.13 removed all sprung parts of the car situated from 330mm behind the front wheel centre line to the rear wheel centre line, and which are visible from underneath, must form surfaces which lie on one of two parallel planes, the reference plane or the step plane.

[raymondu999]

I don't get why the side cutout would be illegal though?

[beelsebob]

I don't get why the side cutout would be illegal though?

Because of the rule above – because you can see the side pod from underneath the car, and it's not on the reference or step planes.

[raymondu999]

Aha... got it. Thanks.

[neilbah]

so can you have a section of floor removed like this? i dont mean all the way across but maybe from the floors edge to near the step. and what would be the motive, to create a diffuser midship..or to allow another edge of floor to get more air under? i had a play with windtunnel on the ipad with gaps in different places and different sidepod shapes but its not very accurate software and only 2D shapes..

[ringo]

This is an illustration of my speculation..

It's not legal...

3.12.1 With the skid block referred to in Article 3.13 removed all sprung parts of the car situated from 330mm behind the front wheel centre line to the rear wheel centre line, and which are visible from underneath, must form surfaces which lie on one of two parallel planes, the reference plane or the step plane.

It's legal.

Nothing in that rule really speaks to it. When you say nothing must be seen from underneath i suppose you are talking about the diffuser rules.
This floor would be illegal if it was a hole, but since it's the edge itself it's legal. It's similar to the cutouts we saw last year for the blown floors.

[beelsebob]

This is an illustration of my speculation..

It's not legal...

3.12.1 With the skid block referred to in Article 3.13 removed all sprung parts of the car situated from 330mm behind the front wheel centre line to the rear wheel centre line, and which are visible from underneath, must form surfaces which lie on one of two parallel planes, the reference plane or the step plane.

It's legal.

Nothing in that rule really speaks to it. When you say nothing must be seen from underneath i suppose you are talking about the diffuser rules.
This floor would be illegal if it was a hole, but since it's the edge itself it's legal. It's similar to the cutouts we saw last year for the blown floors.

No, I'm not talking about the diffuser, I'm talking about the rule above – by making such a cut out, the side pod becomes visible from underneath, it does not lie on the reference plane, nor does it lie on the step plane, therefore it's not a legal design.