Vodafone McLaren MP4-27 Mercedes

[raymondu999]

Kilcoo- I think you've summed up the 2012 exhaust regs

[kilcoo316]

Kilcoo- I think you've summed up the 2012 exhaust regs

+ the exhaust plume can be used for any purpose.



The FIA basically need to say it can be used, or specify directing it vertically well clear of any bodywork.


Hmmm.... an F1 car with something ridiculous like this:



Not sure if that'd look good or not... might be worth a shot though!

[raymondu999]

Brings a whole new meaning to the F150 Ferrari nomenclature of yesteryear!

[Shakeman]

+ the exhaust plume can be used for any purpose.

If they added that clause to this year's rules would that've changed anyone's designs?

I suspect not and that teams have located their exhausts in the area they expect to get most aero performance.

[kilcoo316]

If they added that clause to this year's rules would that've changed anyone's designs?

Probably not.


But there would have been absolutely no ambiguity about the grounds for protests. Which really is the crux of the problem.

[PhillipM]

I don't see a problem tbh, if anything McLaren should be further in the clear than anyone else.
I can just see it now when being questioned about it...

"Well, everyone else is blowing down the rear of the sidepods, over the suspension arms, and into the beam wing/monkey seat/main rear wing planes, we stuck ours right out over here on the side of the sidepods in a little pod thing so it couldn't interfere with any of that...."

[murtoidf1]

Out of interest, how does this test compare to the development of the mp4-24.

If I remember rightly, there was much less worrying for the MP4-24 then compared to last years testing of the MP4-26, but the car for the 09 season was well... we all know what happened there.

[Boost]

This is a poor comparison.

The Double Diffuser concept was raised in FOTA meetings by Ross Brawn as a loophole that needed to be closed. He was ignored. The device was also approved by Whiting on a number of occasions well in advance of final assembly. The fact that most teams failed to spot the potential of the device is a lesson in taking the rough with the smooth which all non DD teams rather distastefully failed to do with any dignity, spewing sour grapes by protesting in the early races instead of taking it on the chin. The device was so legal that it lasted 2 full seasons unlike other technologies that were deemed to be against the spirit of the regulations such as F-Duct or “dead zone” as its pioneers (Mclaren) referred to it.

Renault however, appear to have attempted to mislead the FIA by deliberately neglecting to mention the aero benefits of the reactive ride system. This is both cynical and unwise because attempts to deceive the FIA are always met with disdain. A team that was building its 20th car should have known better.

Do you really think that if it had been McLaren with a DDD and not the born from the ashes of Honda at the last minute Brawn team that they would have been declared legal?

Adrian Newey was of the opinion that it was illegal and so never persued the design further, and he isn't one to miss an oportunity.

[murtoidf1]

I'm expecting a lot from this car, leading the mid-pack and challenging the top 5. The EBD hurt them but now its gone they should have most around them blown away, just need to fix the mechanical gremlins they had for the last 3 years maybe they could rectify this when they switch to pull-rod as I pray it doesn't get worse.

surely for a car that was the second fastest / fastest near the end of the season that's not expecting alot...

plus the EBD is what mclaren gained from nearly as much as red bull, remember their performance in silverstone without it?

[Shakeman]

Do you really think that if it had been McLaren with a DDD and not the born from the ashes of Honda at the last minute Brawn team that they would have been declared legal?

Adrian Newey was of the opinion that it was illegal and so never persued the design further, and he isn't one to miss an oportunity.

Boost, that's a really good point. The Mr Whiplash era was particularly hard on McLaren, almost vindictive.

[murtoidf1]

silverstone was worst for mclaren.hope that they will gain EDB without use of the flow but something.there has to be something

Yes silverstone was bad for them as they didn't have the full EBD. so that shows the EBD was actually good for mclaren.

EBD stands for Exhaust blown diffuser

[beelsebob]

silverstone was worst for mclaren.hope that they will gain EDB without use of the flow but something.there has to be something

Yes silverstone was bad for them as they didn't have the full EBD. so that shows the EBD was actually good for mclaren.

EBD stands for Exhaust blown diffuser

This gets bandied about so much, but is an utterly disastrous way of inferring their performance without EBD. For about the thousandth time – Silverstone involved many separate cock ups from McLaren, it's pretty much impossible to tell how much performance they lost due to EBD, and how much they lost due to simply messing up lots.

[raymondu999]

Beelsebob - I agree with you 100%. The discombobulation means that there isn't one single cause really. But the funky thing was that Goss and Lowe actually pointed to it as evidence that an EBD-less MP4-26 was rubbish. I wonder if they're just managing expectations

[adrianjordan]

Out of interest, how does this test compare to the development of the mp4-24.

If I remember rightly, there was much less worrying for the MP4-24 then compared to last years testing of the MP4-26, but the car for the 09 season was well... we all know what happened there.

If I recall correctly they spent much of the 2009 pre-season using an 08 spec rear wing because they couldn't get their 09 spec one to generate enough downforce...

[dren]

The Mclaren was designed around an EBD just like the Red Bull was. That is why when Mclaren slapped on the Red Bull style EBD right before the first race their car was instantly a front runner.