fins

[j4kwan]

I noticed that all the cars dropped those two small fins just below the airduct and behind the drivers head (eg MP4-15). There's also small holes on the side too!
What did these small fins and holes actually do? How did they work?
Why was it banned?

[hit_guy]

If you are talking about the holes in the side of the airbox like the ones you see in Ferrari I think they are used to support a harness that goes through the hole to lift the car when it is stationary on the track.
Mclaren uses something similiar which you can see immediately below the air duct and above the helmet.It uses that instead of the holes.
Hope this helps

[joseff]

I think he's referring to the "Devil's horns", also known as the "toblerone panel".

Previously the FIA had devised an imaginary toblerone-shaped bar that slopes down from the top of the rollhoop to the rear. The rules stated that bodywork has to be made such that this toblerone bar is enclosed from the sides. The idea behind this is to improve protection to the driver's head. However, Ferrari and McLaren got smart, and introduced these fins instead of bulky carbonfiber protection, in the interest of aerodynamics.

Hence the point of the rule is mooted, and it's off the rulebook since 2003 I think.

[Reca]

About the hole hit_guy is right, nothing to add.

About the fins under the airbox, the so called “horns” : those were just fake extensions to satisfy the minimum required width of the airbox and FIA don’t banned them, for 2003 they simply removed the minimum width requirement in that area making the “horns” unnecessary.

[Monstrobolaxa]

Well the little holes that you see now-a-days in the front underneth the airbox.....are used for cooling efects of the fuel pumps.....if I'm not mistaken.

[Reca]

are you sure isn’t for ECU/other black box cooling ? I’m under the impression that the fuel pumps should be positioned quite low in the chassis, anyway I could be wrong.

[Monstrobolaxa]

Well....the ECU also crosed my mind...and it is true that the pumps are placed low.......but it probably has another efect then that.....cause a few years ago they didn't use these little holes....at least untill 97 teams used to put the ECU under the airbox.....in the recent past I haven't seen any pics of this area.....and only recently they started using these little holes.

And thinking better.....what I was thinking of was the fuel valve that the have on top so that air can get out while refueling.....but I think that they don't have the big bulkie valves they had a few years ago.........what I just remembered is.....the little holes started appearing when teams started putting the oil resevoire between the monocoque and the engine.....could it have something to do with that?....some kind of respirator?

[Reca]

The air and fuel fumes are extracted, while refuelling, directly via the refuelling pipe. The pipe is actually composed by two coaxial tubes, the internal tube is for the fuel, the external tube is to suck fumes/air out of the tank.

Looking at a couple of pics on the recent Schlegelmitch’s book (an excellent book of photographs regarding F1, 1950 -> 2003, especially “technical” pics from ‘70s-‘80s are exceptional) I’ve noticed that the McLaren in 1995 & 1996, had a duct, just under the airbox, connecting the ECU with the air intake. So basically there wasn’t a dedicated hole but the air was separated internally, just behind the air intake, I think that it was a pretty common solution. Then in the successive years the distance between air intake and headrest started to increase (also thanks to the lower driver position) so there was room enough to use a dedicated hole instead of “stealing” air from the engine intake.

[Monstrobolaxa]

...now I know.... ....just wondering.....could you post the name of the Schlegelmitch book....in spite the fact that I don't like him too much....he does have some good pics....

[Reca]

Hope this helps : http://www.astilibri.com/cultura/mondo_formula1.htm
It’s not listed in the “Books” section at http://www.schlegelmilch.com but the list was compiled in July 2002...