If i am correct, only Renault and Sauber got it working properly from the first weekend they used it, with Sauber actually having tested parts of it during the winter tests. Mercedes was also relative quick to have it, but crucially they only used a passive stalling device which did not require the extensive pipework through the car.n smikle wrote:It was actually quite easy to route the signal duct into the chassis. Almost all the top teams had F-ducts testing on track right after the cat was out of the bag. Merc, Renault, Ferrari, RedBull, etc... it was very doable without crash testing.
The chassis might not have been so much the problem, but again it is very difficult to find any room in a car where the packaging is so tightly packed. Altering the chassis being disallowed makes on the front of repackaging things only worse. Red Bull I think was especially hit by it: it compromised their aero efficiency initially. Any advantage the f-duct gave to them was offset by the bulkier back end of the car. In Valencia, and even then after a midnight discussion, they finally used it in the race.
McLaren always had a good advantage in that aspect. They never had to introduce it into an existing car. Aero efficiency of the bodywork was only very lightly compromised for them.
