Red Bull RB8 Renault

[agungn51]

He didn't twist it on purpose. It's just so flimsy that it twisted when he lifted the right camera pod at the same time as the left-rear of the nose cone itself.

from the video is does look like the mechanic's left hand is pushing it downward while the right is lifting it.

clearly seen, it twisted

[bhall]

[Your post. A good one, too.]

I think another idea worth considering is the effect such flexing could have on the car's stability. Not only does a flexible nose somewhat mimic the aerodynamic effects of the reactive ride height system that was banned earlier this year (the front wing shouldn't immediately pitch down under braking if it's mounted to a free-swinging hinge), the weight of the wing/ballast means it also behaves like a mass damper that counters the unsettling tire oscillations born from that load transfer.

[CHT]

Does the rule state that this is illegal?

[bhall]

Yes and no. Both mass dampers and reactive ride height are meant to be illegal. But, the FIA obviously didn't get the wording right, and that left this loophole.

That said, I don't know if it would survive a protest from another team if the protest was made on those grounds. I say that because mass dampers and reactive ride height were each deemed legal before they were deemed illegal once it was determined they clearly violate the spirit of the rules that ban moveable aerodynamic devices.

[siskue2005]

difficult to find other video to compare. Here's some hi res slowmotion of the RB7 at Jerez. 0:40 through to 1:00 are over ripple strips, but the nose and wing doesn't seem to wobble anywhere near as much as the RB8. Granted, the curbs aren't as bad.
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FGFPR5NrLdY[/youtube]

That is because jerez has flat kerbs unlike Abu dabhi

[Dragonfly]

I am a bit surprised that supposedly technically minded people jump to such hasty conclusions.
It's clearly seen that the tip is flexing like paper, or vinyl sheet. How do you imagine it will hold hundreds of kilograms of load if a mechanic can twist it with bare hands?
For me most likely the thin hard shell (not the real crash structure) under the skin is shattered and the mechanic is desperately trying to find a way to lift the cone and disengage the locking pins.

And ... do you think other teams wouldn't have noticed and raised the issue long time ago?

[sesku]

Like I said in Autosport forum, I think the nose tip shell was broken after Vettel hit the DRS signage. The nosecone look flexible because the broken nose tip was held together with the yellow sticker of redbull logo (I assume the red bull logo at the nose tip was sticker not paint.) Just my two cent.

[siskue2005]

Like I said in Autosport forum, I think the nose tip shell was broken after Vettel hit the DRS signage. The nosecone look flexible because the broken nose tip was held together with the yellow sticker of redbull logo (I assume the red bull logo at the nose tip was sticker not paint.) Just my two cent.

exactly

[elFranZ]

Like I said in Autosport forum, I think the nose tip shell was broken after Vettel hit the DRS signage. The nosecone look flexible because the broken nose tip was held together with the yellow sticker of redbull logo (I assume the red bull logo at the nose tip was sticker not paint.) Just my two cent.

exactly

exactly? have you ever seen carbon behaving like pongo? not in this world, mate.

[dave34m]

Like I said in Autosport forum, I think the nose tip shell was broken after Vettel hit the DRS signage. The nosecone look flexible because the broken nose tip was held together with the yellow sticker of redbull logo (I assume the red bull logo at the nose tip was sticker not paint.) Just my two cent.

I dont agree with your above idea at all, just doesn't seem feasible and it doesn't explain why the nose cone is clearly moving around in the Mark Webber gif image a few pages back

[siskue2005]

Like I said in Autosport forum, I think the nose tip shell was broken after Vettel hit the DRS signage. The nosecone look flexible because the broken nose tip was held together with the yellow sticker of redbull logo (I assume the red bull logo at the nose tip was sticker not paint.) Just my two cent.

exactly

exactly? have you ever seen carbon behaving like pongo? not in this world, mate.

yeah, when it has taken two hits it might
and also the yellow part could be a fascia around the real crash strucure....and fasica and its connection to the crash strucutre may have been broken during the impact
if a person just touching it lightly bends it , then how can it hold the huge >1000 kg of aero load?

[stefan_]

Maybe that is how it is supposed to work, to get a desired shape around the crash structure underneath under heavier loads.

During the race I thought that the camera mounts move because they were broken after he hit the DRS sign, but seing the video it looks kind of clear that the whole tip is moving, the area around the Infiniti logo wrinkles when the mechanic moves it.

[siskue2005]

then how did it bend with a small touch by the mechanic???
surely its broken, even if it bends

[Bomber_Pilot]

Like I said in Autosport forum, I think the nose tip shell was broken after Vettel hit the DRS signage. The nosecone look flexible because the broken nose tip was held together with the yellow sticker of redbull logo (I assume the red bull logo at the nose tip was sticker not paint.) Just my two cent.

exactly

exactly? have you ever seen carbon behaving like pongo? not in this world, mate.

siskue2005 wrote: "yeah, when it has taken two hits it might
and also the yellow part could be a fascia around the real crash strucure
if a person just touching it lightly bends it , then how can it hold the huge >1000 kg of aero load?"

I know that tis is not exactly the best example but anyway... You can easily twist a bicycle tire, but try and tear it apart. As for your sticker holding it together argument? How would then a sticker hold >1000 kg of aero load?

[siskue2005]

the external tube could be suspended from a sheet of carbon fibre (similar to flexing parts carbon weaved in certain fashion) which would hold it up and bends when it reach certain aero load.