Team: Adrian Newey (CTO), Petr Prodromou (CA), Rob Marshall (CD), Christian Horner (TP) Drivers: Sebastian Vettel (1), Mark Webber (2), Sebastian Buemi (reserve) Team name: Infiniti Red Bull Racing
A place to discuss the characteristics of the cars in Formula One, both current as well as historical. Laptimes, driver worshipping and team chatter do not belong here.
IMO the gaps close to the endplate are just like the ones Ferrari debuted on the RW last year, they have nothing to do with DRD. They are just a way to get a multi-element wing in the allowed endplate zone, thus limiting the stalling closest to the endplate. The swan neck is just a support and for routing the hydraulics.
Here you can see Lotus running a similar arrangement on the rearwing, closest to the endplates (coincidentally they are actually running their DRD in this picture as well..):
Realy Lotus did fantastic job in cleaning space around beam wing, gearbox, diffuser, even with DRD on picture. With their ramp tunnel i must say they did better job if we compare Red Bull and Lotus rear end. Red Bull really have tight and compact sidepods with much space left, but Lotus is not much behind them. If we take reference betwen Red Bull and Lotus as teacher and student in term of look of whole rear end, i think student beat teacher.
The rear of the car - the diffusor, beam wing and rear wing - all work in harmony to create their downforce. The low pressure area created by the beam wing helps (for lack of a better word) sucks the air through the diffusor. The high pressure area above the beam wing helps (again for lack of a better word) pushes the air upwards towards the low pressure area of the rear wing.
By stalling the beam wing, it should promote the detachment of flow in the diffusor and the Rear wing. Bare in mind that this is no simple task. It requires accurate mapping of the flow control fluidic switch, a good understanding of the speed at which the flow will start to separate on all 3 aero elements.
Perhaps building a yaw instability into the fluidic switch, to that through turns ( i.e. more than 2g's lateral acceleration) the switch is disabled, however this would require 3 or more inputs into the device.
However the most benefit from a passive drag reduction device would come by stalling both the diffusor, the beam wing and the rear wing. I wouldnt be surprised if Red Bull have such a system in mind and are yet to install it for testing, explaining why that goose neck has a top plate which is detachable.
"I continuously go further and further learning about my own limitations, my body limitations, psychological limitations. It's a way of life for me." - Ayrton Senna
Agreed @Robbobnob. The RB philosophy for some time now has been to sacrifice top end speed, to make gains in all other areas of the track. Actually having a device that can 'turn on' on the straights will help the RB9 more than any other team as a result. We all saw how the RB8 came alive with the DDRS. I'm quite sure Newey and co haven't thrown that out the window. This RB9 is an "evolution" - so one would expect that concept to evolve as well. RB haven't shown their full hand yet, but we all just caught a glimpse of something yet to fully unveil.
@Robbobnob, i think anyone forgott princip of original DRD on Lotus E20, in compare with RB9. http://scarbsf1.com/blog1/2012/09/01/lo ... -analysis/
it had two function, creating downforce in corners and speed on long straights. because of that he was hard to make it work in exact situation. blowing both, beam wing and rear wing was original concept, i dont see on RB9 nothing like that, only gaining downforce blowing beam wing. maybe because of that it was easly to Red Bull to make work DRD concept?
1. I'm not convinced the RB9 has any ducts or holes in and around the rear wings. They don't have intakes anywhere for the flow. Last year's device simply connected a high pressure area on a wing to a low pressure area on a different wing. They do not have an actuating mechanism this year.
2. You will want to stall the wing creating the most drag. The diffuser is efficient DF. If you stall the beam wing the diffuser will lose a bit of efficiency, but it likely will not stall.
dren wrote:1. I'm not convinced the RB9 has any ducts or holes in and around the rear wings. They don't have intakes anywhere for the flow. Last year's device simply connected a high pressure area on a wing to a low pressure area on a different wing. They do not have an actuating mechanism this year.
2. You will want to stall the wing creating the most drag. The diffuser is efficient DF. If you stall the beam wing the diffuser will lose a bit of efficiency, but it likely will not stall.
Yes they do have an intake, you can see it quite clearly on the previous page. It´s on the swan neck just before the beamwing. They have a detachable cover they can put on or take off, to expose the intake.
Rikhart wrote:Yes they do have an intake, you can see it quite clearly on the previous page. It´s on the swan neck just before the beamwing. They have a detachable cover they can put on or take off, to expose the intake.
Yes...I just realized how horrible my work monitors are. I see it now. A very nice solution. The flow around and just under the cooling exhaust hole will stay straight as it comes to a point before it enters the duct. That seems to be a permanent attachment. There has to be something, perhaps the opening, that can be altered for different tracks.
Rikhart wrote:Yes they do have an intake, you can see it quite clearly on the previous page. It´s on the swan neck just before the beamwing. They have a detachable cover they can put on or take off, to expose the intake.
Yes...I just realized how horrible my work monitors are. I see it now. A very nice solution. The flow around and just under the cooling exhaust hole will stay straight as it comes to a point before it enters the duct. That seems to be a permanent attachment. There has to be something, perhaps the opening, that can be altered for different tracks.
Why does it need to be altered for each track? Perhaps the benefit they have is minor enough to be consistent and effective on any long straight. Hence that's why they blow the beam wing only. It would make more sense to have a smaller gain you know works everywhere, than a huge gain you continually have to fiddle with to make it work.