bonjon1979 wrote:
And yet in Malaysia Red bull were 19 + 20 in the speed trap. Maybe they have to run a reduced angle of attack because they're producing so much drag?
Red Bull are not the slowest in the speed trap because they have more drag on the car.
The whole philosophy behind the car is to produce the fastest car around a track. This means optimizing the car to spend less time at slower speeds than the competition. Combined with their superior down force and traction, RedBull gear their car to accelerate faster out of the corner. This limits their overall straight line speed but the total time spent on the straight will be quicker than other teams who gear longer to make up for the deficit in traction when leaving the corner. (obviously this is track dependent as some tracks have shorter straights and longer corner complexes compared to others)
This hinders them when they are in traffic as the car is setup to reach its top speed quicker than the competition when in clear air. Couple the turbulent air and lack of down force, henceforth they lack traction when leaving a corner the RedBull is no longer able to make the most of its gearing ratio and usually struggles to overtake the leading car.
Total HP and torque are irrelevant if a car is limited in the amount it can put down into the tarmac.
On the too much downforce argument, It isnt a simple fact of too much downforce. More that RedBull have superior corner speeds compared to other teams because thats where they minimise the time lost around a circuit. Therefore the faster the car is through the corner the more shear on the surface of the tyre. I believe that RedBull run a smaller wing angle because they cannot make full use of the downforce mid corner as it is too detrimental to the life of the tyres. However on corner exit, RedBulls coanda exhaust solution produces more than enough down-force to produce better traction than the competition. (RedBull were certainly were the most stable on corner entry and exit with superior traction, with only Ferrari anywhere close at albert park) During the 2011 season, RedBull ran significantly shallower rear wing angles than had been previously seen due to the grip advantage of the EBD.
"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