Mirror, mirror on the ... sidepod?

[checkered]

The FIA has invented

a test to determine mirror visibility. This, of course, follows the multitude of innovations the teams have embarked upon lately concerning the humble "driver awareness device". The test involves a driver sitting in the car and reading numbers on pieces of paper displayed by an FIA official 10 m behind the vehicle. Since vibration could be part of the problem, I don't quite see how this exercise offers any kind of a realistic picture of the visibility the driver has.

Mark Webber has expressed satisfaction that the test has now been implemented (I'm guessing in his capacity as a member of the leadership of GPDA). Fisichella, on the other hand (perhaps predictably, since the mirror is an integral part of Renault's unique sidepod construction) stated that the visibility is "fantastic" and "better than last year".

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/auto/formulaone/36632/

No word yet whether there have been any conclusions or if anyone has been ordered to rethink their construction, as far as was decipherable from the article. Personally, I'm wondering how much the drivers have ever relied on the mirrors ... remembering how a BAR Honda's race engineer, for example, talked Takuma through the start on the team radio. The instructions were so minute, I was left wondering whether he could've driven eyes closed until the first corner.

Well, maybe the "mirror/F1 eyesight test" was merely a cosmetic one. But if changes are forced upon teams that have their mirrors placed at the extremities of their cars, it could have some aero implications.

[FLC]

I'm pretty sure the test was in the regulations for a long time now, and the mirrors are an important tool for the drivers, in many different situations, such as keeping an eye on the rear tires, watching for smoke and such coming from the engine and ofcourse on track battles.
I suggest you take a look at the battles MS and Alonso had last season in San Marino and Turkey, for example, and you'll see that they are using the mirrors quite frequently. I remember seeing Alonso and Hamilton in particular using their mirrors in the last race at Sepang also. Just what I remember, I bet they all do.

[dumrick]

Did anyone noticed that Red Bull has changed their mirror locations back to the sides of the tub in Malaysia? I'm not sure if they were there at Australia, but I'm quite sure that the car was presented with them in the sidepods. It's the noticeable difference now with the Toro Rosso's (livery excluded...).

Given all the praising about the advantages of placing them on the sidepods, I wonder if it wasn't a driver request, in terms of visibility.
Sidepod mounted mirrors may have an advantage also concerning a wider field of view, but it may be more comfortable on the driver not having to turn his head so much to check them.

[FLC]

Red-Bull changed the location of the mirrors before Malaysia. In Australia they were still on the sidepods.
The rear wing is also different now from the TR's, as mentioned on here, in the development blog.

[dumrick]

The rear wing is also different now from the TR's, as mentioned on here, in the development blog.

Thanks, i missed that one...

Shame on me, it seems I've not been checking the DevBlog as much as I should.

[joseff]

I'm pretty sure the test was in the regulations for a long time now...

Was it the 2004 McLaren that had the mirrors right in front of the sidepods? I remember I checked the rulebook then and the cardboard sight test was already in there.

[Carlos]

An article on the aero of racecar mirror

http://www.iet.auc.dk/education/face_pr ... cecar2.pdf

[FLC]

Shame on me, it seems I've not been checking the DevBlog as much as I should.

Maybe because Red-Bull has chosen to go back to the old configuration for Bahrain:
[IMG:573:257]http://img187.imageshack.us/img187/8341/image1cv9.jpg[/img]

On the right is the wing from Malaysia on Webber's car and on the left the one that was used from the beginning. I also checked that they didnt put different wings for each driver. Maybe something to do with the characteristics of the tracks, tho. I find it hard to believe since they are quite similar in demands. Maybe except for the winds and more heavy braking points. Maybe someone else could enlighten us on this?