Renault's new Monaco front wing

[checkered]

The "new front wing" development

didn't turn out to be very drastic in form, then, even if Renault's performance did take a positive turn. Comparing pictures from Barcelona and Monaco, in the former race there's a barely distinguishable curve upwards in the middle of the spoon section of the foremost wing, while in the latter it has been smoothed out in a more continuous form. Apart from that, I can't immediately tell what else might be different?

Here's a pic from Barcelona (from f1grandprix.it)


And here's one from Monaco (again, from f1grandprix.it)

[mistareno]

The "new front wing" development
Apart from that, I can't immediately tell what else might be different?

The actual 'nose' seems alot sharper and more square than before. It also seems a good inch longer to my eyes...

[Steven]

Comparing pictures from Barcelona and Monaco, in the former race there's a barely distinguishable curve upwards in the middle of the spoon section of the foremost wing, while in the latter it has been smoothed out in a more continuous form. Apart from that, I can't immediately tell what else might be different?

Neither can I. I was going to post this in the development blog, but changes are really small that I'll think it over.

@mistareno: Anyway, the nose isn't any different, you are probably fooled by the red marker on the tip to indicate which car it is.
I have previously also said that this thick nose is probably not helping the front wing efficiency. They have thickened it to have more ballast in it, but that jeopardised downforce at the front.

[vyselegend]

I find it very strange also. This new wing is supposed to be the first main step toward the resolution of their aerodynamics problems, along with the new suspentions from barcelona.
In the past weeks Symonds, Bell and the drivers talked of this wing as a considerable improvement. And in the end this is looking like the same wing with a shy tweaking for more downforce, especially considering other teams Monaco specs FWs.
Of course, we can't know if it's a big change or not as we haven't the datas and you can't juge just by the look of it. Are you sure the monaco pic is from qualy or race day, since the team didn't use the new wing thursday?

I know! It's a placebo wing! The team have found a way to convince Giancarlo that he has a wonderfully efficient new front wing, so the lad is finding confidence in his car and improve his game.

[checkered]

Oh, my post has been

moved from another thread and upgraded as a topic of its own ... well, I'm not complaining! To answer Vyselegend, I'm fairly sure that the picture from Monaco is either from the race day or quali. The only uncertainty is whether f1grandprix.it has mislabeled or "mis-indexed" photos, but I think that's unlikely. There are plenty of other good pics there, both under both "foto" and "wallpapers" (roll down to the bottom right of the main page) if you want to check those out.

[kilcoo316]

Guys, they've probably changed the aerofoil sections - it would be a big change (as in requiring alot of work), and can make a big difference.


We might not see it from camera shots though.

[Steven]

I know! It's a placebo wing! The team have found a way to convince Giancarlo that he has a wonderfully efficient new front wing, so the lad is finding confidence in his car and improve his game.

Well off topic, but just a word on Fisico: I have started to think he's doing much better on Bridgestones than on Michelins. After all he was pretty good in the Jordan too.

As for the wing, it's really strange that such a small change can make for such a benefit. I remember Symonds saying that the team lost about 15% downforce just by switching tyres. Just by that I would have expected end plate changes (mclaren and red bull have moved these inwards) but these slight main plane changes may also influence how air flows along the inside of the tyre.

Another thing may be that the wing has a different weight distribution. Teams can put up to 11kg in a front wing, and having more of that ballast in the centre or towards the outsides may greatly influence cornering downforce (which still is part of the problem at Renault).

[checkered]

Well, now there seems

to be something happening with the front wing; a different profile with more aggressive "scoop" angles. Perhaps the lowest profile is thicker, too. The whiskers arch higher also, while the nose manages to look even "fatter", though I'm not sure if that's just a perceptory thing associated with the new wing shapes ... pictures from the Friday practice of the European GP, linked from GPUpdate.net.

[Saribro]

One thing's for sure, Fisi won't be getting any extra clicks of front wing this weekend :D.

[scarbs]

The wing is new and untested before the european GP, If you look carefully you'll see the main plane is split in the dipped section ala BMWs wing. this allows the middle section of the wing to be effectively a three element wing and thus able to run steeper angles of attack....

Scarbs

[modbaraban]

If you look carefully you'll see the main plane is split in the dipped section ala BMWs wing.

Can't see... got a better pic?

IIRC they planned to bring the improved wing in Turkey. Or that's gonna be another improvement?

[checkered]

F1grandprix.it usually has

some very high quality images. Here's one (click on the image), though that new slot gap is just barely visible ... look behind the right hand side (from the driver's perspective that is) front wing mounting pylon, you should see just the tiniest bit of asphalt next to it peeking through the lower (i.e. the main plane, the dark blue one) element of the wing. It'd be better to have a specific image, or at least one from a higher angle. Scarbs?



It's strange how close the higher plane (the white "ING" one) comes to the bottom of the nose of the car. One would think that that kind of an arrangement produced way too much drag, unless the bottom of the nose is concave or something. Since things are so tight anyway, I'd have considered arranging the mounting pylons differently, perhaps connecting those to the higher plane primarily or something.

But little do I know.

[vyselegend]

I’d really like to thank Enstone for having worked flat out to produce the wing for this weekend. It was supposed to be ready for Budapest and we had two of them here yesterday already.

Wow, just learnt it is THE famous wing originally planned for Budapest, hence why it is untested! Several weeks in advance, they must have worked on it night and day!
However, I hope Alan permane isn't srious when he says they just have 2 exemplary of it! What happens then if one of them is damaged in the race, They said the wing need totally different set up, so surely they can't just swich to the old spec now.
I'll keep my fingers crossed for them...

Also, Heikki explain the role of this new wing here:

Heikki, the R27 has a new front wing this weekend. How does it change the car’s handling?
HK: It isn’t a big gain in terms of pure performance but it enables us to do some things differently. Up to now we’ve had a problem in qualifying. To get front-end grip and to get the tyres up to temperature properly we’ve had to modify the set-up parameters quite a lot. And this compromise had a downside; the car wore its rear tyres a lot in the race. With our new front wing we’ve got the pace in qualifying without compromising our race performance. Our simulations show it is a definite step forward.

Interesting, especially in the light of the last race, where both drivers destroyed their rear tyres quickly (both specs)

[Keir]

I've only just seen this thread.

You might be interested to know that the 'new' Renault front wing for monaco was in fact the the R26 wing.

My mate at Renault phoned me after that weekend and let slip this 'gem'

[bar555]

It has some similarities with R26 Monaco wing but it has a more square central spoon curve and a slot gap



MONACO R27 2007


MONACO R26 2006