Williams FW37 Mercedes

[LookBackTime]

[Sevach]

[Sevach]

Extra cooling

[Sevach]

[roadie]

Definitely seems like they have taken the slots to side of the head protection to the extreme.

[roadie]

Interesting article here quoting Massa on the characteristics of the FW37, especially in comparison to Ferrari.

As many of us noticed in Australia, the advantage the FW36 held in terms of top speed and low fuel use is not present in the FW37.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118220

[Juzh]

Interesting article here quoting Massa on the characteristics of the FW37, especially in comparison to Ferrari.

As many of us noticed in Australia, the advantage the FW36 held in terms of top speed and low fuel use is not present in the FW37.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118220

And yet they still topped the charts in top speeds, and are continuing to do so in malaysia.

edit. just to update. Trend continues trough qualifying. They're consistently at the top of speed traps. I'm honestly not sure what massa is on about. They might be not as good on fuel as they were last year, on top speed though, they remain exactly where they were... on top.

[roadie]

No monkey seat again this race. Any guesses as to why it has not reappeared? Drag against downforce?

[Sevach]

No monkey seat again this race. Any guesses as to why it has not reappeared? Drag against downforce?

Maybe the rear wing working with the exhaust is doing the job.

[trinidefender]

The monkey seat does help provide extra downforce but at the cost of a lot of drag. It has a fairly low lift:drag ratio

[NoDivergence]

On its own, yes. As part of the rear wing/diffuser system, I would disagree.

At Malaysia, Williams is simply targeting lower drag for overtaking opportunities since they know they aren't going to start on the front row

[PhillipM]

As above, it's not very efficient on it's own, but the synergy it promotes between the rear wing and the diffuser makes it much more efficient than it is as a standalone.
...which points more to the fact that Williams has managed to get the diffuser plume interacting with the rear wing low pressure area so well this year that they don't need to run it, which is quite impressive. It also means we might see them do better at high downforce tracks than last year, as we know they have downforce they can bolt on...

[MartijnA3]

I noticed quite a bit of flexing of the front wing "flaps" of Bottas' car when looking at the onboard shots.

[Huntresa]

I noticed quite a bit of flexing of the front wing "flaps" of Bottas' car when looking at the onboard shots.

http://i.imgur.com/NNuES2O.jpg

Going at 327 km/h vs 55 will do that, its the air pushing down the entire front wing not what we would call flexing. Flexing would be outside of the normal pressure put on the wings.

[trinidefender]

I noticed quite a bit of flexing of the front wing "flaps" of Bottas' car when looking at the onboard shots.

http://i.imgur.com/NNuES2O.jpg

Going at 327 km/h vs 55 will do that, its the air pushing down the entire front wing not what we would call flexing. Flexing would be outside of the normal pressure put on the wings.

I can guarantee you that the wing flexing back like that is perfectly calculated and designed into the wing. It is their way of producing maximum downforce for low speed and shedding drag for high speed. Williams were doing it quite a lot last year as well. The teams control the amount of flex that the wing gives at a particular speed by the arches between the elements of the wing. They can swap between connecting arches to suit each circuit. This means that they can control how much aerodynamic load causes so many degrees of downward flex. That is own reason you will see these arches made of titanium or some other metal instead of carbon fibre, much easier to predict and design in flex into them.

Some circuits will call for lots of high speed downforce so then Williams and other teams will have to make a choice between drag reduction on the straights and a less settled or under steering car in the corner or a slower car on the straights and more front end grip.

Last point. That is my belief as to why all the teams separate the inner end of the elements that you see bending in inboard footage compared to the outer portions of the wing that remains ridged. It has to remain ridgid to control the flow around the fron wheel. The inner portions of the wing aren't as crucial for this so are built separately and are designed to be changed from circuit to circuit.