2008 Barcelona Testing Thread (17 Nov - 19 Nov)

[meves]

As most of the teams are still running 2008 spec cars all be it with "simulated" 2009 downforce levels. How much useful information will they gather on the 2009 tyres given the difference they will require in weight distribution etc or will htey be gathering information to see quite how far forward they will have to shift the weight distribution forward? I thought that this would have already been set at a far earlier phase in the cars design.

[johny]

those wires on the bmw front wing must be to simulate the AoA change.

[Shaddock]

those wires on the bmw front wing must be to simulate the AoA change.

I'm not sure about that. They look more like guide lines to stop the long wing flexing downwards at high loads.

[Conceptual]

OMG! F1 has adopted bi-plane wings?!?!?!

Is this a joke, or have the teams seriously been banished to the stone age of aerodynamics?

This looks like a bad Jurrasic Park interpretation!

[gerhard]

Calm down, dude! This is just an interim car! I bet the actual 2009 cars will be sexy as hell, dispite the strange wings! Hopefully BMW will come out with a real title contender!

[meves]

I guess it was a camera under the nose of the BMW yesterday to look at the front wing flexing and see if it was flexing too much, today they have an "elegant" solution to it...

[Conceptual]

Could the teams use front wing struts like this?

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zx ... 4TNfWzBQKA

[gerhard]

Could the teams use front wing struts like this?

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zx ... 4TNfWzBQKA

Hopefully not, because THAT would be an ugly car

[smirkoff]

Could the teams use front wing struts like this?

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zx ... 4TNfWzBQKA

No. The struts must have to connect with the standard wing center section. And the connection with the nose have a given angle.

[Conceptual]

Could the teams use front wing struts like this?

http://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/zx ... 4TNfWzBQKA

No. The struts must have to connect with the standard wing center section. And the connection with the nose have a given angle.

If BMW has to resort to cables to keep the flexture down, maybe the FIA will have to revise certain things due to safety and stability? Many people have stated that the front wing will break ALOT due to the width, and a central mounting point.

Perhaps the FOTA can pressure for a connecting upper element on the grounds of safety/stability?

[DaveKillens]

These are just trial pieces, and I'm very sure that by race time, things will be quite different. As well, the struts and wing elements can be constructed with adequate strength to handle the loads. It's just that what we now see, the MK I, sucks.

[Shaddock]

One thing that is interesting is that BMW are focusing on the quality of air travelling under the car. The front wing is very crude in its construction, but does show their current design philosophy. They have gone with a high nose and long widely spaced struts to the front wing and a flat uninterrupted profile beneath the nose. Behind the front wind they have added a couple of flow straightners.

With flip-ups, chimneys, slats, grills, aerofoils etc banned from the upper body work, maybe teams will have to concentrate their aero efforts on minimising the disruption of air as it passes through the front wing on its way to the rear diffuser.

Honda’s front wing (crude as well) also exhibits a very high nose concept with a clean area directly underneath.

[Timstr]

@Shaddock:
You do realize the central section of the front wing is a regulated, standard part, hence the similarity of the central parts of the BMW, Williams and Honda wings.

[ESPImperium]

That BMW is the worst looking car i have ever seen.

The front and rear wings look awful, id have said somewhere inbetween the 08 and 09 rules for rear wings would have been best, with the retention of a stripped down front wing (like the RB3 season start one) would have been the way to go in my opinion.

[Shaddock]

@Shaddock:
You do realize the central section of the front wing is a regulated, standard part, hence the similarity of the central parts of the BMW, Williams and Honda wings.

Yes, the point I was trying to make was which teams will prioritise the quality of air flow under the car than else where.

Williams seem to have a different design philosophy at this stage in the 2009 cars development.

2-3 years ago teams had V keels, single keels, twin keels before they all moved to zero to improve the aero under the car at the sacrifice of the cars handling/setup.