[ 2020 ] Mclaren F1 Team - Renault

[mwillems]

I never heard McLaren use the Toyota wind tunnel as an excuse.

It was one of the theories kicking around as to why they missed the terrible issue with the 2018 car but, like you say, it was never officially confirmed by the team. Modern wind tunnels can more accurately simulate the forces when the car is in yaw or experiencing cross-winds and I don’t think the Toyota one can quite as effectively.

The fact that McLaren are only now spending huge money on a brand new, state-of-the-art wind tunnel at the MTC so soon after an issue with correlation only adds fuel to the fire.

Yeah, my understanding was they just missed the tire wake messing the side pod flow in curves. Thought the cap was the trigger for building the tunnel. That it will be harder to build when the ccap is in place.

You probably save money on paying for hotels, air, misc expenses for the crews and transportation costs for pieces. It's easily $1000 per week per person +air.

Plus right now....not certain anyone can travel to Cologne.

Plus the parts have to get to Cologne. If you have paid for the time but realise there is no point wasting your wind tunnel time cap on a part, do you still have to pay for the time in the tunnel? Can all changes that need to be made to a part in response to initial data from the tunnel be made in Cologne?

I feel like it would add both time and money to the design process.

[adrianjordan]

How advanced is 3D printing in F1 circles?

Could they 3D print parts for the wind tunnel over in Cologne?

[Jolle]

It was one of the theories kicking around as to why they missed the terrible issue with the 2018 car but, like you say, it was never officially confirmed by the team. Modern wind tunnels can more accurately simulate the forces when the car is in yaw or experiencing cross-winds and I don’t think the Toyota one can quite as effectively.

The fact that McLaren are only now spending huge money on a brand new, state-of-the-art wind tunnel at the MTC so soon after an issue with correlation only adds fuel to the fire.

Yeah, my understanding was they just missed the tire wake messing the side pod flow in curves. Thought the cap was the trigger for building the tunnel. That it will be harder to build when the ccap is in place.

You probably save money on paying for hotels, air, misc expenses for the crews and transportation costs for pieces. It's easily $1000 per week per person +air.

Plus right now....not certain anyone can travel to Cologne.

Plus the parts have to get to Cologne. If you have paid for the time but realise there is no point wasting your wind tunnel time cap on a part, do you still have to pay for the time in the tunnel? Can all changes that need to be made to a part in response to initial data from the tunnel be made in Cologne?

I feel like it would add both time and money to the design process.

I imagine the regulated wind tunnel time is just the hours the thing is actually blowing or even gathering data. If you rent it, it’s probably a combination of acces, the actual time you rented the place, and the running time.

If they would have their own tunnel, they would probably send an internal bill for the F1 team, as a windtunnel is used more then just F1. Building the thing goes outside the cost cap, but indeed there will be savings on prep work.

[djos]

How advanced is 3D printing in F1 circles?

Could they 3D print parts for the wind tunnel over in Cologne?

Great question, I had exactly the same thought.

[djos]

Maclaren having their own wind tunnel gives them the ability to use it for the road car division and to do advanced engineering work for other organisations outside of the F1 restricted hours. That has the potential to subsidise the costs for the F1 team depending on how they structure their companies.

[Jolle]

Maclaren having their own wind tunnel gives them the ability to use it for the road car division and to do advanced engineering work for other organisations outside of the F1 restricted hours. That has the potential to subsidise the costs for the F1 team depending on how they structure their companies.

They already have a windtunnel good enough for those kinds of applications.

What I find surprising that there is no other windtunnel nearby that is suited for their F1 stuff.

[diffuser]

How advanced is 3D printing in F1 circles?

Could they 3D print parts for the wind tunnel over in Cologne?

I think it's possible, strength and weight isn't a problem. I presume they have a full fledged garage there. If they do, then security would not be a problem.

[mwillems]

How advanced is 3D printing in F1 circles?

Could they 3D print parts for the wind tunnel over in Cologne?

I think it's possible, strength and weight isn't a problem. I presume they have a full fledged garage there. If they do, then security would not be a problem.

They were making a big deal about 3d printing parts at the track, at one point. Then you just stopped hearing about it.

Obviously there are size and time limitations with 3D printers, it takes many hours.

[diffuser]

How advanced is 3D printing in F1 circles?

Could they 3D print parts for the wind tunnel over in Cologne?

I think it's possible, strength and weight isn't a problem. I presume they have a full fledged garage there. If they do, then security would not be a problem.

They were making a big deal about 3d printing parts at the track, at one point. Then you just stopped hearing about it.

Obviously there are size and time limitations with 3D printers, it takes many hours.

Right, and just because it makes sense, cost wise, to do it at a track before a race weekend in APJ. Doesn't mean it makes sense in cologne.

[McG]

It's a no brainer for McLaren to build a new wind tunnel. That's why Seidl asked for it and got it.

Therefore the only conclusion is that the person doubting it has no brain.

[ENGINE TUNER]

Maclaren having their own wind tunnel gives them the ability to use it for the road car division and to do advanced engineering work for other organisations outside of the F1 restricted hours. That has the potential to subsidise the costs for the F1 team depending on how they structure their companies.

They already have a windtunnel good enough for those kinds of applications.

What I find surprising that there is no other windtunnel nearby that is suited for their F1 stuff.

With the wider cars and tires for 2017 and the allowed 60% model rather than the standard 50% most teams previously used, weren't most teams having boundary issues because their wind tunnels weren't wide enough?

[mwillems]

Mclarens 3d printing...
https://www.mclaren.com/racing/partners ... rformance/

We just heard about it in several articles in 2017, likely due to a partnership with Stratasys. Then heard nothing as far as I can see. Didn't realise that was 3 years ago, seems sooner.

[mclaren111]

It's a no brainer for McLaren to build a new wind tunnel. That's why Seidl asked for it and got it.

Therefore the only conclusion is that the person doubting it has no brain.

[Aesop]

It's a no brainer for McLaren to build a new wind tunnel. That's why Seidl asked for it and got it.

Therefore the only conclusion is that the person doubting it has a brain.

Corrected

[M840TR]

Mclarens 3d printing...
https://www.mclaren.com/racing/partners ... rformance/

We just heard about it in several articles in 2017, likely due to a partnership with Stratasys. Then heard nothing as far as I can see. Didn't realise that was 3 years ago, seems sooner.

They did have several 3d printed trial front wings in 2018...