Alpine A521

[diffuser]

Wonder what this hindge is for ?

[PhillipM]

It's not a hinge, it's reinforcement over the slot gap

[Owen.C93]

Sometimes I think teams can gain cheap time by employing an intern to slot as many surfaces as they can find in CAD. It seems like an inevitability for every part the past few years.

[MtthsMlw]

Another change on the new Alpine's front wing. The cape's foot has a slot and a different radius.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EzG71GgWQAM ... ame=medium

Remove your shades.

Still not seeing a 'slot' even on the shakedown footage..

It is not attached in those shots that's why. You might see it again in testing or the first race.

[PlatinumZealot]

Another change on the new Alpine's front wing. The cape's foot has a slot and a different radius.

Ahem!

Shaaaady boy!

Comest thou forward! Haha

You can doubt a reflection, you can doubt a slot, but never doubt the little metal brakets! Haha

[GoranF1]

Alpine needs to give Alonso Carbon Industrie or Hitcho brakes.

[ReoPTy]

the car look dreadfull , sad

[Blackout]

The internal bodywork is quite massive and its edges seem to be gurneyflap-shaped

[Jolle]

I know that they have a problem with the wind tunnel... but how the hell could you end up with going from a reasonable slim car to an engine cover that looks like they set the shrink machine to blow instead of suck.
The only valuable reason to change an engine cover that drastic in such a strange middle year if somehow you need to make a drastic change under the hood, like a new turbo layout, which doesn’t seem the case.
Or, they took a risk to become the third team on the grid. As a medium informed spectator, I never saw a car get fatter and faster.

[diffuser]

I know that they have a problem with the wind tunnel... but how the hell could you end up with going from a reasonable slim car to an engine cover that looks like they set the shrink machine to blow instead of suck.
The only valuable reason to change an engine cover that drastic in such a strange middle year if somehow you need to make a drastic change under the hood, like a new turbo layout, which doesn’t seem the case.
Or, they took a risk to become the third team on the grid. As a medium informed spectator, I never saw a car get fatter and faster.

I don't think that's a problem. I've said it before. The had a cooling problem last year and they thought they'd need to use tokens to fix it. Use tokens to make the hoop openning bigger or soemthing like that. Something that would allow them to use the top hole to go to the to a rad further back instead of split the top hole in to and going in between it. They must have tested this in the wind tunnel and it worked out fine for them. So they used the token to change the rear suspension instead. I think in a normal year, they would have gone for a more "eye pleasing" solusion.

[Blackout]

I know that they have a problem with the wind tunnel... but how the hell could you end up with going from a reasonable slim car to an engine cover that looks like they set the shrink machine to blow instead of suck.
The only valuable reason to change an engine cover that drastic in such a strange middle year if somehow you need to make a drastic change under the hood, like a new turbo layout, which doesn’t seem the case.
Or, they took a risk to become the third team on the grid. As a medium informed spectator, I never saw a car get fatter and faster.

I don't think that's a problem. I've said it before. The had a cooling problem last year and they thought they'd need to use tokens to fix it. Use tokens to make the hoop openning bigger or soemthing like that. Something that would allow them to use the top hole to go to the to a rad further back instead of split the top hole in to and going in between it. They must have tested this in the wind tunnel and it worked out fine for them. So they used the token to change the rear suspension instead. I think in a normal year, they would have gone for a more "eye pleasing" solusion.

If they had cooling problems in 2020, that could explain the 2021 cooling changes... but I never heard them complain about cooling in 2020... The Austria DNFs were due to bad parts and bad radiator welds, but the cars never appeared to be cooling-limited afterwards, and the 2020 PU seemed to work very fine in general. And the air exits remained quite small all the season too...
Moreover, the 2019, 2020 and 2021 PU are very very similar PUs, atleast the 2019 and 2020 ones, but according to the team, the 2021 PU is also very similar to the 2020 one, it's just the updated spec that was planned for the 2020 summer... that's why I don't see why this PU would suddenly become cooling- hungry...

[Blackout]

So there are other possibilities...
It could be that Viry wanted to redesign the engine plenum in 2021 to gain performance. The latter, in its 2019 an 2020 version (which are identical - see below) has been designed around a specific centerline cooling layout as you know, but maybe the supposed 2021 plenum redesign made it impossible to place the CCS directly on top of the plenum like before, so they had to relocate the CCS...
So we need pics of the engine

2019 - 2020 RS - 2020 MCL
@nicolasf1i
https://i.imgur.com/HZz0oQx.jpg

[diffuser]

So there are other possibilities...
It could be that Viry wanted to redesign the engine plenum in 2021 to gain performance. The latter, in its 2019 an 2020 version (which are identical - see below) has been designed around a specific centerline cooling layout as you know, but maybe the supposed 2021 plenum redesign made it impossible to place the CCS directly on top of the plenum like before, so they had to relocate the CCS...
So we need pics of the engine

2019 - 2020 RS - 2020 MCL
@nicolasf1i
https://i.imgur.com/a86o7i5.jpg

Yeah, I hear you.


Don't think it has anything to do with their issues.

[Blackout]

Interestingly, at the end of this TV spot, you can see a CGI A521 and a CGI engine inside... and that engine is not the 2021 one but its the 2015 PU which had a distinctively tall inlet plenum. And interestingly, this is the first time AFAIK they use the 2015 engine model in their promotional work, usually they only use the virtual and the real 2014 show-engine (+ the 2017 engine in auto shows, fairs, exhibitions etc.)
So why did they use the 2015 one this time? maybe because it looks similar-ish* to the 2021 version which maybe has a tall intake plenum?
So the plenum redesign might be the reason of the CCS and ducting redesign and re-arrangement...
Obviously with a tall plenum, the ducting must go around it. it could also explain why the team didnt use the lower rollhoop intake for combustion and the upper for cooling...



*Because teams, and Renault, often do that: when they cant show the real car/the real thing, they use a showcar/an asset that vaguely look like the real thing, or they repaint it or modify it...

The usual showengine http://www.pitpass.com/images/engines/8 ... 201401.jpg


The 2015 one http://en.f1i.com/wp-content/uploads/20 ... gine-1.jpg

[diffuser]

Is it me or does the floor seem to have a slight slope in a 5 cm or so strip from the Z in the floor to the rear tires ?






Don't see that on other cars like Ferrari ..