Mercedes AMG F1 W07

[fawe4]

Merc is not in the habit of distracting opponents by sandbagging or claiming they have stuff that turns out to be fog. They show what they have and let the rest worry about it.

[bhall II]

With regard to the W-floor: from this photo...



...it seems the front floor strakes don't turn inward as I originally thought. However, they do appear to extend underneath the floor somewhat by way of a raised leading edge...



I think that's where the "W" comes from. Looking at it from the front...



In any case, both suggest a few possibilities. Hopefully, we'll get better FloVis pics at some point.

[SiLo]

Have we got a comparison shot from the previous years car? It looks like the floor has been shortened and now a lot of that space is taken up by the serrated edges.

[fawe4]

They are using it in attempt of stalling some drag at hight speed, right?

[OO7]

I think that's where the "W" comes from. Looking at it from the front...

http://i.imgur.com/v0UmHfF.jpg

In any case, both suggest a few possibilities. Hopefully, we'll get better FloVis pics at some point.

bhall I don't believe the regs permit that. The floor has to be flat (even the stepped plane) with the exception of the edges which can have a specific maximum radius.

[noel]

They are using it in attempt of stalling some drag at hight speed, right?

My guess, it's supposed to direct more air into the tunnel cut under the side pod and eventually towards the diffuser.

[RA168E]

Is the nose a Red Herring? Scarbs tweeted saying that it isnt on yet. Or are they still on lunch? Im not aware of the time in Barcelona right now in relation to where I am in Canada.

[noel]

Is the nose a Red Herring? Scarbs tweeted saying that it isnt on yet. Or are they still on lunch? Im not aware of the time in Barcelona right now in relation to where I am in Canada.

Lewis is 18 laps in, no new nose. Very possible they're gonna push this poor car till something goes cock up, fix it, and then fit the new nose.

[variante]

However, they do appear to extend underneath the floor somewhat by way of a raised leading edge...

Regulations allow the floor to have a raised (leading) edge with a maximum radius of 50mm. Those strakes have been simply extruded up to that radiused surface.

The shape of the floor is perfectly conventional:

I think that's where the "W" comes from. Looking at it from the front...

So...no, that is not the right interpretation.

Also, the new photos reveal more clearly that no vortex generation is directly involved with those strakes. Waiting for pics that reveal the cross section of those things to confirm it....

[matt_s]

Yes. It really depends on what happens on the bottom trailing edge. (that we haven't seen yet). I was expecting one or 2 of the outer ones might have a curled/hooked edge.

[OO7]

Also, the new photos reveal more clearly that no vortex generation is directly involved with those strakes. Waiting for pics that reveal the cross section of those things to confirm it....

I don't know if this helps:

[bhall II]

I'm not saying that I think the strakes extend aft along the entire length of the floor, just around the leading edge, where it's pretty much been standard operating procedure over the last few years to apply a similar treatment to the floor's so-called "horn."

...they do appear to extend underneath the floor somewhat by way of a raised leading edge...

And like I said yesterday, my first interpretation was based upon the notion that the strakes turn inward. Now that I can see they don't, I'm not necessarily of the mind that they generate the vortices I initially described.

[PhillipM]

Personally I think they're just strengthening the vortices that all already shed from the 'batwing'

[atanatizante]

They redirect the airflow in the airbox ?

[noel]

I'm not saying that I think the strakes extend aft along the entire length of the floor, just around the leading edge, where it's pretty much been standard operating procedure over the last few years to apply a similar treatment to the floor's so-called "horn."

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

...they do appear to extend underneath the floor somewhat by way of a raised leading edge...

http://i.imgur.com/sT5V1Pe.jpg

And like I said yesterday, my first interpretation was based upon the notion that the strakes turn inward. Now that I can see they don't, I'm not necessarily of the mind that they generate the vortices I initially described.

Compared to having nothing at all there, I think they do curve inwards.