Red Bull RB6

[BreezyRacer]

Scarbs seems to have written that piece with the thought that the RB6 always had the exhausts at the floor but after reviewing my pics that is definitely not the case. It may be possible that Vettel's fuel pump failure was really a reconfig of the tail. Maybe it required some field work to fit it all in place. Just a thought .. I found a pic from Friday to compare and when Webber was setting the pace the lower exhausts don't look to be there, along with the larger engine cover exhaust, etc.

I'll say it again .. I think it's just for creating more room for the diffuser ports BUT I wouldn't be surprised if even the lower pipes are fakes too and the exhaust dumps straight into the diffuser ports. Those lower pipes look pretty clean in the pics and it would be pretty hard to insulate the floor from those pipes. The mystery shall persist .. at least till Bahrain. Wouldn't it be funny if we never saw them again???

[ringo]

What i think they are doing is pulling or entraining more air around the side pods and onto the floor.

edit: another simpler possibility is that mounting the exhausts outside the side pods, creates more room under the engine cover for cooling air to flow out.


From this pic of the old exhaust we can see how moving them down and outward of the engine cover frees up some room for cooling or whatever it is that's coming out the back. Shetland unicorn comes to mind.

[ISLAMATRON]

With no tyre warmers the tyres new take some laps to come up to temperature, so warming the tyres this way could also be a direct benefit to getting the car up to speed quickly after a pit stop ie if that's what the exhaust is doing.
It also seems to have an effect on the diffuser, but we need another angle to see what's the interaction between the upper level and the exhausts.

Just to clarify(again) for everyone, tire warmers are NOT banned... they are still allowed for 2010... wheel warmers ARE banned... but that is not that big a deal... they'll just leave the tire warmers on longer.

Too bad, it would have been nice to see these drivers on cold tires.

[myurr]

Scarbs seems to have written that piece with the thought that the RB6 always had the exhausts at the floor but after reviewing my pics that is definitely not the case. It may be possible that Vettel's fuel pump failure was really a reconfig of the tail. Maybe it required some field work to fit it all in place. Just a thought .. I found a pic from Friday to compare and when Webber was setting the pace the lower exhausts don't look to be there, along with the larger engine cover exhaust, etc.

I'll say it again .. I think it's just for creating more room for the diffuser ports BUT I wouldn't be surprised if even the lower pipes are fakes too and the exhaust dumps straight into the diffuser ports. Those lower pipes look pretty clean in the pics and it would be pretty hard to insulate the floor from those pipes. The mystery shall persist .. at least till Bahrain. Wouldn't it be funny if we never saw them again???

Well all we've got to do is wait till their first engine blow up, shouldn't be too long, and then we'll see where the smoke comes out!!

[Raptor22]

why fit fake exhaust pipes..?

If its blowing through the diffusor then the overrun will very clearly show where the exhaust is exiting.

i think by now the pitlane will know very well if they're fake or not

[bonjon1979]

Isn't there a danger that having the exhausts that close to the tyres will cause them to overheat? I can see an advantage in colder climbs as the rubber is heated for a flying lap in qualy, but may it not have the opposite effect in warmer conditions?

[BreezyRacer]

why fit fake exhaust pipes..?

If its blowing through the diffusor then the overrun will very clearly show where the exhaust is exiting.

i think by now the pitlane will know very well if they're fake or not

If the pipes exit in the lower area of the diffuser, where an exhaust pulse could "pull" air from under the floor you would never see overrun pops and glows, except perhaps reflected off the track. In any case I think you have to say that all that work didn't "appear" to affect the pace. Maybe we'll never see that setup again. We shall know in Bahrain.

My own in pit cam doesn't show the work clearly enough for me to make out exactly what's going on, and it was positioned right next the "red" pit cam, so I doubt anyone outside of RB knows for sure.

[Scotracer]

why fit fake exhaust pipes..?

If its blowing through the diffusor then the overrun will very clearly show where the exhaust is exiting.

i think by now the pitlane will know very well if they're fake or not

I haven't seen F1 exhausts flame in a long time.

[djones]

You see them flame all the time at the night races.

[wesley123]

those are sparks

[Agerasia]

those are sparks

I recall flames.

[roost89]

They do flame. Though the flame isn't very bright.

Youtube is notoriously difficult for sourcing videos from F1. I'll have another search later on, first one was unsuccessful.

[Afterburner]

Has anyone thought about thermal cameras?! Even in TV broadcast they show clear thermal images, surely in testing someone recorded some.

[mx_tifoso]

Has anyone thought about thermal cameras?! Even in TV broadcast they show clear thermal images, surely in testing someone recorded some.

IIRC about two years ago there were some really good thermal images mainly from pitstops.

And I have to agree on there still being exhaust flames, however rare they may be. For some reason the most memorable on my mind are from Williams from last season.

[ringo]

They are abundant at night races, however it's more flicker flames than flame belching on downshifts.