Williams FW35 Renault

[LookBackTime]

Wind tunnel tyres to blame for team struggles - report

Pirelli's new 60 per cent scale wind tunnel tyres could be to blame for some teams' troubles in 2013, according to a technical expert.
Top team McLaren faltered badly over the winter in switching from the winning 2012 car to the new and uncompetitive MP4-28.
And it's been a similar story at Williams and Sauber, who last year were among the standouts of the midfield and are now conspicuously scrambling for pace in 2013.
Referring to McLaren and Sauber, Swiss newspaper Blick's technical expert Mike Hammer writes: "Both teams now believe they know where the problem lies.
"It has to do with the new Pirelli tyres. They are more angular than in 2012, and then deform differently in the corners, which has a great influence on the aerodynamics.
"Millimetres play a role, but the 60 per cent tyre for the wind tunnel models have led McLaren and Sauber astray," he added.
An unnamed McLaren engineer agreed: "They (the Pirelli tyre models) are much worse than last year."
Faced with the latest criticism, Pirelli's Paul Hembery insisted: "We are talking about eleven teams with eleven different wind tunnels.
"It is not easy to build good 60 per cent tyres," he added.
The theory would explain why teams who made significant changes over the winter have disproportionately suffered so far this season.
Meanwhile, Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn has defended struggling team rookie Esteban Gutierrez. On Saturday, the young Mexican failed even to make it out of 'Q1'.
"Clearly neither he nor we can be happy so far with the results that he's shown," she said.
"But we have been very convinced, and still are, of his talent, so it's for us now to make sure that he has the surrounding (environment) that he can develop."

[tok-tokkie]

Williams have the interesting hollow front wheel hub to reduce the drag caused by the front wheel (I think). Is there any info on its performance & whether Williams are satisfied with it. (I appreciate that the car as a whole is a big disappointment).

[stefan_]

Bahrain 2013 - Sunday (21.04.2013)

[ESPImperium]

Wind tunnel tyres to blame for team struggles - report

Pirelli's new 60 per cent scale wind tunnel tyres could be to blame for some teams' troubles in 2013, according to a technical expert.
Top team McLaren faltered badly over the winter in switching from the winning 2012 car to the new and uncompetitive MP4-28.
And it's been a similar story at Williams and Sauber, who last year were among the standouts of the midfield and are now conspicuously scrambling for pace in 2013.
Referring to McLaren and Sauber, Swiss newspaper Blick's technical expert Mike Hammer writes: "Both teams now believe they know where the problem lies.
"It has to do with the new Pirelli tyres. They are more angular than in 2012, and then deform differently in the corners, which has a great influence on the aerodynamics.
"Millimetres play a role, but the 60 per cent tyre for the wind tunnel models have led McLaren and Sauber astray," he added.
An unnamed McLaren engineer agreed: "They (the Pirelli tyre models) are much worse than last year."
Faced with the latest criticism, Pirelli's Paul Hembery insisted: "We are talking about eleven teams with eleven different wind tunnels.
"It is not easy to build good 60 per cent tyres," he added.
The theory would explain why teams who made significant changes over the winter have disproportionately suffered so far this season.
Meanwhile, Sauber boss Monisha Kaltenborn has defended struggling team rookie Esteban Gutierrez. On Saturday, the young Mexican failed even to make it out of 'Q1'.
"Clearly neither he nor we can be happy so far with the results that he's shown," she said.
"But we have been very convinced, and still are, of his talent, so it's for us now to make sure that he has the surrounding (environment) that he can develop."

Ill make two points, the Pirelli models may be to blame, but how come the Caterham CT03 is not a pile of steaming poo and the Marussia MR02 isnt the same, i know they are two back marker teams, but Caterham are using the Williams Tunnel and Marussia are using the McLaren tunnel. Williams and McLaren seem to have something a little more fundamental than that wrong, it will probably be a part of the problem. As for Sauber, i just think they have gone a little too radical, and also with a loss of baseline, Caterham have had to re-baseline the car with KOV coming back for at least 2 FP1 sessions in order to establish a continuity in the car. Marussia have a small continuity in their car, but the work CHI done in testing has clearly done wonders, with the netting of BIA it seems to have made massive strides as well as a better tech base.

Williams have lost their best benchmark i feel in SEN, MAL can be as good, but i think MAL has that latin fire that cant be put out, it can be controlled, but that slows him down a little. As for BOT, he is clearly showing something, but im a little skeptical about him as i am GUT as both were the next bright lights, and when a light goes out, time for a new lightbulb. As for Williams, i think the loss of Mark Gillian is now being felt, i think his measured input may just have been enough to mark the difference between WIlliams being midfeild poo of a shovel to well being just poo.

McLaren will get on top quickly, they have the resource to do so, and once they do, i fear for the sharp end as Mclaren may just get on top, and with 5 or 6 wins in a row or even 8 or 9 podiums with half of them being wins can do to a WDC bid.

[Seamus]

Bahrain 2013 - Sunday (21.04.2013)

https://imageshack.us/scaled/large/708/willl2.jpg

Hole in the floor?

[LookBackTime]

From Gary Anderson in Bahrain 2013 2nd Practice http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22199287

BBC F1 technical analyst Gary Anderson:
"Williams have had a difficult start to the season and I'm convinced I know where quite a large part of the problems lie. They run their car with a lot of anti-lift at the rear - which they did not last year. The idea is to keep a stable aerodynamic platform at the rear during braking, and in theory and simulations the numbers will look good. But it can cause serious problems.

"With anti-lift, instead of the rear ride-height rising gradually as the aerodynamic load comes off the car in the braking phase, it goes up in one big step in a very short space of time as the driver comes off the brakes. First of all, that knocks the driver's confidence because he feels the rear moving and he doesn't know when it's going to stop - and the last thing he wants to do is turn in when the rear is moving. Secondly, the rapid change in ride-height can make the airflow in the diffuser detach, which reduces downforce. Which simply exacerbates the problems of rear-end stability. As Susie Wolff confirmed to us in P1, these are exactly the problems Pastor Maldonado and Valtteri Bottas have been reporting."

[aleks_ader]

My impressions: Williams Fw35: »Blown nut«

Firstly the most interesting thing is why the use separated duct (to view click link under paragraph and look deep inside this year additional curved brake duct scope)? Caliper cooling etc. There are plenty of options but anway that is not a point of my post…
Take a close look inside the duct on this foto
Klik to see a foto

I would like to show and somehow simulate how vortices exit the "hub" duct (look two pictures below) but i have no so enough knowledge and resources to accurately predict and prove the following theory. Anyway fact is that Williams introduced 2 different duct exit designs (again look Pic1 in Pic2). I guess that first version is was just some sort "confirmation" or intermediate phase of proving the blown theory. Or even more, maybe they try include in the design rotating nut to help vortices's control (especially rotation). Strange is that there are plenty of "free" of outer space around central oval duct exit! Maybe that had some sort connection with that divided extra brake duct that i metion on the beginning.


Pic 1: Launch or "confirmation" version

Second iteration of next new nozzle exit (Pic2)is added onto whole duct assembly and covers main central oval duct witch maybe redirected vortices's more accurately (without any "wheel nut intervention")=>more controllable flow=>also flow loose less energy, cuz if you do opposite and you to much mess with the flow=> more energy is lost =>less performance you get.

Pic 2: Advanced version of duct exit

The whole impact of that vortices on the car aero-performance is very complex »stuff«. I think if we look on the CFD on the ordinary F1 tyre and LES simulation yt videos (look lower)...

Tire CFD (google)

...we could see the path tendency of the vortices's after it. In the middle of the tire we could see that vortices's after the edge woud probably push that vortices's downside (closer to the ground).



Lets look those two CFD pic, what we could see...
http://i.imgur.com/uzuOT.jpg

(this two picture are Force India's, posted somewhere by Forza)
For me is interesting that "air pocket" closer to the ground which have tendency to continue toward near rear tire and even toward floor edge (look on the vectors of the 1st picture)...

So if they get that vortices's we could with combination of front wing endplate design (deflectors) directed that vortices's toward the edge of the floor consequentially we also help to »seal« edge of the difuozor (tire skirt, look cfd pressure plot pic below).

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cDBGifwo74s/U ... +20m_s.bmp (google)

So the vortices's after the front left tire (camber) rotating clockwise (look down on BACK-VIEW of LES simulation )...

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UsuQVLx9lFY[/youtube]

...and clockwise wise vortices's on the left side of the cars floor are actually good (with that reason we see those lips on the edge of the floors), but we still have very turbulent air (look down on yt).

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bsQcPNCm0_8[/youtube]

And to avoid that problem engineers put covers on the rims, but unfortunately this was baned after 2009. So the Newey first came up (i think) with blown hub to control that vortices's and get towards the floor. Williams engineers go even the step further and even more expand development in that area... So now are vortices's pretty accurately aimed toward floors.



That is complex topic and i try represent it clearly, so there for more study works, how the »brake stream« works on the tyre (ofcourse who wants to read). http://www.aps.org/units/dfd/pressroom/ ... axerio.cfm

So Williams could do higher rake the (that the preseason test in Barcelona clearly shows, look page 22 on the bottom), car is not anymore vulnerable for »side-winds«, higher downforce etc. Ohh wait irony , maybe is that sys even more complex to configure like i thought and there lies "main" problem on mysterious problems in bad rear handling.. Maybe they need just little tweak (easy to say..) to reset whole disharmony between endplate, suspension, flow deflectors etc.

But dont forget the whole efect during steering the tyre could change the things i little bit, but I would not like to speculate, because (also i hate that word) i don't have the any aero tools and enough knowledge to predict it. Maybe anybody else can? What you think?

And thanks everyone for pics etc.

[stefan_]

Spain 2013 - Thursday (09.05.2013)








via Dickie Stanford

[Owen.C93]

Massive cascade.

[stefan_]

Spain 2013 - Thursday (09.05.2013)






--



via Dickie Stanford

[LookBackTime]

Do I see a different exhaust (helmholtz chamber)? Looks like it is installed on Maldonado's car. Not on VB yet!

[Sevach]

I see the Helmholtz chamber in one of the pics too.
Changed engine cover, the center hot air exit is gone.

[PlatinumZealot]

New higher gearbox? The driveshafts are no longer angled? or is it just the suspension uncompressed?

[axle]

Shallower drive shaft angles are not new.

Can anyone confirm if the bodywork in the centre under the fin in the last pic is new? The bodywork seems less abrupt in ending now...

[Holm86]

New higher gearbox? The driveshafts are no longer angled? or is it just the suspension uncompressed?

Looks the same as the Pictures from Bahrain. The angles Arent that extreme this year. And yes its because Theres no stress on the suspension.