McLaren MP4-26 Mercedes

[Just_a_fan]

I think you're seeing things you want to see. There's nothing there but reflections of the barge boards and sensor vane.

[marcush.]

Putting that rake into the wind for measuring isn´t this already modifying the flow and resistance so you measure something modified from the true situation?

[BreezyRacer]

Actually we don't care about drag in the diffuser box .. a vortex is the ultimate low pressure creator. Getting a powerful vortex is hard to do with the these very limited diffuser rules so the fact that McLaren have done it is impressive. Note the curved vaning to help support the vortex. Very nice result IMO.

BTW, it's pretty damn hard to create a vortex at the leading edge entry and have it hold up all the way to the tail. I imagine we're seeing two vortexes .. 1 at the entry point, behind the barge board, and another downstream usually around the diffuser box entry.

I have to say that I don't understand all the strakes in the diffuser boxes this year. Seems most teams are trying to spread the diffuser flow out to the sides to take advantage of the low pressure region behind the rear tires but in doing so you reduce the possibility of a highly defined vortex in the diffuser because there just isn't the energy for it.

[BreezyRacer]

Got it finally:

A "right sized" image link please ..

[feynman]

I'll tell you one thing, AkzoNobel are definitely getting their money's worth this pre-season, at least as far as F1 internet nerds are concerned.


And yes putting a sensor array on the car will change it, but you do your best to make the array as unobtrusive to the airflow as possible, use it to measure relative or comparitive changes between setups, and do your best to model and apply any small correction factors you think ay be required.

Even, if you measure the tyre pressure you are changing the tyre pressures, sometime that's just the way it goes ... measure and alter slightly, or don't measure and have absolutely no idea what is really, real-world, happening to your airflow.

[Gui59]

Tried to show more obviously the channels:

[Tim.Wright]

Putting that rake into the wind for measuring isn´t this already modifying the flow and resistance so you measure something modified from the true situation?

For sure it will change the flow downstream. But if they are not testing anything downstream, then it doesn't matter. They are only interested in seeing what is happening at the point where the rake is.

Tim

[myurr]

Actually we don't care about drag in the diffuser box .. a vortex is the ultimate low pressure creator. Getting a powerful vortex is hard to do with the these very limited diffuser rules so the fact that McLaren have done it is impressive. Note the curved vaning to help support the vortex. Very nice result IMO.

BTW, it's pretty damn hard to create a vortex at the leading edge entry and have it hold up all the way to the tail. I imagine we're seeing two vortexes .. 1 at the entry point, behind the barge board, and another downstream usually around the diffuser box entry.

I have to say that I don't understand all the strakes in the diffuser boxes this year. Seems most teams are trying to spread the diffuser flow out to the sides to take advantage of the low pressure region behind the rear tires but in doing so you reduce the possibility of a highly defined vortex in the diffuser because there just isn't the energy for it.

I think this is a reflection of the fundamental difference between McLaren and Red Bull's philosophies on their respective cars. Red Bull are working the outer edges the most which takes advantage of the rear wheels wake and their tight waist, and served them really well the last couple of years. What McLaren appear to be doing with their entire aero package is working the middle of the diffuser hardest. What is impressive to me is that they still appear to be turning the air outwards to the rear wheel wake, possibly aiming to get the best of both worlds.

I'm just an arm chair analyst but my theory is that the U shaped side pods are designed to supply great quality air to the beam wing, but also to mix with the air going around the side pod to supply air to the top of the diffuser. By raising the crash structure they can pass air over the entire top edge of the diffuser, but in doing so they compromise the beam wing. This means they're focusing on the halves of the beam wing to either side of the crash structure which just so happens to line up with that nice vortex coming off the centre of the diffuser, with the outer edge of the diffuser pulling all that round towards the rear wheels wake. A powerful side effect of this also appears to be that they can run a very steep rear wing that appears to have a bigger than average upper element (certainly when compared to the Renault).

If it works then that could be a very powerful combination that other teams may struggle to match due to the lower placement of the crash structure and focus on the outer edges of the diffuser, even if they do copy the U shaped side pods.

[myurr]

Still looks like a camera to me - you can even see reflections in it, showing that it's covered rather than a tube.

[zgred]

[painkiller]

Tried to show more obviously the channels:

Hi,

maybe this is for the front Exhaust.

on this picture I think the silverpaint arount bargebord looks like its burned a little and have bubbles. Maybe the heat?? its from the first day of testing when it looks like they use the Front Exhaust.

[Richard]

No no no no no

The feature higlighted with the yellow box is tape and reflections.

The marks on the bargeboards are tyre debris and dirt from the track.

[Biscuit]

A powerful side effect of this also appears to be that they can run a very steep rear wing that appears to have a bigger than average upper element (certainly when compared to the Renault).

The larger upper element should also provide relatively speaking less drag when set to the open position compared to a smaller element. McLaren seems to like to maximize 'value-adds' such as KERS, F-Duct and it looks like they're trying to maximize the adjustable rear wing as well.

Looking not for the best qualifying car perhaps, but one that can once again utilize straight-line speed to attack. Though technically one could say that approach bit them in the first 6 or so races last season.

[Gui59]

No no no, there is no reflection, it's clearly a channel on the bottom of the sidepods.

[Caerdroia]

No no no, there is no reflection, it's clearly a channel on the bottom of the sidepods.

It's not a channel. It's just duck tape covering up all those wires for the testing instruments there.