It has been used on other cars like the Williams of last year and also this years car.
The main purpose seems to be to create more front end down-force as well as to precondition air going downstream to the main splitter under the tub.
All teams are developing new parts and ways to improve performance, so normally fans also try their hand at looking at posibilities that may be considered very wacky but you never know if it could actually be something beneficial.
Well i made a new splitter for Mp4 25A. It a step forward on what they have on the car now, and it was going through my head when i was first looking at the car and then comparing the splitter to shark's gills.
So here is my interpretation:
The nose was a rush job, but the side profile is accurate. Funny how i keep making parts and can't make a whole car.
I tested these but did not save any pics. I'll soon put up the flow lines and the numbers.
What i can say though is that this device actually reduces the pressure under the nose. Also if the gills are made wider and the channels refined, the suction would increase drastically with speed.
This works on a diffuser concept, but it's more like the front end diffusers used in Lemans, that depend on the exits behind the wheels to draw vacuum.
This device is pulling air from under the splitter and rushing it through the gills, helping to reduce and losses and static pressure build up.
It could as well benefit turn in in side draft, and make the front end more swift.
this is all what i intended, but i have to test it a little more, so see if it has drawbacks or advantages to what currently exists on the car.
df dropped by 2% and drag went up by 7, overall L/d was dropped by about 9%.
surprising how little it is at such a high speed.
