F1 technical update - 2010

[bpratt]

It's a bit late in to the season, but with all the race to race updates I thought it would be nice to see what changes have actually occurred through the season.

A lot of information obtained via various sources including formula1.com and others.

For race 7 in Turkey

Red Bull RB6 - F-duct system


Red Bull have introduced their version of the F-Duct system at Istanbul Park. It's a very similar concept to those on the McLaren and Ferrari, with the air blowing on to the rear wing via two big pipes inside the engine cover (red arrows). Like the first version of Ferrari's system, the duct is controlled by the driver's left hand. The team tested it during Friday in Turkey, but it was removed from both cars for qualifying and the race because it was not consistent enough and it was difficult to operate. It will be back on the cars in Canada.

[bpratt]

Mercedes MGP W01 - updated F-duct system


Mercedes GP's F-Duct system, which was introduced in China, has received an upgrade in Turkey. It can now be activated by the driver's foot thanks to a bigger duct on the side of the chassis (blue arrow). This was previously much smaller and used to cool the drivers. The system of pipes used to direct the air to the rear wing is very complicated and they are all concealed by the engine cover, eventually reaching the wing's main profile through the side endplates.


Ferrari F10 - revised F-duct control


Ferrari have revised the layout of their F-duct system for Turkey, in particular the mechanism by which the driver controls it. In Barcelona the driver was closing the hole using the back of his left hand, a manoeuvre that was not very comfortable for Alonso, and even less so for Massa, who has his steering wheel positioned further forward and hence actually had to take his hand off the wheel. In Istanbul, the hole is now closed with the driver's left leg, very similar to the McLaren's.

[Oldtony]

Thanks for the post Bp.
In the F1Technical website forum there are some theories being put forward about the effectiveness of various systems.
There is some discussion that the RBR system might be a Newey special with the two ducts operating with the upper on pressure and lower as a partial vacuum. The upper pressure duct acts in the same way as the Fduct used by the other teams but the lower duct apparently is conected to the engine inlet air box which of course is an area of lower than ambient pressure due to the fact that the engine is sucking air out of it at a rapid, but variable rate. The suction duct is used to lower airflow quantity over the lower side of the wing when the engine is at high throttle openings or high revs. This in fact would theoreticaly improve both downforce and reduce drag where the Fduct sacrifices downforce for drag. The trick is that the effect is variable with engine demand and it is hard to work out how this could be tuned and controlled for max effect. There would have to be a spring loaded flap in the airbox controlled by pressure in the upper duct one would think.
Of course if the engine is sucking air could it be described as a movable aero device? If the FIA could ban the mass damper as an aero device maybe they can ban engines for the same reasons as they both suck and blow?

[bpratt]

Now that makes sense on both levels. Having one of those ducts work in opposing directions makes a lot of sense with the negative pressure assisting the positive pressure.

Also could it be deemed as moveable aero device, which would naturally end up the same way as the mass dampers were deemed the same way.


The whole thing both sucks and blows as you said.   F1 was always a hi-tech industry.... I miss those days.

[bpratt]

Montreal is the toughest circuit for brakes - that's the reason everybody is very keen to produce bigger brake ducts to improve cooling here, as you can see with this Ferrari front duct. In addition, it is critical to choose the right friction materials for the brake pads and discs in order to cope with the high levels of heat and wear. Ferrari, as is their tradition for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, have temporarily swapped from Brembo to Carbon Industries products, as used by the likes of McLaren and Williams.




Renault have introduced a new front wing at nearly every track this year and Montreal is no different. As the first low-downforce circuit of the year it definitely warrants a change. Only the main plane is the same as the previous wing. All other components are different - a more complex endplate with an additional vertical inner fence, a revised flap with an extra element at the rear, and no additional top flap.


Canada has always been a track that's generally hard on brakes and relies on high top speeds with it's long straights and pretty much 'stop' corners, so we've seen cars with reliable brakes and slick through the air as the winners of this race.

[bpratt]

Red Bull started the Canada weekend with a new front wing. It was based on the one with two openings on the endplate, which they introduced in Turkey, but featured a wider main plane and single flap. For qualifying - and for the race - they have reverted to the previous wing, which features only one opening and a slotted main plane. The team have also modified the car's diffuser and bodywork around the exhaust area. In addition, a lot of work has been carried out to improve the cooling of the brakes.





Williams have introduced two new front wings in Montreal. Both feature two vertical turning vanes and are designed to boost the airflow from underneath the raised front section of the chassis (1). Each front wing has a different forward upper wing (2). On one example there was a small splitter (3) on the outside of the endplate. The team has also brought two different rear wings.



Seems like the Williams update has helped them this weekend, and brought them to 11th and 12th on the starting grid.

[bpratt]

A bit late, but this was the changes for the Euro GP



Ferrari have made radical changes for Valencia, introducing their version of Red Bull's exhaust-blown diffuser. They have dramatically modified the shape of their exhausts, from the previous design (1), to a lower, more RB6-inspired layout (2). They've also introduced a new gearbox case to Felipe Massa's car to raise the rear suspension pick-up points to help accommodate the changes. There's also a larger radiator layout (3) to handle the additional heat within the lower and more enclosed bodywork. Inset, you can see the exhaust on the F10 is shorter, and therefore ends before Red Bull's.



 
Like Ferrari, Mercedes GP have introduced shorter exhaust pipes and lower bodywork at the rear of their car in Valencia to mimic Red Bull's exhaust-blown diffuser. Unlike Ferrari, they haven't brought a new gearbox casing, but have adapted their original design. A new rear diffuser has also made its debut on the MGP W01 for the European Grand Prix weekend to utilize the air blowing from the exhausts to the fullest.




Renault are another team to introduce a Red Bull-style low blowing exhaust configuration in Valencia, joining Mercedes and Ferrari (Force India and McLaren are expected to follow at the next round at Silverstone). The exhaust exit is covered (red arrow) and has some thermal protection against the high temperatures. Renault have also introduced a new gearbox casing to allow for the higher suspension pick-up points that are needed to accommodate the revised configuration.

[bpratt]

Been a bit lax at updating this thread lately, sorry.

Anyway, updates for the Belgian GP include :-



The front wing must be no lower than 75mm above the reference plane, which is the lowest point of the car without the plank (yellow dotted line). To check compliance with this rule, prior to this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, in scrutineering a load of 50kg was applied to the endplates (smaller red arrow), with a permitted flex of up to 10mm. After rival teams voiced suspicions that the front wings of Red Bull and Ferrari were flexing more than this at speed, the FIA has doubled the load applied in the test to 100kg, now measured in the middle of the wing's side section (larger red arrow), with a permitted flex of 20mm. Both Red Bull and Ferrari cleared scrutineering at Spa.




Ferrari have brought a new lower-downforce rear wing to Belgium, which will be used by Felipe Massa during qualifying and in the race. The revised endplates feature Red Bull-inspired gills, while the wing's main profile has a smaller flap and no longer features a slot.




The FIA carry out load tests to check whether a car's floor flexes beyond the permitted 5mm (yellow highlighted area) under a 200kg load. The test, which uses a piston in the centre of the floor, was introduced at the 2007 Spanish Grand Prix following the controversy surrounding Ferrari's 'moveable' floor device. Stricter front-wing flex tests have been introduced here at Spa and at the next round in Italy a stricter floor test will be added. Whilst the same weight will be used, the test will be applied to the side of the floor too. It will also be prohibited to run a section of plank less than 100cm in length.

[Mothers Worry]

Buemi: Toro Rosso straight-line test 'positive'

From thef1times.com:

Buemi: Toro Rosso straight-line test 'positive'

Tuesday 07th September 2010 

Toro Rosso's straght-line aerodynamic test in Vairano, Italy, has gone 'positively' according to Sebastien Buemi.

The run took place on Monday with several new aero devices under-going testing, including Toro Rosso's version of the F-duct.

The Red Bull sister team are the only established outfit to have not run the rear-wing stalling device which increases top-speed.

The Swiss driver hopes his team will push the new developments onto the car as soon as possible, although their home race in Italy this weekend is likely to be too soon.

"This Monday, I went to Vairano in Italy, where we had a one-day aerodynamic test," he wrote on his personal blog,

"We were lucky to get all our work done as it threatened to rain for most of the day, but we managed to test a variety of new elements, which we hope to introduce as soon as possible and I would say that overall, the results were positive."

The team return to the scene of their first and only win to date, when Sebastian Vettel took victory in 2008. Buemi is hoping for another competitive result, although equalling Vettel's performance is very unlikely.

"Now, I’m getting ready for Monza and the Italian Grand Prix, which will be a special weekend for us as it is the home race for Scuderia Toro Rosso and the scene of the team’s best ever result, when Vettel won in 2008.

"So it would be great if we can deliver a competitive performance, especially as so many people from the factory will be coming to watch us.

"I think we can be competitive, as I expect this configuration and the track could suit us better than some other venues," he added.

[Mothers Worry]

McLaren modify floor to comply with FIA tests

From thef1times.com:

McLaren modify floor to comply with FIA tests

Wednesday 08th September 2010

McLaren have had to alter their car to conform with the new FIA load tests set to be introduced at the Italian GP, according to McLaren's chief engineer, Tim Goss.

The new load tests will focus on the floor of the car, rather than the front-wings in a bid to curb the use of flexi-wings.

During a phone-in with the Woking outfit, Goss confirmed that they haven't had to change their front-wings, but the bib, or forward floor, has had some minor modifications.

"Firstly on front wings, we haven't had to make any modifications to the front wings in terms of body work flexibility," Goss confirmed.

"As far as the bib is concerned, the new aspect load test is a little challenging and we've had to make some minor modifications to make sure that we're well inside the limits that the FIA has set on that.

"So we've modified our bib, taking the opportunity to turn it into a minor performance upgrade as well."

Goss believes almost all the teams will have had to modify their floors to comply with the new tests.

"I'd expect most teams would probably have had to make changes to comply with that. As far as articulated planks are concerned - there are a number of teams that run floor skids in multiple pieces - and the FIA have tried to ban articulated skid blocks and I imagine other teams would have to make modifications to comply with that."