F1 Most liked posts in thread: 2015 - F1

Steve · Jan 21, 2015

There are plenty of sites posting pics of "the new VJM08" (the 2015 Force India chassis) but other than a dummy mock-up (fake?) of the new nose design I think it's just the new livery on the 2014 car. Don't think we'll see the real VJM08 until they take it to Barcelona for its first test outing.

Zapski · Jan 29, 2015

Pics and video of the new McLaren MP4-30

I wish it were red and white.

First pictures and video: McLaren MP4-30 revealed - F1 Fanatic

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yoOT0NiydEA"]Time to Make History: McLaren-Honda MP4-30 - YouTube[/ame]

Steve · Jan 30, 2015

Adam Cooper:

It appears that Marcus Ericsson will be driving the most Swedish-looking F1 car we've seen since 1976...:

Click to expand...

In case anyone is wondering, yes, Ericsson is Swedish.

Steve · Jan 31, 2015

McLaren's new Enkei wheels explained (in part).

A closer look at McLaren's new wheel rims (f1technical.net)

By Steven De Groote on 31 Jan 2015, 17:23

McLaren's long term wheel supplier, Enkei, has provided the team with new rims for the 2015 season, or at least the start of it. Finished in matte black, the wheels were on display at Jerez today, showing very different front and rear wheel designs. The reasons for this are obvious, with first of all wider tyres at the rear, but more importantly for their design, much less heat coming from the rear brakes. Due to weight transfer under braking, and the energy recovery system that kicks in on the rear axle, the front brakes work much much harder than the rears.

Dissipating the heat from the brakes efficiently is the main design influence for today's F1 rims, and those of Enkei are a brilliant example. As can be seen, the rims have just 5 thick spokes in the central part while numerous smaller channels are designed on the outside. Note that the tyre nozzle is neatly integrated into the rim in an attempt to provide less hindrance to air passing through the rim.

The rear rims (inset) are of a more conventional design with a 90Â° nozzle for convenience and a tyre pressure monitor (absent on the front rims).

Finally, the rims also continue to feature coated dimples on the inside (as visible on the front rim photo) to enable the rim to take up heat quicker, and thereby help the tyres to stay at their optimal working temperature.
Click to expand...

Angib · Feb 1, 2015

Nathan said: ↑

...even running all moans through a special measuring machine it developed in the mid-â€˜90s known as â€˜the Mansellometerâ€™.
Click to expand...

Ah, yes, those special nasal moans - whatever their other skills, your modern F1 driver is only capable of moaning though his mouth.

Zapski · Feb 1, 2015

Red Bull must really think they have something great in the areo department if they're showing up at testing in this.

More pics at link

First pictures: Red Bull RB11 appears in camouflage - F1 Fanatic

Steve · Feb 1, 2015

Yup, they're definitely testing. I wonder whether they have to fit extra visor tear-offs when they use that much flo-viz.

Steve · Feb 1, 2015

If I ignore the big nipple, the new Williams' nose seems like a bit of a call back from their old tusk nose.

Steve · Feb 2, 2015

Last year the fastest time run by the end of the 4 day test at Jerez was 1:23.276...by Magnussen in a McLaren.

Steve · Feb 2, 2015

This longer one is focused on the McHonda but includes a lot of others as well.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lfkkxWGkxck"]2015 F1 Testing Jerez new McLaren Honda sound - YouTube[/ame]

Zapski · Feb 4, 2015

BBC Sport - F1 testing: Red Bull's new design features studied in detail

Red Bull caused a stir by starting pre-season Formula 1 testing with their new car in a camouflage livery.

It is similar to the way road-car manufacturers decorate their new models when they are trying to keep them away from the prying eyes of spy photographers.

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has not revealed why the team chose to use this livery. His only explanation was that Red Bull had "never been afraid to do things a bit differently".

But this is a notoriously secretive team, even within the carefully guarded world of F1 engineering - they regularly make mechanics stand in front of sensitive parts of the car on the grid at grands prix to prevent photographers taking pictures.

Red Bull have set the standard for aerodynamic design excellence in the last five or six years in F1.

And their chassis itself was arguably at least as good as the Mercedes last year, with most of their deficit to the world champions explained by the lack of power of the Renault engine, and the ways in which Red Bull had to compromise optimal car performance to compensate.

So Red Bull are clearly trying to prevent the photographers - many of whom are also employed by teams to provide spy pictures of rivals' cars - from getting a good picture of the new RB11.

But what are Red Bull trying to hide?

THE NOSE

The camouflage livery starts at the very front of the car, and so do the secrets of the new Red Bull.

New regulations this year have been aimed at outlawing the 'anteater' noses that proliferated last season as a way around badly written rules that were intended to make the noses lower for safety reasons.

There are fewer ways around this now the rules have been tidied up, but the teams are still trying to come up with ways to reduce the aerodynamic losses inherent in a lower nose.

There are two solutions to this - a low nose tip which enhances front downforce by creating a 'venturi effect' of speeded up air and therefore lower pressure between nose and front wing, but which harms airflow to the rear; or a higher nose which reduces front downforce but enhances rear performance.

Red Bull's design appears to be aimed at having their cake and eating it.

They have met the requirements of two different minimum cross-sectional areas at the nose tip and a short distance behind it by having a stubby protuberance sticking out from a wider, flatter section of nose cone.

But the bodywork under the protruberance has a venturi shape on its underside - enhancing downforce - while on either side of it there is space for more air to flow through into the section under the bottom of the chassis and from there to the rear of the car.

Sauber have come up with a similar - albeit more bulbous - solution on their car.

AN 'S-DUCT'

One of the features of Red Bulls in recent years has been the team's decision to employ ducts in the nose to pass air through the chassis and out of the top in front of the driver.

This tidies up the airflow under the nose and therefore makes it move faster, reducing pressure and thereby increasing downforce.

Last year the duct was on the underside of the nose, but this year extends around to the two side edges of the chassis, where it transitions from horizontal to vertical. The inlets can be seen underneath the camera mounting pods.

It then exits behind the driver number on the top of the chassis.

BLOWN FRONT AXLE

F1 aerodynamic design at the front of the car focuses on a creating a powerful vortex of air that starts from the front wing, flows inside the front wheels and then around the side pods and through the back of the car between the bodywork and the rear wheels.

It is akin to black magic, making this work, but the more powerful the vortex, the more downforce the car creates and the faster it goes around corners.

It is usually impossible to see this airflow - but there was a rare opportunity at the Brazilian Grand Prix a couple of years ago when a damp practice session meant it could actually be glimpsed on some of the cars.

The problems in creating it start with the relationship between the front wing and the wheels.

As the front wing only can extend only about halfway across the front tyres following a rule change for 2014, it is all the harder to set this airflow up.

The wheels create an effective wall, and produce what is called 'dirty air' that can disrupt the smooth flow of air around the car.

One way to reduce this effect is a so-called 'blown front axle'. This is created by ducting air from the brake ducts on the inside of the wheels, through a hollow axle and out of a hole in the wheel nut.

This airflow, if it is powerful enough, prevents the wake from the tyres from disturbing that vortex.

SIDEPODS

Once the airflow has come out from under the nose, it then has to negotiate the 'sidepods' - the bodywork that starts beside the driver and which contains the cooling apparatus for the engine, such as radiators.

Achieving the best airflow both through the sidepods and around them is crucial to overall downforce.

The Renault engine used by Red Bull has probably the greatest cooling requirement of any on the grid, which makes this job especially hard for the team - and although Renault has found more power from its engine for 2015, the cooling requirements have stayed the same, according to Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey.

But although the camouflage does a good job of hiding it, Red Bull have worked wonders to create sidepods with a particularly large under-cut on this year's car..

This should help the team create more powerful rear downforce.

OTHER SECRETS

Will the Red Bull car have other secrets that have so far not been spotted? Certainly. And many of the design features that dictate the pace of an F1 car are hidden under the skin, never to be seen by outside eyes.

Equally, as with all F1 cars, it is a prototype that will constantly change and be honed through the year.

But when in its definitive 2015 livery at the first race, it will be a little easier to spot what these features are.
Click to expand...

Zapski · Feb 6, 2015

I've got mixed feelings about it.

Jerez shows that all the cars have gained about 1 second per lap, but Marussia would be running last year's car, so in addition to being a backmarker, they'd be last years' backmarker.

But I really want a full grid, and I really want the small teams to at least give it a go.

It's just sad all around.

ScottinBend · Feb 6, 2015

.....or the PWC. Which is looking better all the time.

Steve · Feb 6, 2015

Manor outlines plans for Formula 1 return (gpupdate.net)

17:54 – Manor, which raced under the Marussia banner in Formula 1, has announced that it plans to enter the upcoming campaign, despite the Strategy Group's decision to prevent them from using a 2014 car.

Marussia entered administration in October and missed the final three races of last year's season but FRP Advisory announced earlier this week that they will come out of administration on February 19, with a view to racing again in 2015.

On Thursday the Strategy Group denied Marussia's apparent request to enter its 2014 car this season, but on Friday evening the team confirmed that it is preparing the 2014 car to meet the stipulations of the Strategy Group, as well as working on the development on its 2015 chassis.

The statement added that the team has had the benefit of being able to recruit staff quickly due to the closure of Marussia, Caterham and cutbacks made in other squads.

Graeme Lowdon, a representative from the team, said that Manor is pushing on with a return to racing and denied that the squad had sent an application to the Strategy Group for yesterday's meeting.

"I was surprised to hear some of the comments made today, particularly regarding an application we were said to have made to yesterday's meeting, which I can confirm was not the case," said Lowdon.

"We did make a request on December 17 last year and we have been working since to satisfy the requirements subsequently communicated to us, specifically complying with all the regulations, aside from the exempted articles.

"The comments also mentioned that issues of compliance were raised, that it was felt that our application lacked substance and contained no supporting documentation to reinforce the case for offering special dispensation.

"Again, we did not make any application to yesterday's Strategy Group meeting and nor were we asked to.

"Instead, we are proceeding with our clear process regarding compliance and building our operation.

"We are doing everything possible to adhere to the process set out for us to return to the 2015 grid. This is a fantastic good news story for the whole sport and we just want to go racing."
Click to expand...

mrntd · Feb 9, 2015

As far as Manor racing the 2014 car. So far the best anyone can see is that Force India took their 2014 car and stuck on a new nose and new paint. I guess they would have to stick something in the side pods to meet that reg. So why can't Manor do the same thing?

Minidave · Feb 10, 2015

I think Seb's last company car was an Infinity, not a Lexus......

Zapski · Feb 10, 2015

I stand corrected.

That's what I get for posting at work while distracted.

mrntd · Feb 11, 2015

^^^It's a good story

Suppliers probably wanted money up front because they didn't Force India either

Steve · Feb 15, 2015

Job openings at McLaren Racing.

Anyone want to be an aerodynamicist? I assume this line under Personal Attributes eliminates all of us: "Experience in F1 Aerodynamics with particularly sound knowledge of the F1 wind tunnel testing environment and use of CFD."

McLaren Racing Job Detail

Zapski · Feb 16, 2015

Seb's new Ride.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EXbdcdxv93c"]Vettel in the Ferrari FXX K - YouTube[/ame]

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