http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/58430 McLaren are evaluating the introduction of a radical front wing for next month's Spanish Grand Prix after running the new design in public for the first time in testing at the Circuit de Catalunya today. The wing, which features an extra plane that spans above the nose and is mounted on the front wing end plates, is the result of what the team have openly admitted has been an aggressive development programme ahead of the Barcelona race. The four-week break between the Bahrain Grand Prix and the race in Spain has allowed all the teams breathing space to work on developments, and McLaren's wing is already believed to have been evaluated during their straightline work they conducted in Menorca last week. McLaren's main rivals Ferrari and BMW Sauber have both made use of an extra high-plane this year on the front wing, although these have been attached to the side of the nosecone rather than running above the top of it. McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh said last week that the fight for the championship between Ferrari and his team would almost certainly be decided by the rate of development the two outfits were working at. "It is now very clear that this year's championships will be as much decided in the race to develop the car as the racing that occurs on Sunday afternoons," he explained. "We are now in the middle of a relatively large and unprecedented gap in Formula One racing, with a four week interval. "During this time we are testing at the Barcelona circuit where the next race will be held. We would therefore target the largest incremental improvement in car performance from one race to another. "This will not just be with Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, but within all of the teams in the sport. As a result, the whole organisation is working extremely hard to ensure that we make as big, if not bigger, incremental improvement to the lap time performance of the MP4-22 versus any of our competitors." Confidence at McLaren is high after a strong start to the campaign that has resulted in both Fernando Alonso and Lewis Hamilton tieing with Kimi Raikkonen at the head of the drivers' championship. Hamilton's impressive arrival in F1 has been further sealed by the Briton admitting last weekend that he is no longer just dreaming about taking his first victory in the Spanish Grand Prix. "I don't dream about [winning] Spain - I definitely think about it," he said in an interview with ITV. "Everyone has a dream, and although I'm living my dream still, there's more dreams and more ambitions that will keep me going for plenty of years to come." Hmmm...
I disagree, I think this looks much worse than the walrus tusks. Although, if Merc show some gains with it, I think we can expect many teams with a similar front wing layout in the near future. Mark
How much of this is brain tease verses actual aerodynamic gain? If another team shows up with this kind of configuration...............
Those parts should be attached to the bodywork, and do they flex at high speeds? From the 2007 tech regs: 3.6 Overall height: No part of the bodywork may be more than 950mm above the reference plane. 3.7 Front bodywork height: 3.7.1 All bodywork situated forward of a point lying 330mm behind the front wheel centre line, and more than 250mm from the centre line of the car, must be no less than 150 mm and no more than 350 mm above the reference plane. 3.7.2 All bodywork situated forward of a point lying 330 mm behind the front wheel centre line must be no less than 50 mm above the reference plane. ..... Aerodynamic influence: With the exception of the cover described in Article 6.5.2 (when used in the pit lane) and the ducts described in Article 11.4, any specific part of the car influencing its aerodynamic performance: - Must comply with the rules relating to bodywork. - Must be rigidly secured to the entirely sprung part of the car (rigidly secured means not having any degree of freedom). - Must remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car. more photos: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/showpost.php?p=136682443&postcount=2
Here's Toyota's and Williams version of the new McL wing. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
They also still have their two drivers tied for the DC as well as being in first for the constructors championship.
Those front wing are pretty bad looking. I guess I am the only guy who kinda sorta likes the viking horn things on the Mercedes.
Toyota's might be a little different. Ralph said in his post test brief to the press that they were running a new aero set up to try to gain some front end grip as that's where they've been lacking the past races.
Seems to me that the new front wing element can and will flex at high speed due to the lack of attachment points in the center to the nose of the car. FIA might just as well declared it illegal before the other teams start to protest after Spain.
