Haas is just a Ferrari with a slightly different tip of the nose. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Yeah - These two cars are identical aren't they! Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Pretty much. That's the technical regulations & aero guys at work. There's not a lot else they can do within the regs these days. They're all striving for the 'Coke bottle' shape. They all want to blow the diffuser as best they can. They're all running pretty much the same tunnels & CFD programs, so it's hardly surprising they all arrive at the same 'solution'. Obviously another reason they're all so damn close together. Which is fine with me. Cheers, Ian
Yeah, but as that 'viewer' above shows, you can pair pretty much any of them with the same result. Cheers, Ian
While I too would like to see more testing allowed, they're all very definitely constantly developing the things. The most obvious is the way the front wings evolve over time, but they'll try different floors and sidepod arrangements, particularly the turning vanes etc. "If you're not developing, you're going backwards." Cheers, Ian
"Blown" front wheel nuts are the thing now! - Having the brake duct air exit through the centre of the front wheel nut in order to make a secondary use of the air by guiding it out and onto the rear floor section. Then there's the "S" duct in the front nose cone to create a negative pressure under the nose of the car to pull it onto the circuit for more grip. Mercedes are investigating serrated leading edges to break up the air particles to make better use of them. The way the designers of modern F1 cars guide and manipulate the air flow, not just over, under and around the car, but also the air that goes through the car, is quite mind blowing!
Bas, The bodies are so close to identical (like the difference between an Alfa 156v6 and 156 4cyl), so how can you say the aero is completely different? If I was Haas, I'd be happy to be Ferrari-lite cause that means you are getting support. It could be worse, could be McLaren-lite!!! No wonder F1 is stuffed, when we debate differences in bodywork that would be less than 1 degree. How can the non-OCD be remotely interested? Pete
+1 Pretty cool stuff! As noted, we've got a little debate going in Av-chat on the topic right now - Some of the guys there are damn helpful. However, & I admit I got this wrong initially, they don't want to "guide air into the rear floor section" - They're trying to do the exact opposite IMO - They want to keep as much air *away* from the diffuser as they can - Hence the blown wheelnuts & all kinds of flow modifiers generating vortices down the outside of the car. I believe they're trying to stop as much "bleed" going underneath as they can. That way the air down there has to speed up, & as we know, hi speed air is low pressure air. +1 Impressive stuff indeed. I can't find any pix now (got any?), but it was Merc's serrated leading edges that caused me to start the thread in Av-chat - I asked the guys there if they knew why they were doing it. Got a few "theories", and the thread's drifted along since..... Cheers, Ian
Ok, so the cars are almost identical. Why then is the Mercedes so utterly dominant? It has the same engine as the Williams, as with the Force india and previously Mclaren. I can tell the difference between the cars. Sure, paint them all white and it's not a 1-2-3 identification, but I'll be able point out the differences. The average person quite simply wouldn't, granted. If we go back 20 years in time It'd be a lot easier to paint all the cars white and point out which is which, even as they drive by...but the thing is, they've learned that one certain way is the fastest way the car is. Take away all the computers and guess, what, all the car will still look the same mostly, because they can't unlearn what they've learnt. It's simple evolution at it's finest. The haas is quite a bit fatter, and actually has a lot of influence of last years Ferrari, but with 2016 engine and suspension. Compared to this years Ferrari though...no it's definitely not the same as the Ferrari. If we're going by what you're saying, then what would be truthful is if Bob said ''that Haas looks the same as all the others!''
