Mugello various car upgrades and testing thread

For what its worth The Macca thingamajig has what looks like a return spring on it.
Am I right in thinking that whatever flap doodad involved must be internal to the duct?
If so it wouldn't be as likely to be for drag reduction as for flow redirection.

Things that make you go hmmm....

 

That'd make it a moveable aero device, which is banned except for the DRS system...

 

Makes sense.

And takes all the fun and mystery out of it.

So like the air flow sensors it will not be a percent fixture.

 

Seems like Lotus is also testing a new exhaust setup, pointed upwards:
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Looks unchanged from the Sakhir race (2nd pic) to me...
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Shame he sucked though......

Final times from day two;

Pos Driver Team Time
1. Romain Grosjean Lotus-Renault 1m21.603s
2. Kamui Kobayashi Sauber-Ferrari 1m21.603s + 0.000s
3. Sebastian Vettel Red Bull-Renault 1m21.825s + 0.222s
4. Mark Webber Red Bull-Renault 1m21.997s + 0.394s
5. Felipe Massa Ferrari 1m22.257s + 0.654s
6. Jean-Eric Vergne Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.422s + 0.819s
7. Daniel Ricciardo Toro Rosso-Ferrari 1m22.588s + 0.985s
8. Michael Schumacher Mercedes 1m23.404s + 1.801s
9. Charles Pic Marussia-Cosworth 1m23.982s + 2.379s
10. Vitaly Petrov Caterham-Renault 1m24.312s + 2.709s
11. Gary Paffett McLaren-Mercedes 1m24.480s + 2.877s
12. Timo Glock Marussia-Cosworth 1m24.499s + 2.896s
13. Paul di Resta Force India-Mercedes 1m24.749s + 3.146s
14. Bruno Senna Williams-Renault 1m24.842s + 3.239s

 

I'm starting to think this stuff is getting *way* out of control - The aero nerds, their CFD & wind tunnel stuff is getting crazy.

Then bits & pieces fall off, and the damn car goes quicker! I well remember barge boards and various other appendages getting knocked off and making *no* difference to lap times. I suspect the same is true of these crazy wings - Take an element or two away and it won't make the slightest difference.......

I guess it keeps lots of guys gainfully employed though.

Cheers,
Ian

 

Like there's any basis for meaningful comparisons.

the front wings in particular have become fetishes.
I wonder what Dr F. would have to say.

 

Certainly true and they're all saying "we weren't going for lap times" and "we're working thru our programs" blah, blah.

However, they're race teams and all of 'em are looking at the watches pretty much all the time. We'll have more meaningful data by tomorrow night - They'll all try low fuel qualy runs at some point - And a few of 'em will almost certainly run underweight to try and "psyche" the others - So again, it's all BS, but at least it's interesting BS

Indeed. Wasn't it JB that ran half the race with half his wing missing last time out?

Cheers,
Ian

 

Is that code?

They seem to run as well but when was the last time a deranged car (as opposed to driver) won?

 

? Sorry, must be a little slow today....?

Absolutely! It's so easy to go down a bad path and never come back - The March 803 I ran for a while (wrenching, not driving btw) was their first effort at inboard front suspension. (Ground effect you know!) It was a complete POS with more-or-less terminal understeer. Common wisdom is to soften the front end (or stiffen the ass) - Didn't work. I suggested going the other way, and voila - It improved a lot. [Still wasn't as quick as the previous years car, but we didn't have one of those to run - Kenny Acheson dropped the 803 and went with the 793 IIRC.....]

Well, getting deranged (as you say, car not driver ) generally puts you back some, so it's gonna be tough to win. But they typically manage to hold their own - Must make the aero nerds worry about their value......

Cheers,
Ian

 

I half suspect that so much attention is paid to the front wing just because it's so easy to fiddle with.
I understand the theory, how all the rest of the aero is dependent on the flow off of the front wing, but as you say they seem to run just as fast without them.
Who says that the gods have no humor?

 

Ahhh I see the difference now. Thanks for the better angled shot!

 

Somewhat related:

A little birdie tweeted that potentially good things might come my way from Mugello.

 

I probably mislead you with my comment. I have no idea what Ferrari will bring to Mugello as far as testing upgrades are concerned.

Could somebody with some Photoshop talent please add that proverbial monkey to that seat. Would be cute.

 

Ferrari testing gig?

 

Not quite, but also very good. Fingers crossed. If it pans out, rest assured I'll be bragging about it on here.

 

An autographed Schumacher Mercedes hat?

 

lol