Just a thought, I'm wondering about a heating element in the wing, kinda like an electric heating pad Does carbon fiber flex more when warmed to a certain temperature? I know fiberglass does.
*Very* interesting thought....... FWIW, my WAG is "no" - There's so many carbon parts *really* close to some serious heat (even with gold shielding) that they'd turn into puddings if it flexed!...... [But, I could be wrong - Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along soon.....] Cheers, Ian
Anyone that has been involved with putting a fiberglass body on a race car knows how hard it can be when its cold but after it has sat in the sun for an hour or so it drapes on the car easily. Adrian Newey knows this as he has been involved in racing for a long time. A controlled amount of heat in the proper place would allow a controlled amount of flex. All it would take is a bit of experimentation. I would expect a setting on the steering wheel could control the heat much like a heated seat. I can't think of any other reason to explain the wires hanging from the pylons seen in the Vetell crash photos, there are no cameras on the wings but there may be stress sensors. Ferrari may well have done themselves a disservice by painting their wings white, black would have been better from a heat/flex standpoint.
There's at least two camera mounting points way out front - See below. In addition, the team (and/or the FIA?) have sometimes mounted cameras looking at the tea tray and/or suspension components...... They could also be stress sensors, but while I like a good conspiracy theory, I don't think they're heating the carbon. [Again, just my WAG.....] Cheers, Ian Image Unavailable, Please Login
Although the idea of heating parts might sound juicy, in practical terms it wouldn't do anything at all. Consider 100 mph wind traveling over the wing. Regardless of color, it would take incredible amounts of energy to increase the temperature even a few degrees above ambient air temps. Simply won't work. I suspect he has devised a clever dynamic front suspension which allows the car to squat when not under full throttle and to "sit up straight" when under full throttle reducing drag in the straights.
This can't be the case as the wing flex and camber is most evident when the RB7 is doing 280kph down a straight. This witch hunt for Red Bull is getting pretty severe lately, and I am now of the mindset that because Whiting is calling it legal for the moment as am I. Whiting is more thorough than all of us and enthusiastically questions these things. RB7 and RB6 run tons more rake than anyone else, and their wing planes create more downforce than anyone elses. That combined with all the rake by nature means the wing is going to flex more than others. Rather than worry so much about wing flex, I am wondering how their rear end is handling all that downforce at the front. The extra rake is not helping their diffuser which in essence means they are not really hurting with the lack of the super-diffuser now, as their cars are not really designed under that paradigm. This is what wins championships, doing something incredibly different that you know and develope to work in such a way that other teams cannot adobt what you are up to so easily. MB and Mclaren are the only others truly doing something different, and the fruits of their labor will be nipping at RB's heels soon enough.
