With car launches fast approaching, with several teams having delays and car issues, what are the problems? With the noses being even more aero unfriendly teams would struggle to re-gain the front end downforce which is oh so valuable to the cars. After writing the front nose article earlier this month, – http://www.f1update.co.uk/F1/f1-2015-front-nose-analyis/ I realised they are not amazing designs and teams will struggle with them implemented. On the drawing below I have captured the aero techniques engineers will use to claw back the front-end downforce.
Moving onto the front of the car, there will be even more development changes, more than we saw in 2014. With the noses being even more aero unfriendly again, getting that air flow through the front wing pylons and to then be squeezed (venturi effect) is difficult because the thumb extension allows minimal flow to go underneath. This has created big headaches for engineers. What engineers will try to do is get the airflow to swoop inwards, outside of the pylons and then into the splitter, This sounds easier but this will be one of the hardest areas to recover the lost downforce. The solution would be to get air around the pylons to then feed back in again to the T-tray.
Perrin Limeted
On the picture iv draw the key aerodynamic changes we will see in 2015. First being the vertical turning vanes, above the tyre. They are a very characteristic on Formula 1 cars now. The reason there situated on the sidepod is because they bend the airflow around the curvature of the sidepod. We saw Mercedes split the top so acts as 2 vanes feeding the rear y100 winglet and rear wing more airflow. As well a cleaner line of air around the bargeboards too.
Next up we have track rods and the front axle. What teams will do is copy what was on the wo5 Mercedes. Where the lower wishbone was blended forming a “V” shape structure. This created a very stable flow between positive and negative pressure, therefore keeping the car more stable in cornering. This was a great solution in 2014 and was a great strength of the WO5 Mercedes.
Thirdly we saw last year on the Williams FW36, which had situated on top of the sidepod was little vortex generators. They are on average 0.006 reduction in both drag coefficient and lift coefficient in the Formula 1 paddock. They used to be implemented of front wings, to give the footplate and mainplanes more downforce, giving the car more front-end grip in cornering. Now they will work with the vertical turning vanes with air coming off the front wing and wishbones. Give the central area of the car slightly more stability as well as a cleaner flow the rear of the car.
Lastly we come to the two remaining turning vanes on the side of the tub. They were big in 2014 and will be in 2015. As they play an important factor on the cars. We saw on the Williams and Mercedes cars little vane like structures under the wing mirror. There are little step-by-step aerofoils giving layered effect on the airflow give in slightly more downforce on the chassis. This can keep the tub more upright fractionally in the corners which mean drivers can accelerate harder and faster.
Also below the tub many teams messed with turning vanes to feed the sidepods more air, but in the process changing the angle gave the cars more downforce. It acted as a second front wing in a way.
Stayed tune for Part 2 – How teams will regain rear downforce
