Spa Technical Image Gallery - Thursday

A selection of the best technical images from Round 11 of the Formula One Championship in Spa courtesy of Sutton Images (I'll also add that just because an image features in this gallery it doesn't mean it is a changed or new part for this circuit and may be included just for your viewing pleasure)

Force India VJM06 Front Wing and Nose from the under side shows how the team utilise strakes to angle the airflow and enhance the Wings they sit under

Red Bull RB9 rear end - During build up

Red Bull RB9 Front Brake assembly during build up

Red Bull RB9 rear end during build up, in this image we can also see the exhaust in place

 Red Bull RB9 - Under Chassis 2 tier Turning Vanes (Note in the background the Splitter's stay floating too)

Red Bull RB9 rear end during the build up phase (good shot of the suspension)

Sauber C32 Front Wing from underneath (Note the differences between this and the Force India one in the first image)

Sauber C32 - Front Wing from the side/underneath

Sauber C32 front brake duct assembly

Sauber C32 Chassis detail

Williams FW35 Front Wing detail

Force India VJM06 Rear Wing detail, note the shallow angle of attack and use of a Y75 Winglet (Monkey Seat) for increased balance

Mercedes W04 - New Rear Wing features a top flap that has a larger chord at the outer extremities than the inner (Also note the large Gurney Flap running along the trailing edge).  Spa is a medium downforce circuit that requires good top speed in Sectors 1 & 3 and good downforce in Sector 2 and so the teams need to find an efficient way of achieving both for the best lap.  Shaping the wing in this way shows the teams effort at catering for both aspects

Lotus E21 Gearbox shown bare during the build up phase

Lotus E21 during build up shows the area in the Y75 region which is used to house the Monkey Seat

Lotus E21 Sidepod shown bare shows the Riedel camera and telemetry equipment

Lotus E21 - The team have applied 3 new quite tall Vortex Generators to the forward element of the Sidepod Inlet (The section that houses the crash structure) which are accompanied by 2 new horizontal cockpit fins/canards under where the mirror will be mounted.  These all work the airflow at the leading edge of the Sidepod more aggressively as the car builds speed.  Without the Vortex Generators the Sidepods design only operates at a fixed angle of attack and so will only work up until a certain speed threshold.  At this point the Boundary Layer becomes too large and the airflow separates making it less effective. With Spa having a mixture of both high and low speed corners and the exhaust sitting at the tail end of the Sidepod it's important to get a consistent airflow in the downwash towards it and so the Vortex Generators enable this.

Lotus E21 - During the build up phase we can see the Inlets used for DRD are uncovered, the team have already said they will assess DRD during the weekend

Lotus E21 - Rear Wing

Lotus E21 - Under chassis Turning Vanes

 Ferrari F138 Front Wing from behind

 Sauber C32 - Close up of the cross-under tunnel / ramped downwash exhaust solution being implemented by the team

 Lotus E21 - DRD applied to both cars for assessment around the 7km circuit, a slight alteration to the arrangement used at YDT is the inclusion of a horizontal blade within the Monkey Seat.  Also worth noting is the periscope is missing it's upper section and the hanger bracket that secures it to the Mainplane (As used at YDT)

 Lotus E21 - Closer view of the DRD arrangement

McLaren MP4-28 lower downforce Rear Wing with much shallower angle of attack

Mercedes W04 - Front Wing from behind shows the increase in complexity the team now have with their wing

Mercedes W04 - Another shot of the underside of the Wing/Nose

Lotus E21 - New Front Wing (Cascade has a new inner Endplate and curved element protruding out below it)

Lotus E21 - Close up of the Serrated Bargeboard the team have run for some time

 Ferrari F138 - New Rear Wing features a much shallower angle of attach and smaller DRS actuator/pod