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By 
Thursday, February 13, 2014
The 'Monkey Seat'
or to term it by it's more official designation Y100 Winglet is often seen
by fans as added when teams are looking for additional downforce.
Although the winglet does often create a small amount of direct
downforce it's not it's sole purpose when used by teams. The upper winged element of the
winglet is used as a way of creating upwash, this in turn allows for
a more aggressive Angle of Attack of the rear wing and therefore more
downforce. Without the winglet the airflow being used by the rear
wing would detach too early and lead to the wing becoming
inefficient. Think of it as a way of joining up the airflow to make a
more intense structure, whilst also increasing the feel and balance
of the car (less chance of the airflow structures breaking down as
the car brakes or turns).
The
regulations governing that zone of bodywork have actually led to an
increase in size of the winglet for 2014 with it's width previously
restricted to 150mm (Y75 Winglet). The overall 50mm increase in
width (25mm either side of the centreline) is predominantly due to
the exhaust sizing and the regulations pertaining to it's diameter. With other area's
of the rear wing having been reduced in dimensional capacity the
increase to this appendage comes as some solace, as it's primary
objective is to aid the rest of the wing in generating flow
structures.
In the case of
Force India we note that the team have decided to utilse the full
200mm width taking the winglet down to the floor of the VJM07 in an
attempt to upwash the flow either side of the crash structure too.
With the exhaust exiting just ahead of the winglet the team have
chosen to place another winglet beneath it to influence the exhaust
plume in an upward direction. Meanwhile to help mitigate the issues
surrounding temperature the team have also placed gold leaf around
the endplates of the winglet.
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