I'm sure the McLaren team will be the
first to admit that their start to the 2014 season could have gone
better, especially as they have the advantage of the best powerunit
on the grid. It's not all about the powerunit though and their rival
Mercedes has clearly done a better job of the catering the whole
package including the aero side to the 2014 regulations.
For Barcelona the team arrived with new
components to try and close the gap to the front but with a deficit
of around 1-1.5 seconds to the Mercedes any upgrades they bring would
need to find around 2 seconds per lap, a monumental amount of time to
find.
Struggling to replicate the level of
downforce some of their rivals are achieving McLaren arrived in
Barcelona with a new perforated diffuser gurney. You'll note that
the perforated Gurney extends much further around the periphery of
the diffuser toward the footplate, looking to extract more downforce
from it.
Why not just extend it to the bottom of the diffuser? I
hear you say, well it's all to do with the quality of airflow in the
region, placing something like a gurney here requires enough airflow
otherwise you get separation and therefore lose downforce. You'll
note that the team have also made some changes to the rear brake duct
fins too which are undoubtedly allowing a better quality of flow into
the region around where the diffuser gurney has been extended.
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