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30 May 2014
Bite Size Tech: Lotus E22 Front Wing - Monaco


As I reported after the Spanish GP the team had tested a new front wing during that weekend but didn't run it for qualifying or the race.  The team did however bring and run the wing in Monaco and what wasn't clearly visible from the shots available in Spain was that the new outbound endplate cascades have slots in them, just as we find on the ones used by McLaren.
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Bite Size Tech: Ferrari F14T Cooling changes - Monaco


Ferrari revised their sidepod profiles between the Spanish GP and Monaco, making amendments that change the aerodynamic characteristics of the car (deeper undercut at the rear of the sidepod) but also the way in which the internal airflow is dealt with.  These changes are in response to the new rear wing support pylon (Y-Lon) and the way this interacts with the exhaust and surrounding bodywork.


As we can see above the cooling outlet through which the exhaust exits is much smaller than the one used in Monaco (below).  The curved element that surrounds the exhaust works with it to create a low pressure zone that pulls other airflow from surrounding bodywork through, making the area more efficient, creating more upwash.  The upshot of course is that Ferrari will now be making changes in this area to maximise performance with the changes for Monaco likely the first step in a series of amendments over the next few races.


UPDATE: As @LuisFe F1 has just rightly pointed out to me, both Fernando and Kimi ran the larger cooling exit in Spain.  I had, had a mix up in my image galleries as Kimi ran the smaller cover for FP3 not Qualifying as I thought he had.  (we all make mistakes).  This means the cooling/cover changes were made inline with the new Y-Lon in Spain for both drivers.

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29 May 2014
Monaco monkey (seat) business

At higher downforce circuits you're sure to find a winglet placed in the middle of the rear wing you've often heard referred to as the Monkey Seat. Contrary to popular belief the Monkey Seat (Y100 Winglet) doesn't produce a huge amount of downforce by itself, its role is to assist in the performance of the diffuser and rear wing. That's not to say that their design is not crucial, as any airflow coming off it can aid or disturb elements like the diffuser and rear wing. It's design needs to complement its surroundings and so you'll see variation between each team, just as we do other components. (as one Monkey Seat might not work with someone elses Rear Wing design). It's design depends on what the team are trying to achieve, whether it be more low speed, peak downforce or a larger window of opportunity. The array of winglets that proliferate this area can only extend 100mm either side of the cars centreline (Y100) and with the exception of the regulations pertaining to the exhaust the area is fairly free in terms of design constraints.

To create more downforce at a lower speed the team retain the rear wings usual angle of attack (AoA), but due to the upwash created by the Monkey Seat the airflow makes the wing work harder.


As we can see in the image above the at low speeds there isn't sufficient airflow for the top flap to work at its full potential, the spirals represent airflow detachment which is when the airflow separates from the wing resulting in a loss of downforce.


The use of a Y100 Winglet / Monkey Seat as pictured above can remedy the airflow inconsistencies resulting in more low speed downforce.

Of course these images are only to show you how it works and aren't directly representative of any of the teams solutions, as each approaches the solution differently depending on their current configuration and when they want peak downforce. We are of course seeing teams using Monkey Seats all the time this season, that's because they are trying to utilise the exhaust plume that is within the vicinity, increasing the net effect and mitigating the loss of the beam wing.

Mercedes WO5

Mercedes arrived in Monaco with a new Y100 Winglet / Monkey Seat, designed to extract further performance, downforce and balance from the WO5. Their new Monkey Seat is a further development from the one tested by the team after the Spanish GP.

Above: The team tested a new Monkey Seat at the post Spanish GP test, as we can see there are changes to the endplates (curved at their base) whilst the addition of two extra winglets above the exhaust to invoke the exhaust plume to upwash and are covered in high temperature paint.

For Monaco the team have made further revisions with the Monkey Seat featuring much taller endplates and an additional horizontal winglet placed at the top of it which help to control how the airflow upwashes and interacts with the rear wing (without this the upwash may be too steep and interact with the rear wing too early).

This season the teams are using the centreline exhaust in conjunction with the Monkey Seat in order to extract more downforce, it's a design principle that McLaren followed from the start of their campaign and many have assimilated. The idea is that the exhaust plumes low pressure high energy flow pulls the airflow through or past any bodywork that's placed within it's proximity. (In the case of McLaren their Venturi shaped pylon support which surrounds the exhaust) Mercedes have designed their new endplates with a curvature at the bottom of them in order to condition and isolate the flow to do similar, this is important as they've now extended their sidepod outlets to exit inline with the main central cooling outlet (amended for the Spanish GP).

The additional winglets added above the exhaust that the team tested at Barcelona have been covered in high temperature paint (likely Zircotec) as these will invariably get hot due to their continuous interaction with the exhaust plume.

All of these changes were made in order to create flow structures that allow the diffuser and rear wing to work in unison and create more low speed downforce. 

Red Bull RB10

The chase for downforce is still on for the team that everyone else believes to have the most in hand, with the team adding a new upper winglet to complement the lower one the team have been using so far this season. Having decided to run a Y100 winglet under the exhaust and just below where the old beam wing used to run the team were/are clearly looking to enhance the way in which the diffuser interacts with the exhaust.

The introduction of the higher Y100 winglet which sits astride their regular one looks to create further interaction with the underside of the rear wing, whilst undoubtedly utilising the exhaust plume as it exits below it.








Lotus

Having added a Monkey Seat at the Spanish GP the team revised its design for Monaco, introducing a secondary tier. The two winglet approach is used to discern extra upwash, with the slot between the two winglets helping the upper one overcome the more extreme angle of attack of the upper winglet.






Toro Rosso

Toro Rosso converged on McLaren's singular mounting pylon (Y-Lon) as few races ago with the intention of using the cylindrical section that wraps around the exhaust to pull airflow through and over the Sidepods (amendments were made to these too, in order to exploit this). Continuing along the same path as McLaren the team arrived in Monaco with a new Monkey Seat which hung off the rear of the cylindrical exhaust cover. The double tier winglet looks to exploit the airflow in this region, creating up wash that would help both the Diffuser and Rear Wing work more effectively together. 

You'll note however that Toro Rosso's design features endplates on each of the winglets, these are usually used to increase the aspect ratio of the winglets and further condition the airflow.







Sauber

The Swiss team had a plethora of updates for the C33 in Spain, not all of which can be seen as successful with the team still struggling. Monaco provides a vast difference in terms of aero balance when compared to Barcelona and so the team ploughed on with the same parts, trying to further understand where they'd gone wrong. 
Like all of the teams mentioned above Sauber decided to run with a Monkey Seat for Monaco, which although they were chasing performance I'm quite sure it would have offered the drivers a little more balance too.

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28 May 2014
Bite Size Tech: Lotus E22 Rear Wing endplate leading edge tyre wake slots - Monaco


As we can see from the image above Lotus arrived in Monaco with a new set of rear wing endplates, featuring slots in the leading edge.  These slots help to distribute pressure from the outside of the endplate inbound, making it more efficient.  (You'll also note that the thickness of the endplate around the slots on the leading edge has been reduced).  These tyre wake slots have featured on other cars since 2012 with some teams now utilising 2 per endplate but this is the first time that Lotus have ventured into this territory.
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27 May 2014
Bite Size Tech: Red Bull RB10 new nose camera position - Monaco


A clarification from FOM/FIA has forced Red Bull to change the design of their nose/camera mountings, with the team adopting a similar 'handlebar' solution to Mercedes and Ferrari (above).  Red Bull had pushed the regulations for several reasons, namely because the wording was/is ambiguous and so opened the door for interpretation.  Not having the camera's placed on the side of the nosecone led to aero neutrality that simply cannot be had with them there.  Red Bull also realised that last season the FOM cameras gave away information they'd rather not be seen.  We had the Y250 vortex showing up on the rearward facing camera along with the flexing of the splitter stay I talked about at length during 2013 (below)


The hidden camera's used in the first 5 rounds on the RB10 didn't allow for any rear facing imagery to be caught, whilst the small peephole carved into the noses vanity panel didn't afford any great footage either.  The cynical tech analyst/writer in me would argue that per the regulations FOM agreed to the hidden arrangement, believing that Red Bull would once again run away with the title and so onboard footage wasn't a necessity. However with Red Bull left chasing the Mercedes boys that chase footage would be now welcomed and has led to a climb down on their behalf.

Red Bull's adoption of the 'handlebar' configuration is in all likelihood due to wanting to get the camera/camera mounts out of the way, mis-aligning them with the upper suspension elements, a tactic probably best employed by Mercedes, with Ferrari's placed within their path, dirtying the airflow further.
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22 May 2014

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