Mugello Testing May 1-3 2012

[Jabberwocky]

When you think of the funding and lack of testing they are not that far off the pace really.

[acosmichippo]

to be fair, if I knew there was job security I would work for HRT, because I bet you would feel as if you made a difference. where as if you worked for the big teams you would be a small part of a big machine. With HRT I get the feeling it is more of an enthusiasts 1960's style of team which I kinda like

There wouldn't be job security in the sense of keeping your job. HRT probably don't have the best financial situation on the grid...

I think that was his point. The lack of job security would keep him from working for them.

[spankyham]

A picture taken towards the very end of the last afternoon of testing at Mugello of the McLaren. Definitely a different nose and seems to be moving towards the F2012 style IMO.

[calvins48]

A picture taken towards the very end of the last afternoon of testing at Mugello of the McLaren. Definitely a different nose and seems to be moving towards the F2012 style IMO.

Yeah, what's up with that?

Can't wait to hear Ted Kravitz analyse that one!

[bud]

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 07992.html

[Jabberwocky]

interesting it is like a mild form of the platy nose

[bud]

interesting it is like a mild form of the platy nose

Their chassis bulk head is lower than the other teams so this test nose is the highest it can go owithout needing to change their chassis design.

[What's Burning?]

We'll see soon enough if it was more than a test. There's more changes below the car than above it with that nose.

[scotty]

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh says McLaren is likely to switch to the new high nose design it trialled on the final afternoon of in-season testing at Mugello.

The new nose is far higher at the front than the original design, and features significantly longer pillars - effectively bringing it far closer to the stepped designs used by the rest of the field.

While McLaren only trialled the high nose in the final hours at Mugello, Whitmarsh said during a Vodafone phone-in on Wednesday that the team would run the design again in Barcelona, and that it was reasonable to expect it to remain on the car for the race.

"There's a reasonable chance we will see it on Sunday, which will be the first time our drivers experience it," Whitmarsh said.

"We got a lot of feedback from Mugello, so we have the data to set it up and can find the performance on track."

Asked about the philosophy behind the new design, Whitmarsh said the higher nose helped manage the airflow directed to the rear of the car.

"Classically of course you are looking for lower drag and higher downforce, but be aware that nowadays incremental improvements are generally modest," he said.

"In the case of the nose and front wing the attachment pylons are quite different and there are other subtle differences.

"You are managing the airflow that is enjoyed by the rest of the car. Nowadays, in quite a critical part of the car you are looking to find very small improvements. [There are] a lot of restrictions around the back end of the car, so you generate more improvement by managing the flow that arrives there than by developing the rear itself."

Whitmarsh said he expected McLaren to prove competitive once again after its poor showing in Bahrain, but said it was impossible to be fully confident given how competitive 2012 has proved.

"I believe we will be competitive in Spain and going forward, but you don't know what other teams are going to do," he said. "I think great thing about this sport is you can never been fully confident you understand everything.

"[We] have a car clearly able to be on front row in each of the first four races and therefore the pace is inherently there. We are working to continuously develop the car, but you can never be confident that other teams won't up their game and give you harder time.

"We had an interesting data gathering test at Mugello, and we will see at Barcelona but we expect to put that knowledge to good use."

[Hammer278]

I recall Whitmarsh defending the low nose in winter testing saying "We have a lower centre of gravity to play with bla bla bla"....now it's turned to "it helps to direct airflow to the rear"...okay, both are reasonable analysis and I assume it's about finding that balance between the two advantages.

[calvins48]

I recall Whitmarsh defending the low nose in winter testing saying "We have a lower centre of gravity to play with bla bla bla"....now it's turned to "it helps to direct airflow to the rear"...okay, both are reasonable analysis and I assume it's about finding that balance between the two advantages.

McLaren have an advantage with their sloped nose because they have the choice of favouring a higher nose or a lower nose. Other teams are pretty much stuck with the stepped, higher nose.

[bud]

I recall Whitmarsh defending the low nose in winter testing saying "We have a lower centre of gravity to play with bla bla bla"....now it's turned to "it helps to direct airflow to the rear"...okay, both are reasonable analysis and I assume it's about finding that balance between the two advantages.

Even now the nose is still lower, the chassis bulk head hasn't changed thus so kick.

Personally I think it's made the car look ugly now.

[LewEngBridewell]

I recall Whitmarsh defending the low nose in winter testing saying "We have a lower centre of gravity to play with bla bla bla"....now it's turned to "it helps to direct airflow to the rear"...okay, both are reasonable analysis and I assume it's about finding that balance between the two advantages.

Even now the nose is still lower, the chassis bulk head hasn't changed thus so kick.

Personally I think it's made the car look ugly now.

Well if that's ugly, what's the Ferrari?

[stonemonkey]

I recall Whitmarsh defending the low nose in winter testing saying "We have a lower centre of gravity to play with bla bla bla"....now it's turned to "it helps to direct airflow to the rear"...okay, both are reasonable analysis and I assume it's about finding that balance between the two advantages.

Even now the nose is still lower, the chassis bulk head hasn't changed thus so kick.

Personally I think it's made the car look ugly now.

It's still not as high as it could be either, they still have the advantage of the low cog behind the bulkhead and if they can get better airflow under the nose then it looks good to me. At least it's some nice curves.