FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[The Planet Steve]

To me McLaren's F-Duct seems to be a pointless idea. I doesn't seem to give them much more speed on the straights and surely it creates an aerodynamic disadvantage for the rest of the lap because it is creating a pocket of air. Isn't it possible it could also create a distraction for the driver too because he needs to concentrate on keeping his knee in the correct place.

Any thoughts?

[darwin dali]

To me McLaren's F-Duct seems to be a pointless idea. I doesn't seem to give them much more speed on the straights and surely it creates an aerodynamic disadvantage for the rest of the lap because it is creating a pocket of air. Isn't it possible it could also create a distraction for the driver too because he needs to concentrate on keeping his knee in the correct place.

Any thoughts?

They sure didn't look faster on the long straights in Malaysia than the Force India (LH - AS ), but generally they have the highest speed trap readings.
The knee thing shouldn't be a biggie: I reckon if they don't do the knee thing, nothing would happen, they'd be simply a couple miles/h slower on the straight.

[fets81]

the f-duct was 2 years in development which is why they are so supprised that other teams think they could copy it and place it in their car so soon and also I would assume with that amount of development they would of taken into account the effect the opening would have on the car when not in use

[bud]

what the F duct does is it forces air onto the rear wing, by closing the duct its taking away downforce so for the rest of the lap its not causing any disadvantage what so ever.

[cap-dude]

No disadvantage in terms of distraction. They had KERS last year and I doubt drivers had issue with pressing a little button every now and again.

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

Force India's low-tech solution for Sepang was just to run a smaller wing. They traded downforce in the twisties for more straight line speed. Hambone's trap speeds have been the highest at every race so far this year. At Sepang, his 303 kph reportedly was fastest of all by 6 kph. No clue why he should be so much faster than his teammate. His advantage over JB at Melbourne was much smaller.

[bud]

Force India's low-tech solution for Sepang was just to run a smaller wing. They traded downforce in the twisties for more straight line speed. Hambone's trap speeds have been the highest at every race so far this year. At Sepang, his 303 kph reportedly was fastest of all by 6 kph. No clue why he should be so much faster than his teammate. His advantage over JB at Melbourne was much smaller.

Different setup would be why.....

Jenson complains of balance issues he is probably running slightly more rear wing.

[Dj_polly12]

Dont know much about the f-duct... but if a small pocket of air is created, it should be a good thing, as air passes over air faster and creates more pressure creating downforce than any mechanical structure can???

[vaptin]

Ferrari say they've now got one?

[QKS]

Sauber said they have one... but I can't see it... and they are still so slow....

[bud]

its said to have taken McLaren 2 years to have developed, also the chassis is built around it apparently so i find it hard to see another team just throw one on and make it work as well.

[madbrad]

How is a changeable/movable aero device allowed?
Can anybody tell me the specifics of this device and what it looks like and what it's supposed to do, etc?

[bud]

How is a changeable/movable aero device allowed?
Can anybody tell me the specifics of this device and what it looks like and what it's supposed to do, etc?

Ever since the car's launch, the MP4-25's sophisticated aero package has attracted a lot of attention. The airbox is split into two channels. The lower one (bottom blue arrow) is designed to cool the gearbox radiator. The hot air expelled then hits the exit edge of the lower beam wing and diffuser (see small red arrows). The upper channel (top blue arrow) feeds air through the long fin that connects to the rear wing. The air is then expelled on to the wing's flap through a slot at a certain speed. These two processes combine to stall the rear wing at high speeds, reducing drag and hence increasing maximum speed. There is a clever solution to control the system. A duct has been placed at the front of the chassis, which feeds additional air into the process, over saturating it and stopping it functioning. On the straights, where this solution is most important, the drivers have the ability to close the duct with either their left leg or arm.

[QKS]

I don't see any arrows

[madbrad]

An animation made it appear to me air gets spilled from that duct through a slot in the middle of the wing exiting the back of the wing and disturbing the flow there, causing stall. Am I seeing wrong?
How does the F duct get it's name? Does it stand for "F*** Bernie, we're going to screw with the aerodynamics!"?