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[darwin dali]

You know what, that picture is from 2010 .... Look at Seb's helmut... hmmm

But the point is still there I guess

And the shark fin from last year as well.
Pat has a valid point though: could be the wing flap controls.

[bud]

I think that you may find that cable is what is used, to activate the adjustable flap angle on the front wings last year.......

Pat

that's a bingo

[acosmichippo]

but like i said earlier, i do remember seeing cables dangling off of the broken nose of the car - not the wing itself, but the chassis. I'll try and grab a screenshot from iPlayer...

edit:

ok, here it is. it's much different than in the previous pic. Much more "wire-y" than "cable-y".

[stonemonkey]

True, but my point is the cable would not be functional during the flex tests, so why bother?

I agree, that's why I described it as a bow being flexed by a cable instead of those adorable plastic toy animals stonemonkey linked . If the wing is tested and there's no flex, then there is no flex and there's no moveable wing according to the test. That image spanky posted is certainly not good enough to make an accusation, but regardless, I'm sure we're not the only ones talking about that, as it was probably noticed by a number of other teams.

Think about how those toys work though, there's a spring inside applying tension to the string so normally the toy is rigid, only when something presses against the spring to compress it does the tension in the string drop and the toy goes all floppy, like Vettels wing in the moments before he hit Button in Spa.

Of course, now it's been pointed out that it's from last years car it may just be something to do with the movable flap.

[bud]

but like i said earlier, i do remember seeing cables dangling off of the broken nose of the car - not the wing itself, but the chassis. I'll try and grab a screenshot from iPlayer...

edit:

ok, here it is. it's much different than in the previous pic. Much more "wire-y" than "cable-y".

Looks like telemetry sensor wires.

[Jabberwocky]

maybe it is a tensioned cable that measures the wing loading?

cables to tyre temp sensors?

Don't redbull have TV cameras in the front wing?

[Fred_C_Dobbs]

If it's cables, it could be made from Spectra or similar. But I think it's a bit of a rush to judgment to conclude the dangly bits have anything to do with the flexy front wing.

[acosmichippo]

Yeah, I'd bet it's telemetry-related. I'm sure we'd have heard an uproar by now if it wasn't.

[bigpat]

but like i said earlier, i do remember seeing cables dangling off of the broken nose of the car - not the wing itself, but the chassis. I'll try and grab a screenshot from iPlayer...

edit:

ok, here it is. it's much different than in the previous pic. Much more "wire-y" than "cable-y".

Looks like telemetry sensor wires.

That's a bingo......

The adjustable front wings would have a potentiometer in the endplate, to gauge, and regulate the movement of the flap.

As for the on board camera, they are housed in the black aerofoil shaped unit above the support pillars. Once again, RB were the first to optimise their beautifully integrated positioning to advantageously direct airflow over th rest of the car. One of the little one per centers that all add up to a faster car.....

[spankyham]

but like i said earlier, i do remember seeing cables dangling off of the broken nose of the car - not the wing itself, but the chassis. I'll try and grab a screenshot from iPlayer...

edit:

ok, here it is. it's much different than in the previous pic. Much more "wire-y" than "cable-y".

Looks like telemetry sensor wires.

That's a bingo......

The adjustable front wings would have a potentiometer in the endplate, to gauge, and regulate the movement of the flap.

As for the on board camera, they are housed in the black aerofoil shaped unit above the support pillars. Once again, RB were the first to optimise their beautifully integrated positioning to advantageously direct airflow over th rest of the car. One of the little one per centers that all add up to a faster car.....

The pic is from Turkey this year and front wings are not adjustable this year... hmmm

No need for camera wires running through the pillars to the wing, and can't be for tyres, so not sure what those wires would be there for.

[spankyham]

Here's another pic showing multiple "meaty" wires in the front wing ....

red_bull_rb7_aleron_delantero_11-300x200.jpg

[bigpat]

Ok, I didn't realize that pic was from last weekend.

They could still be telemetry wires, possibly for infra red sensors for tyre temp. The rear of the endplate seems an ideal spot to mount them. So they could be those wires, or just strips of carbon tow / shard. In any case they are too thin to be of any use for a tensioning device, to droop the nose which would be plainly against the rules. You can't explain away it's primary purpose as anything else, can you.......

I really think the idea of tensioning devices, electro activated devices is over the top. The FIA aren't that dumb, and neither are other teams. Believe me, with all the advanced aero, and materials, at the end of the day, the teams want an easily, and repeatably tunable race car. Look at all the systems used to adjust suspension, aero etc. They are all made SIMPLE to be quick and as error free as possible to do. The KISS philosophy is strong even if F1. They aren't a difficult car to work on, from what I've seen of them up close, and I mean REALLY close......

As for the on-board camera, I realize they would not need wires down there if they used the cameras as mounted. I never said they came down through the pillars...

[stonemonkey]

It's the pic from last year that I'm more suspicious about, these pics from Turkey look to me like they could be for wing load sensors.

I always thought the cameras used were like the ones used in extreme sport stuff that are self contained and would be wirelessly connected to some hub in the car.

[scotty]

Just heard that they've tightened up the test for 2012, now the wing can flex no more than 10mm (previously 20mm) under a 100kg load.

[bigpat]

The million dollar questions are:
Where about on the wing is the load placed?
Is the wing plane itself tested, separate from the pillars, or is the entire nose/wing assembly tested, as mounted on the car?

I can see teams allowing movement where they mount on the pillars, as seen on-board Hamilton's car in Canada last year.....