F1 Season 2015 - Aerodynamic and Mechanical Updates - Volume I

AERODYNAMIC & MECHANICAL UPDATES 2015
GP D’AUSTRALIE McLaren MP4-24
THE F1-FORECAST.COM AERODYNAMIC & MECHANICAL

TECHNICAL FILES UPDATES 2015
F1 2015 Presentation
Winter Test Review
F1 Season 2015 | Dominique Madier

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Table of Contents F1 Season 2015
TABLE OF CONTENTS
1. INTRODUCTION 5
2. F1 2015 PRESENTATION & LAUNCH ANALYSIS 6

2.1 VIDEO - F1 2015 NOSE RULES - CRAIG SCARBOROUGH EXPLAINS 6
2.2 VIDEO - WILLIAMS FW37: CRAIG SCARBOROUGH'S FIRST THOUGHTS 7
2.3 VIDEO - LOTUS E23 HYBRID - SCARBS' FIRST TAKE 8
2.4 VIDEO - FERRARI FS15-T - SCARBS' ANALYSIS 9
2.5 VIDEO - MCLAREN MP4-30 - SCARBS' FIRST LOOK 10
2.6 VIDEO - MERCEDES F1 W06 - SCARBS BREAKDOWN FROM THE SHAKEDOWN 11
2.7 VIDEO - SAUBER C34-FERRARI - SCARBS' FIRST LOOK 12
2.8 VIDEO - FERRARI SF15-T VS F14T SUSPENSION WITH ENRIQUE SCALABRONI 13
2.9 MCLAREN MP4-30 - RESHAPED BRAKE DUCTS 14
2.10 MERCEDES F1 W06 HYBRID - RECONFIGURED FRONT SUSPENSION 15
2.11 LOTUS E23 HYBRID - UNIQUE AIR INTAKE CONFIGURATION 16
2.12 MCLAREN MP4-30 - HONDA POWER UNIT LAYOUT 17
2.13 RED BULL RB11 - NEW REAR SUSPENSION UPRIGHTS 19
2.14 WILLIAMS FW37 - STUB NOSE 20
2.15 FERRARI SF15-T LAUNCH ANALYSIS 21
2.16 MERCEDES W06 SHAKEDOWN, PRE-LAUNCH ANALYSIS 31
2.17 MCLAREN HONDA MP4-30 LAUNCH ANALYSIS 39
2.18 LOTUS E23 RENDER ANALYSIS 46
2.19 TOKENS, COMPARING POWERUNITS AND EQUALISATION 53
3. JEREZ WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW 70

3.1 VIDEO - JEREZ UPDATE 70
3.2 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - W06 MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS 71
3.3 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - SF15-T SCUDERIA FERRARI 72
3.4 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - FW37 WILLIAMS 73
3.5 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - MP4-30 MCLAREN-HONDA 74
3.6 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - RB11 RED BULL 75
3.7 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - STR10 SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO 76
3.8 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - LOTUS E23 HYBRID 77
3.9 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - SAUBER C34-FERRARI 78
3.10 A CLOSER LOOK AT MCLAREN'S NEW WHEEL RIMS 79
3.11 MERCEDES DITCHES LOG STYLE EXHAUST ON PU106B 81
3.12 THE REVIVAL OF THE BLOWN WHEEL NUT 83
3.13 JEREZ PRE-SEASON TESTING TECHNICAL IMAGE GALLERY - DAY 3 85
4. BARCELONA 1 WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW 132

Table of Contents F1 Season 2015
4.1 VIDEO - BARCELONA TEST 1 TECH ROUNDUP 132

4.2 SAUBER C34 - NEW REAR WING 133
4.3 NEW NOSE AND CAMERA MOUNTS FOR MERCEDES 134
4.4 MERCEDES W06 - REAR WING 135
4.5 MERCEDES W06 – COCKPIT FIN 137
4.6 BARCELONA 1 PRE-SEASON TESTING TECHNICAL IMAGE GALLERY - DAY 2 138
5. BARCELONA 2 WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW 205

5.1 FERRARI SF15-T - LATEST FRONT WING 205
5.2 FERRARI PUTS NEW FRONT WING IN USE AT MELBOURNE 206
5.3 WILLIAMS FW37 – NEW REAR WING 208
5.4 WILLIAMS FW37 – SIDEPOD AIRFLOW CONDITIONERS 213
5.5 MERCEDES W06 – NEW DIFFUSER AND Y100 GURNEYS 215
5.6 MERCEDES W06 – FRONT BRAKE SCOOP 217
5.7 MERCEDES W06 – CRASH STRUCTURE UPWASH FINS 218
5.8 MERCEDES W06 – SIDEPOD COOLING OUTLET AMENDMENTS 219
5.9 RED BULL RB11 – REAR WING LEADING EDGE ENDPLATE SLOTS 220
5.10 WILLIAMS FW37 – FRONT WING 225
5.11 SHORT NOSE AND NEW FRONT WING ADD DOWNFORCE ON STR10 227
5.12 TORO ROSSO STR10(B) 229

INTRODUCTION F1 Season 2015
1. INTRODUCTION
The purpose of this new report of the series « The Technical Files of F1-Forecast » is to present
some aerodynamic and mechanical updates of the Formula 1 of the 2015 season.
This Volume 1 presents the News F1 cars 2015 and the updates tested during the three winter
test sessions at Jerez and Barcelona.
The updates are presented with pictures, drawings, videos and comments coming from:
 Formula1.com web site (illustrations by Giorgio Piola): http://www.formula1.com

 Gary Anderson from http://www.autosport.com/f1 (illustrations by Giorgio Piola)
 The Racer’s Edge by Craig Scarborough: https://www.youtube.com/user/peterwindsor
 Steven De Groote from F1 Technical.net web site: http://www.f1technical.net/
 SomersF1 blog by Matt Somerfield: http://somersf1.blogspot.co.uk
 Pictures from http://www.formule1.nl, http://www.motorsport-magazin.com/, & http://www.sutton-
images.com/
F1-Forecast.com wishes you a good reading.
Dominique Madier
Webmaster F1-Forecast.com
Montreal – Canada – March 2015

F1 2015 PRESENTATION & LAUNCH ANALYSIS F1 Season 2015
2. F1 2015 PRESENTATION & LAUNCH ANALYSIS

2.1 VIDEO - F1 2015 NOSE RULES - CRAIG SCARBOROUGH EXPLAINS
From https://www.youtube.com/user/peterwindsor/videos
Click the picture below to launch the video

2.2 VIDEO - WILLIAMS FW37: CRAIG SCARBOROUGH'S FIRST THOUGHTS


2.3 VIDEO - LOTUS E23 HYBRID - SCARBS' FIRST TAKE


2.4 VIDEO - FERRARI FS15-T - SCARBS' ANALYSIS


2.5 VIDEO - MCLAREN MP4-30 - SCARBS' FIRST LOOK


2.6 VIDEO - MERCEDES F1 W06 - SCARBS BREAKDOWN FROM THE SHAKEDOWN


2.7 VIDEO - SAUBER C34-FERRARI - SCARBS' FIRST LOOK


2.8 VIDEO - FERRARI SF15-T VS F14T SUSPENSION WITH ENRIQUE SCALABRONI


2.9 MCLAREN MP4-30 - RESHAPED BRAKE DUCTS

[from http://www.formula1.com] - [illustrations by Giorgio Piola]
McLaren have redesigned their brake ducts for the new season. We take a closer look...
McLaren, like Ferrari, have opted for a very long and low nose concept on their 2015 car, which
is designed to work in tandem with the Red Bull-style front wing seen briefly in Abu Dhabi at the
end of last season. Another interesting feature at the front of the MP4-30 are the brake ducts
(see circled area), which utilise an unusual shape in order to improve cooling efficiency -
something that could be an important factor this year as the cars are expected to be faster than
in 2014. McLaren, like Ferrari and Red Bull, also utilise blown wheel hubs. The idea of these is to
bleed airflow from the brake duct through a duct in the centre of the axle to not only improve
cooling efficiency, but also to improve airflow around the front tyres.

2.10 MERCEDES F1 W06 HYBRID - RECONFIGURED FRONT SUSPENSION

Mercedes' F1 W05 hybrid was the class of the field in 2014. We investigate a subtle change at
the front of the Silver Arrows' latest challenger...
Mercedes' 2015 machine is best described as a radical evolution of last year's all conquering car,
with the major differences all in the detail. An example is the front suspension: while the lower
wishbone retains the unique wide plane shape used on the F1 W05 (which helped direct airflow
behind the front wheel), the top wishbone is totally different from last year. Not only is it
slimmer than in 2014, it no longer incorporates the steering link, which (as indicated by the red
arrows) has been moved down in front of the lower wishbone plane to lower the centre of
gravity.

2.11 LOTUS E23 HYBRID - UNIQUE AIR INTAKE CONFIGURATION

It's certainly distinctive, but what benefits will Lotus's new air intake configuration bring? We
investigate...
One of the stand-out features on Lotus's new E23 Hybrid is the airbox design, which is quite
revolutionary. As has been the trend in recent years, it features multiple cooling inlets - but
unlike other teams who have tended to place these either above or beside the main engine air
intake (see insets), Lotus have situated theirs much lower down the roll hoop structure.
Positioning them in this way should be much more efficient, resulting in both a reduction in drag
and a smoother passage of airflow to the rear wing.

2.12 MCLAREN MP4-30 - HONDA POWER UNIT LAYOUT

McLaren and Honda endured a fragmented pre-season test programme, with mechanical issues meaning they spent more time in
the garage than they did on track. However, the newly-reunited partners are determined to get on top of their early problems, and
once they do their unique power unit layout could pay dividends. We take an exclusive look under the skin of the MP4-30…
Before their return to F1 racing with McLaren this year, there was plenty of speculation about how Honda would choose to lay out
their new RA615H power unit.

The assumption was that the Japanese company would follow Mercedes’ ultra-successful
approach of positioning the compressor (highlighted in blue) and turbine (highlighted in red) at
either ends of the internal combustion engine with the MGU-H (upper green component) in the
middle.
The big advantage of this layout, as opposed to the approach used by Renault and Ferrari - who
chose to put the compressor and turbine next to each other and the MGU-H at the rear of the
engine - was that it reduced the unit’s cooling requirement whilst improving overall efficiency.
Honda, however, have chosen to follow a different approach to all three manufacturers,
positioning the MGU-H between the compressor and turbine at the rear of the engine, and the
MGU-K at the front. Whether this unique solution proves to be an ace up McLaren’s sleeve, or
indeed something of a hindrance, remains to be seen.

2.13 RED BULL RB11 - NEW REAR SUSPENSION UPRIGHTS

Red Bull presented their new car in a special 'camouflage' livery, but it couldn't conceal an
interesting update to the suspension uprights...
Suspension arms and their attachments to the upright are becoming more and more integral to
an F1 car's aero package, and nowhere is this more evident than on Red Bull's new RB11.
On the team's 2015 machine, the plate to fix the top wishbone to the upright is not only wider,
it also has a plane profile to work in synergy with the rear brake duct. As the image shows, this
helps improve airflow around the rear tyres (blue arrows), whilst the brake duct itself aids the
extraction of the hot air from the brakes (red arrows).

2.14 WILLIAMS FW37 - STUB NOSE

Williams are one of the few teams to have retained a protuberance on the nose of their 2015
car. We investigate why...
In order to improve the look of the cars, new rules have been introduced this season which
state that the cross sectional area of the nose must be at least 9,000 mm2, broadening to
20,000 mm2 further back.
However, whilst this has consigned the ugly protruding noses of 2014 to history, there are still
variations in the approaches teams have taken. As pictured, Williams have kept a 9,000 mm2
'stub' at the front of their nose cone, an approach in contrast to most other teams. Using a stub
such as this should improve airflow underneath the nose and central section of the car towards
the diffuser at the rear.

2.15 FERRARI SF15-T LAUNCH ANALYSIS

[From SomersF1 blog by Matt Somerfield: http://somersf1.blogspot.co.uk]
Ferrari's racing pedigree has been called into question over the last few years, with the team
unable to hold a candle to the aerodynamic efficiency of the Red Bull machines. 2014 was
supposed to be a game changer with Enzo's famous statement: "Aerodynamics are for those
that can't build engines" ringing loudly around Maranello. Unfortunately for the late Enzo
Ferrari his beloved scarlet team failed on that front too and now the team have to play catch up
on both fronts.
The regulations don't really allow for radical new concepts and so each of the 2015 challengers
really represent an evolution of what came before it, the SF15-T is no exception.

Although Ferrari's 2014 nose design was close to some intepretations of the 2015 nose
regulations the team have changed their design, opting for an elongated nosecone that extends
over the front wings neutral section. Very similar to the McLaren MP4-30's in shape the nose tip
is a wide circular protrusion with very little in terms of height, making the 9000mm2 cross
section 50mm behind the tip a letterbox shape. The length when compared to last seasons
means that the linear taper from the bulkhead to nosetip prohibits the use of the handlebar
style FOM camera mounts, leaving them to be mounted on the side of the nosecone.

The pull rod suspension is retained but as predicted by some of my colleagues the team have
tried to assimilate the Mercedes conjoined lower wishbone idea (yellow). The idea of which is to
reduce the suspension impact on the airflows route to the sidepod/sidepod inlets and how it
interacts with the front wing upwash. Underneath the nose/chassis we find a similar set turning
vanes the team have run before.

The area around the sidepods has become intesely scrutinised over the last few years as teams
try to maximise not only cooling performance via the inlets but also leverage an aerodynamic
advantage from the sidepod undercut (the shape of which can have an affect on the floor
performance), bargeboards, sidepod airflow conditioners, leading edge slats and cockpit fins. In
the case of the SF15-T the bargeboards initially caught my eye as they are split in two with the
most forward ones (yellow) leading edge leaning away from the chassis, attempting to capture
more airflow as it passes by the splitter etc. Meanwhile the secondary bargeboard (green) looks
to recover any boundary layer loss that may occur by having a high angle, longer single version.
The vertical sidepod airflow conditioner in blue seems outwardly similar to the one used on the

predecessor but there are some changes, firstly it doesn't extrude from the cars floor, instead
(like the ones run late on in 2014 on the Mercedes W05) it extends outwardly from the
secondary bargeboard, clearing the floor of an unnecessary element, making it easier to deal
with the floor downstream. The vertical section of the airflow conditioner has seemingly been
orientated inward too, much like we have seen Red Bull do before changing how the tyre wake
influences this area in yaw. As per its predeccesor the airflow conditioner also arcs over the
sidepods shoulder to form a leading edge slat that terminates at the cockpit surround (the team
use this as a way of increasing sidepod performance). You'll also note from this image that the
sidepod inlet has also been lent backwards (at its base) increasing the undercut and maximising
the inlet cross section. The shaped mirror stalks (purple) at present seem unchanged from the
F14-T.
The sidepods are a crucial design consideration and Ferrari like most last season took several
stabs at trying to get this right, perhaps settling in the end for a half way house configuration
based on their cooling and aero objectives. The SF15-T's sidepods are an evolution of last
seasons design with an emphasis on slimming the coke bottle region and increasing the cooling
outlet length to fall inline with the engine cover outlet. Meanwhile the engine cover has
undergone a similar evolution with the engine cover slimmed and a larger fin present, whilst at
the rear of the car a larger cooling outlet is used to encompass the exhaust and cooling
requirements. The cooling solution used throughout 2014 that lines the spine of the engine
cover is also retained.

The airbox has recieved a small update, retaining the trapezoidal airbox inlet shape but adding
two much smaller inlets into the face of the roll hoops undercut. Also worth noting from this
forward view are the small eyelets either side of the roll hoops headrest which I'd imagine have
more of an aerodynamic purpose than a physical.

The rear wing is supported by a singular centre pylon which follows the trend the team adopted
during2014, utilising a swan neck connection to the DRS actuator pod, the idea of which is to
minimize the disturbance to the underside of the mainplane. Mounted on this we find another
swan neck support, this time being used to hang the Y100 winglet off of, its design is fairly
similar to one the team used in 2014 but has been altered to enhance how the exhaust plume
interacts with the diffuser below and rear wing above. The wedge shape I have highlighted in
front of the pylon is fixed to it but is much narrower than the pylon, in order that it matches
with the engine cover it butts upto.

The rear wing endplates have more holes than a piece of swiss cheese, all of which are designed
to utilize the pressure gradients of surrounding air structures and either assist them in
generating downforce or reduce drag in general. The blue circle shows the team are continuing
to assess the mainplane gradient slots they trialed last season having seen Red Bull use them
earlier in the season, in summary they assist the mainplane by allowing airflow inbound,
maximizing the wings aspect ratio (especially in yaw). A new solution (red circle) also appears at
the base of the the wings endplates, these louvres are placed in a particurlarly sensitive area
before the vertical strakes and above the diffuser, suggesting the team are trying to further
enhance the upwash from the diffuser. The trailing edge of the endplates also feature a fairly
blunt gurney strip, which will of course change how the airflow moves around the whole
structure.

Some have long called into question the diffuser design employed by Ferrari an area it seems
the team have focused some of their attention. The outer walls of Ferrari diffusers in the past
have tended to be quite boxy with only a small radius in the upper corner but as we can see in
this image the team have clearly moved toward a shallower outer section much in the same
vein as Red Bull's. In his video explaining the SF15-T, James Allison talks about the delta
between designing with peak downforce (how previous diffusers used by Ferrari could be
explained) vs more usable downforce over a wider operating window and it's pretty clear that
the changes to the diffuser have been done to cater for this.

In the tyre deck area we can see that the team have opted for some changes, a curved vertical
strake now divides the section between the the edge of the floor and sidepod, which will roll up
the airflow that comes into contact with it. Meanwhile in favour of the teams usual 3 tyre squirt
slots ahead of the rear wheels the team have chosen to follow Red
Bull, Mercedes and McLaren with a raised dog leg slot. The way these devices condition the
airflow in the region is pivotal to the diffusers performance, as invariably they control how the
dynamic changes of the tyre affect the airflow.
The Ferrari powerunit clearly had some issues during 2014 and so the team are eager to
continue developing what they have. The opportunity to spend the development tokens
throughout 2015 rather than homologate in February is a short term win for Ferrari, who are
clearly behind schedule.
"Our objective, in term of tokens, is really to spend only few at the start of the season, to
maintain a significant opportunity of developments during the season," Binotto added. "The
current 2015 PU has already gain a significant amount of performance, and we will keep pushing
during the entire season."
This is directly opposed to the route being taken by Mercedes and Renault who will spend the
majority of their tokens before the season commences meaning the offset in performance could
see Ferrari struggle in the opening part of the season. Furthermore with drivers only able to use
4 powerunit during 2015 and a total of 20 (maybe 19 if Germay is lost too) races on the calender
it means changes can only be made to the powerunit alongside the scheduled PU change (every
4-5 races) meaning the first time Ferrari will be able to update the PU will be Bahrain/Spain or
sacrifice a PU for their driver.

2.16 MERCEDES W06 SHAKEDOWN, PRE-LAUNCH ANALYSIS

Mercedes arrive in 2015 with a target painted on their back, having led the way throughout
2014. It's still widely regarded they'll continue to lead the way and with good reason, the W05
was an astonishing car when compared with the rest of the field.
Development in F1 is relentless and although the W06 is an evolution rather than revolution,
90% of the car will have changed, making for a more efficient machine.

As per the regulation changes the team had to redesign the nose and like Lotus have opted to
use the widest (140mm) but shallowest 9000mm2 cross section at 50mm behind the nose tip
(yellow) that the rules permit. Whilst the 20000mm2 cross section 100mm behind this allows
for not only a smooth transition of the noses upper surface but also allows for expansion under
the nose (like a Venturi). The nose itself is the shortest the regulations permit at 850mm putting
the neutral section ahead of the nose, meanwhile the connecting pylons flank the 140mm nose
section with the first 50mm of the nose shaped to increase the tip height, bringing fresh
meaning to turning you nose up at someone.
The nose tapers outward to the chassis behind (purple), of which the most forward section of
the chassis starts the slope down to the nose, a trend started with the W05 but increased with
the W06. This allows the team to retain the handlebar configuration on which the FOM cameras
are placed (blue).
The narrowing of the nose means that from the front view the turning vanes (green) now
appear to stick outward but still run parallel to the centreline, dealing with not only oncoming
airflow but wheel wake and how the two interact.

Although the W05 ran with scooped brake ducts the car that emerged at the Silverstone
shakedown featured scoopeless front brake ducts (yellow). It'll therefore be interesting to see
an exposed shot of the brakes ducts to see how temperature and airflow is being distributed

between the disc, caliper and out through the wheel face. Note the vanes added toward the
trailing edge of the scoop too (green).

The Sidepods inlets seem to allow for a slightly deeper undercut, whilst this test car also has a
new arrangement on the upper leading edge, reminiscent of last years vortex generators,
cockpit fins and airflow conditioners configuration the team have now also added a leading
edge slat that's mounted between the cockpit and outer vortex generator, whilst the inner one
mounts upon this. The idea of the slat is to compensate for the sidepods shape change
downstream, mitigating any additional boundary layer build up or lift being generated
throughout the speed range.
The rear of the Sidepods feature the same elongated outlets (past/through the suspension
elements) the latter spec ran by the team featured. However the geometry of the section just
before the suspension allows for a larger undercut into the coke bottle region, whilst the upper
surface now aligns more closely with the upper wishbone.
Perhaps taking some cues from their buddies over at Williams the team have also managed to
slim down the engine cover, increasing the size of the shark fin. The small outlets placed along
the spine of the engine cover find a new home slightly further back / lower than before, most
likely due to the re shaping of the engine cover.

The airbox and roll over hoop has seen some amendments with the central airbox inlet and ad-
hoc airbox ears that the W05 used throughout 2014 making way for an enlarged airbox inlet
which is horizontally split into two, with the upper duct likely feeding the oil coolers the ears
once took care of. The roll hoop has been on a diet with the twin spar arrangement making way
for a slimmer singular one.
I'm quite sure we'll see more changes to the W06 ahead of the season opener in Australia so as
always keep your eyes peeled on the blog as I'll keep you updated with any developments.


2.17 MCLAREN HONDA MP4-30 LAUNCH ANALYSIS

McLaren and Honda have shared a winning partnership in the past that both would love to
rekindle, 2015 therefore represents a first step toward the team returning to winning ways. I've
made my thoughts clear in the past that McLaren (and indeed Ferrari) lost their way after
SpyGate, something that can be seen from the results post 2008. On top of this the sport has
since undergone a change in ethos, something the two giants of the sport were perhaps un-
prepared for in terms of resources and personnel, with more focus on CFD and Wind Tunnel
testing rather than pounding around test tracks.
2015 can therefore be seen as a reset for McLaren, 2014 being an interim year where they
phased out their 21 year relationship with Mercedes-Benz who'd provided the team with
success throughout, making way for Honda to once again supply them as a works team.
Aero had been highlighted as a problem area for the team over the last few years and so effort
has been made to restructure that department with Peter Prodromou re-joining the fold from
Red Bull Racing as chief engineer, whilst Honda themselves will be keen to help as best they can,
with the Japanese marque likely to have retained a small working group to focus on the
technical regulations.
Having made the jaunt from Milton Keynes to Woking, Peters hand in the design philosophy
started to bear fruit toward the end of 2014 with the team trialing a Red Bull-esque front wing
in Abu Dhabi. The MP4-30 render shows a very similar design and so we can surely expect an
evolution of this concept throughout 2015.
The nose as we have seen already from previous launches has exposed several different design
concepts, all of which have tried to minimise the nose length, exposing the neutral section of
the front wing to a less disturbed airflow pattern that can be manipulated by the structure
above. McLaren however have increased their nose beyond the front wing neutral section but
opted for the widest (140mm) but shortest section 50mm behind the tip, similarly with the
20000mm2 cross section 100mm aft of this, making for a steady nose incline, close to what the
FIA intended. What we must remember is that this is an early render of the MP4-30 and
McLaren may intend to introduce a fresh nose later on when they can pass the crash test
(passing the crash test for a shorter nose presents more issues, as the impact must be
decelerated over a shorter period).

The widest possible front wing pylons have been retained and are sculpted in much the same
way as the cars predecessor with the trailing edge positioned inboard.
The camera mounts have been positioned at the top of the nose, in a similar vein to the
handlebar approach used by Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull last season, albeit not as
pronounced as the regulations don't permit that. Although it has (as Mercedes did in 2014)
required the team to slope the upper surface of the chassis in order to meet with the nose (as is
noted by the large access/vanity panel).
The turning vanes aren't shown in the render so it'll be interesting to see what these look like
during testing.
Typical of McLaren the airbox has been divided up into 2 horizontal sections with one feeding
the engine and the other an assortment of oil coolers.


The sidepods are definitely an improvement on last season as we know were bloated based not
only on the original concept but also the orientation and number of radiators/intercoolers in
use. It'll be interesting to see a naked MP4-30 in the coming weeks to see how the layout differs
from last year. Meanwhile the space ahead and on top of the sidepods is proliferated by a
similar array of vortex generators, cockpit fins, bargeboards, airflow conditioners we saw the
team use throughout 2014, this is an area we may see evolve during testing. The rear of the
sidepods is where they have lost the most bloat though with the upper cannons deleted, leading
to a lower and much slimmer set of cooling outlets, increasing the free space in the coke bottle
region.
Interestingly at the rear of the car the splayed suspension layout used to mount the 'wishbone
wings' upon seems to have been retained (marked in yellow), now whether that is to do with
understanding that suspension geometry or whether the wings will be added later remains to
be seen.
The rear wing has lost some of the extension of the strakes that were used on the MP4-29 but
what is most apparent is the lack of central support pylon, much like the Williams FW36/7 (are
they going to try and do what I believe Williams were doing with theirs in 2014 too though?).
Without the Beam Wing this puts an onus on the rigidity of the endplates, although like Williams
they actually ran a floor level beam wing in 2014. Without the centralised pylon the hydraulic
pipework associated with DRS must also be passed through the endplates which also house the
actuators (like the Mercedes W03) as no centre pod actuator is present.

The mini strakes used at stages last season to control how the vortex was shed off the trailing
edge of the endplate are back (green), whilst the gradient slots used by Red Bull at the start of
2014 and then trialled by Ferrari late in the season have also emerged (red), which assist in
creating consistent downforce whilst reducing drag. At the German GP last season the team
introduced a new rear wing which used Tubercleson the trailing edge of the mainplane and
leading edge of the top flap (yellow), which also appear on the render.

As always seems to be the case with McLaren they provide a launch render and then provide a
360 degree application that shows elements that appose the render. In the case of the MP4-30
this seems to centre around the rear wings design with the 360 showing a centralised swan neck
pylon extending out of the engine cover (much like Red Bull's later designs did in 2014) and a
new Y100 winglet (much the same as the Red Bull design again, albeit mounted on the crash
structure rather than another lower winglet) whilst the leading edge tyre wake slot used on the
MP4-29 is also present along with the extended endplate strakes.
Much has been made of the token system and Honda's return, especially as how it would have
been so unfair that the manufacturer not be able to develop throughout the season like the
others. However where Honda did/does have one advantage over the other manufacturers is
that they return in a year where variable inlet trumpets are allowed, something that the 2014
powerunits didn't feature. Had the FIA allowed carte blanche to Honda (ie the full 32 token
allocation) they'd have saved many over their counterparts who have to make the changes to
assimilate them. I'm not by any means saying that variable inlets are a game changer but they
do offer a performance advantage whereby you can smooth the powerband, which may have
been being done by the turbo, MGU-H, MGU-K, fuelling etc configurations last season, freeing
up development scope.
I look forward to seeing what the McLaren-Honda partnership can achieve, will it have success
in 2015? It would need an extraordinary leap but never say never.

2.18 LOTUS E23 RENDER ANALYSIS

Lotus have surprised us all this afternoon with an impromptu showing of their 2015 challenger
the E23. Powered by Mercedes in 2015 the Enstone squad which have had success with Renault
down the years made the switch to the German marque having lost 'works' status with Renault
to Red Bull, with the Renault unit reportedly the most expensive on the grid it made sense for
the team to seek a unit that can help them challenge for the 2015 titles.

Starting at the front of the car we can see that Lotus have chosen a slightly different route in
terms of the nose construction compared to the 'thumb' designs we are expecting many to
produce. The new regulations were bought in to try and curtail the gentleman style appendages
our eyes were assaulted with in 2014, but as the nose is a key design parameter in the cars
concept much care will have been taken in the redesigns. Many will have you believe that mass
flow is the answer as you must get as much flow to the leading edge of the floor as possible and
although this is true to an extent, it's the quality of flow that is much more important. Initially
looking at the E23 I was reminded of Enstones last championship winning cars, the R25 and R26
which featured a similar low nose, tapered concept.

You'll note that Lotus have looked to keep the shortest crash structure possible (850mm) so that
the pylons can be mounted off the rear end of the front wings neutral section, maximising how
it interacts with the nose structure. This is a challenge itself as this requires a much shorter
deformation area for the crash tests.
The tip of the nose tapers to meet with the 9000mm2 cross section regulation at 50mm behind
the tip, making for the smallest letterbox shape possible (140cm wide) whilst the 20000mm2
cross section 150mm in behind this is likely as high as the tapering regulations permit. I'd expect
the nose is sculpted out beneath the two areas. (Please note that this is not to scale so the point
150mm behind the tip is offset so you can see it better)
This makes for a much narrower nose than would normally be used, with most teams taking the
front wings mounting pylons to the 330mm width maximum and trying to use that to increase
the amount of flow that can be gathered centrally. In the most forward view we can see the full
impact of this decision as further downstream the nose assembly tapers out to meet with the
chassis, whilst underneath the chassis Red Bull esque Z shaped turning vanes will re-profile the
airflow moving toward the bargeboards and sidepod undercut, energizing the flow.
The sidepods are flanked by single piece sidepod airflow conditioners that arc over their
shoulder to form a leading edge slat that meets with the cockpit, just as its predecessors did.

In the render the sidepods seem to mirror the sort of profile the E22 had too, but in the
rearmost section it appears they have followed Red Bull and Mercedes path utilising cooling
cannons either side that extend through the suspension elements, terminating at the same
point as the cooling outlet above it.

Intriguingly the E23 features two airbox shoulder ducts that sit just a little lower than the airbox
itself, their purpose at the moment is unknown especially as the PU106 (Mercedes PU) seemed
to be the most thermally efficient of the bunch, however as we know changes for 2015 mean
the PU will produce more power and so may require a little more cooling. Their positioning
however does lead me to believe that they may be focused on cooling ancillary components
such as oil coolers (Turbo and Gearbox, marked on in yellow, something other teams have done
in the past, perhaps just not as dramatically).

At the rear of the car echoes of the late 2014 specification of the E22 with a symmetrical rear
wing mounting pylon inserted in the upper section of the engine cover which I'd be surprised
that there isn't like Red Bull an inverted Y-Lon which resides within, acting like an aspirator and
pulling the airflow through the engine cover. On the render no Y100 Winglet (Monkey Seat is
present).

2.19 TOKENS, COMPARING POWERUNITS AND EQUALISATION

2014 provided the backdrop for the most technologically advanced 'powerunit' ever to race in
Formula One, it might be suggested that 2015 should be a walk in the park then. That
assumption would be incorrect though and rather than be locked into frozen
development/homologation rules like the previous V8 era, the V6T's have much more scope in
terms of development. Firstly we must realise that both Ferrari and Red Bull (Renault) are
responsible for a shift in the original homologation framework, as they clearly languished
behind Mercedes in 2014 and decided to move the lines in the sand to try and close the deficit.
The original intention was that 2015's PU's would be homologated after pre-season testing just
as they had been in 2014, with the manufacturers able to spend up to 32 'tokens' improving
their powerunit from the 2014 iteration. Ferrari and Renault argued as there was no date in the
regulations pertaining to a 2015 homologation that they should be allowed to spend these
tokens thoughout the season too. With the date missing the FIA had no alternative but to agree,
so now we find ourselves back in a situation where in-season development is acceptable (within
the scope of the token system).

"I don't understand what is meant by a token system"

A powerunit is made up of 100's of components, but in order to simplify the homologation
process a matrix was drawn up, which combined this to 42 more manageable components that
act together to perform each function. These 42 components were then 'weighted' from 1-3
based on their importance within the powerunits infrastructure, giving a total of 66 weightable
items. 5 of these were immediately frozen upon homologation:
Upper/lower crankcase - Cylinder bore spacing, deck height, bank stagger – 2
Crankshaft - Crank throw, main bearing journal diameter, rod bearing journal – 2
Air valve system - Including compressor, air pressure regulation devices – 1
Of the remaining 61 weightable items the manufacturers were allowed to change up to 32 of

these (48%) for 2015 (now more formally known as tokens). As Ferrari and Renault argued that
there was no set homologation date in the 2015 regulations these changes were allowed to be
made throughout the course of the whole 2015 season. This would allow manufacturers the
opportunity to continue R&D and affect changes that would otherwise have to wait until 2016.
Honda entered the fray with a new powerunit for 2015 and so it was agreed the intended
homologation date would be retained for them, with them allocated an average (rounded
down) of any 'tokens' that the other manufacturers hadn't spent when the season started in
Melbourne.
The FIA issued the list of tokens spent by the teams in Melbourne, clarifying Honda's position
too:
Ferrari 22 of 32 tokens
Mercedes 25 of 32 tokens
Renault 20 of 32 tokens
As a new power unit manufacturer for the 2015 season, Honda has been granted an allowance
of nine tokens for in-season development. This is based on the average of those available to the
2014 power unit manufacturers. The following residuals are therefore available for use in-
season:
Ferrari 10 tokens
Honda 9 tokens
Mercedes 7 tokens
Renault 12 tokens
I think it is also important at this juncture to talk about variable length intake trumpets (VLIT)
which was prohibited for 2014 but returns to the sport in 2014:
5.9.3 Variable length intake trumpets are forbidden in 2014 only.

I raise this point here as many questioned why Honda couldn't be given the full 'token'
allocation of 32, to be spent throughout 2015. Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault all competed in
2014 with standard tuned inlet lengths, meaning they would have to spend in the order of at
least 3 tokens (inlet system) to change to VLIT's. However, in reality if they adopted them they'd
need to spend far more tokens on other components in order to maximise/extract performance.
When we consider VLIT inline with turbocharging conventional wisdom would suggest their
wouldn't be huge gains. However, we must remember that the current regulations put a huge
emphasis on efficiency, and whilst the MGU-H infills the blanks, keeping the turbo spooled, the
way in which air is fed around the system may still be improved further by the use of VLIT's, if
co-ordinated correctly.
Honda have re-entered the sport with the opportunity to use VLIT's as part of their base design,
as such they had the opportunity to integrate it into their concept, rather than having to
retrospectively change parts, using up tokens in the process. This alone is evidence enough for
me to suggest that the FIA made the right decision in allowing Honda only an average of tokens
to spend throughout the season.
Let's now take some time to evaluate some of the visual changes that have been made for 2015.
Mercedes
(W05 left, W06 right)
One of the standout features of the PU106a was Mercedes HPP's adoption of a log style
manifold (yellow), this has been changed for 2015 with an enlarged, tuned version taking its
place (1 token). Heat protection is still being used and prevents us from seeing the inner layout
at this stage of the season. You'll note, that albeit a small change, the team have opted to make
amendments to their radiators (highlighted in blue).
It's clear to see that Mercedes HPP have also made changes to their inlet (Green), undoubtedly
taking the opportunity to run VLIT's (3 tokens).

Incidentally Mercedes have retained their air-liquid-air cooling solution like the W06's
predecessor, although I'm sure it has seen some refinement (Not highlighted in the images as
it's sandwiched between the fuel cell and front face of the engine).
As we can see below the other Mercedes powered cars are running standard air-air coolers. In
the case of Williams, one sidepod is responsible for charge(inter)cooling (red), whilst the other
houses a radiator (as an aside the green cooler shown is an oil cooler)
Above: Williams FW37 (image: left Motorionline.com, right AMuS)

Above: Force India VJM08 (image Motorionline.com) early indications point at the team
running the same configuration as in 2014 and as Williams above.

Above: Lotus E23 (image Race Technology / Lawrence Butcher) early indications point at
the team running the same configuration as Williams above.
Exposed images of the E23 and VJM08 are still thin on the ground at the moment but I'll add
them as they become available.
Renault
Having parted ways with their long term partner and previous 'works' team Renault now only
supply the two Red Bull teams. This was a conscious decision by both Renault and Red Bull as
they were eager to reinforce their relationship, with the pair making a concerted effort to align
their development paths. 2014 was not what either party had hoped for with the powerunit
demonstrably down on power when compared with Mercedes. In an effort to turn around their
fortunes ahead of the 2015 season, Renault restructured their workforce at Viry, re-signing Cyril
Abiteboul from Caterham. No sooner had Lotus signed off on its Mercedes deal, Red Bull started
hiring their own staff to work alongside those at Viry in an attempt to create a more unified

front. Toward the end of the 2014 campaign it became clear that Red Bull had also approached
Mario Illien of Ilmor Engineering to assess the problems that they and Renault faced. Mercedes
HPP is the descendant of Ilmor Engineering and so it is obvious that they have the capability to
build race winning F1 engines, we await to see just how much of a hand Mario and his team
have in a Renault resurgance. Having had another anonymous pre-season test Red Bull were
disenchanted with Renault heading to Australia. However, the fact that 3 of their drivers
(Ricciardo, Kvyat and Verstappen) have already lost at least an I.C.E from their allocation, led to
a scathing attack from Christian Horner and Helmut Marko. Driveability was also earmarked as
being a problematic area for the Renault powered teams, compromising corner entry, apex
speed and VMax.
Remi Taffin - "The biggest issue has been the driveability, which has made it hard for all the
drivers to feel comfortable in the cars. It affects pedal application and confidence in the corners
so has cost lap time and points this weekend. It’s related to the maps, or the way the Power
Unit is configured, so while it’s definitely not an easy fix, it does not require a complete
redesign."
Cyril Abiteboul - "The weekend has been very frustrating. We know that we made genuine
progress over the winter but we could not show it here and in fact we would even seem to have
moved backwards. Given the pace at which we conducted our development programme
towards the last few weeks of the winter, there may not be lots to change to be able to access
these improvements. Now, we need to react, but not overreact, and get back to some basic
common sense that has always driven our approach in all these years of F1 engine
development."
Renault clearly understand the issues at hand, and as Cyril points out the powerunit has seen
significant change before the first event in Australia. As I understand it, the specification used in
Australia actually differed from the one used in pre-season, in order to maximise their token
spend. The problem with doing this is the lack of data, with dyno work and simulations
providing the backdrop for the maps being used during the weekend. As we know there is
difference between the way a driver applies the controls than how it is simulated by software or
on the dyno. This is important when we consider how may components have to work in unison
with these powerunits in order to extract performance. Red Bull have already stated that they'll
utilise the AVL facility, as Toro Rosso did last season in order to understand these issues. AVL's
chassis dynamometer will offer a set of results with a more tangible connection to those seen
on the track, than the standard dynamometer's that Renault use at Viry.

Above: RB10 (left, AMuS) vs RB11 (right, AMuS)
In terms of architecture we can see that Red Bull have made significant changes to their cooling package, accommodating the change
in position and dimensions of the exhaust (yellow, 1 token). As we can see the radiators (blue) and air-air coolers have been stood up
more vertically, leaving more space in behind.

As we can see in the image above it's difficult to ascertain whether Renault have made the switch to VLIT's, as their inlet was large in
the first place (RB10 on the left AMuS) and (RB11 on the right, Race Technology / Lawrence Butcher). However, Rob White did
suggest they would make the switch in a pre-season press release (3 tokens).

Above: AMuS
Renault have also made changes to their turbocharger, with Rob keen to highlight a more
efficient compressor will be in use. The turbine appeared to have two inlets on the 2014 variant
however it seems that for 2015 this has been reduced to a single inlet that will be shared by
both exhaust banks (5 tokens).

Above: STR10 (left, Motorionline.com) RB11 (right, AMuS)
As we can see both Red Bull and Toro Rosso are running very similar setups in 2015, the differences being the large oil cooler (green)
mounted across the car, which also forces Toro Rosso to mount their compressor outlet to intercooler boost pipe (purple) differently.
Red Bull's higher mounting of this pipe keeps it further from the exhaust, reducing the chance of heat soak.

Ferrari
Ferrari seemingly made several errors associated with the turbo and its ancillaries in 2014. They
opted for a complex wastegate solution and suffered from what seemed like an incorrect sizing
of the turbocharger itself.
These mistakes often led to the team being underpowered and heavily reliant on the ERS to
infill the gaps, however, when that was depleted it left them exposed. This has an impact on
fuel efficiency too, meaning they were always fighting one ailment or another.
Above: Marussia MR03 (left, Racecar Engineering) Sauber C34 (right Race Technology /
Lawrence Butcher)
As exposed shots of the Ferrari are always thin on the ground early in the season, I've opted to
use the Sauber as a comparison to last years Marussia. As we can see Ferrari have made
changes to their exhaust layout, shortening the primaries, entwining them into a more compact
design (1 token). This has been achieved by a change in their turbo and wastegate design with
the turbine inlet seemingly moved to the lowest position, rather than the highest (5 tokens). I
for one could never understand their logic when it came to last years exhaust manifold, as the
design seemed more akin to a naturally aspirated engine. Furthermore, I still find it puzzling that
they have opted to leave the manifold exposed, especially when Marrusia reported an uplift in
performance when they wrapped theirs last year. There doesn't appear to be a change in
philosophy when it comes to their inlet and so I'd suggest they have retained their chargecooler

in the V configuration (see below) and not moved to VLIT's (we shall have to see if this is the
case later in the season).
Much has been said since Melbourne of the increase in performance seen by both Ferrari and
Sauber when compared with 2014. I'd propose these wholesale gains are only proportional to
the rectification of last seasons inefficiencies though. Both teams will openly admit that they not
only suffered from problems with their powerunits but also intrinsic aerodynamic and
mechanical mistakes that they have also rectified for 2015. Whilst Ferrari were able to
marginalise the PU's inefficiencies through more aggressive maps it didn't leave them
strategically hamstrung, something they should be better equipped for with the changes made
to the PU this season. Driveability will most certainly have been improved, with the new
architectural approach improving turbo performance and reducing the ERS need to infill the
power gaps, allowing better power distribution throughout.
Leftover tokens?
You'll note that the token spend mentioned for each manufacturer so far is somewhat adrift of
their overall spend, that's because there isn't a published list to work from and there are certain
areas all of the manufacturers will have made improvements. These range from changes to the

fuel injection system (2 tokens) to the Energy Store, which will almost certainly see changes
made to improve its efficiency (Cells - 2 tokens and BMS (Battery Management System) - 2
tokens). Furthermore the following areas are frozen from development after 2015 and as such
will likely have seen further improvements should the manufacturers have made mistakes
initially:
Upper/lower crankcase - All dimensions including Cylinder bore position relative to legality
volume, water core. - 3 tokens
Valve drive - Camshafts - From camshaft lobe to gear train. Geometry except lift profile.
Includes
damping systems linked to camshaft. Exhaust and Inlet - 1 token
Valve drive - Gear train down to crankshaft gear included. Position and Geometry. Includes
dampers - 2 tokens
Covers - Covers closing the areas in contact with engine oil Cam covers, Cam-timing covers - 1
token
Ancillaries drive - From ancillary to power source. Includes position of the ancillaries as far as
drive is concerned - 3 tokens
Honda
As Honda enter the fray in 2015 their baseline starts here, meaning I have nothing to compare
them against. Furthermore the secretive nature of F1 allied to their low running through pre-
season testing has meant exposed images of the Honda powerunit and McLaren architecture
are slim. I will add images as and when they become available but thus far we only have the
following:
Above: @AlbertFabrega

Above: AMuS
In the upper image I've highlighted the saddle cooler in yellow, which is believed to be tasked
with keeping elements of the ERS cooled. I believe the left hand sidepod is home for a regular
radiator, whilst the right hand one is occupied by an air-air intercooler, which cools the
Mercedes-esque split turbo configuration (ie compressor at the front and turbine at the rear
with the MGU-H running through the I.C.E's V). This is contrary to what Giorgio Piola has
suggested on F1.com but what I believe to be the true configuration.
Equalisation
Renault and Red Bulls poor performance in Australia had Christian Horner grabbing at straws
already, suggesting that this year will be a borefest as both the Mercedes drivers duke it out for
the title and the rest scrabble for the scraps. In reality he's not wrong, Mercedes are clearly the
strongest team and by some margin, but as he perpetuated a line about equalising the engines I
couldn't help thinking isn't this just a bit of history repeating? The last request by Red Bull to
equalise engine performance was in 2010 when Horner bemoaned a roughly 50bhp defecit,
whilst he now claims that their Renault PU is around 100bhp in the hole when compared to
Mercedes.

There are several angles to the argument, first of which is that Mercedes HPP provide 3 other
teams (Force India, Lotus and Williams), with Williams the only ones thus far to have challenged
Mercedes and even then not on a regular basis. This suggests that the powerunit is not the only
story but the way it is integrated and operated being a key factor in Mercedes dominance. We
must also realise that the Annual Powerunit Homologation was introduced so that an advantage
wasn't "baked in", with improvements made by the ailing manufacturers year on year, as the
number of changes that could be made were reduced. Red Bull and Ferrari have already taken a
chunk out of this, buying time for R&D and allowing in-season development. I guess they
(Renault) wouldn't have had 12 tokens spare at the start of the season if this loophole hadn't
been found.
The problem for Red Bull is that Mercedes HPP have continued to refine their product whilst
Renault are still working on recovering the deficit, leading to chances being taken by Red Bull in
order to extract additional performance. Although Red Bull classify themselves as Renualt's
'works' team there is still an air of hesitancy about the relationship, as if one doesn't fully trust
the other. The biggest issue with this is that decisions about the architecture of the PU can have
a large bearing on the chassis design and/or development can be sent in certain directions. An
example of this would be EBD/Off throttle blowing which was Renault developed, through map
settings and passed down the chain to Red Bull. This required the "baked in" advantage Renault
powered cars had, as Mercedes and Ferrari never fully exploited it to their level.
I struggle to see how equalisation would work unless Ferrari, Honda and Red Bull were given
carte blanche by the FIA to improve their PU's whilst Mercedes specification was frozen. As
already discussed though this doesn't only have a bearing on the 'works' teams but also the
teams that Mercedes HPP supply.
In any case I find the call for equalisation to be inequitable given the homologation process has
already seen the goal posts moved to favour Renault and Ferrari. The consequence of the
redefined homologation/token process also brings up some quandaries for the manufacturers
themselves. As previously they could only have one specification of powerunit available:
Excerpt from the Sporting Regulations (Appendix 4)
2. A manufacturer may homologate no more than one specification of power unit.
The fact that the homologation period has been broken by the in-season token spend means
this can no longer apply as each driver is now on his own schedule, based around the 4 PU's per
season rule. To understand this quandry let's take the Mercedes HPP as an example. If a driver
were to work to the schedule of 20 races without any failures you would use each PU for 5
races. The problem lies in the fact that you will get failures, it's inevitable, throw in the fact that
the manufacturer can also introduce updates through the token system and you suddenly end
up with drivers with PU's all in different states of tune.

So let's say bad luck struck Lewis in China (3rd round) and he destroyed his I.C.E, Turbo and
MGU-H but continued to use the CE (control electronics) and MGU-K from the first allocation.
You might rightly point out that this happened throughout 2014, but what if Mercedes HPP
were targeting an update to their MGU-H for Monaco, by rights this would be the right time for
a driver to take a new unit. However, as Lewis has already lost of his allocation, to take the new
updated unit means extending the lifespan of his remaining MGU-H allocation or bearing the
pain of using the older specification again at some point later in the season.
The plot thickens when you think about supply from the manufacturer to other teams too, let's
use the same example; Mercedes HPP are preparing an MGU-H upgrade (token spend) for
Monaco, however this new unit doesn't fall inline with what Williams wants, they can choose to
continue to use the older specification. It doesn't work the other way though, a manufacturer
cannot hold back an upgrade from those they supply to benefit their works team. The cynic in
me though suggests that a development path could be taken by the manufacturer/works team
that they know will suit their own design cycle and scupper the customer team. You see what
you have done Red Bull/Renault and Ferrari? You've made things even more complicated!....
In response to Christian Horner's equalisation and quit threats in Australia I'd suggest some
perspective, yes it's problematic in terms of losing PU's, yes you aren't where you believed you'd
be, yes you have driveability issues. However, most of these issues can be rectified quite quickly
and in reality Red Bull are still at least in Williams and Ferrari's ball park once driveability is
restored. Lest we forget these powerunits are complex, with each sub-system reliant on the
next to create performance. Lean on one too much and it'll compromise another just as 'turning
down' one will also be to the detriment of the other, it needs to be a harmonious relationship
just as a manufacturers should be with a teams.

JEREZ WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW F1 Season 2015
3. JEREZ WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW

3.1 VIDEO - JEREZ UPDATE

3.2 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - W06 MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS


3.3 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - SF15-T SCUDERIA FERRARI


3.4 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - FW37 WILLIAMS


3.5 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - MP4-30 MCLAREN-HONDA


3.6 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - RB11 RED BULL


3.7 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - STR10 SCUDERIA TORO ROSSO


3.8 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - LOTUS E23 HYBRID


3.9 VIDEO - JEREZ ROUNDUP - SAUBER C34-FERRARI


3.10 A CLOSER LOOK AT MCLAREN'S NEW WHEEL RIMS

[by Steven De Groote from http://www.f1technical.net]
McLaren's long term wheel supplier, Enkei, has provided the team with new rims for the 2015
season, or at least the start of it. Finished in matte black, the wheels were on display at Jerez
today, showing very different front and rear wheel designs. The reasons for this are obvious,
with first of all wider tyres at the rear, but more importantly for their design, much less heat
coming from the rear brakes. Due to weight transfer under braking, and the energy recovery
system that kicks in on the rear axle, the front brakes work much much harder than the rears.
Dissipating the heat from the brakes efficiently is the main design influence for today's F1 rims,
and those of Enkei are a brilliant example. As can be seen, the rims have just 5 thick spokes in
the central part while numerous smaller channels are designed on the outside. Note that the
tyre nozzle is neatly integrated into the rim in an attempt to provide less hindrance to air
passing through the rim.
The rear rims (inset) are of a more conventional design with a 90° nozzle for convenience and a
tyre pressure monitor (absent on the front rims).

Finally, the rims also continue to feature coated dimples on the inside (as visible on the front
rim photo) to enable the rim to take up heat quicker, and thereby help the tyres to stay at their
optimal working temperature.

3.11 MERCEDES DITCHES LOG STYLE EXHAUST ON PU106B

Following a year of running with a very compact log style exhaust (as pictured) in 2014,
Mercedes have now chosen to ditch the concept and go for a more conventional equal lenght
exhaust manifold as seen on the 2014 Renault engine.
An obviously different noise coming from the Mercedes powered cars yesterday was followed
by a further confirmation from Mercedes' Head of Engines at Brixworth, Andy Cowell that the
new Mercedes 2015 power unit, named PU106B, features an 'entirely new exhaust concept'.
Having strolled around in the pitlane at Jerez, I can confirm that at least Lotus is not running
with a log style exhaust, but instead a wrapped package of exhaust tubes very similar in size and
location to the configuration of the Renault powered cars in 2014. Sadly a picture is missing, but
I'm sure visual confirmation will follow.
In 2014, Mercedes already started testing with an equal length exhaust manifold before
switching to a log type at the final pre-season test in Bahrain. While that proved to be a good

solution, not in the least for packaging reasons, an equal length manifold can provide
advantages for the effectiveness of the turbo. As exhaust tuning is a rather complex subject and
designing the optimal exhaust layout depends highly on the power requirements for a certain
rpm range, it may be that the change is influenced by the reportedly higher revolutions that the
new Mercedes is capable of.

3.12 THE REVIVAL OF THE BLOWN WHEEL NUT

Jerez pre-season testing has definitely seen somewhat of a revival for the blown wheel nut,
seeing that three of the major teams have introduced the system into their cars. All three of
them also seem set to keep going with it, as none of these cars were seen with closed wheel
nuts (yet).
Williams debuted this idea in 2013 on its Williams FW35, designed by Mike Coughlan. Having
run it for the entire season, Williams opted against it in 2014. Is certainly triggered some
interest with other teams, as then Champions Red Bull Racing came up with a similar design just
a month after Williams debuted it. RBR however didn't push on with it, simply because it needs
development of the entire car to get it working correctly.

Come Jerez 2015, it appears that the blown wheel nuts have gained interest, different rims have
been introduced at the same time to create the most efficient way to control the front wheel's
wake, a crucial property for the behaviour of a Formula One car. McLaren appears to have the
most complex rims, with small channels on the outside, possibly to transfer more heat from the
cooling air into the rim. Ferrari on the other hand have updated OZ wheels with a bigger closed
area around the wheel nut while Red Bull Racing have a new ring on their specification of OZ
wheels.
Also in the picture is the front wheel of Mercedes AMG F1's W06, showing how the
Championship winning team have gone for an entirely different direction (for now). The team is
running a very straightforward front wheel rim and have even removed the ring that they had in
2014.

3.13 JEREZ PRE-SEASON TESTING TECHNICAL IMAGE GALLERY - DAY 3

Some fantastic images courtesy of Sutton Images
Ferrari SF15-T - A kiel probe array is placed behind the front tyre to measure the wake, correlating the information the
team produced the car with.

Williams FW37 rear end detail

Toro Rosso STR10 rear end detail, note the area had previously had flo-viz applied
Mercedes W06 whilst the track was still damp in the morning, note the sparks being created by the titanium skids as the
floor contact with the circuit, whilst the dampness is being upwashed by the diffuser etc.

Sauber C34 sparking as the titanium skids impact with the track


Nice rear detail shot of the SF15-T

Note the hollow blown front axle on the SF15-T, air captured by the front brake duct which has inlets within that send
airflow into different regions such as the caliper, disk, one of these on the SF15 -T sends airflow to the hollow axle. The
airflow dispatched by the axle helps with conditioning the flow around the front tyre, taking some of the burden off the
front wing.

This shows McLaren's new wheel design and like the Ferrari above the hollow blown axle being employed by the team


Toro Rosso STR10 with flo-viz applied, I don't know the story on the attached black bag yet by the way, but I'd assume it
wasn't supposed to be attached

SF15-T with flo-viz applied to the nose and chassis

Toro Rosso STR10 rear end detail


Sauber C34 - rear end detail, note the inset shows the 'U' shaped diffuser outlet as used by McLaren and Mercedes last
season. When the teams lost the ability to use exposed starter motor holes in 2014 it presented some new challenges as the
teams had for a number of years used the airflow coming through them to aid in attachment. The central section of the
diffuser has a higher angle of attack so is more prone to stall at certain speeds/ride heights and so a little assistance can
only help improve performance. Some teams took to using small vortex generators at the trailing edge of the s kid block to
overcome this in a different way too. I still need more solid proof but from this image it appears however that Sauber are
also doing something a little different with an opening at the leading edge of the 'U' allowing flow coming around the b oat-
tail to converge with the upper part of the U. (The lower section of the U has been isolated for the starter to be inserted). If
I am right about this its not to say it will provide a massive uplift in terms of performance but could help to provide a
transition in terms of airflow attachment.

Sauber C34 - Another shot of the rear end of the C34

Red Bull RB11 - Flo-viz applied to the side of the chassis to correlate what was being seen in CFD/Wind Tunnel


Williams FW37 splitter covered with flo-viz to check the flow in the region
Nice forward shot of the FW37







Williams FW37 - the team have added vortex generators to the leading edge of the sidepod
















The Lotus E23 airbox which as you can see sports several different outlets

McLaren, able to put in a little more mileage in Jerez today tried out the other variant of
rear wing endplate the team showed at the launch

BARECELONA 1 WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW F1 Season 2015
4. BARCELONA 1 WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW

4.1 VIDEO - BARCELONA TEST 1 TECH ROUNDUP

BARCELONA 1 WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW F1 Season 2015
4.2 SAUBER C34 - NEW REAR WING

Sauber's C33 yielded no points in 2014, but early testing suggests the C34 will be a much more
competitive proposition. We take a closer look at the new car's rear wing...
At the second pre-season test of 2015 in Barcelona, Sauber introduced a new rear wing with
curved endplates. The thinking behind using a profile like this, which is a more extreme version
of what McLaren introduced at last year's race in Germany, is to help better manage the drag
from the rear wing.

4.3 NEW NOSE AND CAMERA MOUNTS FOR MERCEDES

Mercedes AMG have come out on track today at Barcelona with an updated nose cone, along
with new mountings for the camera pods. Even though unconfirmed reports recently noted that
the FIA asked Mercedes and Ferrari to revert to more traditional camera mountings, the team
have now come up with small vertical carbon fibre supports to mount the cameras even higher
above the nose cone. It moves the camera out of the airflow onto the front suspension,
whereas the shape of the mounting's attachment to the nose will certainly generate a vortex
that is likely flowing in between the upper and lower wishbones.
Interestingly, and very similar to the second iteration of Mercedes' nose cone on the W05, the
new nose retains its short shape but has been slimmed down underneath to draw more air
underneath the car - it's very visible when looking at the #KeepFightingMichael sticker.

4.4 MERCEDES W06 - REAR WING

Mercedes introduced a new rear wing at the second pre-season test, the design of which
retained a similar layout to its predecessor, although the aim is of course to make the overall
structure more efficient.
You'll note that where the team had previously used two support pylons (left, yellow), there is
now only a singular inverted Y-Lon (right, yellow), providing additional rigidity. This design
change has also led to them reducing the aligned slot gap separators (yellow) to singular
element to match the pylon change. The top flap which previously featured two V grooves, for
drag reduction, has also been altered, reducing the V grooves to a larger, singular item.
The rear wing endplates have also seen a small revision, with the serrations extruded upward, in
order to further maximise the upwash effect they're generating.
Mercedes used perhaps the largest and most outwardly complex Y100 winglet (Monkey Seat)
on the grid in 2014 (below), with the exception of the specification they used in Monza. It is a
surprise therefore to see the team using a similar specification to the Monza one throughout
the test (Green), indicating the team have either taken another direction or are making gains
elsewhere.


4.5 MERCEDES W06 – COCKPIT FIN

The W06 already featured changes around the leading edge of the sidepod, with the
introduction of the leading edge slat. To further enhance the airflow in this region the team
have now revised the fin that works in unison with the mirror stalk. The previous fin was a
rhomboid shaped horizontal fin, whilst the new fin (right) combines this with a vertical
extension that mirrors the stalk ahead of it. These will now work in unison to vorticise the
airflow over the sidepod, increasing its operating window.

BARECELONA 1 WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW F1 Season 2015
4.6 BARCELONA 1 PRE-SEASON TESTING TECHNICAL IMAGE GALLERY - DAY 2

A selection of the best technical images from Barcelona courtesy of Sutton Images
Mercedes W06 - Kiel probe array measuring wheel rake upfront whilst the team continue to assess their new rear wing

Ferrari SF15-T - Kiel probe array measuring the diffuser flow and rear wheel wake

McLaren MP4-30 kiel probe arrays mounted behind the front wheels to measure their wake


Mercedes W06 - sparking as the car bottoms out

Red Bull RB11 - Note the polysil mounted rims which are also knurled to control/dissipate heat

Red Bull RB11 - Overhead shows off the cars detail, note the RB10 doesn't run the lower beam wing slice like its
predecessor and so they mount the Y100 winglet (monkey seat) astride the crash structure). Note the gold leaf on the items
in the vicinity of the exhaust outlet too
Red Bull RB11 - Note the vertical strake in the tyre deck region is now singular rather than the twin configuration they'd
previously employed
















































Mercedes W06, note the team are once again using the skinnier (Monza-esque from last season) Y100 winglet (Monkey
Seat). Furthermore notice the heat haze/upwash

Red Bull RB11 - Note the heat haze / upwash as the exhaust plume is being manipulated, creating a connection between
the aero structures of the diffuser and rear wing


Sauber C34 - They've finally painted those endplate strakes, meanwhile we can see the new cooling outlet (Note I've yet to
see the team run with a Y100 winglet)

Lotus E23 - rear end detail shows just how tight they've wrapped the exhaust, still no Y100 winglet and note how few brake
duct fins they are using





Toro Rosso STR10



5. BARCELONA 2 WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW

5.1 FERRARI SF15-T - LATEST FRONT WING
Ferrari are racing in Melbourne with the new front wing introduced at the final pre-season
Barcelona test. We take a look at its changes.
Like Mercedes, the Italian team have been asked to replace the arched camera mounting (inset)
with a more linear support. On top of this, all of the wing’s major components are different,
including the main plane, the additional small fins on the outside of the endplates, the upper
flaps and the single vertical fin (in black).

5.2 FERRARI PUTS NEW FRONT WING IN USE AT MELBOURNE

Come the third and final pre-season winter test at Barcelona, Ferrari brought along a new front
wing for the SF15-T. For me the SF15-T has the fundamentals of a great front wing, as long as
they develop on the concept over the course of the season. As expected, the new wing was
used on both cars in Melbourne, but clearly Ferrari only introduced it at the final test to
maximise development time.
The old wing (inset) had a three element cascade unit with a north mounted turning vane on
top. This is so that oncoming airflow is given more of a outwash of the front tyre and trailing
edge of the front wing wake, which is guided to the sidepods and barge boards of the car.

Clearly, for the 2015 car, the requirements for the front wing have changed considerably as a
different nose requires different airflow management along the centre of the wing, whereas the
team's decision to go for blown wheel nuts changes the ideal flow ahead and around the front
wheels.
Contrary to a trend of adding more and more slots over the entire width of the front wing, as is
particularly seen on the Mercedes, Red Bull and Toro Rosso, Ferrari have actually combined part
of the wing's main plane with the first flap where it sits closest to the nose cone. It's a feature
also seen on the Sauber C34 and a definite step away from Ferrari's 2014 front wing designs.
Their new front wing also comprises an east mounted turning vane by the cascade. This is
supposed to give the air flow even more guidance and management as it passes onto the
central section of the car. This is mainly a flow management device that will induce a vortex off
of its tip, flowing onto the inner edge of the front wheel.
Ferrari also added an outboard canard on the outer edge of the endplate. This creates a
pressure gradient between the coefficient low and high pressure, as the air flow is drawn to the
lower section of the car. This approach was neatly used on the Force India and Sauber in 2014.

5.3 WILLIAMS FW37 – NEW REAR WING

Williams had up until now been the exception to the rule on the grid, as their rear wing
remained pylon-less up until this test. The team have a totally re-designed rear wing here in
Barcelona though, as many of the features that meant it didn't run a pylon can be traded off in
the re-design. The pylon is an inverted Y-Lon, mounted to the crash structure it adds rigidity to
the rear wing, whilst circling the exhaust. The exhaust plume will likely interact with this section
and pull airflow through it (like an aspirator) assisting in cooling the rear of the FW37. The upper
section of the Y-Lon has a swan neck style design, which connects with the DRS actuator pod,
leaving the underside of the mainplane less affected by its wake.


The rigidity added by the Y-Lon means the team no longer need to run the floor level wing they
ran during 2014 (above, yellow), giving them more scope in terms of diffuser design.
As we can see in the inset above, the team have either opted to change the length of the
endplates and/or the suspension layout, as the lower rear suspension elements now pass
through the endplate.


The teams overall change in tact to change the rigidity of the rear wing will mean that they can
make shape/geometry/weight changes to the endplates going forward, that may not have been
possible with their previous specification.

5.4 WILLIAMS FW37 – SIDEPOD AIRFLOW CONDITIONERS

Williams have a plethora of new parts at the final pre-season test in Barcelona, as they look to
extract further performance from the FW37. Part of that upgrade package is a new set of airflow
conditioners, which rather than simply being vertical elements now arch over to meet with the
sidepods shoulder. The airflow conditioners have also been splayed outward from their leading
edge, something we have seen Red Bull do for some time now. Their intent as ever is to protect
the airflow that feeds around the sidepods undercut from the front wheel tyre wake, splaying
them shows more surface area to the wake. The added arch provides further protection to the
flow over the sidepods from the upper tyre wake, increasing efficiency across the sidepod. As
the arch now falls on top of the previous vortex generators location (see below) a fresh vortex
generator has been added slightly inbound of this (marked in yellow, above).

Several people have commented to me, that they couldn't understand why the Williams doesn't
appear to have such a large undercut as some of its rivals. This is true but only because their
whole sidepod is narrower, if you look at the image above you'll see that the crash structure
(standard across the grid) protrudes from the sidepod, looking like a blister. This blister is
retained with the new setup but no longer has the smaller connecting rod to the sidepod airflow
conditioner.

5.5 MERCEDES W06 – NEW DIFFUSER AND Y100 GURNEYS

Mercedes have introduced a new diffuser for the last test here in Barcelona, with changes made
to the central boat tail. I've highlighted the contour changes on the diffuser in the inset above,
which provide a different angle of attack to their previous, flatter configuration (below), likely in
an effort to give better balance. You'll also note that the team have made changes to the Y100
region around the crash structure, changing both the ladder winglets and removing the
longitudinal triangular strakes. Like the diffuser below the winglet and gurney are contoured to
match the diffusers surface changes, whilst you'll note the upper of the ladder winglets also
extends back over the floor section to further capture and use the airflow migrating under the
crash structure.


5.6 MERCEDES W06 – FRONT BRAKE SCOOP

Mercedes have added small inlet scoops to the face of their brake ducts today. The scoop is
much smaller than the one used on the W05 but puts the team at a juncture in terms of their
quest to utilise a scoop-less design. The presence of wire mesh is owing to the scoops locality,
with a real chance of tyre debris (marbles) being collected by it, potentially causing damage to
internal components or nullifying its aerodynamic/cooling intent.

5.7 MERCEDES W06 – CRASH STRUCTURE UPWASH FINS

Mercedes have added some small winglets either side of the crash structure, these were added
in unison with the changes to the diffuser and Y100 gurney extensions to further condition the
flow in the region, maximising the central portion of the diffuser below and exhaust plume
above. These are nothing new as we have seen Force India use them on the VJM07 in 2014.

5.8 MERCEDES W06 – SIDEPOD COOLING OUTLET AMENDMENTS

Mercedes have made a change to the rear end of the sidepod, with the latter section of the
bodywork detached from the rest of the sidepod cooling outlet (yellow). This means the airflow
passing around the sidepod (blue) is drawn in under the cooling outlet, which too has been
raised. This helps to pull on the heat/airflow being rejected by the PU106B, speeding up the
flow, over the central section of the diffuser, which as we know has also seen changes over the
last few days.

5.9 RED BULL RB11 – REAR WING LEADING EDGE ENDPLATE SLOTS
Red Bull introduced new rear wing endplates on day three of testing in Barcelona, which
featured an elongated leading edge tyre wake slot, that meets with the upper louvre. In short
their aim is to reduce drag, based on other changes the team have made to the rear wing and
surrounding flow structures to increase downforce. Let's have a look at the slots and their role
in more detail though..

The periphery of the endplate is now extremely flimsy as it's so disconnected from the main
structure, meaning the team have added small support strakes (above, green).

The leading edge tyre wake slots (the usual sort of length marked in orange, above) are used by
the teams to reduce pressure on the outer surface of the endplate (caused by the rotation of
the tyre), injecting it inboard, which also improves the distribution of airflow to the underside of
the mainplane and top flap, improving flow over these surfaces, increasing their potential
downforce yield.
Lengthening the leading edge slot to meet with the upper louvre is something we haven't seen
before and so something that Red Bull have clearly invested time studying. Detail changes in key
areas like this have to be carefully considered as although they may bring an increase in
downforce you also have to consider the penalty they may add in terms of drag. They can also
upset the balance of the car under braking and during the turns as the airflow separates in an
unconventional way.

Downforce usually comes with the compromise of drag, however, as the leading edge slot on
the RB11 now forms the upper louvre, we must also consider that it's also designed to reduce
drag. On the right is what I normally expect to see as the pressure gradients meet. A tightly
wound vortex is shed from the the juncture between the mainplane/top flap and the endplate,
with the louvres used to control how the vortex rolls up. This is the compromise between
downforce and drag and why we see the teams change the louvres, slots etc dependent on the
circuit they're at, the angle of attack and/or design of the mainplane/top flap.
From images I saw on Saturday (illustrated above, left,) it would appear as speed builds the way
the vortex rolls has changed, with a much less tightly wound vortex present. The enlarged
louvre (extended down to the tyre wake slot) is therefore making up for the changes made by
the team to leverage more downforce from the rear wing, by altering how the vortex rolls to
reduce the requisite drag.
This MAY give it the potential to stall the outer sections of the mainplane and top flap, with the
airflow becoming destructive to both the upper and lower surfaces of the mainplane/top flap,
causing separation, reducing drag and increasing top speed (in much the same way we saw
teams use the F-Duct and DRD). You may question how this helps at the wing tip when
previously we have seen teams 'stall' their wings from a more central point, but we must
remember the exhaust plume now also plays its own role in the central airflow structures at
hand. (We cannot simply look at things in isolation and must consider how one flow structure
impacts the other)
I'm not suggesting this new development by Red Bull is a 'silver bullet' and we may even see Red
Bull abandon it further down the line (as they did with the gradient slots last season and were
latterly adopted by Ferrari and McLaren). However, for now it seems to be helping Red Bull
achieve their short term targets in terms of rear wing efficiency, especially as they seem to be
running more rear wing angle (AoA) than I have seen them use in the past, meaning they have
more drag to shed.

5.10 WILLIAMS FW37 – FRONT WING

At the last test in Barcelona, Williams introduced the last of their updates in an effort to assess
its viability ahead of Melbourne. The new front wing they trialed is fairly similar to their
previous design but there are some obvious changes to the cascades.

The changes to the FW37's front wing have been highlighted in the two images above, you'll
note that the team have narrowed the main cascade and removed the horizontal vanes that
once adorned their vertical inner 'r' cascade (I've also highlighted the 'r' cascade in blue on the
main image, right).

5.11 SHORT NOSE AND NEW FRONT WING ADD DOWNFORCE ON STR10
Toro Rosso have introduced a big update to their STR10, including a brand new front wing and a
shortened nose cone. It is understood that the car's longer nose cone was initially designed as a
base to get through the crash tests and get testing, while the team subsequently focused on
what is generally considered a better aerodynamic solution. Two technical heads have
confirmed to me that the shorter nose is indeed a better solution, admitting that this has to do
with the flow coming off the standardised central section of the front wing.
The new nose is not dissimilar to the one run by Red Bull Racing on their RB11, featuring a
thumb to meet the section rules while trying to create the minimum possible obstacle to
airflow.

It's also interesting to see how the team has been experimenting with camera positions. Initially
featuring arched supports, last week the team located its camera housings just ahead of the
upper front wishbones, while on the new nose, the cameras are moved even further down, out
of line from any front suspension arms.
Along with the new nose is also a radically different front wing, now featuring 5 elements and 6
where the wing is trailed by the front wheels. The stacked elements are also completely new.
The only constant here appears to be the retention of the tyre temperature cameras fitted atop
the wing, close to each front wing endplate.

5.12 TORO ROSSO STR10(B)

James Key was eager to attest to the widesweeping changes that can be seen on the STR10 here
in Barcelona as he admitted the initial car was just a banker to get mileage under both the new
drivers belts.
As part of this almost B spec car the STR10 is sporting a new nose, as their original longer nose
was easier to get through the crash tests. The shorter 'thumb' style nose is similar in design to
Red Bull and Williams and should allow more airflow to travel under the nose. The team had
originally used camera stalks, in a similar vein to those used by Mercedes, Ferrari and latterly
Red Bull last season. With all the teams having received a technical directive from Charlie
Whiting in regard to their legality, Toro Rosso have abandoned them in their latest design,
opting for a simple side mounting.
The change in nose has also prompted a rethink on the chassis, as pectoral fins have sprouted
on the upper surfaces periphery. These will help guide the airflow, spilling vortices that will
assist in the sidepods performance.

The STR10's front wing (right, below) is now a 5 flap, 6 outer tier configuration and more than
ever resembles the sort of layout you'd see on the Red Bull car. Changes have also been made
to the cascades, with a smaller arrangement now hung from the main cascade.
Toro Rosso had been deliberately cautious with the STR10's cooling as they always tend to be,
at this final pre-season test the team have deleted the oil cooler snorkels though (upper left
inset, below), with the job likely taken care of by the the main airbox.

A new vertical strake has been added to the STR10 in the tyre deck region (below), helping to
control how tyre squirt impinges on the diffusers performance. The shorter triangular strake
that's been added is also curved in toward the sidepod, rolling the airflow it receives.

The team have also changed their rear wing support pylon, previously the pylon attached to the
lower forward edge of the mainplane (left inset, below), whilst the new support is a swan-neck
style pylon, connecting to the DRS actuator above the mainplane. This will help reduce
separation on the underside of the mainplane, especially in yaw as it affords the mainplane
more freestream airflow.

The team have changed their Y100 winglet (monkey seat), which now bears some resemblance
to the one the team used initially in 2014. I'm rather sad to see their previous (leaf) iteration go
as it looked so elegant but this one obviously has been designed to interact with the other
structures more efficiently. It has three main elements, joined to curved endplates. These
curved elements are reminiscent of the ones used by Mercedes on the W05's winglet and look
to manipulate the exhaust plume.

The team have made widesweeping changes to the STR10's rear wing endplates, the new ones
(right,below) feature twin leading edge tyre wake slots, an array of strakes which promote the
upwash of the airflow, whilst the louvres have been reshaped too.



STR10 - New 3 tier Y100 winglet (Monkey Seat)

STR10 - Pectoral fins added to the chassis inline with their new nose design

SF15-T - Nothing new, just a nice shot of the car

STR10 - New nose, changed for the 'thumb' style ran by Red Bull and Williams

MP4-30 - Kiel probe array mounted behind the front tyre to assess wake

W06 - With the impending ban on the stalks that extrude from the noses upper surface, Mercedes are trying these new
stalks which mount to the side of the nose

FW37 - New airflow conditioners for Williams, they now arch over to meet with the sidepods shoulder, whilst you'll also
note their orientation (splayed). Highlighted in yellow is the Vortex Generator that appears to have moved along to allow
the curved airflow conditioners introduction. The bargeboards now also feature serrations (marked in yellow)

Williams had bucked the trend up until this point and ran without central supports, however this morning they have added
a centreline inverted Y-Lon. This will allow them to move the DRS hydraulics to the support, making it easier to make gains
with the rear wings endplates. You'll note the Y-Lon is also swan neck shaped to connect with the DRS actuator pod rather
than the underside of the wing.

The E23 fitted with a Kiel probe array just beneath the rear wing elements





RB11 - Just look at that undercut!

SF15-T rear end from above











RB11 - Flow-viz applied to the sidepod inlet to assess flow, also note the thermal imaging
camera mounted in the wing mirror looking at the back of the front tyre











SF15-T - New camera stalks






W06 - 'Cricket Bat' lower wishbone (green) and sidepod cooling bodywork detachment (yellow)




W06 - scoop added to the front brake duct (circled)













E23 Y100 Winglet debut (inset)

VJM08 - Conjoined lower wishbone (highlighted in yellow)









VJM08 - Flo-viz applied to the diffuser

E23 - Kiel probe array mounted behind the front wheel, measuring its wake



RB11 - The rear wings leading edge slot has been elongated, meeting with the upper louvres (yel low)

















Mercedes running a new version of the larger Y100 winglet / Monkey Seat that the team ran on the W05 and on the W06
with the twin pylons. When they ran the older version mounted on the single pylon earlier in the test it quickly became
detached under load
The new Y100 winglet from behind shows that the endplates are shorter, which means the curvature at their base now only
comes around half way up the exhaust.


STR10 - Kiel probe array ahead of the rear wheel


Flo-Viz on the RB11 assessing the endplates they started to use yesterday






A decent shot of the new turning vanes being used by Mercedes at this test

FW37 - New front wing, note the outer cascade is smaller whilst the inboard 'r' cascade has lost the horizontal elements

W06 with flo-viz applied to the front wings neutral section, under the nose and around the new camera mounts


FW37 - Another view of the new front wing
















Great overview of the FW37's new front wing






F1 Season 2015 - Aerodynamic and Mechanical Updates - Volume I

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AERODYNAMIC & MECHANICAL UPDATES 2015

GP D’AUSTRALIE McLaren MP4-24

THE F1-FORECAST.COM AERODYNAMIC & MECHANICAL

F1 Season 2015 | Dominique Madier

The F1-Forecast Technical Files

F1 Season 2014 Volume II – Aerodynamic & Mechanical Updates – Complete Season

F1 Season 2014 Volume I – F1 Cars 2014 Presentation & Winter Tests

F1 Season 2013 Volume I – F1 Cars 2013 Presentation & Winter Tests

F1 Season 2011 - Aerodynamic & Mechanical Updates

F1 Season 2010 - Aerodynamic & Mechanical Updates

F1 Season 2009 - Aerodynamic & Mechanical Updates

L'Aérodynamique d'une Formule 1

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 2

2. F1 2015 PRESENTATION & LAUNCH ANALYSIS 6

3. JEREZ WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW 70

4. BARCELONA 1 WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW 132

4.1 VIDEO - BARCELONA TEST 1 TECH ROUNDUP 132

5. BARCELONA 2 WINTER TESTS – TECHNICAL REVIEW 205

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 4

 Formula1.com web site (illustrations by Giorgio Piola): http://www.formula1.com

F1-Forecast.com wishes you a good reading.

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 5

2. F1 2015 PRESENTATION & LAUNCH ANALYSIS

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 6

2.2 VIDEO - WILLIAMS FW37: CRAIG SCARBOROUGH'S FIRST THOUGHTS

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 7

2.3 VIDEO - LOTUS E23 HYBRID - SCARBS' FIRST TAKE

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 8

2.4 VIDEO - FERRARI FS15-T - SCARBS' ANALYSIS

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 9

2.5 VIDEO - MCLAREN MP4-30 - SCARBS' FIRST LOOK

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 10

2.6 VIDEO - MERCEDES F1 W06 - SCARBS BREAKDOWN FROM THE SHAKEDOWN

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 11

2.7 VIDEO - SAUBER C34-FERRARI - SCARBS' FIRST LOOK

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 12

2.8 VIDEO - FERRARI SF15-T VS F14T SUSPENSION WITH ENRIQUE SCALABRONI

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 13

2.9 MCLAREN MP4-30 - RESHAPED BRAKE DUCTS

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 14

2.10 MERCEDES F1 W06 HYBRID - RECONFIGURED FRONT SUSPENSION

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 15

2.11 LOTUS E23 HYBRID - UNIQUE AIR INTAKE CONFIGURATION

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 16

2.12 MCLAREN MP4-30 - HONDA POWER UNIT LAYOUT

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 17

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 18

2.13 RED BULL RB11 - NEW REAR SUSPENSION UPRIGHTS

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 19

2.14 WILLIAMS FW37 - STUB NOSE

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 20

2.15 FERRARI SF15-T LAUNCH ANALYSIS

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 21

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 22

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 23

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 24

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 25

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 26

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 27

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 28

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 29

The F1-Forecast Technical Files Page 30

2.16 MERCEDES W06 SHAKEDOWN, PRE-LAUNCH ANALYSIS