Following its lacklustre showing in early tests, Mercedes' 2011 car looked far more promising after it was extensively modified for the final Barcelona session, with the team becoming the first to follow Renault's forward exhaust solution, albeit in less extreme form. This drawing shows the original...»
The exhausts on the Ferrari are very low and flat (inset). They blow towards a channel (1) that exits through a thin horizontal window, which is the car's starter hole. The rules limit the size of the starter hole to a maximum surface area of 3,500mm². The centralised nature of the exhaust's...»
Although McLaren haven't opted to use forward-facing exhausts, the team have come up with two different exhaust solutions at the back. One is very traditional (inset) and blows directly towards the rear of the car. The second is much more complex (main image) and features a U-bend pipe, with a...»
At the very first test in Valencia Red Bull introduced a new blown exhaust layout. The long flat pipe blows into the area just in front of the rear tyres (see red arrows). In this section (highlighted in yellow) the underbody has been cut away so that the air can blow directly under the side...»
The Williams FW33 has the lowest rear end (2) of all the new cars - lower even than Red Bull's RB7 - due to very compact packaging of the gearbox and differential. So low are they in fact that the driveshaft (3) angle is the greatest ever seen, at around 14° (6-7° is normally considered the maximum...»
The F150th Italia has almost the same wheelbase as 2010's F10, even though the team's KERS system has been positioned inside the car's fuel tank area. In addition, the oil tank has more capacity (see photograph), and is much taller than the one used in the 2009 F60 (see drawing, red arrow)....»
There is no doubting the new MP4-26 is very different from all the other 2011 cars. Technical director Paddy Lowe has exploited to the extreme the idea of higher outer sidepods, last seen on the likes of Benetton's B195 from 1995 and Ferrari's F310 from 1996. The aim is to clean up and better direct...»
Renault are no strangers to radical exhaust solutions, having launched a design that blew on to the diffuser with the RE30 at Monaco in 1983, and side-exit exhausts on the RE50 in 1985. This season the exits are low down, just in front of the sidepods, in order to accelerate the airflow to the rear...»
In a solution not dissimilar to that seen on 1992's Ferrari F92, Toro Rosso's 2011 car has raised sidepods to create a second venture channel in order to achieve extra downforce. This is combined with quite long exhausts, with flat exhaust exits (red arrow) towards the rear of the car....»
Red Bull rolled out the RB7 at Valencia and by the end of the test had already added a new solution to the new car. Longer exhaust pipes (inset), blowing on to the external section of the diffuser's side channel, replaced the standard design seen on the first day....»
Although the chassis is higher and the nose flatter on the F150 (top), the new car's front wing is the final iteration from last season's F10 (bottom). The new front suspension (1) has higher wishbones and, for the first time on a Ferrari, the steering arm is not inside the top wishbone. To improve...»
Ferrari have retained their push-rod suspension, but have moved its elements forward. The larger angle of the push-rod link (1 and 2, highlighted in yellow) means the car can have a very narrow and low rear section. ...»
With the chassis positioned five centimetres higher, the suspension pick-up points are also higher (main drawing - 2011; inset - 2010). And in a first for Ferrari, the steering arm is no longer included inside the top wishbone (red arrow). ...»
This change is designed to increase the amount of overtaking. The driver-adjustable front wing of 2010 is gone, replaced by a driver-adjustable - but FIA regulated - rear wing. It has just two settings, ON and OFF effectively, with the ON setting increasing the gap between the main plane and the...»
For 2011 the FIA have specifically outlawed the use of driver movement to control any system that influences the car's aerodynamic characteristics. This means no more F-ducts, where the driver covered a hole in the cockpit to alter the airflow to the rear wing, allowing it to stall and cut drag at...»
Teams are no longer able to connect engine cover extensions (commonly known as 'shark fins') to the rear wing. This is related to the ban on F-ducts - in 2010 many designers used the connection to form an airflow channel for the duct. It's possible some teams may persevere with reduced shark fins,...»
Teams are no longer allowed slots in the rear wing's main plane outside of the central 15cm area, and the rear wing may have no more than two sections (main plane and flap). This is to stop the use of main plains with 'sections within sections', such as that introduced by McLaren at Monaco in 2009...»
To stop teams sculpting the shape of the deformable rear crash structure for aerodynamic gain (as per the example in the main drawing), the FIA have more strictly defined its height and positioning (dotted lines).FIA Technical RegulationFrom 15.5.3 - Furthermore, when viewed from the...»
To kerb increasing heights of the front sections of chassis, the FIA has put new limits in place in order to preserve driver visibility and safety. The section between the vertical lines A and B now has a maximum height of 625mm above the reference plane (RP).FIA Technical RegulationFrom...»
In combination with the stricter floor load tests, the FIA has also banned the use of any springs, pivots, joints or dampers in the mounting of the plank's vertical stay. This means the plank cannot flex upwards at speed and give the car a lower ride height (thus providing an aerodynamic performance...»
The FIA tightened up on floor load testing at last year's Italian Grand Prix, following the much-talked-about 'flexi-floor' controversy and the stricter tests have been written into the regulations for 2011. The floor is now subject to load at three different points, each 100mm apart, rather than at...»
Last year some teams pushed the boundaries of the regulations by introducing unusually-shaped engine starters, thus allowing them to have similarly-shaped starter holes in the diffuser (most commonly a slot), bringing aerodynamic benefit by making the diffuser more efficient. The FIA issued one...»
Rotating wheel discs, or 'wheel-spinners', were banned last year, but teams such as Ferrari effectively circumvented this by casting aero features into the wheel rim itself in a bid to optimise airflow passing through the wheel. There will be far less scope for such concepts in 2011, thanks to...»
In a bid to further reduce the chances of wheels coming loose - and potentially impacting a driver's head - in the event of an accident, the 2011 regulations require four tethers at each corner of the car, double the 2010 requirement. The tethers are bigger, stiffer, and have to pass a more severe...»
This blade-style roll hoop design (main drawing) was introduced by Mercedes in 2010 in order to improve airflow to the rear wing. For 2011 the FIA has decided such solutions could prove dangerous in incidents of cars rolling on a soft surface such as grass or sand, where the blade could cut into the...»
Brawn GP pioneered the concept to championship-winning effect in 2009, everyone had them in 2010, and now they are outlawed. The 2011 rules make it clear that there must be no gap between reference plane, step plane and diffuser, so no more big holes in the underbody like those seen in this Ferrari...»
To coincide with the introduction of Pirelli tyres, the FIA have imposed a mandatory weight distribution range for 2011. The standardised distribution of 45.5-46.7 percent front, 53.3-54.5 rear will ensure one team alone doesn't strike lucky and stumble upon the perfect set-up for the as-yet-unknown...»
Ahead of last year's Spanish Grand Prix, the teams agreed to change the placement of rear-view mirrors for safety reasons and this has now been set in stone in the regulations. Previously, teams had started to position mirrors to boost aero efficiency, with the driver's rearward vision becoming an...»
