As Spanish newspaper Marca has revealed, Brawn may have infringed the technical regulations, diffusers aside, during the Australia Grand Prix.
As they
report today, the BGP001 may have used controversial exhaust pipes lay out that could
be out of the regulations.
Apparently
their exhausts extended 10cm out of the bodywork while used during the (entire?) Australian GP,
something that has been corrected for the Malaysian GP. Now the bodywork has
been increased, to cover the pipes, as you can see in the link below.
It’s clear
that this didn't make any significant pace gain, as it’s not an area where big
gains can be obtained, but nevertheless it's well remembered that back in
pre-season testing Ferrari had to modify theirs for the very same reason, after
complaints from some teams and sectors of the media
Rival
team's engineers have already noticed about it, but have made no claim yet,
probably as already FIA has rejected multiple protests against Brawn GP
diffusers.
In fact,
the article claims some teams were keen to imitate it, as probably it gave a
slightly refrigeration advantage.
To have a
look at the full original article, and the photos that prove it, go to: LINK (note the main photo was taken during Thursday's pit stop practices in Australia, that's why they were using old grooved tyres).
Nothing that will set the world apart, but it could become the little excuse, or
detail if you prefer to call it like that, which non-double decker diffuser teams may have been looking for, to
bring forward their dissatisfaction regarding the BGP001 stunning pace.
However, we are sceptic on this matter, as it looks odd that other teams haven't made more noise about it, nor that FIA stewards have mentioned about it. Certainly we will have to pay a closer look again to the regualtions regarding that area to be sure MARCA claims are valid enough. As soon as we get further updates and re-consult our technical experts, we will inform you.
If used intelligently, this could be the perfect excuse for most teams to somehow claw back the Aussie results, as most likely the diffusers protest will fail.
What do you think KK?
Racing against the machine!
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2009:04:05:19:56:32 by J-Raid.
Every team knew the New Regulations,
Don't tell me after the fuss about the diffusers at the pre race tests, and certainly on 'Complaint' day, any technical director worth his job would have picked on every area they thought out of the Regulations.
Maybe they were all really 'diffused' sorry confused
From a technical standpoint, there isn't much to say about it because it's not an area that's giving BRawn a meaningful performance advantage, as you said Jaime.
It's more of a political matter. When Ferrari had to change their exhaust it was due to the letter of the rule regarding aerodyamic winglets and appendages. Can an exposed exhaust be used to control airflow? Not appreciably, no. It was just the competition looking for a way to throw Ferrari off their development programme.
However, the protest was accepted by the FIA, because the exhaust was against the letter of the rule, even though the accusation about it being an aero device was absurd. The two step diffusers are not against the letter of the rule, because of the rear crash structure loop-hole, they are only against the spirit of the regulations, and the protests were therefore rejected.
The trend is that the FIA is more preoccuppied with enforcing pedantic rules rather than setting a level playing field, so the OWG may be on the right track should they choose to go after the Brawn exhausts.
Well the photo in the link clearly isn't the BGP001 AT Melbourne because the tyre is clearly a grooved tyre. If it had been taken at Melbourne it would be a slick tyre. That was probably taken at the Silverstone shake down (when they ran with grooved tyres) and I've yet to see proof that their exhausts at Melbourne were outside the rules (Aside from anything else, the car has passed scrutineering twice and you would expect something that obviously black and white to have been spotted by the stewards).
A budget cap?
When I was growing up all we had was a flat cap...
F1 Parking Space Well the photo in the link clearly isn't the BGP001 AT Melbourne because the tyre is clearly a grooved tyre. If it had been taken at Melbourne it would be a slick tyre. That was probably taken at the Silverstone shake down (when they ran with grooved tyres) and I've yet to see proof that their exhausts at Melbourne were outside the rules (Aside from anything else, the car has passed scrutineering twice and you would expect something that obviously black and white to have been spotted by the stewards).
Man, isn't people able to read the whole article properly? There is an explanation there of why there are grooved tyres.
It was taken during Thursday of the GP, where mechanics move the car to practice pit stops. We presume the same car was used during the rest of the weekend, as other photos show.
We will find soon if everything is cricket. If so, things will remain the same, if not and all three defuser cars are are deemed illegal BMW may just be leading the heap.
Wouldn't that be wonderful ? Personally I doubt that will be the result and in reality we will be in a hurry-up mode manufacturing new parts to get back into the fold.
Checked the link and understand the point . The picture is claimed to be from the Australian Grand Prix but I do not believe this to be the case as the car is clearly on 2008 groved tryes . The only logical answer is the car was either at its initial shakedown or test or in transit
BMW Sauber is believed to have evaluated a similar diffuser concept to the three teams as part of its development programme for the F1.09, and would introduce it if the concept was declared legal.
Checked the link and understand the point . The picture is claimed to be from the Australian Grand Prix but I do not believe this to be the case as the car is clearly on 2008 groved tryes . The only logical answer is the car was either at its initial shakedown or test or in transit
Please please, read the infromation before reaching conclusions.
This is the third time I have to say this:
It (the photo) was taken during Thursday of the GP, where mechanics move the car to practice pit stops. We presume the same car was used during the rest of the weekend, as other photos show.
@barteks, I fear it won't be ready for CHina, but it will be for Barcelona, at least thats what Theissen words implied (read at LINK).
Sorry not to bring better news...
Quote:
Tuscan Boy what's this got to do with bmw? theres no mention of it on the brawn site.
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