Technical Talk: Double diffuser developments

Eurosport - Thu, 11 Jun 21:24:00 2009

Turkey marked the first real opportunity to see the effect of the latest new raft of double diffusers, with BMW upgrading their F1.09 and Red Bull getting a chance to see what their solution could do on a high speed track after introducing the design in Monaco

FORMULA 1 BMW Robert Kubica generic diffuser Turkey GP - 0

So what difference, if any, did these new designs make?

The typical place to find the true relative pace of the cars is during qualifying's Q2 session, when all cars are running as light as possible to try to get into the top-10 shoot-out - and ignoring the incomparable race in Monaco - a comparison between the figures from the Spanish and Turkish races make interesting reading.

Red Bull overcame the hurdle of fitting, testing and optimising the new double diffuser in Monaco, so they expected to hit the ground running in Turkey.

They had already been up the front even without the double diffuser - with the fastest Red Bull just hundredths off the fastest Q2 time in Spain - and with it they took a step ahead, with Vettel 0.179s (0.2 per cent) ahead of the closest car in Turkey Q2 as Toyota pipped Brawn to second.

It seems then that Red Bull now have the fastest car over a single lap - but their season continues to be hampered by misfortunes or mistakes in the race itself.

BMW (pictured), on the other hand, are playing a significant game of catch-up after naming this the year they planned to fight for the title.

They faced a race against time in Turkey as they had to spend Friday testing the new double diffuser and check it against predicted pace shown in the wind tunnel.

Bringing in the new part required significant changes across the car's entire length, with the new back end having an effect all the way to the front as front wings, side bargeboards, rim shields and rear engine cover all required attention.

But after qualifying, BMW were left hoping there is more single-lap pace to come after their performance in Q2, for some reason, showed little sign of improvement.

In Barcelona, their fastest car was 0.454s (0.57 per cent) off pole - while in Turkey that improved only a little, to 0.439s (0.50 per cent) off.

That said, the drivers both felt that pace was improved and showed so in the race, with Kubica's fastest lap just 0.429s slower than the fastest lap of the race set by Jenson Button.

This compared well to Barcelona when the Pole's fastest lap was 1.316s off the race's best lap in Barcelona (set by Rubens Barrichello).

Engineering chief Willy Rampf admitted they need another upgrade "of the same magnitude" for the next race to start moving into the higher positions.

They do have more on the board after having had to scrap their KERS system in Spain after it failed to fit the new aerodynamic chassis design - leaving it on the backburner to concentrate on developing the aerodynamic package last weekend.

But unless that return of KERS does the job, another significant step is going to be pretty hard to come by.

Award-winning sports journalist Will Gray has worked in and around Formula One for more than a decade, providing detailed technical insight as well as live news reports and features for newspapers such as the Daily Telegraph and Daily Star, AFP and Reuters news agencies and a variety of magazines. He has also been an F1 expert on TalkSPORT and Irish radio.

Will Gray / Eurosport

Comment 62 - 81 of 81

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  1. eh?

    From Donald D, on Fri 12 Jun 2:55PM

  2. Hey man I'm not againts Collin Chapman I just dont­ knowthat thing happen to him I just surprise, and about­ Martin Brundle head crash it was really happen, it was­ back at monaco gp he admit it in F1 mag last month, hey­ if you feel offended about it I respectedly apologies­ Owen Gayer, it will not happen again. And I respect­ Collin Chapman as one of the greatest mind in racing­ world he build one of the fastest race car and won a­ lot of championship. And to insulted a man of his­ level will be an absurd.

    From Iceman jr, on Fri 12 Jun 7:58AM

  3. wasn't the double diffuser copied from ­ hitler's V2 rocket? only difference is that it is­ inverted when put on cars

    From jack butler, on Fri 12 Jun 12:44AM

  4. i see someones dug up the potato head again.

    From Burt, on Thu 11 Jun 10:55PM

  5. The Potters are going, going, gone.......

    I love it­ when that happens.

    From Vivien.mourontoot, on Thu 11 Jun 9:06PM

  6. Oh dear

    From Donald D, on Thu 11 Jun 8:17PM

  7. I'm back boys.

    From Jeanette 'No Mates' Bolan, on Thu 11 Jun 7:31PM

  8. Hey eseptiyanto you can't talk about Uncle Colin­ like that, he is our mate.

    From Site Angel, on Thu 11 Jun 7:25PM
  9. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    Hey I don't know that uncle Collin was hit on his­ head when he was a baby, hey you know anyone else who­ got hit on the had = Martin Brundle

    From Iceman jr, on Thu 11 Jun 7:08PM
  10. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    notta rossa brawn diffuser anyway itta belongaa to mist­ rory byrnea

    From George, on Thu 11 Jun 6:52PM

  11. WOW Uncle Colin was dropped on­ his head when he was­ born!!!!
    I wonder if it hurt????

    Hope so:-)))

    From MGA, on Thu 11 Jun 6:43PM

  12. Oh and tt yes Uncle Colin really is that dense but then­ you knew that. Come on own up you did.

    From Site Angel, on Thu 11 Jun 6:20PM

  13. tt you have to remember that Uncle Colin was dropped on­ his head when he was born and quite a few times after­ that too. That explains quite a bit I think.

    From Site Angel, on Thu 11 Jun 6:19PM

  14. touron, are you really THAT dense? If you do what you­ say you have the Brawn diffuser WITHOUT the­ heart-shaped centerpiece, which is the ONLY part that­ is relevant in the 'diffuser discussion'. The­ fins are standard stuff found on EVERY flat-bottom­ performance car in the world...

    From tt, on Thu 11 Jun 6:11PM

  15. oh i have given up a while ago, but i am bored to­ tears, and have nothing better to do......

    From tt, on Thu 11 Jun 6:08PM
  16. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    tt,The fins on­ Brawn's rear are not the part in­ question ,i didn't say they was, i said put those­ fins on the f430, and cut away the mid section of the­ f430 and you have the brawn gp diffuser.

    From touronroute, on Thu 11 Jun 6:06PM

  17. Touronroute you can say what you like about the double­ diffuser but Ferrari designers were at the meeting of­ Tech Working Group in March 08 when Ross Brawn pointed­ out the loohole. BMW and Renault voted against­ changing the rules to remove the loophole and without a­ unanimous vote there could be no change.

    So BMW and­ Renault are to blame but Ferrari knew about this­ loophole over a year ago.

    tt I have read the article­ in Badger that he refers to and it does NOT say that­ there is any similarity except that they both have fins­ as all diffusers do. It uses the two cars for­ comparison purposes. It even points out that the F430­ does not have the "heart shaped" piece that­ you mention. In fact why should it have, because the­ diffuser design on the F430 is not governed by FIA­ rules whereas the Brawn GP1 is? Touronroute is losing­ the plot and not realising that all the new Brawn­ design does is give it more diffuser, if you like. But­ not some new super magic, design.

    tt give up on him­ mate.

    From B Mackenzie, on Thu 11 Jun 5:52PM

  18. 1. There is no such story on the badger - if so, give­ me the headline.
    2. It shows again that you have no­ clue what you are talking about. The fins on­ Brawn's rear are not the part in question - they­ are normal diffusers, which all the cars ran from the­ beginning of the season. The part in question is the­ heart shaped diffuser in the center of the car -­ nowhere to be found on the F430.
    3. "cut away the­ mid section" -- funny, when THAT is THE ONE thing­ that matters in this discussion.

    I am sure Brawn­ brought some knowledge with him from Ferrari, as­ everybody does that changes employers at some point in­ his career, however, before 09 those double diffuser­ designs were not necessary, because the diffuser­ heights were not limited, so it is very doubtful that­ Ferrari had a design for future unknown rule changes in­ the drawer that Brawn could have taken with him or­ copied from them.

    Again, offer something tangible and­ not some vague links to some vague sites, or cut the­ @#$%.

    From tt, on Thu 11 Jun 5:40PM

  19. touronroute:

    Why was a certain firm was told to alter­ their wording from­ identical to nearly?

    From Donald D, on Thu 11 Jun 5:27PM
  20. Comment hidden due to its low rating. Show

    tt, Wrong mate,i know what i was told.and its not from­ my azz.Brawn never brought nothing from Ferrari, who­ are you kidding,put brawns illegal diffuser in your­ browser. and a website come up f1 badger, put the three­ fins on the f430,and cut away the mid section of the­ f430,what have we got, like i said i know what i was­ told,and he wasn't a ice cream man that told me,ask­ why a certain firm was told to alter their wording from­ identical to nearly.

    From touronroute, on Thu 11 Jun 5:20PM
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