Bottas to use new front nose in China

By Andrew Hooper
April 14 2016

 
 Bottas to use new front nose in China
 

Having seen his team-mate Felipe Massa use the Williams teams new short Formula 1 nose in Bahrain China will see Valtteri Bottas use it as the team has only one available.

AS for how the new nose performed Felipe said to reporters in China: "It was not a very easy weekend to learn in Bahrain.

"We only have one nose. It's just down to production."

"We are going to have another one, but there is only one for now and it is on the other car.

"We need to wait and see how it is going to work on this track.

"We need to understand if it is better or not."
 

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Bottas to use new front nose in China
Discussion started by Williams F1 , 14/04/2016 12:19
Williams F1
14/04/2016 12:19
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Gwanni
14/04/2016 12:54
This is silly!

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crusty_bread
14/04/2016 13:49
Agreed Gwanni- regarding the reason given.

I don't believe for one second they can only start constructing a 2nd nose when the first nose is 2 weeks into the manufacturing process. Have they got one man making both noses from start to finish? Nope.

I think the real reason the team are reluctant to admit is that they are in doubt whether the front nose offers any practical overall advantage- perhaps because the increase in front downforce simply causes understeer and doesn't benefit rear grip or tyre wear. Massa was no more competitive than Bottas in Bahrain- and Bottas had a damaged wing.

If in doubt, it would cost money manufacturing a second nose if the drivers prefer the old configuration, so China represents an extended trial before committing either way. It suggests the team are being very economical, and i hope it doesn't hold up the teams's understanding of the car or lead them to go down the wrong path through penny pinching.

In short- the clue is in the answer- they found it hard to find the benefit of the nose in bahrain and that the lack of a second IS due to manufacturing, because they haven't bothered to manufacture a second...



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2016:04:14:13:56:07 by crusty_bread.

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Gwanni
14/04/2016 14:20
Your explanation makes more sense than the one given by our team. hope it is not a cash flow problem. Obviously, our team needs to be extra careful in its operations. But investment is continuously needed to out develop other teams.

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j-s
14/04/2016 16:45
Must be an expensive piece of kit, however I doubt it's down to how the team is allocating resources. They have the raw materials and manpower and if they're not building a nose then they're doing something else.

Agree with Gwanni and Crusty. They're probably making sure it's worth their time to build it. Test it in China, get some data, and then probably build a tweaked version.

Still disappointing though. The panacea of the ultra-short super-fast nose was false. That's that.

Sadly, I'm now just hoping we can stay ahead of Haas and Toro Rosso.

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Ozzy Osbone
14/04/2016 17:53
I can't see how more front downforce would cause understeer? Typo I assume.

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Duffer
15/04/2016 16:23
Lol, more front downforce will not cause understeer. It will reduce it. But in reality, they will just take angle off the wing so their df levels are what they were so they can keep balance and serup.

The effect should be simply less drag with similar df levels.

http://i266.photobucket.com/albums/ii244/jock298/Duffer_2Sig.png

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Greenmachine
15/04/2016 16:36
Yeah. More front end grip from more down force causes over steer, not under steer. Well I shouldn't say causes over steer, but induces it by changing the grip balance of the car. More grip up front means the front wheels go where you want. Relatively less grip at the rear means they tend to slide.

Under steer is when the front end elides a little due to inadequate grip. It's typically safer than over steer because the car just pushes wide into a corner, but in my experience is less quick than a slightly over steery car. If the driver has the talent to handle the over steer, they will be faster than an equally skilled driver who prefers under steer. Just my experience though.

Notice too, that many many f1 drivers prefer slight under steer, but a high proportion of the greats like a little over steer.

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GPL
15/04/2016 16:43
So they Val will use new nose with old front wing and Phill old nose and front wing.??

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Stu69
15/04/2016 18:32
If the new nose did not provide an obvious advantage previously why bother making another. Test it again then either redesign it or sack it off or make some more. (I thought for a moment VB had been under the knife!)

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