F1 News
Date: 16/March/2012
In the absence of conclusive track action, attention switched to the latest ‘top secret’ technical development during day one of the 2012 F1 season at Melbourne’s Albert Park on Friday.
The two wet/dry practice sessions finished with McLaren’s Jenson Button and then Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher on top. However the mixed conditions meant Button’s morning time was almost two seconds quicker than Schumacher’s afternoon best.
And with Red Bull’s reigning champion Sebastian Vettel no higher than tenth, little was being read into the lap times, but there was more than enough speculation off-track to make up for the slow on-track start.
The main technical talking point was the Mercedes team, which looks to have found a way to use the movement of the ring wing DRS (Drag Reduction System) to stall either the front or rear wing.
By stalling a wing the car rids itself of unneeded downforce on the straights, which allows higher top speeds. Critically, in terms of legality, the Mercedes system has no direct input from the driver or moving parts.
Instead air is thought to be diverted into a special duct which is only exposed when the DRS ‘overtaking aid’ is activated. Air is then channelled to most probably stall the front wing. A less complicated (but less effective) system would redirect this air to stall parts of the rear wing.
DRS can be deployed by the driver throughout practice and qualifying, then when within one-second of the car in front during a race.
Team principal Ross Brawn wouldn’t be drawn on the details, but insisted the interest generated was great for Formula One.
“It’s great for Formula One, because for me the magic of Formula One is not just the drivers, it’s the technology, the engineering, the innovation, the stories that fill the web pages and the media,” he said.
“Today it’s us, tomorrow it will be somebody else. That’s why Formula One is so fascinating, why it’s so appealing to our fans and enthusiasts.
“Innovation is the lifeblood of Formula One racing. Obviously I’m not going to go into detail of what people are calling the ‘Fduct’. I’m surprised they are calling it that, because I don’t quite know what that means.”
Brawn added that other teams will already be in the process of creating similar devices.
“We have an interesting system on the car and it’s not complicated at all, so I’m sure other teams are looking at it and they need to decide if it’s worthwhile or not,” he said.
“But it’s not in the same magnitude as the diffuser concept that we had or even the exhaust concepts the cars ran the last few years. It’s obviously helpful, that’s why we’re doing it but it’s not a massive performance gain.”
Brawn’s final comment playing down the significance of the system promoted a light-hearted exchange Williams’ Adam Parr, who quipped: “That’s a relief to hear, so we can stop developing ours?”
“I would like you to spend all your money on it, Adam, and then we can get on with other stuff,” smiled Brawn.
“That wouldn’t take long!” quipped Parr, whose leading driver Pastor Maldonado was eighth and 17th in the two Friday sessions.
Final practice and qualifying takes place on Saturday.
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