F1

Brawn GP 001 Nose

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  • #263384
    Ben Ringers
    Participant

    Hi guys. For 2014 nose height has dropped to 185 mm or something like that, and this means that down force is dropped. What I was wondering is how the Brawn GP 001 was able to be so competitive with such a low nose. If so, why don’t teams use a similar design today (as it looks much better as well).

    #263386
    Roald
    Participant

    Different weight distribution than today’s cars, perhaps less room at the back to add weight to get it up to the weight limit: remember 2009’s cars were quite a bit shorter because of refueling. The Brawn had ballast in the tip of the nose to keep the centre of gravity low.

    However, we can’t be sure they made the “right” decision with the low nose, in fact, looking at how desperately teams wanted a high nose in years after, I think the Brawn nose was “wrong”. Other aspects of the car were good enough to compensate, but the Red Bull was probably more aerodynamically effient as we’ve seen in the latter part of the season.

    #263390

    I think the Brawn nose was “wrong”. Other aspects of the car were good enough to compensate, but the Red Bull was probably more aerodynamically effient as we’ve seen in the latter part of the season.

    I agree with @roald. I think the low, fat nose was somewhat of a legacy feature from previous years. It disappeared in 2010, I think.

    #263440
    Iestyn Davies
    Participant

    That could have helped Jenson actually, as he likes a strong front end. And in the first half of 2009 he had Rubens covered, with development Rubens could come back at him.

    #263738
    Deej92
    Participant

    I was wondering this: what is the loss in downforce mainly down to? I’m no aerodynamicist, but when I see the cars I keep thinking these lower noses must be having a significant impact on downforce. Or is it more down to the narrower front wings, shallower rear wings, or something else?

    #263743
    Steven
    Participant

    @deej92 Well, the 2009 regs brought the narrow rear wing and much lower, wider front wing, but a lot of the lost downforce was gained through double diffuser, exhaust blown diffuser, then perfected with engine mapping (I think I may have missed some transitional steps but I believe these are the major ones). Now we’ve lost a huge chunk of downforce because the exhaust blown diffusers are not possible with the new regulations. The way I see it, because these engines create so much more power at lower RPMs, not having that tremendous rear downforce should make the car a lot more difficult to handle.

    I’m no aerodynamics/physics expert, but my understanding of these open wheel cars is that the majority of downforce is created through the floor of the car, so the nose heights affect the airflow going to the floor; I think it’s about creating negative airflow between the floor and the track (or maybe it’s positive, see my first comment in this paragraph), essentially pulling the car onto the track. Most teams opted for the phallic noses because it increases airflow to the underbody by minimizing how much ‘nose’ is blocking that airflow.

    Someone much more knowledgeable that I will be reading this and wonder what the hell I’m on about, but the big change this year is the removal of exhaust blown diffusers.

    I hope someone adds to this because I think what I’ve written is a brief, and woefully inadequate summary of the changes.

    #263839
    Roald
    Participant

    Don’t forget about the removal of the beam wing and the narrower front wing, less surface to generate downforce is hard to claw back.

    #263888
    pH
    Participant

    I see it just like @roald. Brown’s advantage was mainly in its double diffuser which hid its shortcomings, but once the other teams caught up, Brown faded away. This strongly suggests that Brown missed their train in the nose area.
    If I were a dictator (of F1), every car with a raised nose would get 3 seconds added to its qualifying times and during each race its driver would have to stop every 20 laps and apologize to viewers for insulting their eyes with such an ugly car.

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