The new Mclaren got a pimple

[CaptainRaiden]

McLaren testing ‘bubble’ nose in Barcelona
8 March 2011

McLaren have revealed a radical ‘bubble’ nose cone for Barcelona testing on Tuesday morning, with 2009 World Champion Jenson Button currently in action at the Circuit de Catalunya. It is not yet known whether the Woking squad plans to use the innovation on race weekends this season.

The ‘bubble’ is believed to be measuring nose flexibility

Button began testing without the novelty as the green pit exit light illuminated at a damp Barcelona, before coming back in and fitting the device which had been stacked up in the pit lane.

As well as the increased height of the nose’s main surface, the component also features rods which branch out to either side of the front wing.

It is possible that the ‘bubble’ could contain an increased amount of measuring sensors for what is the final winter test before the 2011 campaign begins in Australia.

[Koz]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mvxe04wGmTw

[SGWilko]

Just think of the amount of puss you could get out of that..........

[CaptainRaiden]

Just think of the amount of puss you could get out of that..........

[Mark]

The same idea as the big device they had on the back of their cars in previous tests. Gathering data to be used for refinements and to feed back into the simulator.

[Tazio]

The same idea as the big device they had on the back of their cars in previous tests. Gathering data to be used for refinements and to feed back into the simulator.

Quite right!
The struts from the wing to the bubble are most likely for gathering wing flex data, (amoung other things)!
I'm guessing they are trying to get the max flex while staying within legal parameters
similar to what Red Bull did last season.

[AndyL]

This is noteworthy in that it appears to be measuring bodywork flex rather than air flow. After the FIA's weak handling of the issue last year, no-one's even pretending not to have flexible bodywork any more.

[CNR]

a bit odd that they would need to run some thing like that
maybe they have tried to copy red bull and make the wing more flexible

http://www.radionz.co.nz/news/sport/...ng-formula-one

Lewis Hamilton is talking down his chances for the upcoming F1 season describing the new McLaren as a let-down that's still some way off being a winner.

[Sonic]

Not odd really. McLaren have proven, since the testing ban at least, that they are excellent at developing a car over a season. This kind of real world data is invaluable to tune their computer modelling and wind tunnel work to increase the likelihood that new components simply bolt on and give the performance boost expected.

[markabilly]

[quote="Mr Alcatraz"]Quite right!



Looks to me as though there is something going on with the red bull front wing....look at how taut the cables are on one side compared to the other.....or is it just something else causing the apprearance of some flex in the wing