Hi-res version MP4-24 floor:
http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...2/diapo_140.jpg

I'm going to have the laugh of my life come Melbourne.

The only positive thought is that if the team have been hiding this floor/diffuser/rear wing combination (as would seem prudent) then the downforce/drag coefficient of the 08 rear wing might well explain the running of it thoughout the off season.

Still with 2008 rear-wing car showed nothing special.

Programme: The morning session was spent focusing on longer runs using an existing bodywork package in order to establish an accurate baseline ahead of the evaluation of new parts in the afternoon. During the lunchbreak, MP4-24 was fitted with a new front wing, floor and top body and the programme continued - on identical fuel-loads - throughout the afternoon. The team now turns its focus towards tuning the set-up in order to fully exploit the characteristics of the new aero kit.

http://www.mclaren.com/f1season/barcelona-mar09-09.php

So we´ll see "Melbourne 98" Part II this year?

There are two holes on the corner of the radiator inlet... Future mod??

Melbourne 98 as an easy Mclaren win or what?

thanx! that's intersting.

however i dont get one point.

clearly they've been focusing on the development of front wing by testing many types of front wing, but the diffuser has seen zero updates.

no it wasnt, they just said so because it didnt work

Probably in next few days its going to be on the car. You cannot put everything at the same time, part by part...

and you know that for certain do you F1rules?

hmm, well they were a little faster in the afternoon... But not much...

They probably have a side wing to put there like the other teams

They might not need to change it directly, they are affecting it by changing how it gets fed air

theyve only tested two

You really think they're slower than Force India? Even after this aero updates?

Well at the moment - yes...

Not by much?

Morning fastest's time was 1:24.2, then in the afternoon Heikki did a 1:22.9.

I think tomorrow will see the team working on shorter runs and then we'll see Heikki near the top.

I hope I'm right.

i dont even have the energi to start, but if you followed the development up close, you would know that the difference between their current rearwing and the launch model is not that big, the new one is raised in the middle a bit which would actually decrease downforce a bit but also less drag, so please spare me

2/3's of the opposition still.

http://premium.f1-live.com/f1/photos-hires...2/diapo_141.jpg

How do you adjust a rear wing like that, you know a few degrees up or down?

i thought 3 at least but you could be right.

McLaren don't seem to have adjustable rear wings, all the other team have adjustment holes on the endplates.

Lazarus II
Thanks for the link.

There should be no more excuses now, so I expect to see a McLaren in the top 3 tomorrow!
If not, well...

Do you have any evidence too the contrary? We can only go by the test times, and until they unleash the car and show it's speed then yes, it's slower.

That's the catch, they need much more wings, there is no setup work on that wing (I think).

IMO we are seeing the first signs of the final version of the car.

most likely need to replace the whole unit.

btw u can notice a removable extension attached at the top edge of the wing.

yep and i think we are gonna see a new diffuser also, perhaps not at this test but at the next. If you look closely, you can see that they moved the hot air outlet. Before it was at the floor leading the hot air towards the diff. Now the hot air is lead out through the same wholes as the exhaust. Could perhaps be, that the first solution couldnt work with the new diffuser, but this is speculation.
This again shows that mclaren were probobly caught of guard, with the new diffuser and they had to change some off their original design to adapt

There is very high chances to see F60 style mirror mountings, and Williams diffuser.

They did run a new diffuser late today, we just did not see the rear end. We only saw the side of the floor with the cut-out.

Well, to you maybe, but for me, it says nothing of the sort, they are allowed to test different solutions you know without being accused of being caught off guard....

Well you'd think so. The floor change is interesting, I'm just wondering if all this has been planned from the start or if they have been forced to do this in order to look for more downforce. The blanked off diffuser tells me it has been planned to some extent. If they have been doing all this to trick the other teams then I hope it comes back to bite them on the ass.

There seem to be some mounting holes at the sidepods' front edge. If not integrated with mirrors, they may place vertical elements there.

agree

If you look back, Haug mentions over a month ago that they had come up with a totally new floor to (*something-diffuser?*) interaction

I'm not a McLaren fan but I'm beginning to think they may have planned all this, but had one or two problems they were not expecting along the way. They're definitely sandbagging their times, that I'm pretty certain of. I just hope they're not the fastest car in the end...

He said:


McLaren is working on a completely new interaction between the floor and the rearwing. That's were most potential is hidden. Haug: ''In the coming weeks our car will transform. We very accurately know what can still be expected in terms of downforce levels.''

i know its pure speculation, however if you look lets say 4years back, how many times have you seen a team change the position off the hot air outlet??? that never happens. Looks to me like they saw the williams diffuser and reckoned the posibilities, so they adapted their own design which is fine in my book

The floor is definitly pre-planned, have no idea about the rest, maybe just part of ongoing adjustments that every team try

Looking at the *finish* of these parts, and the time scale to manufacture them, I think it is all a pre-planned sequence of testing. Not that they have been caught out or off guard and the lap times at this moment mean zich, nada, nought.

agreed, the floor is pre planned no doubt

I just hope other teams like Ferrari and Red Bull are ready when the McLaren speeds itself up.

Wow, amazing innovation on the floor
Probably caught quite a few teams off guard.

Haug is the chief of the 'I-told-you-so brigade'.

development wing =/= a wing that doesn't work. The launch package was finalised in August, having a new wing doesn't mean the old one didn't work, just means that the new one is/might be better. All teams develop previous concepts. You just make it sound like the old one was flat out garbage, but you don't know this, and neither do we.

They don't earn points for getting in the top 3 tomorrow, so they, nor I care about it, I am sure.

fairly encouragin news wit the new parts n its analysis...



i wont have my hopes up till i start seeing much better times though