2006 British GP Technical Review

After the more aggressive aerodynamic developments needed for Monaco, the British Grand Prix required a more conventional set-up for the cars.

Silverstone is very similar to Barcelona, and as such very few developments were seen on the cars. Additionally, most teams have been focusing on testing low downforce/low drag set-ups for Canada and Indianapolis.

Silverstone is a classic F1 track. Although it is still regarded as a high speed circuit, the slower complexes at the end of the lap compromise the car's set-up, and large amounts of downforce are run there.

With the lower powered V8 cars, and even stickier tyres, the opening half of the lap is completed nearly flat out and with no real braking zones until the second sector.

England is usually expected to provide unusual weather, and last weekend was no exception, despite the race held a month earlier than usual. The sun was out throughout the weekend, with air and track temperatures exceptionally high.

Added to the blustery wind, the teams were struggling in the early part of the weekend to find a set-up that would not overheat the tyres and upset the car's balance. Even in the race, the grip provided by the track altered to favour the Bridgestone-shod runners for the second half of the race.

Front ballast

It has been reported in the Italian press that some teams are alleged to be running spring mounted ballast. What has been suggested is that teams are running a weight (yellow) in the nose cone, mounted on springs or such-like to enhance handling. Should this ballast be mounted to slide vertically in a controlled manner, then the car's pitching behaviour under braking and over kerbs could be tuned.

I have not been able to confirm this theory with the teams or with photographic evidence. A report in Autosprint suggested that some teams' nose cones were unusually heavy to lift and that the hollow interior of the nose cone was blanked off and kept hidden from front view.

Currently, when a car brakes, the weight shifts forwards in the car and the nose dives. This affects the front wing's aerodynamics, as the wing suddenly gets pushed closer to the ground, and the downforce it produces suddenly goes up and then potentially falls if the part of the wing chokes from being too close to the ground. The effect the driver feels through this process is much more sensitive handling.

To manage this weight shift, the car's dampers, third spring and suspension's anti-dive geometry can be adjusted, but any change may compromise another aspect of the car's handling.

If the weight transfer could be controlled, by delaying the abruptness of the load transfer affecting the front wheels, then the car will be more benign under the initial and hardest part of the braking phase.

It is believed that teams have mounted a ballast weight to slide vertically inside the nose cone, and this would probably move on a damper to control its motion. Now, when the car brakes, the car's main weight (less the sprung nose weight) shifts forward. Meanwhile, the sprung nose weight is momentarily weightless, held up by its inertia and the damper.

Thus, some of the car's forward weight transfer is delayed, and then, as inertia and the damper allow the nose weight to fall, the car is at a less sensitive phase of the braking process and will be less upset by the additional weight shift.

If this system does exist, it is most likely that it is done with the FIA's knowledge, but the rules on ballast are vague and often supplemented with clarifications. What is said, is covered under section 4.2 of the 2006 Formula One Technical Regulations:

4.2 Ballast:
Ballast can be used provided it is secured in such a way that tools are required for its removal. It must be possible to fix seals if deemed necessary by the FIA technical delegate.

Thus, the alleged systems could be deemed to be within the rules if the weight and damper mechanism are self-contained and removable as an assembly. This could be considered a contentious point, as the spirit of the rules implies that ballast must be fixed in respect to the rest of the car, i.e. movable ballast is not permitted.

A new rear wing uses five slots (arrowed) to reduce drag and an even more radical flap mount (yellow) © Scarborough (Click image to enlarge)

If this system is in use, then other teams are likely to adopt it and this may fall under the FIA's "new technology" rule, which allows developments to be run for the balance of the year before being either banned or incorporated into the next year's regulations.

Renault

Renault ran a new rear wing with revised endplates. The shape of the curved elements of the wing are similar, but the flap now mounts to the endplate much further forward (yellow), further down the endplate.

The team have also copied Ferrari's practice of adding vents to the area behind the lower beam. Renault have added five slots where high pressure air from within the wing can escape to the outside (yellow arrows). This eases the load at the wing tip, which should reduce the turbulence created inside the endplate, which creates drag.

Honda

In testing, Honda have been the first team to copy Renault's rear wing design. The low drag wing testing in Monza now blends the flap into the endplate.

This allows some air from within the wing to bleed to outside the endplate, reducing the vortex produced at the wing tip and reducing drag. This low drag set-up will be critical at the high speed tracks that are coming up.

Toyota

The B spec car has McLaren-style angled torsion bars (yellow) accessed through the top of the chassis © Scarborough (Click image to enlarge)

With the TF106B appearing in a very similar format to the Monaco version (aside from the rear wing), more details of just how much the car has changed are emerging.

The front suspension rockers are mounted much higher; to achieve this, the torsion bars (yellow) have been relocated. Normally these are accessed through the front bulkhead, but now they are angled steeply downwards in McLaren fashion and have to be removed through the top of the monocoque through small apertures covered by small circles of bodywork (yellow).

Additionally, the turning vanes mounted below the front wishbones are now mounted directly to the lower edge of the chassis and not from a horizontal mount attached to the sold keel.

Red Bull Racing

Red Bull were expected to have a new aero package for Silverstone, and while the team indeed announced new car developments, which were tested at Barcelona, any such changes were barely visible last weekend.