The 2005 Technical Review (part I)

Renault

Now in their second year with Bob Bell (chassis) and Rob White (engine) as technical heads, this is also the second year of the 72-degree engine. This second generation engine has had the development time its predecessor lacked, and as a result its weight and power output were on a par with the opposition. The former benefit has had clear advantages for the team, as the 2004 engine was by the team's own admission overweight as a result of its truncated development cycle.

With less weight being taken up by the engine, and a weight loss programme around the car, the R25's weight distribution was more akin to its rivals. At the rear the team used a six speed gearbox; this has often been cited as a mark of the engine's drivability, but also the weight and complexity benefits of one less ratio were a factor for Renault, perhaps still mindful that the engine isn't where it needs to be weight wise.

Towards the front the much talked about V keel was a variation on the common single keel; the design is simply a V shaped structure to pass the lower wishbone loads into the chassis, simpler and lighter. The keel also allowed for some flow to pass between its legs, although this was probably a secondary benefit.

Under the car the team retained the vertical splitter running along the middle of the shadow plate, termed by Renault a Dolphin; this simple device splits the flow left to right, into and around the sidepods, as well as probably providing a haven for ballast. Ballast was also the subject of some rule clarifications from the FIA; it was reported Renault (and other teams) ran ballast in the nose/front wing assembly to assist their weight distribution. Concerned about the safety implication of an extra heavy nose assembly being detached in an accident, the practice was outlawed.

Aerodynamically the Renault was one of the more extreme cars in appearance, from the needle nose to the curved and louvered sidepods, yet the apparent complexity of the design produced a neutral car suited to most circuits. Subjectively, the car suited Fernando Alonso better than Giancarlo Fisichella; the Italian tends to ease the car into corners more than Alonso's aggressive style. This places a different demand on the front end, and left Fisichella searching for balance and grip while Alonso drove around the problem.

The major advantage for Renault was that the car was on the button at each circuit, needing little set up; this meant the team could preserve their engine by not running so many laps in practice, and they were able to take an advantage in the opening races. This early season gain clearly aided the team when their pace was usurped by McLaren by mid season. Development was visible throughout the year, from the early season introduction to the front wing canards to a late season floor and sidepod upgrade.

Having run their own individual rear wing endplate for several seasons, which curves the flap into the endplate to reduce the drag created at the wing tip, Renault did adopt the more conventional flat end plate and slits at come races. The team's approach to the diffuser was unique too; the rear suspension was revised to place the lower wishbone in closer proximity to the side tunnels, helping to pull the flow up from under the floor.

So low was the wishbone, and so aggressive was the central diffuser tunnel, that the two intersected and the team had to pass the wishbone through the tunnel. This compromise was partially offset when the late season floor upgrade faired in the bare wishbone leg.

Monaco was the team's low point; wear of the rear tyres was extreme and left the cars without any pace to fight on a track that usually suits the team. Tyre wear affected other races; Fisichella had problems in Malaysia, but these were partly attributed to bodywork damage robbing him off some downforce. But by being fastest out of the blocks and then pushing development in the closing races, Renault were able to clinch both Championships, both being a first for Renault as a manufacturer.

McLaren Mercedes

Having fallen from competitiveness since Mika Hakkinen's last Championship, McLaren have made hard work of recovering. The 2002 MP4-17 was a more complex car than the MP4-16 before it, and then the team embarked on the even more complex MP4-18, which was never raced. The interim MP4-17D was a much better car, campaigned in 2003 during the painful development of the carbon fibre cased double clutch gearbox of the 18. McLaren finally found some balance with the MP4-19 raced in 2004, with the car taking some of its design from the still born 18, yet needing a major revamp mid season to correct issues in both the aero and engine. The resulting MP4-19B was real progress for the team.

By this stage Adrian Newey was only contracted until mid 2005, and the aerodynamic team was now lead by the ex-Ferrari man Nick Tombasis, while Mike Coughlan remained at the head of the chassis team. Newey subsequently extended his contract to the end of the year. Over the winter design work on the 2005 MP4-20 progressed, and was very much an evolution of the 19B.

At a late stage in the cars aero development, and as a result of the front wing rule changes, McLaren sought to revise its front suspension to move the lower wishbone in respect to the higher front wing. This resulted in the "no keel" wishbone layout, where the wishbones mount much higher up on the chassis and droop down to the upright within the wheel. This forced compromises in the suspension geometry and the wishbones and uprights.

Aerodynamically the car retained the keel shaped bargeboards, but these no longer formed a structural part of the car and fooled many into thinking the car had retained the twin keels. Thus McLaren were racing all season handicapped by a car without the same level of fundamental design work on the front of the chassis that would have been given to a car conceived with this layout from the outset.

All around the car the aerodynamic design concepts of the 18-19-19B were clear; the sidepods now much more waisted and undercut, and the complex rear end had aerodynamic bodywork to fair in the gearbox, while even the gearbox itself had a nod back to the run of more experimental cars.

The MP4-20 was equipped with a carbon fibre gear case using titanium plates to mount the bearings. This set up failed in the 18, as the team had tried to run both a double clutch and carbon case simultaneously; its not known if the double clutch system was outlawed by the FIA or dropped by McLaren for technical reasons first, but the carbon case also had issues with the routing of the exhausts through the diffuser. This year's car routes them through to the top of the sidepods in conventional fashion.

A progressive view on the gearbox remains, with the quick shift system being rumoured to have been adopted by McLaren. Also a design not picked up by the other teams were the Viking horn wings; the angled pieces of bodywork have never been conclusively explained, but I believe they form several functions in managing the flow around the roll structure, sending it onwards to the rear wing in a more efficient manner.

Another function could be to control yaw when the car slides; the side faces of the wings are flat, and would present a greater surface area to the airflow when the car is at an angle and provide some resistance to the slide. These would work only up to a point, when the car goes too far from straight ahead they could wreck the flow to the rear end, robbing it of downforce; this perhaps explains the last corner spin Juan Pablo Montoya had in qualifying.

Heading into the start of the season McLaren proved quick on long runs in testing but struggled in qualifying at the opening races; their tyres would not warm up and perform over a single lap, leaving the team handicapped at the start of the race. Even their races were slow to start until the tyres came on song by the end of the first stint, with the car's large fuel tank keeping the cars on track as the others dived in for their first stops.

It transpires that McLaren were initially too conservative with their suspension geometry, with the emphasis on being kind to the tyres to make them last the race. A redesign for the beginning of the European season cured the problem, and the team soon started to qualify well to back up their race pace. Soon the pattern that remained for the balance of the season had been set. McLaren were able to qualify well, even on much heavier fuel loads than Renault, especially for Kimi Raikkonen, who was able to run significantly quicker qualifying laps on more fuel than Montoya.

In the races the cars would either drive away into the lead or run longer first stints to gain the lead, ending their stints up to ten laps later than some teams. Wins and points were lost due to tyre problems, either the Raikkonen flat spot and suspension failure or the de-laminations later in the year. But tyre management issues were not the sole problem for McLaren; the engine's reliability cost the team at many races, often in practice handicapping qualifying. Fortunately the car's race performance often negated the grid penalty.

Considering how the team's pace developed through the year and how other teams so visibly altered their cars, McLaren remained a conundrum with virtually no noticeable developments on the car. Whether the changes existed but in such minor detail so as not to be noticed, or because the car had so much innate speed the design team could focus on 2006 is not clear. But such was its dominance it seems surprising McLaren went away without a Championship, and their threat to the other teams is now quite clear.

Ferrari

Having enjoyed a long bout of dominance and technical stability Ferrari were well placed to take advantage of this year's rule change: only the loss of their aerodynamicist to McLaren and Sauber as a tyre partner appeared to upset their season ahead. With succession in mind Ross Brawn headed the technical team, Rory Byrne handing over design control to Aldo Costa, while the departed Tombasis was replaced by John Iley from Renault. As ever Paolo Martinelli managed the engine development.

With Michelin controlling seven teams on the grid, crucially the middle seven, leaving Jordan and Minardi with Bridgestone's, the risk was that a Michelin tyre that outperformed Ferrari could see the team as far back as fifteenth and sixteenth in qualifying and the races.

It transpired that the Michelin was dominating all season, albeit rarely to the stage where Ferrari could not take the fight to the lesser Michelin shod teams. In fact only in one race did Ferrari look like a win was possible (excluding Indianapolis). Separating tyre and chassis is impossible, but it is fair to say the Ferrari chassis this did not perform as well as expected.

Over the winter Ferrari were confident that their lead over the other teams would give them the luxury of delaying their new car until the European season and allow them to run an interim car in between. The step in pace from the end of 2004 to the new year and the F2004M was not enough; in relative terms it was a step backwards as the rest of the teams had made a step improvement in the same period.

The poor showing in the opening races and testing led the team to force the F2005 along quicker than it was ready for. During the design phase the F2005 went back to the drawing board, and the exploitation of a diffuser wrapped around a narrower gearbox was the aim. The team effort to redesign a gearbox already at the limit of current Formula One design and make the differential slimmer was considerable. In comparison the rest of the car was a clear development of the F2005, and the chin wing to improve the front wing's grip was a sole innovation.

On debut the car struggled, the gearbox problems being the main limitation in seeing what the new car could bring a fight to the then dominant Renault. With Imola as the high spot, the team started to slide backwards. Their Bridgestone's were wearing too fast, especially the rears. With the new diffuser the rear end grip was predicted to be good, but the problem may lie at the other end of the car; the front wing and its associated bargeboards etc were not as efficient as their rivals.

Soon the car sported an array of aerodynamic detritus, with dive planes and fins around the nose and sidepods; this imbalance forced either an unpredictable car, or the rear end grip was turned down to match the front. Evidence to the problem was in how each driver compensated; Rubens Barrichello, as a classis smooth racing driver, demands the chassis to be as neutral, balanced and predictable, and whereas the recent run of cars gave him these qualities the F2005 didn't, and his performances showed it. Meanwhile Michael Schumacher is a reactive driver, who is much better skilled in coping with a car that needed better calculation to travel through a corner.

In reacting to the car's limitations the team set about maximizing its performance in other areas. Clear examples of this are the asymmetrical mirrors and mirrored lollipop; the former allowed Schumacher to watch the wear on the rear tyres and adjust his driving accordingly, while the mirrored lollipop allowed him to prepare to exit the pit, gaining valuable tenths that could not be found in the chassis.

Reliability affected the team for the first time in years, centered on the gearbox and hydraulics. While the engine remained a reliable and powerful unit, its true performance masked by the chassis and tyre shortcomings. With all the problems afflicting the team this year, the end result of third in both Championships is quite startling, admittedly aided by a big haul of points at Indianapolis.

Toyota

After several years developing their team, the hiring of Mike Gascoyne from Renault in 2004 was perhaps a milestone in their development. The team's resources are immense, from the enormous factory with its engine shops and windtunnel to the enviable funding from the parent company and sponsors. These resources have not really helped the team develop as fast as they should have, and it is perhaps the management and direction that has been lacking.

A year on from joining Toyota Gascoyne rolled out the new TF105, which was a logical, if not daring, step forwards from its predecessors. Before the season started the car received its first aerodynamic upgrade, and this process continued throughout the first half of the year, the car gaining just about every aerodynamic gadget seen around the pitlane.

With the aerodynamics department managed directly by Gascoyne, the car had the balance and downforce it needed, and there was distinct step up for Toyota from the 2004 to cope with the new rules. Engine wise the car remained as strong and reliable as it had been in previous years.

Being able to design the whole car under one roof brings advantages for Toyota; the integration is impressive, from a single ECU on the car for engine and chassis control. Also the clutch remained on the engine, whereas other teams have their in the gearbox for torsional vibration reasons, this is only possible with close interaction between engine and chassis departments.

This work was paying off as the car was clearly performing on track. Qualifying has always been a strong point for Jarno Trulli, but his race performances were now also matching his single lap runs. Points started to come in, and the team appeared to be making progress. After years of struggling on bumpy tracks the car at last seemed to be more balanced around all circuits, although Ralf Schumacher's pace was a little puzzling, with his season hit by another major shunt at Indianapolis.

Going into the second half of the season the visible pace of development was waning, as the design team was split between the current car and the 2006 car. One development earmarked for the new car was thought to be useful enough for pushing through into 2005: just as McLaren had discovered the lower wishbones placement improved the aerodynamics, Toyota also sought to gain from this idea.

A ninth monocoque was made up to be tested with the high wishbone no keel layout. To make their life easier, and to ease crash test requirements, the external shape of the monocoque was retained; even the keel and its duct to feed the tethers through were kept. Internally the chassis was laid up differently to accept the point loads fed in from the suspension. The steering rack was not redesigned for its new higher position; the higher mounting also saw the loads from the track control arms fed in at a different angle. Whereas before they were pointed very slightly downwards to the steering rack, now they were being fed upwards at a greater angle.

Early testing focused on correcting the steering rack problems; at one stage the decision to race the TF105B was down to either making the rack work or not, as their was no time to develop a new rack. These problems were for the large part cured, but Trulli had problems with the effort and speed of the rack; this affected his last three races, while Schumacher's more aggressive, muscular style found the improvements in the chassis easy to exploit despite the rack. By the season's end the team had achieved fourth in the constructors Championship, their best to date and a justified result for the step improvement seen this year.

Williams BMW

Having suffered with the compromised aerodynamic and structural design of the twin tusk car, Williams headed into 2005 with a new second wind tunnel and Loic Bigois as the new head of aerodynamics. With a BMW engine considered to be one of the best engines on the grid, their optimism could almost been taken for granted. However, even at the launch the signs were not good; the cars intrinsic design was right, it had all the elements expected from the top flight constructor, but the first laps in front of the world's press and their sponsors involved oil streak aerodynamic testing.

This involves spraying the important surfaces of the car with fluorescent pigment suspended in oil. As the car runs around the track the oil forms streaks, and the aerodynamicists can look at where the flow is gong around the skin of the car. This practice is often used when aero problems are apparent, in particular the mismatch of windtunnel and track testing. It transpired the new wind tunnel in which the car was developed was not giving the team accurate figures; before the launch the full size car was put in the tunnel, and the results did not match those expected.

This led to another year of Williams running an accelerated development programme to get the car up to where it needed to be. The work centered on the rear of the car, diffuser, engine cover and flip up development, aimed at getting more downforce at the back of the car. By mid season the front wing was changed in conjunction with other new parts; although the package initially was embarrassingly slower than the old set up, the problem may have been identified.

Williams had been running an enormous front wing; the new front wing split the large flap into two, and this improves the wing's sensitivity and the car's pace improved. Only by the season's end did the car's pace really reach competitiveness, aided by the canards added to the front wing. These latter parts allowed the front wing angle to be reduced and ease the aerodynamic disruption to the rear of the car.

Having been rumoured for some time, the break up of the relationship between Williams and BMW was made public. From being considered the very best engine on the grid Williams performances were masking that fact, and in 2005 the engine did not appear to be a front ranking unit. Development slowed and, unlike other suppliers, the last cycle of engines at the flyaway races were not step upgrades.

BAR Honda

After a 2004 where the team pressured Ferrari for pace the expectation of more success was tangible, especially with the increased ownership from Honda and the adoption of some of their technical partners. As with Williams the car looked the part, with the more extreme front wing raising eyebrows but the balance of the car was an evolution of the 006. The carbon gearbox remained, and was again rumoured to have been installed with a rapid shift system.

It was, however, the car's inability to be consistent and reproduce the performance from the windtunnel on track that initially hit their competitiveness. Testing proved the front wing was at fault, and a less sensitive version was prepared for the European season. In between a small row had erupted over the team's apparent flexing rear wing; while the rear flap no longer flexed along the rear edge, now the front edge was shown from on car footage to be flexing. A new test was devised by the FIA, and no action was taken.

As their pace picked up in Imola, allowing the team to gain points for the first time of the year, the post race scruntineering process highlighted BAR's use of fuel in calculating the car's weight. The team were banned for two races and lost their points from the race. They rejoined the season at the Nurburgring with a revised car, with the diffuser and bargeboards coming in for changes. Taking a cue from Ferrari, BAR had exploited a little bit of extra space around the centre tunnel, curiously the only team to have done so.

The team's mid season form was highlighted by good qualifying performance from Jenson Button, although their race pace ended up being delayed by a lack of grip; meanwhile Takuma Sato's form appeared affected by the ban and the car's pace. Just as in 2004 (the team's first on Michelins) their ebbing race performances seemed to be linked to their use of the tyres; the qualifying pace highlights the fact that the balance or set up was not correct. What could not be faulted was Honda's commitment to pushing their last V10 to ever higher speeds and outputs, albeit that its reliability could be criticised.

Red Bull Cosworth

With a change of ownership following the withdrawal by Ford, Jaguar, Pi and Cosworth were put into an uncertain position just as they should have been gearing up for 2005. 2004 was not a great year for the trio of companies managed under Ford's performance division, and with a lack of pace in the chassis and poor reliability in the engine, their fortunes for 2005 were not viewed as good. But the rebadged Red Bull team still working with their two partners, who were also under new management was a revelation.

The car was launched in its new livery, but outwardly little appeared different from its forebear; the wings were changed, the sidepods grew chimneys, and the diffuser gained a flap. Yet the team boasted technical novelties under the skin new to current Formula One practice. A first glance at the car unclothed showed the gearbox still to be a casting, albeit using torsion bars over coil springs for the first time.

Cooling developments turned out to be double pass radiators, where the water and oil passes over the front of the cooler first before turning around and passing over the back of the core; this is a slightly more efficient way of cooling, and makes packing easier as the radiator is plumbed in one side rather than at each end.

Cosworth, meanwhile, had been working on getting the engine reliable for the end of 2004, allowing winter development to focus on performance. The V10 arrived in Australia with a big hike in power, and it wasn't at the expense of the two race reliability rule. With the more powerful engine and refined chassis working well with the tyres, the car's pace put the team ahead of their rivals from 2004.

This pace notwithstanding the team's downfall appeared to be development during the year; very few visible developments were seen, aside from the striking Monza aero package and a new diffuser mid season. As the development halted so did their pace relative to the rest of the grid.

Sauber Petronas

Sauber was another team with a car that looked just so right, but failed to perform on track. Sauber had made major investments in wind tunnel and CFD technology over the previous years, and the strikingly aerodynamic C24 used deeply undercut sidepods, adopting folded radiators to package enough cooling inside the limited space, and allowing the exit of the heat from the sidepods were optional grills and a streamlined exhaust outlet.

Before the season even started Peter Sauber was warning the car's track pace was not correlated with the test results; clearly all this technology was too new, and the predicted results did not arrive. The switch to Michelin tyres highlighted the team's independence and desire to distance themselves from Ferrari, and this year the team used Ferrari's engine but produced their own gearbox rather than use Ferrari's.

During the early season major upgrades in the engine cover and diffuser sought to redress the aero inefficiencies, while chimneys were also adopted sporadically, primarily as an aerodynamic aid as the car had never showed signs of overheating, even with its tiny sidepods and minimal outlets. The team also found itself with two drivers heading in different directions; Jacques Villeneuve struggled with the car, its engine and differential management affecting braking, while Felipe Massa followed the teams preferred method.

The drivers often found themselves with vastly different pace and attitudes towards the car. This variation manifested itself in differing race strategies, one driver opting for a heavier fuelled race while the other went for a lighter sprint format. Although this split the team's fortunes at most races, never reaching a consensus may have handicapped the team when their car was on the pace. The mid season announcement of the BMW buy out came as little surprise, but the lack of development following the decision was; the car and team strategy remained little changed up to the close of the season.

Jordan Toyota

As one of the teams facing the brink towards the end of 2004, the Russian acquisition and Toyota engine supply did at least keep the team going, but the late decision and lack of financial certainty up to that point had done their damage. An all new EJ15 was designed but not released for manufacture over the winter; instead a revised EJ14 was devised for racing in 2005, taking the Toyota engine and aerodynamic rule changes and mating them to the basic EJ14.

This hybrid car was not expected to set the pace, but did stay ahead of Minardi even after their all new car arrived; only later in the season, with new Minardi drivers, did Jordan slip down to the back row on occasion. However their race pace and reliability was a step ahead of Minardi: Tiago Monteiro completed back to back race finishes all the way up to Brazil, and then finishing the remaining races. Early season problems were largely centered on the lack of downforce and braking stability.

With their finances in a better state and the development of the 2006 car partially being handled by Dallara on a consulting basis, the team set out a plan for a B spec car. The much revised car had a new gearbox casting to mate to the Toyota engine without the need for a spacer, and the cooling and exhausts were revised to allow a more sculpted sidepod. Initially the car ran into cooling problems; once these were sorted the car made its race debut and ran well until the end of the season.

Minardi Cosworth

With finances and resources on a tight leash Minardi faced the winter rule changes in a difficult position: having already planned to run an all new car for 2005 the extra changes required were announced too late for the team to respond. With the PS05 not being ready to run until Imola the team would have to revise the new car, with an interim PS04 to run in the opening races.

Paul Stoddart highlighted his team plight in Australia, announcing he wanted to run to the PS04 to the 2004 rules. Although he claimed the cars could not be made ready for the race, there had already been a PS04B running with a modified floor in pre season testing. When the cars took to the track in qualifying a new floor designed to the regulation appeared. Of course the first races were a stop gap for Minardi, running the modified chassis with the old, 72 degree Cosworth derived engine.

Finally the new car appeared and the PS05 was a big step in design for Minardi. The all new monocoque and sculpted aerodynamics hinted that maybe some progress was on the cards, but however much the car looked the part it was not able to outpace Jordan consistently. Initially the car was hindered by gearbox problems; the new unit designed for the reliable 90-degree Cosworth let the car down repeatedly. Once these were sorted few visible developments occurred, and the late season front wing canard was a notable and cost effective addition and improvement.

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