Williams back to Single Keel?

[frostblade]

I was a bit mystified by this picture
http://www.f1racing.net/en/photolarg...156&catID=1394

on f1racing.net from the Silverstone test. You can quite clearly see there is something in the middle of the chassis behind the front wing, where a single keel would usually be. Is it a sensor? Are Williams seeing if they could convert the FW26 to single keel?

Discuss!

[ASCII Man]

It's too big to be a sensor, must be where the bottom plate and plank is attached.
Although only Pizzonia seems to have it on his car.

[Kicking-back]

I don't think you could convert a twin keel car to single because it would affect the construction of the whole front end of the car.

Maybe next year they'll go back to single keel, though the car you picture has had alterations from earlier in the season, as far as I can see.

[frostblade]

I'd tend to agree with you Kicking-back. Just seems a bit weird as it's not there on pics I've seen of the car with the nose off in the garage, and only appears on Pizzonia's car at that test...

Compare these -
http://www.f1racing.net/en/photolarg...30486&catID=11
http://www.f1racing.net/en/photolarg...30489&catID=11

[Kicking-back]

It may have been some sort of development part they were trying out, hence it only being on one car.

[shiny side up!]

Looks like they are using the double-keel suspension pick-up points but have a simulated single-keel mounting thrown in there for aerodynamic testing / evaluation. Just a guess, but that's what appears to be going on to me...

[Glen]

That same thing was on the car in pre-season testing, sparking similar suggestions on message boards. I think it turned out to be a mount for a sensor for roll & pitch.

Williams would not be able to re-develop their car as single keel mid-season, even if they wanted to (which I doubt). I certainly hope they come up with something though - if nothing else the way their drivers are going this year they need a little bit extra to just stay in touch.

[hamsmith]

autosport says they are using a sensor but it wasn't that big more like a little wire. they said they have no plans to change to single keel this season

[Logrence]

It would harm them too much to convert this year's car - they could try some stuff out for next year, though.

[Glen]

Putting a mock single keel into a car and running it on track with the twin keel bits would tell them nothing at all, I'd have thought. It isn't that.

If they wanted to test aerodynamic choices with a single keel chassis they would do it in the wind tunnel. The twin keel hs a lot of ramifications for the design of the car a whole - for example one of the things that it is supposed to do is improve rear-end downforce by improving airflow under the car. So I'm positive it has nothing to do with that.

McLaren had quite a period of time when they couldn't get satisfactory stiffness in the front of the car (when they went over to twin keel), and there is also the issue of non-ideal suspension geometry because of the odd-length top and bottom wishbones... it is far more likely that this device accuratelty measures the attitude of the front of the car relative to the road.

[Gt_R]

Head would probably find a switch back to single keel embarrassing.

Afterall, he was quite displeased when Willis told him a twin keel doesnt have substantial benefits, and was one of the key decision maker who insisted on a twin keel on the new Williams after Willis left.

And right now, those who insist on a twin keel struggles to find a good reason to justify making such a leap.

It's nice to see an innovation succeed, but perhaps, the benefits of a twin keel has been over-estimated?

[alesi95]

Something new is a foot.

[Logrence]

I don't think twin keel has been overestimated, just not been followed through to the fullest extent.

How many people switched to raised noses after that Tyrell in 1989?

[Gt_R]

I'm sure twin keel has it's advantages...the only thing is that currently, teams are divided over the pros vs cons. Mclaren and Williams think the pros outweigh the cons, the rest, notably Ferrari, Renault and BAR think single keel is the way to go. And who are the teams being praised to have an aerodynamically sound car and a good chassis?

Perhaps, current materials and technology isn't enough to maximise the potential of a twin keel. And if so, maybe experimenting with the twin keel when it isn't a fully developed a concept is a mistake.

But Mclaren and Williams should be praised for bringing the original twin keel concept to such an elaborate product, which successful or not, is an interesting piece of work.

[shiny side up!]

If the twin keel is the future of F1 aerodynamic design... IF it is... then the teams that are playing with it now are going to be better sorted when everyone else adopts it. If it is not the best solution, I'm not sure the teams are currently wasting their time... if you just try to copy Ferrari, you are unlikely to find a way to dominate them... you have to try something else.

[Gt_R]

Both Mclaren and Williams are confident in winter testing that they have minimized, if not overcome, the shortfalls of a twin keel.

IIt's with interest i follow the developement of the twin keel. It's nice to see it started on Sauber and a more extreme version on the Arrows, and when huge teams like Mclaren/Williams adopt such a design, the pace of developemnt of the concept is sped up and more detailed and extreme.

At this current stage, the single keel looked to be slightly better a configuration to work with. However, it could be problems at Mclaren/Williams which is beyond the front end design which masks the true potential of a twin keel

[Kid Prozac]

Its probably a slip angle sensor, this needs to be close to the road in the centre of the car in order for it to work, something not provided by a double keel. Often seen at the very front of cars with a single keel.

Also, testing a double keel and a single keel at the same time would prove little, the flow regime around this part of the car is complex, with each part being designed to interact with one another.

[avsfan733]

could it be a ballast pod like jordan runs under there nose?

[shiny side up!]

If it were ballast, it seems to defeat the whole point of their aero/suspension design by cluttering up the area right behind the front wing. But it could be a test of new ballast placement, I suppose...