MONEY DOES NOT BUY CREATIVITY
As early as its launch in Barcelona last winter, the James Key-designed Toro Rosso STR11 sported an intriguing rear wing. In order to offset the lack of oomph from their year-old Ferrari power units, Faenza engineers strove to refine their 2016-spec rear wing, i.e to improve the downforce/drag ratio.
The horizontal notches are usually cut within the endplate, but on the STR11 these extend outward and all the way to its edge.
Upper rear wing endplate slits allow the high-pressure air through and towards the low-pressure area on the inner side of the endplate. A lower pressure differential means a weaker vortex where the endplate and upper flap meet, which in turn reduces drag.
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2017?
One can surmise that having ‘open’ slits instead of ‘closed’ ones further decreases the pressure differential. As soon as the air hits the endplates, it is vented through and out the other side. The design, which generates downforce while curbing drag, could be kept in 2017, though the new, curved outline of the endplates should modify the way the air flows in this area.
Interestingly, both Mercedes and Sauber drew inspiration from the Toro Rosso design at Silverstone. McLaren, whose MP4-31 also trailed the front-running cars in terms of outright power, did likewise in Singapore. The Woking-based outfit actually trialled its own rear wing concept in Austria but never raced the radical design thereafter.
At any rate, it is a remarkable achievement for a lesser-funded outfit (Toro Rosso’s budget is roughly half of Red Bull’s) to see its rear wing solution inspire F1’s dominant force and one of the brightest minds in the business in McLaren chief engineer Peter Prodromou.
