I can't believe that was done without some kind of cooperation with the team.

of course it was. It was a photoshoot. Check the pic description.

It was just an early morning rolling/static shot of Hamilton from the fifth driver.

Yeah, must be really dangerous to crouch in front of a car that is standing still.

I'm talking about the guy on the left about to be attacked by the lens.

OK, but I'm not gettng it.

Ok

smooth

And there was me thinking they take these pictures by having a camera on a rail, hanging from the back of a car.

That could be useful in neck-and-neck finishes.

If they adjusted the brake bias all the way, then all the way back again, they could use that stretching ability when they run out of fuel to move like a caterpilla

yep brake bias would also be my first concern when dealing with a concept as abstract as the MP4-25 and its inherent abilitly to operate as a caterpillar, if required

You'd be surprised what a bit of Photoshop can do

Does anyone have some cool high resolution images of the 25?
The image with two of them in one picture was cool, but very low in quality...

Which one? In the paddock or on track?

On track at 1600x1200 http://twitpic.com/122y77/full

That lloks like a painting or a still from a video game

Her Majesty The SilverPredator™ of Celerity

On the winter testing thread a poster has mentioned the possibility of the Mclaren having experienced serious problems cooling the engine at Valencia, quoted from Sportbild. I wonder if this explains all the openings we saw spring up over the left and right side pods? Still if you are going to find that out, now is the time to do it.

http://forums.autosport.com/index.php?show...80&start=80

I think that's a BS, you cant make a hole in the middle of the test. Cooling holes are planned much earlier.

Yep, I hope it is BS, but they could certainly have anticipated it, hence the optional slots, the same sort of panels have also appeared on the Merc powered FI side pods.

Bonjon1979 has pretty much debunked the extra openings aspect, for cooling. They're before the radiators rather than after. I'd been guessing those are to flow slower air along the top of the sidepods to keep the main airflow attached, as it slopes down quite steeply. Just a guess though. The sidepod apertures certainly looked pretty small, maybe we'll see bigger ones tomorrow.

Was just to check how the effect the engine temperature, pretty pointless having them if your not sure how they affect you.

They were removable covers so it's a feature, I'm sure they used KERS before the season started.

I found that one very cool, but it's all blurry and pixel-stretched.


Cheers

That really is the best pic so far. Cheers hunnylander.

It's a monster! Where did you find that beast?

Aero issues?

Probably not. Measuring airflow.

I don't think so, at least I hope not.
There will be no more testing this year beyond February. I would expect all teams to collect as much data as possible at every opportunity - especially as this weeks test may turn out to be a wash out - during this period to further assist in their development efforts for the rest of the year.

Measuring tyre wear.

If so, shouldn't those devices be on the other side of the car as well?

theres a source somewhere in the testing thread saying they are sensors for tyre wear. not sure as to why only 1 side

I can't see why it would go so far out beyond the tyre either, if that's what it was measuring. How would it measure tyre wear anyway? If it was scanning temperatures it wouldn't need that huge boom, it would be some tiny infra-red sensors. If it was depth or something it would need to be more rigidly mounted.

Looks more like airflow in some form, the width being for the bow wave, and the big nozzles for air pressure.

The front tyre profile is rounder this year, so its exact bow-wave would be an issue.

ScarbsF1 McLaren: with the new front wing and no wheel fairings they may be validating wind tunnel data.

http://twitpic.com/12d6ba

Sensor/weedkiller sprayer from the front.

well go with that then, can trust scarbs to be clued in.

just sighting what some website said in the testing thread

Scarbs isn't sure either, he wrote "maybe" but I think the post by undersquare combined with Scarb's opinion makes more sense.

It's over:

FlowViz
Birdcage
FIndia pace

Doom is upon us.

LOL, cool it man.
The team were "extremely satisfied" with the car's behaviour at the end of the last test. Mclaren aren't the team that would use superlatives lightly.
This car is going to be a winner IMHO and I think the team have learned a lot from last year about how to develop a car and how best to go about doing it. Remember, I don't think any team would have been able to accomplish what they achieved. Even Ferrari gave up!.

The team that develop the fastest will win it this year and the basic requirement for that success lies in having reliable and verified data. I truly believe that other top teams will follow Mclaren lead by coping their approach.

I truly believe that Mclaren would have probably won it last year if they had started the season with a half decent car.

1,25 with that monstruous frankenlooking device. That aint slow at all

At least they ain't using 2008 wing..

NobleF1: McLaren says the device on its car today was simply to measure air flow structures, so they can be matched with CFD and wind tunnel data

as usual, on their super detailed sh*t

I really don't expect the car to be very heavy at the moment but the 1:25 is not bad considering the track condition and the other cars' relative lap times.

We¨re doomed
Logic thing to do would be to fill her up to the brim, if you want to measure tyre degradation. I just don¨t like to see birdcages on McLaren

LOL, I think they just want to kill the speculations. I do think the details may not be necessary as the reasons given are pretty much obvious.

Guys. This is all good news. They're the most scientific of the teams when it comes to measuring the airflow around the car ie with all the gadgets etc. With that thing they can measure the air flow in multiple areas then feed that information into their computer systems to obtain more accurate results from CFD and wind tunnel. Now that there is no in season testing the simulated data is much more important - I think they're stealing a march on the other teams with regards to measuring the air flow over their car so precisely. If the testing ban remains then I expect other teams to catch on to the idea and start doing it themselves.

EDIT:

Mclaren guy says the same thing:

A McLaren spokesman tells AUTOSPORT that the curious sidepod structure seen on Button's car this morning is part of the team's programme for measuring aerodynamic flow structures while on-track: "Given the limited amount of testing that teams have been permitted over the past two seasons, as a team we feel it's necessary to put as much emphasis as we possibly can on accurately measuring the flow structures we encounter at the track so that we can match them to the flow structures we are able to simulate in CFD and the windtunnel back at the factory."

@ Peroa, you may need this

Testing hasn't finished, yet ...