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MEASURING THE FUTURE
Williams took advantage of the last free practice sessions of the season to fit an aero rake at the front of its FW38 (see red arrows) and place a probe at the rear (see yellow arrows), in order to collect further valuable data ahead of 2017.
The probe, which is placed at the exit of the exhaust pipe, seems to aim at measuring the velocity of the burnt gasses released at the rear, while the rake, positioned behind the front wing, quantify the pressure levels in a critical area of the car (tyre wake, Y250 vortex, airflows on and under the wing and flaps, etc.).
This measuring device was already seen at the previous round in Brazil and comprises a series of sensors that determines how the air flows across the entire surface of the rake. Each probe connects to a transducer, which is curved and attached to the side of the car on the Williams. Ferrari, Toro Rosso, McLaren, and Force India all carried out similar tests.
The goal here is to gather data on a proven design and compare it against the CFD and windtunnel results in order to check the good correlation between the models and reality, before determining the first volumes of the 2017-spec car.
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