[Jody Barton]

Ever since 2009 when Newey and Allison started playing with more extreme rakes on cars it’s been a big debate about why teams do it, which I might cover if I’m asked too, but I figured by now most people know why, and every winter tech nerds like me try working out the rake of the cars. I get my figures by using Photoshop and putting a poly mask over it from Illustrator. If you know the size of the wheels (which we do) then you can easily work the rest out of the details, although you obviously need good pics of the cars both side on and front on to get close to accurate measurements, I’m pretty sure my figures aren’t as good as the teams themselves, BUT, it’s all I have.

HaF = Height at Front of car
HaR = Height at Rear of car

Mercedes
Wheelbase = 3738mm
Rake = 0.95
HaF = 29mm
HaR = 88mm

Ferrari
Wheelbase = 3595mm
Rake = 1.55
HaF = 17mm
HaR = 120mm

Red Bull
Wheelbase = 3539mm (was 3689mm)
Rake = 1.58 (at the beginning of the season they were running closer to 1.05)
HaF = 20mm
HaR = 123mm

McLaren
Wheelbase = 3556mm
Rake = 2.08
HaF = 14mm
HaR = 139mm

Above are the averages of rake on the cars so far this season. The teams haven’t really changed much from winter testing (RBR aside but I’ll come to that). Ferrari ran either a 1.50 degree rake or 1.58 degree rake, at most tracks that’s equated to 1.55 degrees of rake, they seem to keep that pretty consistent, even running with it at tracks like Spa and Monza, where others took rake out of the car, Ferrari played way more with front and rear wing angles.

Next up Merc, and the first of the big FRIC / Trick Suspension losers. In the previous regulations Merc ran cars that on straights ran about 1 degree of rake (fairly standard for a few decades) but under braking moved to as much as 2 degrees. So I think losing FRIC hurt Mercedes more than they let on. In winter testing their rake was 0.9 degrees, the least rake of any car on the grid. Like Ferrari they’ve tended to stick with that, except in Singapore, Hungary and Mexico where they ran a little more. I think their whole aero philosophy was buggered by the FRIC ruling.

That brings us neatly onto RBR, who essentially developed a MK.II car mid way through the season because of the loss of FRIC. Their car was essentially 150mm shorter by Belgium, but they had shaved some of that out of the car by as early as Monaco, and took a bit more in Austria. As the car got shorter their rake got higher. Although I think they’re also now running variable ride height suspension system where essentially there is no front to rear connect, the FIA directive before Brazil seems to confirm this. Either way, RBR have had to change the most.

McLaren were also hit by the loss of FRIC, but their system never seemed to lead as extreme changes in rake that either Mercedes or RBR were able to achieve. Nevertheless they always ran less rake in the straights and more in the corners. McLaren run the most extreme rake on the grid, by some margin. Winter testing they started with 1.85 degrees, or thereabouts, and that has only been cranked up. For much of the season it hovered around 2.05, but from Singapore on it’s seemed to be around 2.10. So their straight line speed deficit is NOT all Honda.

Other teams hit by the loss of FRIC were clearly Williams (who had developed a workable system) and Renault who appeared to copy Mercs system. So the big winners out of it appear to be Force India and Ferrari. Although next year I think all teams will gravitate more towards 1.5 degree of rake, it’ll be interesting to see the Mercedes and McLaren designs, I personally think the former will crank on the rake, while the later will dial it out.

[Purple-banana]

Interesting analysis there Jody. Thanks!

[Jody Barton]

Thanks @Purple-banana, obviously the effect of the rake on drag etc is also effected by the amount of exposed floor / surface area, so the McLaren being such a short car can run more rake than others, as the drag coefficient is lower for them. However, it’s still a hell of a lot of rake and drag they’re producing. Mercedes being such a long car however have a much, much higher drag coefficient, so minor increase in rake for them drastically effects the drag of their car. The 2017 Merc really was a do or die car. What I think will be interesting is to see how the halo effects all of this, and I have a sneaky suspicion the Ferrari is better poised to deal with it. Rumours are they have the lightest car on the grid, and have been far more able to play around with ballast. Conversely RBR have one of the heavier cars, with the Merc not far behind, and I think neither are well prepared currently to deal with the halo.

[forzaferrari]

A very informative post Jody, thanks for the time and effort

[Purple-banana]

Hey Jody, I'm not meaning to pick holes, I am just interested - but where do you measure the rake angle between? Is it from the tongue/chin/leading egde of the floor or the front wing, or somewhere else?

Over the last few years, I've always held the opinion that compared to Merc & Ferrari, the RBRs run quite a high rake angle, but your calculations show there's not a lot in it between RBR & Ferrari. Maybe it's just an optical illusion.

There was a good shot of the RBR at Brazil from behind where the leading edge of the floor was skimming the tarmac, creating sparks, yet the diffuser looked as high off the ground as a normal road car!

[Jody Barton]

Purple-banana no, pick holes all you like, most do include the front wing in car rake... and I have too, so the leading edge is the front wing, and the rear height is ground to bottom of diffuser. However sometimes at some circuits the wings are run higher off the ground or closer to it (normally for clearance) without affecting the rake of the cars floor, which can make it difficult.

As to Red Bull, prior to this season you are bang on. They did run the most rake of any team, only really McLaren were similar rake levels, next up was Ferrari and FI. However, the FRIC suspension really did alter this massively for both Mercedes and RBR. Both had nigh on perfected their FRIC set ups, so in corners the RBRs always looked super extreme, yet on the straights they were more level. The same was true of Merc. I think if you look at the pics of the Mercs from CotA in 2016 you’ll see what I mean. On the back straight the rake is flatter than a witches tit, yet as they ‘pitch’ into the corners the rear end of the car seriously steps up almost like someone lifting a wheel barrow...

So...

Fast forward to Malaysia where I first started noticing the rocking forward motion the RBRs have been doing for the last 5 races. We started seeing that FRIC type pitch again, and in Brazil it was very noticeable, but then again it was in Mexico too. They’re doing something hinky with the suspension again, hence the FIAs directive and rules clarification, which only Horner was angry about. I think the car looked ‘flatter’ down the straights, yet in the infield sections it was absolutely rear pitched high. Hence the front end scratch plates scrapping along the floor at times. However, I think they got the set up wrong this time out, as they burned through their front tyres.