Bite-size tech: Renault RS16 floor
Renault's introduction of a new floor at the last round of the championship in Japan showed that the team from Enstone is still looking for performance in 2016 but also has an eye on developments that could feature on next year's car too.
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The floor introduced at the last round in Japan featured a revised strake layout, with the inner strake replaced by two different shaped strakes in order to mitigate some of the issues of 'tyre squirt'.
This is a phenomenon caused by the deformation of the tyre under rotation and load, with air 'squirted' off the tyre into the diffusers path, reducing performance.
The entire grid use slots and strakes ahead of the rear tyre to build aerodynamic flow structures that reduce the effects of tyre squirt.
Of course, although similar designs are often employed, each team has its own design preferences based on how the rest of the car is configured, be it aerodynamically or mechanically.
This area of the car is undoubtedly going to be a focus of the team's heading into 2017. Even with the larger diffuser the effect will remain, as the tyre is also increased in width albeit it may have a different inception point given the diffuser will start 175mm ahead of the rear wheel centre-line rather than on it.
Pirelli will also be using a different construction for the 2017 tyre range as there is no longer a demand for them to use thermal degradation, something the teams will have investigated with their scale wind tunnel tyres, which are provided by the Italian tyre manufacturer.
Preparations at the circuit suggest that the team has fitted the older specification floor just as they raced in Japan, although another test of the new floor cannot be ruled out.
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