Williams pulls an 'open wheel nut braking' rabbit out of hat

[John S]

So it appears team had more than just trick exhaust ready.  

Williams has impressed F1's eagle-eyed technical experts with an innovation aboard its new FW35.

Although designer Mike Coughlan's Coanda exhaust solution will have to be removed from the 2013 car, respected German correspondent Michael Schmidt reports on Friday that a clever brake duct solution is fully legal.

The British team probably got the idea from Red Bull, who were ordered by the FIA to remove a similar solution from the title-winning RB8 last year.

The governing body ruled that Red Bull was using the brake ducts as an aerodynamic aid, by channeling airflow through the wheel with the rim, hub and nut all playing a role.

But Auto Motor und Sport's Schmdit said Williams' version is legal, crucially because the exit holes for the airflow are stationary, meaning the layout cannot be deemed a banned moveable aerodynamic device.

OnestopStategy.com, Today.

To put more meat on the bone so to speak I've included a better explanation of what Williams is up to below.

Williams technical director Mike Coughlan has clearly been looking near the boundaries of the regulations to find ever more performance while designing the FW35. Today at Barcelona the car appeared with open wheel nuts, contrary to the traditional pointy ones.
 
By using wheel nuts, which are btw integrated into the new Rays magnesium allow wheels, the team can push air through the hollow wheel axle. This means that part of the air caught by the brake ducts is fed into the axle and subsequently exits outboard of the wheel, along with more hot air from the brakes coming through the rim. As ever it will be matter of compromise for Williams to determine if it is worth it to have larger brake ducts in favour or getting more flow through the wheels. Larger brake ducts will increase drag, but more flow could help the team control the wake that is created behind the wheels, creating a big impact on the efficiency of the car's floor and diffuser.

By Tomba, F1technical.net, Thurs 21st Feb.

[Williamsfan]

It's good to see Williams are still able to be creative with their designs.  The radical gearbox solution was good when designed but we lacked the ideas to develop it and others have now followed the idea (Ferrari for example) but it is nice to see Coughlan bringing innovation and creativity to the team.  Also, in a bizarre way, it is good to be pushing the boundaries of legality once more, that's part of what F1 should always be about.