The resurrection of the Marussia team and its subsequent renaming to Manor Marussia meant that the team simply modified last years MR03 in order to meet 2015’s regulations.
They had originally intended to bring an all new 2015 car to the Belgian GP, however, as the season has matured and the teams reincarnation developed they decided on a development programme for the MR03B instead, with the intention of using their limited resources to maximise their 2016 design.
The new sidepod sponsor and addition of blue to their livery was not the only change the team had for Silverstone, using inspiration from the original 2015 car design, which was an evolution of the MR03 in any case, the team bought new parts to the MR03B in an effort to improve performance.
Nose
The nose is the area the team had to focus it’s attention on in order to meet the 2015 regulations, with the team adopting a spacer between it and the bulkhead to achieve the requisite taper from the chassis to the nose tip.
The new nose features very minor changes, rectifying minor inefficiencies in the previous iteration, with the front-wing pylons lengthened and an almost imperceptible ‘pelican’ underbelly added to the underside of the nose [see top image].
Sidepods and Engine Cover
The sidepods and engine cover offer the most drastic change for the team [marked in yellow], with the outlets increased in length, aligning them with the central cooling exit/exhaust.
This follows the trend seen by all the other teams this season, as they look to prevent the suspension from obstructing the external flow structures, improving how flow interacts with the diffuser below and rear wing above, whilst improving cooling extraction.
Rear-Wing
Another follow the leader solution as the team adopt the trailing edge strikes [marked in green] seen on the likes of McLaren and Lotus rear-wing packages.
These small vortex generating devices disturb the flow across the endplate, improving its performance whilst being carefully shaped in order to assist in the upwash needed to make the diffuser and rear-wing flow structures interact.
The parts won’t bring them level on performance with the rest of the field but will help to retain their delta to them, which is key to remaining within 107% of their rivals going forward.
We must also remember that Manor are still using the 2014 Ferrari power-unit – which is many horsepowers down – and will only upgrade when they build their new car.
