2022 Aerodynamic Regulations Thread

[Zynerji]

I wish they went back to the nimble 2006 car-size when they moved to tunnels...

The width was only ever reduced from 2.15m to 2m and then 1.8m because of regulation changes. Many of the most iconic F1 cars like the Ferrari 640-643 and McLaren MP4/4 are the full 2.15m wide. IMO, the full width of a Grand Prix car should be restored, though 2m width is still better than 1.8m.

The wheelbase is obviously unrestricted from the beginning of the Grand Prix car regulations up to 2021 (as indeed the width was unrestricted until 1972 IIRC, and even the number of wheels was unrestricted until '81 IIRC!), and a wheelbase of 3600mm was obviously the minimum the teams were willing to agree to, for the purposes of minimising redesign work (presumably).

Edit -- Also the height was unrestricted until 1976 when Ligier came out with a massive airbox I think!

Reference: jjn9128's superb article on F1 bodywork regulations.

I just like smaller cars in whats essentially a 1000hp go-kart.

1.7m wide cars would allow for 3 cars per garage as well, I think.

[hollus]

Back on topic, please.

[mzso]

"tweak things to make things more competitive" is not the teams doing something dirty, its Liberty & the FIA, trying to manipulate the sport for monetary gain!

Boo-hoo, making something better is so nefarious. God forbid there should be overtakes on track, or it taking more than half a lap to gain a 200 meter advantage on track between a frontrunner and a mid-fielder...

[mzso]

Interestingly, Symonds says the Lift/Drag ratio of the 2022 cars will be similar to today, that means DF level will increase, because drag should increase too in 2022. And if the cars will remain as fast, as he says, then DF will increase a lot...

Why would drag increase? Using more of the body to generate downforce instead of wasting space just improves drag, As do things like the wheel caps and the "fenders" that reduce turbulence. Lots of vortex generating elements on the floor edges and bargeboards rear wing endplates are now banned, which also improves drag.
The tires are slightly larger diameter, I don't think that counts for a lot with all the changes to the opposite effect.

[mzso]

I wish they went back to the nimble 2006 car-size when they moved to tunnels...

Tunnels?

[dans79]

"tweak things to make things more competitive" is not the teams doing something dirty, its Liberty & the FIA, trying to manipulate the sport for monetary gain!

Boo-hoo, making something better is so nefarious. God forbid there should be overtakes on track, or it taking more than half a lap to gain a 200 meter advantage on track between a frontrunner and a mid-fielder...

Set your attitude aside for a moment and go back and re-read what I said.....


I have no issue with rule changes, what i have a real big issue with, are rule changes specifically designed to hurt someone that's doing better than the rest.

[Zynerji]

I wish they went back to the nimble 2006 car-size when they moved to tunnels...

Tunnels?

Underbody aero

[jjn9128]

Interestingly, Symonds says the Lift/Drag ratio of the 2022 cars will be similar to today, that means DF level will increase, because drag should increase too in 2022. And if the cars will remain as fast, as he says, then DF will increase a lot...

Why would drag increase? Using more of the body to generate downforce instead of wasting space just improves drag, As do things like the wheel caps and the "fenders" that reduce turbulence. Lots of vortex generating elements on the floor edges and bargeboards rear wing endplates are now banned, which also improves drag.
The tires are slightly larger diameter, I don't think that counts for a lot with all the changes to the opposite effect.

All those vortex generators while making drag improve the L/D because they result in more DF being made elsewhere. The expectation was that drag would drop but also downforce, so it's not beyond comprehension that the L/D would be worse as the expectation was that DF would drop more than drag. Drag being mostly dominated by big rotating tyres sitting in the air.

The thing is, I was expecting a loss of DF relative to 2020 cars, not the 2021 cars with the floors hacked up - so I was already anticipating about the same performance as this year.

[AJ_3078]

I wonder if any teams would actually pursue the 2011 McLaren Design (MP4-26).
They were essentially trying to maximise the underbody aero with the U sidepods and the fantail exhaust.

U sidepods would deliver clean high energy air to the beam wings enabling them to work the diffuser harder while the fan tail exhaust would have sealed the floor. they couldn't get the exhaust to work properly.

But next years rules should seal the floor circumventing the need for fan tail exhaust.

[jjn9128]

I wonder if any teams would actually pursue the 2011 McLaren Design (MP4-26).
They were essentially trying to maximise the underbody aero with the U sidepods and the fantail exhaust.

U sidepods would deliver clean high energy air to the beam wings enabling them to work the diffuser harder while the fan tail exhaust would have sealed the floor. they couldn't get the exhaust to work properly.

But next years rules should seal the floor circumventing the need for fan tail exhaust.

Why do you think next years floors are being sealed? There's no skirt.

[Stu]

I wonder if any teams would actually pursue the 2011 McLaren Design (MP4-26).
They were essentially trying to maximise the underbody aero with the U sidepods and the fantail exhaust.

U sidepods would deliver clean high energy air to the beam wings enabling them to work the diffuser harder while the fan tail exhaust would have sealed the floor. they couldn't get the exhaust to work properly.

But next years rules should seal the floor circumventing the need for fan tail exhaust.

Why do you think next years floors are being sealed? There's no skirt.

I fully expect there to be a lot of inter-team analysis of how effective the different floor ‘sealing’ methods are, although the restriction in wind-tunnel and CFD runs will hamper some teams ability to do this fully.
Effective floor/ground sealing over a range of ride-heights will probably be a key element of difference in lap-time next year.

[Just_a_fan]

I wonder if any teams would actually pursue the 2011 McLaren Design (MP4-26).
They were essentially trying to maximise the underbody aero with the U sidepods and the fantail exhaust.

U sidepods would deliver clean high energy air to the beam wings enabling them to work the diffuser harder while the fan tail exhaust would have sealed the floor. they couldn't get the exhaust to work properly.

But next years rules should seal the floor circumventing the need for fan tail exhaust.

Why do you think next years floors are being sealed? There's no skirt.

I fully expect there to be a lot of inter-team analysis of how effective the different floor ‘sealing’ methods are, although the restriction in wind-tunnel and CFD runs will hamper some teams ability to do this fully.
Effective floor/ground sealing over a range of ride-heights will probably be a key element of difference in lap-time next year.

I think the point is that there is no floor sealing. You need a physical device - a skirt - to seal the floor. All of the stuff written about using aero devices and vortices to seal the floor are incorrect. All one can do is try to ensure only "good" air goes under the floor rather than "bad" air.

[Stu]

Why do you think next years floors are being sealed? There's no skirt.

I fully expect there to be a lot of inter-team analysis of how effective the different floor ‘sealing’ methods are, although the restriction in wind-tunnel and CFD runs will hamper some teams ability to do this fully.
Effective floor/ground sealing over a range of ride-heights will probably be a key element of difference in lap-time next year.

I think the point is that there is no floor sealing. You need a physical device - a skirt - to seal the floor. All of the stuff written about using aero devices and vortices to seal the floor are incorrect. All one can do is try to ensure only "good" air goes under the floor rather than "bad" air.

By “seal” what I actually mean is minimising the losses (and keeping the least productive flows away from the underfloor), looking at the approximate ‘allowed’ shape of the side-pods it seems that cars will be going back to a more traditional ‘coke-bottle’ shape. Potentially the bad air from the front wheels can be encouraged into Coanda-style flow above the floor by this, which should boost the effect of the beam wing (and, therefore, the floor).

[AJ_3078]

Why do you think next years floors are being sealed? There's no skirt.

I was not implying a physically sealed floor like the sliding skirt era cars.
But a sealing effect similar to what the fan tail was supposed to achieve (don't know if there is a particular word for it).
2022 regulations have elements attached to the rear brake ducts designed to do a similar job (preventing flows like tyre squirt from entering the floor/ diffuser) as the fan tail exhaust.

[djos]

Why do you think next years floors are being sealed? There's no skirt.

I fully expect there to be a lot of inter-team analysis of how effective the different floor ‘sealing’ methods are, although the restriction in wind-tunnel and CFD runs will hamper some teams ability to do this fully.
Effective floor/ground sealing over a range of ride-heights will probably be a key element of difference in lap-time next year.

I think the point is that there is no floor sealing. You need a physical device - a skirt - to seal the floor. All of the stuff written about using aero devices and vortices to seal the floor are incorrect. All one can do is try to ensure only "good" air goes under the floor rather than "bad" air.

The 2022 cars do have side skirts, they are just fixed in place and dont extend below the plank: