chrisc90 wrote: ↑19 Dec 2022, 20:03
Will that not depend on how RB and Ferrari operate their floors though? We have seen stays on the Merc and Ferrari - but not something we have ever seen on the RB externally. Do you think that RB will have a stiffer floor thats not likely to flex with the new test for flex they are introducing?
It will be interesting to see who is affected by this. I know im a RB fan, but I dont see them suffering, mainly due to their aero packages over previous seasons with the higher rear (compared to other teams who ran without rake) and the lack of external stays to support the rear floor edge. Whether their flor flexes to seal to floor, or whether its all done with vortices is beyond my knowledge
There were stays on RB later in the season as well, but it was used to have better control over floor flexing, very likely also to lose some weight with lighter struts within bodywork. Not sure if the stays will be allowed next year as well, it was a quick-n-dirty fix agreed in this year's preseason.
I don't expect RB to be too affected, but overall they will lose more than Mercedes in relative (percentage) terms for sure, since their starting point was significantly better than Merc. Similar for Ferrari. As I said - Merc had the least floor downforce of 3 cars and will definitely cut some of the deficit to RB and Ferrari with these changes.
AR3-GP wrote: ↑19 Dec 2022, 20:04
Mercedes was the only floor that was flexing visibly though. That was by design if you ask me.
Yes, they had the biggest overhang and it hurt them a lot, caused uncontrollable and unpredictable sealing and "desealing" and even with Barca floor they had to raise the car later to get the car to predictable set-up.
carisi2k wrote: ↑19 Dec 2022, 22:47
You wish Vanja. This rule change affects those who ran low and flexing floors the most during the year. Mercedes therefore will suffer the most as they have always preferred the low floor route even with the old rules.
***
Its not 2021 anymore, its 2022-2023 and new rules got us cars that
all prefer to be as low as possible for aero reasons. RB was factually set-up the lowest this season, it was always scraping the track, Mercedes was nowhere near that low. As I said above, they raised the car even after Barca floor upgrade.