2023 car comparison thread

[Andi76]

I know it's not quite appropriate for the topic, but this is the most appropriate one - just for fun, I'd like to give my assessment of what the balance of power will look like.

I think Red Bull will have the strongest package, followed by Ferrari, whose car is strong in my opinion, but still immature. Red Bull's experience advantage in terms of an underbody that works perfectly even with higher ground clearance will certainly also ensure that Ferrari will be a step behind. That this 3-day test with only one car remains the only one with such complicated cars, certainly does not help and is in my eyes the wrong way and ridiculous on the part of the FIA.The third force should be Mercedes, despite all the problems, but I think they will have to fight with Aston Martin who will sometimes be in front of them. Alpine will also cause problems from time to time, at least under ideal conditions. Behind them I see Alfa Romeo who will be ahead of Haas. McLaren will be in front of Alpha Tauri and Williams, who will make up the end of the grid.

Please do not take too serious. This is just a fun prediction based on my observations of the tests.

[johnny comelately]

Not sure if this has been posted, for what it is worth

[chrisc90]

Not sure if this has been posted, for what it is worth
....

Nice video. Havent seen it mentioned about the longer than usual rear wishbone opening on the RB19. I wonder if they are using that to feed some high velocity air through the side pods - through the radiator - and feeding the hotter air to the diffuser in order to make a crude 'blown diffuser'

[organic]

Not sure if this has been posted, for what it is worth
....

Nice video. Havent seen it mentioned about the longer than usual rear wishbone opening on the RB19. I wonder if they are using that to feed some high velocity air through the side pods - through the radiator - and feeding the hotter air to the diffuser in order to make a crude 'blown diffuser'

His comments about the wishbone opening were probably incorrect to be honest. That opening varied in size throughout last year and was tiny or large (like they're running ATM on the rb19) depending on cooling requirements of the track suggesting it was and likely still is far more to do with cooling than any other aerodynamic effect. Just like opening/closing louvre panels

[BaSubScribe]

Nice little video on the big three and the different directions they are all taking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn23zviybus

What stood out was this pic with the RB sidepods and just wondering if that type of switch is possible mid season. Haven't seen the Merc with covers off so its hard to say with the internals and packaging and the underfloor but it does look pretty radical.



Their different approach to down-washing is also interesting.

[AR3-GP]

So this makes me think something about this "large DRS flap" solution is not suited to the Ferrari, and that's why they haven't copied it. It could also be that simply making a larger DRS flap is not entirely what is making the RB so quick when the DRS is open.

Like I said, camber is bigger on RB rear wing, flaps are about the same size. This means RB flaps generates more drag when closed than Ferrari flap when closed, so when it opens the difference in drag reduction is bigger. This way RB is driving the rear wing main plane harder when the flap is closed, since the overall camber is bigger.

To be honest, I confirmed this difference only today, didn't notice Ferrari flap angle until yesterday. The only explanation I have is that Ferrari wanted to reduce RW drag even with flap closed (for defense in the race?) last year and they wanted to use it as benchmark now. Otherwise, it's a too obvious thing for anyone to miss.

Okay I see what you mean by the camber. My thinking is that the best solution is to take the hit with more df/drag on the flap, and just release it during qualifying and overtaking.

The fact that Ferrari seem hesitant to simply mimic the RB design suggest to me that they don't think the car is as efficient with the heavier camber rear wing, in comparison to RB.

The only explanation I have is that Ferrari wanted to reduce RW drag even with flap closed (for defense in the race?)

Precisely. It's not apparent to me why you would want this when RB is running around with more wing and better tire life while facing no consequences because they just open the DRS in qualifying and when they are within 1 second. Of course not all df is coming from the rear wing, and most is coming from the floor, but I'm not under the impression that Ferrari have the better floor at the moment. Will need to wait and see what happens next Saturday.

[Vanja #66]

We'll see. The easiest thing when downforce is lacking and you have room to add more is to add more. RB are champions, it's theirs to lose, Ferrari and others are playing catch-up and the added disadvantage for them is changing the car so much, so you have to re-learn about it...

[F1doc]

Onboard comparison of all 10 cars without commentary.



First time I have seen the changing advertising on the McLaren. I knew about it, but never saw it in action.

The steering input/cornering stability between the top end and the midfield cars is visible.

[organic]

The changing advertising costs 190g per advert pack. So it's about 400g they've added to do that. Not sure it's worth it when that could be ballast

[dialtone]

Onboard comparison of all 10 cars without commentary.

https://youtu.be/ctjeqHXADvw

First time I have seen the changing advertising on the McLaren. I knew about it, but never saw it in action.

The steering input/cornering stability between the top end and the midfield cars is visible.

Russell really struggling to turn the car into T10 in that video, almost got to steering lock to make it.

[jambuka]

I know it's not quite appropriate for the topic, but this is the most appropriate one - just for fun, I'd like to give my assessment of what the balance of power will look like.

I think Red Bull will have the strongest package, followed by Ferrari, whose car is strong in my opinion, but still immature. Red Bull's experience advantage in terms of an underbody that works perfectly even with higher ground clearance will certainly also ensure that Ferrari will be a step behind. That this 3-day test with only one car remains the only one with such complicated cars, certainly does not help and is in my eyes the wrong way and ridiculous on the part of the FIA.The third force should be Mercedes, despite all the problems, but I think they will have to fight with Aston Martin who will sometimes be in front of them. Alpine will also cause problems from time to time, at least under ideal conditions. Behind them I see Alfa Romeo who will be ahead of Haas. McLaren will be in front of Alpha Tauri and Williams, who will make up the end of the grid.

Please do not take too serious. This is just a fun prediction based on my observations of the tests.

Kind of hard to judge between Ferrari & RB. RB did an extremely tailored test. Ferrari were doing lots of various things but never tested setup optimized for Bahrain. If they are racy with optimized setup things could be interesting

[LM10]

Onboard comparison of all 10 cars without commentary.

https://youtu.be/ctjeqHXADvw

First time I have seen the changing advertising on the McLaren. I knew about it, but never saw it in action.

The steering input/cornering stability between the top end and the midfield cars is visible.

Russell really struggling to turn the car into T10 in that video, almost got to steering lock to make it.

The Ferrari doesn't look specifically understeery on the front, does it? Especially if the reports are true that they at no point in testing have gone under 20 kg of fuel.

[Dejaeger22]

Nice little video on the big three and the different directions they are all taking.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qn23zviybus

What stood out was this pic with the RB sidepods and just wondering if that type of switch is possible mid season. Haven't seen the Merc with covers off so its hard to say with the internals and packaging and the underfloor but it does look pretty radical.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/JB9pd ... authuser=0

Their different approach to down-washing is also interesting.
https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/_b18o ... authuser=0

Have they changed the FOV on these onboard camera’s? It looks like a wider angle, giving more sense of speed

[JPower]

Might be unrelated, but anyone think its possible we might see a track record(or close to it) at Monza this year?

Seems like these cars are perfectly setup to do it given their aero efficiency, power, and the new tires.

[f1316]

Might be unrelated, but anyone think its possible we might see a track record(or close to it) at Monza this year?

Seems like these cars are perfectly setup to do it given their aero efficiency, power, and the new tires.

If we’re talking outright track record then possibly - they were 1.2 secs off last year and in principle these tyres are faster and the cars have developed despite the ride height reg change. I still think they probably won’t quite get there - probably low to mid 1:19’s but not quite a 1:18.9 which is the record.

If we’re talking race lap then no. They were still 3 seconds away last year from the lap record from 2004. Refuelling plays some part of course but in principle less so for anyone bolting on new tyres at the end to try for the extra point. Shows you how fast those 2004 cars were, and in a race where Ferrari were really unchallenged (except against each other, which was unlikely flat out).