AR3-GP wrote: ↑17 Mar 2023, 21:47
ringo wrote: ↑17 Mar 2023, 21:39
Francis Bacon wrote: ↑16 Mar 2023, 21:33
Not quite, but more than that, too. The small sidepods mean there's less flow-handling surface area. But still, it's core to the car's philosophy, and therefore core to their current problem. I believe this widely well understood. What I think few people appreciate is where this leaves them: they don't have any avenues for development.
If they make dramatic changes to the sidepods, they'll have to change the entire aero package to support it--everything. On the other hand, if they only make tweaks to the current surfacing, there just aren't enough sq centimeters to realize meaningful improvements in balance and balance management, which is their main problem as I understand it. Alas, tweaks are probably all they can afford to do under the budget caps.
They probably realized this immediately after Toto opened his mouth after Baharain, and also why Lewis came out and said "there is no 'Plan-B' " or something to that effect.
I see your point, but it's maybe not as dramatic. They do not need to change the whole car.
They need only generate more load with new floor and sidepods, and be able to balance it with adjusting what is adjustable, like wings and suspension.
So in other words, change the whole car?
A new floor and sidepods is not the whole car.
Teams bring floors and engine covers to races all the time without the car being dubbed a B-spec.
Sometimes we over play the complexity of F-1. I remember years ago on the forum, when a change to pullrods was termed a no-brainer. Then there was coanda exhausts, f ducts, and all manner of different copying suggested. Some users felt such copying required the whole car to change and teams could not copy them the following year.
And we have seen that copying is not only relatively straightforward, it's how some teams most effectively have moved up the grid.
The W-14 is fixable with 3 major changes; new floor, bargeboard area, sidepods. It's not a total disaster. The car's biggest obstacle is the budget and side impact structure position, and even that can be worked around.
With those 3 macro changes, then fine tuning can follow.