wuzak wrote: ↑09 Jan 2024, 04:04
The rules allow for 100kW of energy recovery while the driver is at full throttle, so not even lifting and coasting. This would account for one of Red Bull's earlier complaints,
which was not that they need to lift off on the straight, but that they needed to change gears on the straight.
I get that, but in reality what happens is you either design a car with shorter gears and adjust it to, let's say, 50kW of harvesting all the time at full throttle or the driver simply doesn't even go to the final gear. So as an outside viewer you don't really see it. I guess they will need a single gear ratio spec for the full season, so it's possible no one will go for a shorter gearbox because of Monza, Las Vegas, Baku etc. where the best lap might be the one where you don't harvest on straights.
It's an engineering challenge first and foremost, if I was an engineer in PU department I'd be ecstatic with this new variable. So many opportunities are opened up because of this and the team that tries out the most combinations will probably have an early advantage. Strategy department and race engineers will also have a lot of new options to find the best setup for every track.
FW17 wrote: ↑09 Jan 2024, 07:47
I just want to understand which would be more efficient. A diffuser with variable geometry like a DDD that can be closed off as a downforce reduction or a larger wing multi element with drag reduction.
Rear wing is the biggest drag generator of all the aerodynamic surfaces, so nothing can beat variable rear wing geometry for variable drag range. I think even today's massive floors may only generate more drag in Monza and Las Vegas.
Variable rear wing leaves you with a big change in aero balance if they want to allow it during cornering, so you'd need a variable front wing geometry to get the balance right when it matters. If they just want to have 3 drag levels on straights (high for usual cornering, medium for usual drive on straights and low for DRS/overtake) then the simplest thing is to have a slightly more complex DRS mechanism and introduce a middle position of sorts. I'm not sure if they made a final decision on the scope of active aero from the latest news, but they have been trying a lot of different things.