2017-2020 Aerodynamic Regulations Thread

[henry]

So the big fromtwing gets runover very easily, how will a smaller wing work with the wide car and tyres?

We will never know. They widened the front wing the same amount as the change to the car width.

[FPV GTHO]

Not quite, the width increased 200mm but the front wing only 150mm.

The current regs would be very front limited with a narrow front wing, due to the neutral centre section.

[NL_Fer]

It just doesn't make sense. The wider frontwing would promote close racing, but get to close and the wing is chopped of by the car in front.

[OO7]

It just doesn't make sense. The wider frontwing would promote close racing, but get to close and the wing is chopped of by the car in front.

Getting too close isn't really an issue in contemporary F1.

[crbassassin]

The sidepods are not going to be any wider.

I think that's great. It is not like the teams are using the entire side pod area for cooling.

[crbassassin]

F1 2018 ?

http://i.imgur.com/iyovazg.jpg

the windscreen is going to disturb the air a lot more going into the airbox.

[mclaren111]

I think they should work more on the Halo and think of ways of incorporating the mirrors which stands out a lot at the moment

[OO7]

Not quite, the width increased 200mm but the front wing only 150mm.

The current regs would be very front limited with a narrow front wing, due to the neutral centre section.

I would expect that reducing the width of the neutral section and lower the front wing would solve this issue. My understanding is that these cars are more rear limited anyway.

[godlameroso]

2017 or current? These cars are probably making close to the same downforce as 2013 cars were at the beginning of the season. The race pace is certainly close enough at most tracks. Next year is a whole new ballgame and a lot of people are going to be caught with their pants down, so to speak. Teams like Ferrari Mercedes Force India and Toro Rosso who were busy developing rear wings to get more downforce are going to be on the back foot because the rear wing philosophy is changing. The only parts of the car that can possibly translate is the floor, the front wing and the brake ducts. New barge boards will change the center of pressure towards the front, the bigger diffuser isn't anything new and I'm sure teams have a lot of data from 2009 - 2011 to make some pretty good guesses as to how the bigger diffuser will affect things. Teams like Williams and McLaren who have had pretty much the same rear wing all season save for a few details and end plates that were never raced, have obviously been shifting their resources to next year.

In any case, Pirelli, as well as myself are expecting there to be a pretty steep development learning curve. Cars will gain seconds throughout the season as opposed to tenths that we see now. At least non of the drivers are going to complain.

[OO7]

2017 or current? These cars are probably making close to the same downforce as 2013 cars were at the beginning of the season. The race pace is certainly close enough at most tracks. Next year is a whole new ballgame and a lot of people are going to be caught with their pants down, so to speak. Teams like Ferrari Mercedes Force India and Toro Rosso who were busy developing rear wings to get more downforce are going to be on the back foot because the rear wing philosophy is changing. The only parts of the car that can possibly translate is the floor, the front wing and the brake ducts. New barge boards will change the center of pressure towards the front, the bigger diffuser isn't anything new and I'm sure teams have a lot of data from 2009 - 2011 to make some pretty good guesses as to how the bigger diffuser will affect things. Teams like Williams and McLaren who have had pretty much the same rear wing all season save for a few details and end plates that were never raced, have obviously been shifting their resources to next year.

In any case, Pirelli, as well as myself are expecting there to be a pretty steep development learning curve. Cars will gain seconds throughout the season as opposed to tenths that we see now. At least non of the drivers are going to complain.

I don't agree with the teams you mentioned being on the back foot going into 2017 for the reasons you stated. Firstly the rear wing is not that critical (it is the last part of the car (top side) to see airflow). The front wing philosophy remains essentially the same.

The cars that have been well sorted for the start of the year probably won't even gain a second by the end of it. I remember the same being said about the cars gaining 3 to 4 seconds when comparing the start of 2014 to the end of it. In reality it was far less than that (a second or less for Mercedes) and included significant PU upgrades as well.

[turbof1]

I do think they will find a lot more over a season then just a second. I think the jump from 2013 to 2014 was not a real turn around of the aerodynamics, but rather further restrictions without truly new opportunities. That meant there were little to no new avenues to find chunks of time out of it. Back in 2009, there were less restrictions, and you had the front wing being effectively turned into a ground effect device compared to 2008. That opened up quite a bit of development avenues.

I think with the jump from the current rules to next year, you'll have a lot of diffuser optimizations, a lot of front wing optimization (because the outer edges are actually even a bit further away from the outer edges of the tyre then currently). The bigger tyres surely will give new challenges as well.

[Juzh]

I don't agree with the teams you mentioned being on the back foot going into 2017 for the reasons you stated. Firstly the rear wing is not that critical (it is the last part of the car (top side) to see airflow). The front wing philosophy remains essentially the same.

The cars that have been well sorted for the start of the year probably won't even gain a second by the end of it. I remember the same being said about the cars gaining 3 to 4 seconds when comparing the start of 2014 to the end of it. In reality it was far less than that (a second or less for Mercedes) and included significant PU upgrades as well.

Aero shift is much larger going into 2017 than it was going into 2014.
2014 was basically just more limitations. Aero was constrained heavily compared to 2013. There wasn't much to gain (quickly anyway, cars are much faster now).

2017 is in a whole different ballpark. There's a lot more areas to consider and improve upon. I expect in season developments will be much more profound and noticeable.

[OO7]

I really don't think we will see that sort of a jump. Yes the cars will initially be 3 to 4 seconds a lap quicker than the current cars, but they will not gain another 3 to 4 seconds a lap by the end of the year through development, that would make them up to 8 seconds a lap quicker than 2016!!! The most the 'sorted' cars will gain is around a second.

[godlameroso]

I really don't think we will see that sort of a jump. Yes the cars will initially be 3 to 4 seconds a lap quicker than the current cars, but they will not gain another 3 to 4 seconds a lap by the end of the year through development, that would make them up to 8 seconds a lap quicker than 2016!!! The most the 'sorted' cars will gain is around a second.

Pirelli itself is estimating that the cars will be ~3 seconds faster to start and as much as 5-6 seconds by the end. The tires alone being an average of 70mm wider should bring at least a 2.75 second advantage and another second from the chassis. Then the gains from the engine/chassis integration, aero optimization, suspension development, power unit gains, and finally exploiting and understanding the new tires. That's easily another second and a half at least. So there's close to 6 seconds right there.

[Ogami musashi]

the reference year for time improvements is 2015, not 2016.