2013-2014 resource dovetailing

[raymondu999]

With a relatively big rule change coming in 2014, new engines, new packaging and aero concepts required, we could see a mixup in 2014 as we did in 2009 with the 2008 title contenders battling it out to the end, forcing them to force their resources to their then-current 2008 campaign.

With that in mind - how do we see people allocating resources between 2013 and 2014 development through the year?

I think the 3 bottom teams, as well as frontrunner-but-not-quite teams, sort of like Mercedes/Lotus in 2012, could switch early - well early - to get a 2014 jump on the rest of their rivals.

With 2008 still relatively fresh on the mind, I don't expect to see such a big mixup as to repeat their 2009 backmarker cars, but if 2013 goes down to the wire - who knows?

[Nando]

If two teams are neck and neck i expect them to go after the 2013 title.
Better to go for one you know you have a chance on then hoping you might get it the next year.

If you back out and focus on the year after and don´t win that then it´s a lose lose situation.
If you win 2013 and not in 2014 at least you have one title in the bag.

I expect RBR to go all out to the end if they feel they have a shot. 4 in a row is one hell of an achievement.
Then hope for the best in 2014. Usually the first year of the new regs is a bit iffy anyways.

[raymondu999]

If you win 2013 and not in 2014 at least you have one title in the bag.

I'm quite sure that teams such as Ferrari/McLaren expect their teams to be gunning for the title every year.

Newey could be in a strong spot IMO - reg changes have always been his forte. Given that he has dictatorial command over the tech department at RBT I fully expect that he will probably leave 2013 to his minions while he sets off on the adventure of a 2014 design, title shot or not. i think he's an out and out engineer and enjoys that adventurous challenge of a new set of regs.

[Nando]

If you win 2013 and not in 2014 at least you have one title in the bag.

I'm quite sure that teams such as Ferrari/McLaren expect their teams to be gunning for the title every year.

And it doesn´t always work out like that.

[Hail22]

http://www.f1sa.com/index.php?option=co ... Itemid=157

Don't know if this is a "credible" source but, looking at that the FIA saw Formula 1 to be "very slow" with aero restrictions.

So resource dovetailing eh? Most likely Newey, Fry, Bell, etc etc will all be looking at their 2014 cars in order to gain the biggest advantage now that Aerodynamics is back on the table again.

[shelly]

I think that an interesting consequence of the teams being forced to work on a very different aero configuration for 2014, even if now the rule change has been scrapped, is that someone could have found some aero solution that had been excluded from the development path from 2009 to 2012 and could fit it into the 2013 concept.
This because the study of the big rule change led to restarting from scratch instead of evolving from the pool of past and existing cars.
Will we see some "mutation" in 2013?

[Hail22]

Apologies for the off-topic...but 5 seconds slower than the current Formula (2.4l V8 unit) is quite a drop and will be seen by "enthusiasts" like myself as the decline of Formula 1 rather than evolution.

I need to find a draft drawing of the 2014 chassis layout (unless someone else finds it beforehand). I don't know whether the 2013 car could be adapted to the 2014 Formula "shift".

[Rikhart]

This balancing act of resources between the next two years is going to be very interesting to watch. So easy to get it wrong... Anyway, if that report about the vast amounts of money RBR used in 2012, id say they are hot favourites for both years.