Raleigh wrote:
Might not have to copy everything directly. Just the floor, front and rear wings.
And what about the rest of the bodywork, think that that doesnt benefit aero?
Try to copy the cooling layout if its better than current but don't sweat it
Sadly enough, there is more to the cooling system than radiator packaging. Most of it wont be so easily photographed, try copying that!
sidepod shape isn't as important as some people on these forums seem to believe.
Ehhm, well yes it is;
1. It has to house radiators and flow through them
2. Airflow over and around the sidepods have to be managed according to different flow fields.
3. The shape of the sidepod plays an important part on sealing the floor and getting air around the back over the diffuser.
4. Sidepods have to be designed to reduce lift.
If sidepod design wasn't important then why do we see teams adopting similar solutions? All are now using vanes on the leading edge of the side pods, and more and more of them are using the longer shape.
The tub will be more or less the same regarding aero,
Same as sidepods, although more limited in their freedom.
Straight copy of the suspension, shouldn't be too complicated.
Sadly enough, suspension is more than just some pretty suspension arms being exposed to the air. No, attachment points, uprights, hubs, dampers, shocks, springs, you name it. All part of the suspension design. You can't just stick a copy of the suspension arms on your car and hope it will stick. No, a different arm design will also deliver the loads differently, which then will have a mechanical impact.
Rather than do that for summer, have this as next years car.
Great idea, seeing how F1 development goes rather quickly, your copy will again be behind. Take a look at Caterham, their 2012 car was largely inspired by the red bull. Yet, they were still miles behind. Copying anothers car will mean that you will always stay behind in development. Because guess what, once you have copied their one thing, they have already developed it further.
Work though the winter to build and understand it, hopefully turn up at the first test with something close to the previous years Red Bull (or Merc). Which would be a fair way better than something a backmarker is likely to build on their own.
I'm sure Caterham agrees! Or Toro Rosso, who has ran exact copies of RB's cars. did they perform the same? NOPE!
Spend the year looking at what the lead team has done for that years car, figuring out how it works and incorporating it into updates. And so on.
That's the perfect formula to stay a backmarker because you'll always be behind in development.
