bagwell

How different will F1 be this year?

So, how was it for you, the last three seasons of hybrid V6 turbo-spec Formula One? Yeah, we hear you…

Despite the crushing superiority of Mercedes – so absolute that 2016 was the squad’s most dominant performance since the new engine formula began three years ago – there has been some genuinely great racing, and plenty of great moments. But as an era, the sad fact is that we’ll look back disapprovingly on cars that were almost as ugly to listen to as they were to look at. F1 cars should be fast, loud and sexy. Is it that difficult to get the formula right?

Well, it’s time to hit the big reset button again. Some leading paddock figures reckon the new-for-2017 regs are the most far-reaching since the narrow-track, grooved-tyre F1 cars arrived in 1998. The expensive hybrid tech remains, but everything else has been substantially reworked. We go through the key changes here, but the top-line aim is to create cars that go at least three seconds per lap faster thanks to much higher cornering speeds, testing the driver in the process, and who knows, maybe even allowing some of them to overtake each other occasionally. They should also look much more aggressive, the needlessly convoluted engine token system has been scrapped, and drivers will be limited to four power units per season rather than five.

Hopefully, the new formula will finally find the sweet spot and balance engine and aero, rather than favouring one over the other. If it works, it should play to the strengths of the fiercest, fastest, and most naturally gifted of the gladiators on the grid. It might also shut down Merc’s mighty technical advantage, especially if someone can do a Brawn and find 2017’s equivalent of the double diffuser…

Wider tyres, wider, slightly porkier cars (but only slightly)

F1 has long been locked in a battle between aerodynamic downforce and mechanical grip. Everyone wants lots of the former and thumping great gobs of the latter, and they’re getting it, for greater cornering speeds and hopefully a reward for enlarged driver cojones (Fernando Alonso and his old mate Mark Webber have long opined that the current cars aren’t challenging enough to drive). The most obvious visual difference between last year’s cars and 2017’s is in the width of the new rubber. The front tyres grow from 245mm to 305mm, the rears from 325mm to a whopping 405mm. Though far from retro in appearance, the increased width at the back of the ’17 cars should be enough to have the beardier elements of F1’s fanbase nodding sagely into their sepia-tinted flagons of real ale, while everyone else can ponder how much faster the cars can go. The FIA claims three seconds per lap, maybe more as the season progresses (the target was five seconds), half of which is down to the wider rubber. Bigger tyres, of course, means more drag, which in turn sees the ’17-spec cars carry more fuel (105kg, up from 100) and increase in overall weight from 700 to 722kg. A price worth paying we reckon, and not one the drivers will notice at Silverstone, Spa or Suzuka.

Sharper noses

Another knock-on effect is a new nose. The current generation of F1 car never looked mean enough, and was constrained by a displeasing rectangular form language. Point of fact they actually began life, if you cast your mind back to 2014, looking comical at best, borderline offensive (check out that season’s Toro Rosso – from a safe distance). The new noses are 20cm longer, and the front wings will expand to 1850mm in width, with a swept-back, slightly tapered shape that’s (theoretically) less sensitive to the turbulent air generated by the car in front to (even more theoretically) promote overtaking. The wing end-plates have also been simplified. The overall track width of the 2017 car rises to two metres.

Bargeboards are back

Some observers maintain that the 2008-spec cars are as aerodynamically artful as F1 cars have ever been (check out Lewis’s McLaren MP4-23 for proof). Some would say awful is closer to the mark. The aero craziness was stopped in 2009, but the ‘barge board’ is back for 2017, a ‘reduced exclusion zone’ permitting more leeway in the shape of this aero device, although they can’t be higher than 475mm. Along with the bigger floor (200mm wider), expect more ‘ground effect’ and more downforce, for increased speed (but not necessarily more overtaking – did we mention that?) Note also that the previous gen ‘homogeneous plank’ is now ‘pocketed’, to reduce weight. So that’s good. Pocketed is much better than homogeneous.

Lower and wider rear wings

The rear wing will be 150mm lower and 200mm wider. The end-plates are swept-in, and their lower end starts higher up than previously. The wing’s aesthetics are improved simply by the leading edge being tilted 20cm further back. The boxy restrictiveness of the current look should disappear.

Rear diffuser

This key part of the aerodynamicist’s armoury will move further forward, as well as being taller and wider. The reworked diffuser will also increase the amount of downforce at work on the car. Snuffling out some extra aero magic in this area of the car could make all the difference.

http://www.topgear.com/car-news/moto...l-f1-be-year#1

bagwell

Future vision - the F1 car, 2017 style

Formula One engineers and designers already have one eye firmly fixed on 2017, when significant changes to the F1 rule book will dramatically alter the appearance of the cars, making them both wider and faster. The exact regulations may not yet be finalised, but with the help of drawings from technical illustrator Giorgio Piola, we take a look at how next year’s machines could look if recent proposals come to fruition...

© Giorgio Piola

The overhead comparison above highlights the key areas of change. Starting from the front, the nose of the car (1) is 20cm longer than in 2016, while the width of the front wing increases from 165cm to 180cm. However, the wing’s new delta shape means the distance between the front tyre and the endplate (2) remains unchanged, as does the endplate size.

The tyres are wider, with tread width up from 24.5 to 30cm at the front (3) and from 32.5 to 40 at the rear (8). This in itself is expected to make cars around three seconds per lap quicker. Meanwhile, the overall width of the car increases from 140cm to 180cm.

Restrictions on floor surface area means that rearward of the front of the cockpit (5) the car cannot be the maximum 180cm wide for its entire length (6), so there must be a cut-out at some point (7). Another proposal prescribes a minimum body width of 160cm at all points, which means the cut-out cannot be more than 10cm deep. Finally, the rear wing (9) is wider - up from 80cm to 95cm - with a bigger overhang. © Gior gio Piola

Looking at the 2016 and ’17 cars front-on, we can see that the rear wing is not only wider, but also lower. The drawing above also highlights the increased width of the tyres (2), the car itself (3), and the front wing (4). © Giorgio Piola

A similar comparison from the rear of the cars again makes clear the lower and wider rear wing (1/2) and the wider rear tyres. It also shows us another change: an increase in the permitted height of the rear diffuser, up from 12.5 to 22cm. © Giorgio Piola

It is not only the height of the rear diffuser that is different. More importantly, the side-on comparison drawing above shows that instead of starting from the rear axle, the diffuser starts 33cm in front of it (6). As well as the nose (1) and front wing (2) changes, this drawing also shows the return of large turning vanes (3) between the front tyres and the sidepods, as well as highlighting the bigger rear wing (5) with its larger overhang, which will help boost ground effect.

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/t...017-style.html

mmarshall

While I respect Formula One, give me a nice American super-speedway....Charlotte, Daytona, Indy. IMO, that's what racing is all about.



Having said that, though, those are some interesting changes on the new Formula One cars.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Thank you bagwell for the renderings. Really paints a picture as to what changes to expect

Kaydee

The old me would disagree and say what's the point of going round and round in a circle, but I've been to 3 F1 races in my life and you don't see the cars all the time. Watched my first ever night race in Singapore this year and suffice to say the experience was a whole lot more fun than the two races I saw in Shanghai. I would love to watch a NASCAR race as an audience. I'm pretty sure I would like it as well.

mmarshall

F1 cars also aren't continually going 190-200 MPH like on the truly high-speed NASCAR tracks and at Indianapolis. IMO, though others are free to disagree, F1 is as much a braking/twisting/handling/speed-up-and-slow-down contest as much as it is what I'd call a true race. However, I respect other people's opinions on that.

Both F1 and NASCAR, to some extent, try to limit the performance of the cars.....NASCAR with carburetor restrictor-plates on the fastest tracks, and F1 with limited, small engine-displacement sizes. Racing crews often find ways around both, however.

bagwell

Oval racing is boring to watch imo, road courses ftw!!

4TehNguyen

iTrader: (1)

IMSA and WEC multiclass racing is the most exciting to me now. IMSA has a number of new cars coming this season: NSX GT3, AMG GT3, RCF GT3, Mustang GT4, Mclaren GT4, and new prototypes. Last year we had the Ford GT in the race