Formula 1: New Season Fashions
2010 doesn’t bring as dramatic a change to the rules as the teams encountered last year but as designers learn from last year’s successes and failures, they will have to accommodate larger fuel tanks and narrower front tyres. Meanwhile the majority of teams will have their first chance to design a car with double diffusers as an integral component as opposed to a late addition. So bearing this in mind, and ahead of new car launches which kick off later this month, I thought I’d try to predict the new season’s look for the fashionable car around town.
End-Plates and Nose Ridges
The aerodynamic regulations themselves are little changed, however, the key change at the front is that the front tyres will be narrower. This will change the handling characteristics and weight distribution of the car but also lead to a different aero-balance. The wheels have always created a problem on a Formula 1 car and account for more than a third of the car’s total drag, and the banning of wheel fairings in 2010 will not help matters. However, the wider front wing employed last year meant the majority of teams opted to direct the airflow around the outside of the front wheels. The exception was McLaren who attempted to split the airflow to either side, before eventually following the crowd. Indeed, front wing end plates 
were one of the hottest areas for development last year. Nevertheless, with the narrower front tyres being used this year, McLaren’s initial plan to guide some air inside the wheels may be more favourable, feeding the rear diffuser in the process.
Meanwhile, the nose could be subject to significant changes, again with a mind on the rear diffuser. A number of teams tested a nosecone similar to that of the Red Bull RB5 with a flattened upper surface fenced-in by distinctive ridges along the sides. No other team (obviously other than Toro Rosso) eventually raced with the solution but it could be an idea that is copied by more teams, all be it wider and lower as utilised by Brawn.
Long in the Waist
Behind the driver the car will need to be bigger in order to accommodate the tank that must be able to contain 180-190 kg of fuel, almost double what the 2009 car’s were capable of carrying before the refuelling ban. How to accommodate that larger tank though? A taller tank will be detrimental to the car’s centre of gravity so the emphasis will be on a wider and longer tank. However, with the rear diffuser being such a pivotal component in the car’s design, there will be reluctance to increase the width of the bodywork and thereby interfere with airflow to the rear. That said, some of that space will be gained by the abandonment of KERS which will not only aid those teams who used the system (mostly Ferrari and McLaren) but also those who at least made plans to earlier the year. Inevitably, though, chassis will be longer although designers may partially alleviate that by moving the driver forward or building shorter gearboxes. There may also be some rearrangement of the suspension system in order to reduce the resulting wheelbase.
Undercutting and Rear Diffusers
While double-diffusers look like being banned at the end of the season, they are set to play key role this year with some predicting that downforce levels may exceed those at the end of 2008 despite the drastic rule changes. In this area, Brawn and Williams lose some of their 2009 advantage as the opposition design cars with fully integrated double deck diffusers rather than having to accommodate them through necessity. The result should be a significant increase in aerodynamic efficiency 
as the entire rear of the car is repackaged to suit the twin-tier diffuser. As already mentioned, narrowing the main body of the car to free up airflow over and under the diffuser may be desirable but perhaps even more key will be low, sweeping and, in particular, deeply undercut sidepods as seen on the Brawn BGP001. Red Bull may have been the most vocal about having to accommodate the larger diffusers while limited by their pull-rod suspension but the low rear that was central to Adrian Newey’s decision to revert to that suspension set-up at the rear of the RB5 was certainly beneficial in maximising the performance of the diffuser. Given the success of the RB5, it may well be that we’ll see more cars follow the pull-rod route.
So there, that’s my thoughts on what this year’s cars will look like.
Over to the teams to surprise me.
Well I agree with most of those assumptions. They wouldn’t dare build shorter gearboxes though due to the life cycle rule. Somehow I feel that most teams will not follow Red Bull down the Pull-rod route, but that’s just a hunch. I think that Mercedes will follow Red Bull in terms of the height of the nosecone, but it won’t be as high.
If they were to separate the air though, that would switch the aero balance more rearwards, which is what a believe is wanted. Although possible issues would be that with heavy fuel loads the rears would be under at lot of pressure on the first stint. We may see teams do a short first stint a longer second longer third etc. But with the increased downforce of a more developed Diffuser that may negate some of that.
We may even see widespread use of 3 stops and sometimes even 4 as new rubber and the fresh grip that comes with it become ever vital. Kimster(Quote)
Well written article Mav! Some good points on the repurcussions of the larger fuel tanks; I wonder how much benefit KERS-ready teams would gain with respect to knowledge of car balance??
Interesting about directing the front airflow around the front tyres – with the banning of wheel covers, I wonder if this will also be a factor in directing the air inwards?
Can’t wait to see the new cars be launched!!! skidmark(Quote)
Indeed, interesting Mav. I was actually wondering how many teams are now going to ditch (or maybe even introduce) the “shark fin” tail al la: RB, Renault and Toyota (RIP) et al, as a weight saving measure.
(PS. I was also hoping for machine guns in the nose and oil squirters and tack dropping pods on the car backends in honour of MS’ return. Let’s wait and see. :P) largeflowered(Quote)
With the increased weight limit to cover KERS which was subsequently dropped by the teams, I don’t think weight saving will be an issue. There’s a bigger fuel tank but I don’t think that will add that much weight and they’re going to end up with a lot of ballast to play with. Maverick(Quote)
I think the narrower front tyres will be important for two reasons:
Firstly they risk wearing out faster than last year, because of the reduced contact patch and the heavier fuel loads, in particular if the weight distribution is not absolutely spot on.
Secondly they may have less of an aero effect because the smaller dimensions could produce less turbulence – and because the airflow from the front wheels affects everything downstream, will that mean more rear downforce? And in order to balance that out, will the front wing be even more critical? Pitmonster(Quote)
> Pitmonster: “And in order to balance that out, will the front wing be even more critical?” So do we finally get to see the effectiveness of the adjustable front wing?
I also doubt if Bridgestone (http://www.bridgestonemotorsport.com/Bridgestone/en-gb/Championships/Formula1/News/) will really want the publicity of their tyres getting knackered “too” quickly. New compound? Steve Rose(Quote)
Thanks Mav, when I read this post it all makes absolute sense,
where was I when they were dishing out F1 reasoning ability as I just never think like this until someone plants the thought into my mind. saltire(Quote)
Seems like Ferrari might be going with the Red Bull-style nose, if leaks in Italy’s Gazzetta Sportiva are anything to go by. Then again, I never trust Ferrari leaks, all to often are they deliberately misleading. Maverick(Quote)
Is this this year’s Ferrari?
http://i751.photobucket.com/albums/xx153/livelyf1foto/aleator/ferr281-big.jpg Maverick(Quote)
Quite a few teams tested the Red-Bull style “double-ridge” nose in free practice last year, mainly to see how it affected driver visibility. A shame that they blatantly copied Newey’s design – I wonder how many will have it on their cars this year? And would it be the ultimate irony if everyone did, but Red Bull did not? Pitmonster(Quote)
I don’t know about irony but if Ferrari are only going to be playing catch up with Red Bull, that level is bound to have moved if Newey has anything to do with it. Maverick(Quote)