Quote:
Originally Posted by crmalcolm
You've regularly advocated for reduced downforce. Can I ask why?
Do you also mean a reduced complexity at the same time?
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"Simple aero" advocates seem to overlook that certain items are actually necessary to
improve racing.
For example, the wide front wing -- it is also used in Indycar and F2 and is 'necessary' to make sure air goes OVER the front tyres, rather than straight into them. This reduces the mess of turbulent air created by the front tyres which will otherwise impact the following car.
Similarly, the front wheel covers. They are ugly and cover up the otherwise attractive 18 inch wheels, which is unfortunate, but likewise they will drastically reduce the turbulent air that comes out from the front brakes.
F2 car with wide front wing and as-yet uncovered 18" wheels:
F2 car has a much bigger diffuser than an F1 car, yet it still has
much less downforce and is 8-12 seconds per lap slower... Same goes for F1 2022 rules -- despite appearances the "ground effect" 2022 cars will be less effective and will actually reduce downforce and cause a 4-5 second slower laptime compared to the current raked flat floor cars.
F2 car diffuser:
So it's not as simple as saying "drastically reduce" the aero of the F1 car, so that there is only a modest front and rear wing and just 200-300kg of downforce, akin to a touring car -- doing that will lengthen F1 laptimes by 20 seconds per lap or more!
Quote:
Originally Posted by bjohnsonsmith
There isn't anyway of knowing because F2 doesn't race at Road America or Portland, for example.
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Sure thing. The point is if you take almost all the aero away apart from a moderate size front and rear wing as some propose (so going from 2000+kg downforce @ 250 kph to 300kg downforce @ 250 kph), then F1 will be quite a bit slower than both Indycar and F2... We are talking laptimes 20+ seconds per lap slower!