F1 2017 weight issue.

[Taxi645]

F1 2017 weight issue.

Hamilton has labeled the 2017 rules proposals as “ridiculous”.

What if we try to avoid the 20 kg weight increase as much possible, but still improve the speed of the cars?

Probably what you end up with would be the current body width of 1400mm, the same tyres, but the maximum width increase from 1800mm to 1900mm from long suspension arms. That way you can avoid a lot of weight and cost increase cause you can maintain the current bodies, yet you will still get more performance from the wider cars (which would look better too). The wings width would increase the same 100mm.

Furthermore I think it would be a good idea to impose a minimum weight on the driver, outfit, helmet, seat combo of about 75-76kg (COG of the seat roughly equal to the average driver). That would help taller racers to be able to maintain a healthy weight while still remaining competitive.


You can furthermore dump a slight bit of weight by getting rid of DRS and the currently proposed reduction in the plank length. Overall I think it would be a wash in weight and the 702kg limit could roughly be maintained.


If we then try to look at what the average laptime improvement (very rough estimate) would be by 2018 compared to 2015:

0.6s from engine performance
0.5s from the 100mm extra width
1.0s from higher and more robust underfloor downforce
0.7s from flexing wings

So that would be 2.8s compared to 2015 season without weight increase (this excludes further aero advancements which all teams always make) which for me is enough.


Personally I fancy tyres that struggle with the engine's power and thus require more driving skill. If they make them to last and not artificially brake apart, you still wouldn't have to baby the tyres during the race because with the underfloor downforce you won't kill the tyres trying to catch someone through the dirty air. That's the main problem now, the combination of the dirty air problem with artificially degrading tyres, which won't allow drivers to fight for position properly.

I think the current tyre dimensions, just made to last would be fine with the high engine output and downforce levels for 2018.

[Taxi645]

For comparison (bit of a hack job) the current 1800mm car vs the 1900mm car with the current 1400mm bodywork and tyres.






One possible positive side effect could be that if you increase the front wing width and leave the rear wing alone you might regain some downforce on the outside of the front wing that the overtaking group produced without looking too dorky because of the increased wheel track.