V8's = less downforce?

[Sodemo]

I read something not long ago regarding 2006 engines that intrigued me.

If I recall it was Mike Gascoyne, he was saying that apparently the 2006 F1 cars will in fact reach the same top speeds as in 2005 as they will use less downforce to counter the fact that they have less power.

Does this ring true with anyone?

Also, how will the V8's effect gear ratios?

[Adam43]

I would imagine it will be not quite the same top speed (although the chassis may have inherently les drag - depending on designs). As we have seen teams with more power tend to run more wing, so the general trend you suggest may be true.

[QuickSilver]

Theoretically speaking MG is probably correct. Taken to the extreme I suppose teams could remove the wing altogether and achieve even higher speeds than with winged V10s - trouble is they have to corner eventually. As always, it will be a compromise between outright speed and downforce to get the fastest lap and 2006 lap times will be a lot slower initially.
-

[Inigo Montoya]

I think what they mean (and I remember Massa also said this) is that they'll get the straight line speed back up to par by running less wing. But, then they'll have to of course tiptoe through the corners with less downforce...

[Smurfer]

I'm no rocket scientist however if they were to reach the same top speed wouldn't they need to do it earlier on the straight as with less downforce they won't be able brake as well.

IMO they will be close to the old top speeds though not quite there. But hey, what would I know.

[Rennen]

The main differance will be the 2.4 V8's will have less bhp and far less grunt around corners not to mention out of them. One advantage of this is that it'll make them much easier to drive than the 2005 spec V10s due to the reduced 'G' loads on the driver that hopefully will in turn give the drivers back some energy to actually race each other again!