2014 downforce levels

[Hampus Andersson]

So i was reading in RACECAR ENGINEERING and there was an article about the Renault V6 engine for 2014.

In that article they said that for 2014, the downforce levels of the cars will be Monza levels at Monaco.

So this would be the high downforce package sort of. I´m not sure if they will run lower at other tracks keep the package the same throughout the year and simply slap on as much as you can.

This is great news for many reasons.
One is cars will be less dependent on aero, exhaust will not be able to be used as blowing the diffuser.
They will be centralized bit like GP2 i think (could be another series, will check after i´m done writing)
And because there´s less aero, there´s less air getting thrown up in the air which means less dirty air which in turns means closer racing in corners which means easier to overtake at the end of the straight.
In theory at least.

I honestly can´t wait. I also believe that less aero allows really good drivers to make more of a difference as the cars probably will be geared a little more with mechincal grip etc.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Here´s the Renault article, contains some very cool information about how the energy recovery systems will interact with the engine.
It won´t just be a button but it can also help the turbo etc.

 

[Darren Bentley]

won't this not be such a good thing for wet weather racing though, having a lot less downforce.
Won't it mean that red flags will come out when there is less surface water than it would come out in the current Formula?

 

[Markus Neumann]

won't this not be such a good thing for wet weather racing though, having a lot less downforce.
Won't it mean that red flags will come out when there is less surface water than it would come out in the current Formula?

The problem with really wet weather is that
a) the drivers can't see because of the spray
b) the cars are aquaplaning because the tyres can't displace enough water

Aero downforce doesn't matter much for that. The amazing wet weather performances from Senna and Schumacher (in the 90s) were possible without much downforce, so I can only see things getting more spectacular. So yes, I'm also pretty psyched about the 2014 regs

 

[Ole Marius Myrvold]

Isn't the Wet Weather problems more down to running so low that the plank acts like a boat on the water?

And, you would need to be closer at the end of the corner, as this also means a bit less effective slipstream

 

[Markus Neumann]

Isn't the Wet Weather problems more down to running so low that the plank acts like a boat on the water?

And, you would need to be closer at the end of the corner, as this also means a bit less effective slipstream

True, this is also a factor. Obviously the teams could easily run with more ride height, but I get the feeling that they aren't doing it even when there's the threat of rain because they can simply whine to Charlie Whiting about how bad the conditions are and he'll stop the race for them. That screws over the teams who do run with a wet setup. Kind of a dick move, to be honest

 

[Hampus Andersson]

The tires have no problems sending the water away unless it´s like a small ocean on the track. Certain corners in Canada 2011 for example.
2013 tires will be even better.
0.5mm extra for both.

Can´t find the source but i think Hembrey said they were going from 60L a second to 80L a second for Full Wets.

It´s the floor that gets picked up by the water which aquaplans the whole car.
Like a surf board sort of.

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Sounds good, super hitech hyperturbos are back.. Getting rid of turbolag will only do good for racing, i like that. Lack of downforce means they need to get accelerations from slow corners ( = low revs ) spot on, turbolag would've complicated overtaking and caused probably some accidents.. You're not very keen on lifting the throttle with lots of turbolag and there's lot's of guessing as you need to press throttle much earlier and hope you hit the right revs at the right time. Means also a lot smoother torque map. But i wonder will the drivers get even more buttons to their wheel..

 

[Dmitry Zaharov]

I guess gray exhaust tricks and bending rubber wings will be even more effective then. We will certainly see more spreaded grid. Bad for racing, bad for sport, bad for viewers.

 

[Kennett Ylitalo]

Wel, at least exhaust blown diffuser is gone by 2014. There's not enough volume being blown as fuel consumption and revs will both lower. Bendy wings? Hmm, it might have some effect... We need at least one wildcard season that might be one team dominating (boring) or different development curves where different team alternate as the dominant one.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

exhausts will be centralized. Think this,

You can´t put them so they will have an effect on the diffuser nor will they be able to put them low enough because of the gearbox etc.

They can only move the exhaust 25mm left or right. longitudinally they have more to play with but they will be behind the engine and above the drive shaft.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

I guess gray exhaust tricks and bending rubber wings will be even more effective then. We will certainly see more spreaded grid. Bad for racing, bad for sport, bad for viewers.

It´s actually the complete opposite.

And with the latest FIA tests the front wings don´t bend much at all now.

 

[Bram Hengeveld]

In a perfect world: no more regulations, no more test bans, v12's and sound!

I find it so hypocrite that motorsport wants to pretend to be green. Cars racing with tiny v6 engines to reduce carbon emissions but yet the teams and their following fly 10.000.000 km a year with airplanes that consume more fuel on one single flight than the entire F1 circus in a year

 

[Metalfreaky]

b) the cars are aquaplaning because the tyres can't displace enough water

I actually think it's the ride height they are limited at. The tires could actually do more.

/edit:
Jeez, I should read the thread first before posting something already mentioned 5times or so

I'm not really sure what my opinion about the lower downforce levels are.
On one side I agree with the reasons Hampus mentioned in his post.
But what I don't like is more and more limitations for the engineers. I kind of liked the complex aerodynamics back in 2006-2008. Cars looked beautiful imo back then.
I'm also still not a friend of the V6 engines. It's kind of weird to think of a Ferrari with a V6 in his back.
I would much prefer a modernization of the current V8 and open development till some point.
But yeah F1 is supposed to be "green" when running under thousands of lights at night in Singapore

 

[Johnny Russian]

interesting post Hampus, I read somewhere that we might actually see complete domination by 1 or 2 teams similar to the way McLaren dominated for 1 season in the 80s when they were running turbo engines and the other teams were going for naturally aspirated engines. so it will be interesting to see what actually happens with these lower downforce levels.

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Yea it should be pretty interesting, me personally i don´t really care about the V8´s.
The Ferrari engine sounds horrendous imo. V10/12 were the golden era of sound.
And the fact that they are what, 5 years old now? Think they locked them in 2007.
They are fossils compared to the technology we have today.

Sure we won´t have screamers in the same sense but i honestly can´t remember anyone complaining about the turbo´s in the past.
I just wish we would move back to 1,000 horsepowers around there.

Less downforce, lots more power, lower corner speeds = safer
But higher top speeds like the good old days at Hockenheim and Monza

 

[Xosé Estrada]

Hope the numbers are true, I would like to see this generation of drivers in less downforce cars, battles can be epic.

 

[Bradley Vanian]

BRADDERS PREDICTION

RAIKKONEN 2014 CHAMP
I think he would be good with less downforce. He'll know what to do

 

[Hampus Andersson]

Nice picture from Scarbs showing the nose height for 2014,

 

[Shane Butler]

I'm just hoping the new 2014 regulations make the cars sound better than what they are like now..