2021 F1 changes | Page 27 | FerrariChat

2021 F1 changes

Discussion in 'F1' started by intrepidcva11, Apr 4, 2017.

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

  1. stavura

    stavura Formula 3

    Sep 1, 2016
    1,328
    U.K
    Full Name:
    Harold Lounge
    ..... and A WOMAN :eek::eek:
     
    Bas and sammysaber like this.
  2. ingegnere

    ingegnere F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 12, 2004
    5,222
    Montreal
    ...and the V8 + KERS era.
     
    DF1 and jgonzalesm6 like this.
  3. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    9,252
    V8+KERS is what started this horrible formula......
     
    Senna1994 and ingegnere like this.
  4. ingegnere

    ingegnere F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Sep 12, 2004
    5,222
    Montreal
    True. Still, I’d take V8+KERS over what we have now: atmo V8 sound, simpler, smaller cars and no huge advantage by spending billions to develop the current PU “systems”.
     
  5. johnireland

    johnireland F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 19, 2017
    7,760
    Los Angeles, CA
    Full Name:
    John A Ireland
    Isn't there any new technical information to talk about? Hamilton getting dental implants, or Alonzo getting hair plugs? How about what Bottas has for breakfast? This might be the dullest off season I can remember.
     
    Bas and sammysaber like this.
  6. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    https://www.autosport.com/f1/feature/10969/what-you-need-to-know-about-f1-2021

    What you need to know about F1 2021

    Formula 1 won't get its big new regulations this year, but there are still plenty of changes to keep track of on the technical, team/driver and calendar fronts. Here's our guide to all the important details
    • By Jake Boxall-Legge

    Formula 1 should have been graced with an entirely new technical ruleset for 2021. The complex bargeboard packages and overreliance on external aerodynamics were set to be dropped for the venturi-effect underbody tunnels and simplified wings for the new year. But, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic forced the delay of those regulations.

    Instead, the 2021 cars will be largely the same as those used last year, barring aero tweaks and the structural changes to the chassis and suspension allowed by a token system. The retention of the regulations was largely a response to the hit that the teams took financially, as the first half of the year was laid to waste by the marauding virus around the world. Things only picked up in July, but the mandatory factory closures last year to preserve the future of the teams meant that the array of technical changes expected for this season was shuffled back a year to 2022.

    With the expectation that Pirelli's tyres - originally designed for the 2019 season and carried over for 2020 after a different construction was vetoed by the teams - would be kept on for another year, the FIA has forced the teams to pare down their floor constructions to reduce overall downforce. This reduction is expected to be around 10%, although the designers will surely find ways to claw some of that back.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    What's changed
    Firstly, the floor designs have had to be trimmed back. Between the back of the driver cell and the rear axle, the FIA has added a triangular exclusion zone into which no bodywork must enter. The floors will therefore taper in towards the back, and be bereft of the various slots and cuts that perforated the edge.

    Those slots have historically been used to help the floor produce a barrier against oncoming turbulent airflow from entering the diffuser, so the diffuser will now be less effective at producing downforce as the messy air seeps in. The diffuser itself has also endured a spell on the surgeon's table, losing 50mm from the length of the strakes within. Together, this offers less space for clean air to expand within, increasing the overall pressure and therefore limiting downforce.

    As it happens, Pirelli has had to make changes anyway. The 2021 tyres are of a slightly different construction to ensure that they don't risk a repeat of the blowouts that they sustained during last summer's British Grand Prix, and as a result will add 3kg to the car. The drivers, having tested the new constructions in practice sessions, were not overwhelmingly happy with the changes, but have effectively been told to suck it up.

    Although changes to nose bodywork and fairings would not require tokens, any modifications to the impact structure itself would
    What else can teams change within the bounds of the regulations? The good news for the aerodynamicists is that bodywork, largely, remains open-season. Various aerodynamic appendages can be reworked as normal, giving teams the opportunity to explore some of 2020's trends if they had not previously embarked upon them.

    One such trend seemed to include the move to the Mercedes-style thinner noses, with which Red Bull, Racing Point and Renault began the year, and which McLaren adopted for the second half of the season. As the teams towards the rear of the field tend to be more reactive to changes at the front, it stands to reason that they'd at least explore that step to minimise the blockage to the floor.

    But that also ties into the token system and, although the changes to nose bodywork and fairings would not require tokens, any modifications to the impact structure itself would. Changes to the survival cell, roll structure, suspension mountings and the like will require tokens, stopping the teams from making wholesale changes. Each team only has two tokens, so must spend them wisely.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    Some indications have come from Ferrari that it will be using its tokens at the rear of the car. The Ferrari SF21 will take on a new power unit to overcome the shortfalls in the team's old one, and so the rear of the car will need a redesign to take any structural changes made. Meanwhile, McLaren will also need to rework the rear part of the car to accept its return to Mercedes engines, after ending its three-year link-up with Renault.

    Overall, the 2021 cars will be a little slower than last year's owing to the floor changes, which should help to segue a little into the 2022 cars, which are also expected to be slower. There has been a collection of 2021-style floors tested in practice already, with some similar approaches already seen.

    Haas, Ferrari and Renault have trialled small curls on the trailing-edge corner of the floor, perhaps attempting to bring airflow in and around the rear tyre and work it internally. Ferrari also tried a variety of fins in Abu Dhabi to explore that effect further, taking the air that drifts outwards and turning it inside. With that, perhaps there's scope to run a vortex along the outer diffuser fences and create a seal - it's interesting not to see too much of a consensus in designs.


    Renault technical chief Pat Fry (below) called the changes "quite dramatic", while Williams head of vehicle performance Dave Robson has suggested that losing a chunk of the floor could potentially help the team by acting as a leveller.

    Although the 2020 formula is, largely, carried forward for yet another year, there's no reason to expect the teams to fall entirely in the same order. Even so, the key decision throughout the year will not be which designs to pursue but when to stop, as getting a head start for 2022 and beyond will be a more lucrative, longer-term strategy.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    Even more 'A' teams
    In recent years, the changes in nomenclature by Sauber and Toro Rosso to Alfa Romeo and AlphaTauri respectively have been accompanied by small moments of Alfa/Alpha confusion. Two more teams have also sought to front-load the phonebook over the off-season with their new identities, as Renault becomes Alpine and Racing Point becomes Aston Martin.

    Aston Martin has also signed a new title sponsor, joining forces with American IT conglomerate Cognizant ahead of a much-expected move to a British Racing Green livery
    Both teams have undergone further changes as they look to continue or kickstart their progress into 2021, with Alpine shaking up its managerial structure in a bid to move up the order. Team principal Cyril Abiteboul has left the squad, as Laurent Rossi becomes Alpine's CEO across all its commercial and motorsport activities. Davide Brivio, the team principal of title-winning MotoGP manufacturer Suzuki, has joined the Alpine operation as its racing director.

    Aston Martin has also signed a new title sponsor, joining forces with American IT conglomerate Cognizant ahead of a much-expected move to a British Racing Green livery, in place of ex-title sponsor BWT's idiosyncratic pink scheme. And, of course, there are the changes to the teams' respective driver line-ups...

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    New driver line-ups
    Even before the 2020 season belatedly got under way, the game of driver-market musical chairs was in full swing. First, the end of Sebastian Vettel's six-year tenure at Ferrari was announced to set the rumour mill into overdrive, followed up by Daniel Ricciardo's move from Renault to McLaren to partner Lando Norris, as Carlos Sainz Jr filled the now-vacant
    seat at the famous Italian team.

    Sainz's move to partner Charles Leclerc cemented Ferrari's most youthful driver line-up in years, while Ricciardo had called time on his short-lived Renault adventure to join the upwardly mobile McLaren, sufficiently impressed by the Woking team's progress under Zak Brown and Andreas Seidl.

    Vettel was then subject to one of the more protracted transfer sagas of the year, and being spotted climbing into Racing Point chief Otmar Szafnauer's car between the two Silverstone races did nothing to allay the rumours that he was to join the Aston Martin team for 2021. The team has signed him up for the first season with its new name, replacing the impressive Sergio Perez in a bittersweet move. Perez, for the longest time, looked to be without a drive for this year.

    Then came the call from Red Bull. The team, perhaps aware of its reputation as a cut-throat entity with regards to its drivers, had a choice: either hope that Alex Albon could stake his claim to the drive by becoming a more effective wingman for Max Verstappen; or replace him with an established name such as Perez or Nico Hulkenberg, who had impressed in his substitute outings for the COVID-affected Racing Point drivers.

    Although Albon showed a glimmer of hope in his strong Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend, it proved to be too little, too late, and Perez got the nod. Red Bull is geared around Verstappen, and Perez will have to use his years of experience to become more than just an interloper in the driving line-up. He comes into the team as a race winner, thanks to his phenomenal display at the Sakhir GP, and has a good chance to add to that victory.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    For the first time since 2006, the Alonso and Schumacher names will grace the F1 grid. One, a grizzled 39-year-old veteran with two world titles already in his pocket coming back for another bite at the F1 cherry; the other the son of one of F1's deities looking to make his own mark at motorsport's highest echelon.

    Fernando Alonso returns after two years away, bringing a close to his time spent making sporadic appearances across sportscars, the Indy 500 and the Dakar Rally, to head up Alpine's F1 line-up in place of Ricciardo. Alonso hence returns to the team with which he won his brace of championships, becoming the Enstone squad's driving force as it seeks to build on its run of podiums in 2020. Esteban Ocon remains at the team for a second season, having steadily improved his performances throughout last year following a season on the sidelines, and will have the perfect benchmark - assuming, of course, that Alonso has lost none of his prodigious pace during his time away from the paddock.

    Schumacher will have to learn to deal with the expectation, but thankfully, Haas is of a stature where he can learn his trade without too much pressure
    Mick Schumacher joins Haas as the reigning Formula 2 champion, as the American-owned team chose not to retain Romain Grosjean or Kevin Magnussen for the new season. The German will come in with a huge amount of expectation placed upon his young shoulders, with the Schumacher name carrying so much weight.


    He will have to learn to deal with the expectation, but thankfully, Haas is of a stature where he can learn his trade without too much pressure. Fellow rookie Nikita Mazepin joins him at the team (and will need to keep his wandering hands firmly affixed to his steering wheel if he wishes to avoid further controversy).

    At AlphaTauri, Daniil Kvyat walks out of the exit door as Japanese talent Yuki Tsunoda makes his way into F1, having enjoyed a remarkable rise through the junior categories. Tsunoda raced in Japanese Formula 4 in 2018, and has rapidly ascended through Formula 3 and F2 with support from Red Bull and Honda to make a well-deserved move into the top tier as Pierre Gasly's team-mate. In finishing third overall in F2, Tsunoda has shown the ability to adapt quickly to each step of the junior ladder and, although F1 will provide his sternest test yet, he is well-equipped to deal with its nuances.

    Alfa Romeo and Williams remain unchanged, and Mercedes is expected to do so too, with champion Lewis Hamilton's contract presumed to be a formality. And yet even at this stage, it remains unsigned...

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    New dates in the calendar
    Perhaps optimistically, the initial draft of the 2021 F1 calendar was expected to be a return to normality, with an Albert Park season opener leading into a bumper 23-race calendar.

    But the Australian GP has been postponed until November due to COVID restrictions, and the lingering prevalence of the virus is still threatening to make a further indelible mark upon proceedings. Regardless, the FIA and F1 have put together a calendar in anticipation of any further coronavirus impact, and the season will now begin in Bahrain on 28 March, two weeks after pre-season testing takes place at the same Sakhir circuit.

    Imola remains on the calendar too, with the Emilia Romagna GP reprised for another year and occupying the second race position, three weeks after Bahrain. The TBA slot for round three is expected to herald a race for the Algarve Circuit, as the Chinese GP is currently omitted from the schedule.

    A new race has also been added in Saudi Arabia, thanks to F1's connections through sponsor Aramco, to mixed reviews - largely, due to concerns over the country's human-rights record. This will be a street race in Jeddah, expected to be a 'temporary' measure before the country's race is moved to a permanent home on a circuit built in Qiddiya in 2023.

    F1's return to Zandvoort was delayed a year and is set to break its hiatus from the Dutch seaside circuit in 2021. But the race originally planned in Vietnam for 2020 does not appear after a key official in charge of the event was indicted for fraud, meaning that the Hanoi circuit seems likely to never host a Formula 1 race.

    With three triple-headers following the summer break, the 2021 calendar looks to be an exhausting slog for the people on the road at every race, and the willingness to include GPs on three consecutive weekends doesn't seem to be entirely popular. Regardless, the calendar has at least retained a semblance of normality in comparison to 2020's collection of one-off rounds at new venues for F1... for better, or for worse.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    Budget caps and shorter weekends
    F1 has finally installed a long-awaited budget cap for teams, which are now limited to a budget of $145million per year, with that figure expected to reduce in subsequent seasons. This now brings the smaller teams on a level of parity with the big operations.

    The cap should work in tandem with windtunnel and CFD simulation limits placed on teams relative to their constructors' championship placings. The higher teams finish in the table, the more restricted they will be.

    The weekends will also be shorter: both Friday practice sessions have been cut to an hour to increase the level of uncertainty across the rest of the event. Pre-season testing has also been cut to just three days, getting under way at Bahrain from 12-14 March.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login
     
    E60 M5 and sammysaber like this.
  7. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    Video of James speaking about this subject -

    https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154768/mercedes-expects-return-to-2019-f1-downforce-levels

    Mercedes technical director James Allison believes that Formula 1 aerodynamic rule changes mandated for this season will initially trim performance to 2019 levels.

    The changes were introduced to reduce loadings on Pirelli's tyres by negating the natural increase in downforce that teams would have made with their 2021 cars, given that aero development is not restricted by the freeze that impacts other aspects of the package.

    An initial change to the floor was followed by three smaller tweaks that were agreed late in 2020.

    In a Mercedes video, Allison says that what appear to be four relatively minor changes add up to a significant overall cut in downforce.

    "The combination of those four effects in their rawest form just cut-off and trim back in a way that the rules require brings the performance of the car way back to sort of somewhere near 2019 levels.

    "It's been our challenge over the weeks and months since those rules were set in stone to try to recover as much of the performance as possible.


    "That has been quite an entertaining ride in the wind tunnel and in CFD to try and make sure that we get that performance as far as possible back onto the car."

    "There has been a triangular cut-out to the edges of the floor in front of the rear wheels which when you see it you'll think, 'that doesn't look that big,' but on its own in its rawest form if you just chop that area off your car it'll take about a second a lap away from the car.

    "At the back of the car underneath in the diffuser area the fences were reduced in height so that they can't go as near to the ground, [and] they can't create as good of an aerodynamic seal to the ground as they did previously. And again, they shed a bunch of downforce when they are trimmed upwards.

    The changes were mandated because it was anticipated that Pirelli's 2019 tyres would be carried over for a third season in 2021.

    However in the end there was a change to the construction for this year, in an attempt to make the tyres more durable, giving the teams another variable with which to deal, including a revised profile on the fronts.

    The change in construction also means that a set of 2021 tyres is around 3kg heavier.

    "We got a first glimpse of these new tyres back in Portimao in 2020," said Allison.

    "We've had two other occasions where we could test them, and they were in Bahrain and then in Abu Dhabi the last race of last year.

    "That's not really very much opportunity to take on board a new tyre and get ready for a new season with it because these tyres will affect the way that the car performs, and they affect the way that you have to design the aerodynamic platform, and the way that you have to set up the car.

    "So it's been a big challenge for us to try and stretch out that testing data that we had at the tracks last year and to try and make as much as we can out of the tyre data supplied to us by Pirelli."
     
    kes7u likes this.
  8. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    Seems the aero change with the floor will not help those drivers potentially who like a 'planted' rear end - Vettel being one. Max is able to handle such a rear end better than alot I think. Interesting part of Autosport article - https://www.autosport.com/f1/feature/10979/the-small-change-that-will-be-f1-2021-big-talking-point

    So, while F1 is heading into an unprecedented campaign where cars will look virtually identical - especially with the chassis being carried over - there has been a growing acceptance among teams over the winter weeks that things are not going to be the same at all.

    While more in-your-face aero changes - such as hugely different front wing dimensions, the allowing and banning of shark fins and rules to get rid of ugly noses - made the cars look dramatically differently without causing too much headache for the teams, the opposite is true now.

    That minor tweak to the floor has rapidly been confirmed as posing a much bigger performance shift than some had imagined initially - and that is why, when the cars are unleashed at the start of the campaign, it looks like becoming one of the major early season talking points.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    As Alpine's Pat Fry said: "How it actually changes the aerodynamics at the back of the car is quite dramatic, so it will be who actually manages to cope with that best really."

    The reason the issue has become so big is because the tiny cutaway in the floor (above), which may appear to be an innocuous area of the car, has actually been a key focus on development due to the potential performance gains.

    That much was fairly obvious judging by just how much floor designs changed on cars race-by-race, and how intricate the work on this area has been.

    For teams well knew that mastering the hole, slots, fins and Venetian blinds on the floor were essential to help feed the air into the right areas of the diffuser to help boost downforce levels.

    "[The] triangular cut-out to the edges of the floor in front of the rear wheels which, when you see it you'll think, 'That doesn't look that big' but on its own, in its rawest form, if you just chop that area off your car, it'll take about a second a lap away from the car" James Allison
    There was also a pretty big gulf between what teams like Mercedes and Red Bull were doing with their complex solutions and ideas, and what smaller outfits could do with their more limited resources.


    While teams had initially expected a level of disturbance from the floor change when they began evaluating the impact in windtunnels last year, it is only in recent weeks that the scale of the impact has become properly apparent.

    Mercedes technical director James Allison suggested that just the single change to the floor will send teams back a massive chunk.

    "[The] triangular cut-out to the edges of the floor in front of the rear wheels which, when you see it you'll think, 'That doesn't look that big' but on its own, in its rawest form, if you just chop that area off your car, it'll take about a second a lap away from the car," he said.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    Allison has talked of there having been an "entertaining ride" in Mercedes' windtunnel and CFD departments as the team has tried to regain some of the lost downforce.

    AlphaTauri's Jody Eggington reckons the tweaks will be a "disruptor" for everybody, and could have a part to play in shaking up the competitive order compared to last season.

    Although Red Bull's Helmut Marko spoke recently about hopes his team has of recovering the estimated 20% overall loss in downforce with its RB16B so it can end up back at the performance level of Abu Dhabi, rival outfits are sceptical about such a feat being possible.

    Allied to the aero rule changes is the fact that predictions suggest the 2021 tyres will be one second per lap slower, which, cumulatively, could result in two or three seconds being wiped away from lap times.

    For the driver, the lap time itself will not be noticeable - but what will be is the lack of downforce. The cars will not feel as good as they did last year, and the rear especially will not be as confidence-inspiring as it has been in recent seasons.
     
    kes7u and E60 M5 like this.
  9. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Oct 31, 2016
    20,529
    Corpus Christi, Tx.
    Full Name:
    Joe R Gonzales
    Gasly tests positive for COVID-19.
     
  10. johnireland

    johnireland F1 Veteran
    Silver Subscribed

    Mar 19, 2017
    7,760
    Los Angeles, CA
    Full Name:
    John A Ireland
    How silly to have all these changes and not allow serious real testing. Talk about unnecessary costs...trying to build a car and go to a whole new wheel/tire package at the same time, is asking for costly mistakes and revisions when the season is already under way. Computers cannot compete with real laps on a track for design input.
     
  11. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    Dubai-demic
     
    ingegnere and jgonzalesm6 like this.
  12. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    How F1 teams are tackling the new challenges of the cost cap

    https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154841/how-f1-teams-are-tackling-the-cost-cap-challenges

    It's no secret Formula 1 teams always work flat out through the winter as they ready the new cars and adjust to the requirements of the latest technical regulations.

    There's a long established routine and rhythm to the process, but this particular off-season has required a fresh approach for a variety of reasons.

    Firstly, the 2020 season ended so late, running until the Abu Dhabi finale on 13 December, which was two weeks later than originally scheduled, and in addition all teams are having to work around tight COVID-19 restrictions.

    Then there's a significant change to the usual R&D and production schedules that has resulted from the freeze on most mechanical parts, which means that large areas of the cars are carried over from 2020 and haven't had to be redesigned.

    At the same time that R&D is ramping up early for the 2022 cars ahead of the biggest package of rule changes F1 has undergone for a while.

    On top of all this is the initial impact of the cost cap, the key part of the new FIA Financial Regulations that this season are being imposed for the first time.

    The three best-funded teams - Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari - are the squads most obviously affected by 2021's $145m spending limit. These three team have had to make the biggest adjustments, for example by allocating staff to non-F1 projects in order to remove their salaries from the equation.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    However, the big three are not alone. With the glidepath down to $140m in 2022 and then $135m in 2023, McLaren, Alpine and the expanding Aston Martin team are nudging towards the cap limits and they've have also had to react.

    It's about efficiency in all areas, and making the best use of resources that have never previously been formally restricted by the FIA.

    "It's a competitive paradigm of moving away from who is spending the most, to who is spending the best," former Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul said last year.

    "It's a new way of thinking, a new way of doing things, that should reward planning, that should reward management of the resources, management of the talents, management of a good execution, rather than only recognising just the ability to spend the most in this sport."

    Mercedes technical director James Allison admitted last week that from the many challenges his team has faced heading into the 2021 season adjusting to the lower spending levels was the most significant.

    "The biggest of these by far is trying to understand and assimilate the new financial regulations, the so-called cost cap regulations, to make sure that we can adapt our organisation to be able to operate within the much tighter confines of this new regulation," he said.

    "And we have been working on that all the way through 2020 and carried on working through it over the winter to try and make sure that we've first of all understood what the regulation was saying.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    "And second of all try to find every opportunity that was presented within that set of regulations, because every regulation brings opportunities once you can see exactly what they are saying, and then to adapt our operation and our company so that we can make the most from it and to be ready for the challenge of this new era of F1 operating under a cost cap.

    "And that has been a huge body of work that has kept us really on our toes for a long, long time."

    It's a learning process for all the teams, and one that will be ongoing as they refine how to allocate spending.

    "It's a three-year journey as the cost cap comes down each year," McLaren boss Zak Brown explained in December.

    "We're ready for 2021, and we have a plan for '22 and '23. We have those plans in place, but we don't need to execute against all of those plans yet, because we want to leave ourselves room for understanding what's going to be the most efficient and performance-oriented way to run at the reduced cap.

    "So we're ready for '21, we have a plan for '22 and '23, but that plan has a couple of different forks in the road if you like, based on what we learn [in 2021] as to what's the most efficient way to get maximum performance out of the money that we're allowed to spend."

    McLaren has faced a unique challenge this winter, as its switch of power unit supplier from Renault to Mercedes has generated more changes to the fundamentals of the package than were necessary at other teams. It has needed to allocate resources accordingly, and juggle elsewhere.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    "There are some significant elements of carryover as we enter the cost cap," the Woking team's production director Piers Thynne noted recently.

    "The FIA created a list of Transitional Carry Over [TCO] components that are outside of this year's cost cap.

    "These are parts that can be used in 2021 if they were run on last year's car. We've pushed these TCO regulations to the absolute maximum to allow us to carryover as much as possible, such as gearbox internals and some suspension components, and therefore not have to use a portion of our 2021 budget on their design and production."

    Thynne says the cap is just another challenge that each team has to meet.

    "F1 has always been about working under a set of constraints, whether it's technical constraints, time constraints or cost constraints.

    "Having said that, the nature of the new cost constraints is quite different to what we've experienced before. It will require a slight change in approach, because there's a real trade-off between cost and performance.

    "Yes, you've got to meet the cost cap, but you've got to do it without losing performance.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    "You can't just make a cheaper car. If you do, you'll make a slower car. You've got to look at the problem holistically to drive efficiencies in all areas but not to the detriment of the car's performance.

    "I don't think you're going to see which teams have really got a handle on this approach until next year because the TCO regulations have skewed the picture for 2021. The real test will come with the design and manufacture of the '22 car."

    The team in the most intriguing position with the cap is arguably Aston Martin. In its previous incarnations the Silverstone outfit was renowned for efficiency, in other words getting a big bang for its buck.

    Under Lawrence Stroll's ownership the headcount has been steadily built up ahead of a move into a new factory (below), currently scheduled for August 2022.

    The expansion process has had to take into account where the cost cap will land in 2022 and 2023.


    At the same time the team has had to be careful not to sacrifice the very skillset that has made it so successful in recent years - bigger isn't always better. It's a tricky equation to manage.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    Aston Martin technical director Andy Green is adamant that the traditional major teams have lost a key advantage they appeared to have when they could throw money and people at any problem.

    "I think those teams now are dinosaurs, and you've got to be small, lean, efficient," Green noted late last season.

    "And I think that's our strength. I think, as far as the financial side of the regulations are concerned, they're coming to us, they're definitely going to allow us to be able to compete with what used to be big teams, because they can't be big teams anymore.

    "They are going have to come back down, get much closer to our level. And we've been doing it for years. We've been at this level for a very long time. And I think we do a reasonable job at it.

    "But by no means I'm saying we're doing the best, or couldn't do better. Of course we could. But we have been doing it a long time. And I think we have put systems in place and groups in place who know how to work in a cost driven environment. I think that's going to help us."

    The headcount has risen since Stroll came on board, but Green insists that it won't continue to expand simply because the new factory will have more space.

    "We're still not planning to fill it with 900 people, it's a different strategy," he said.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    "The factory is taking the manufacturing aspect that always been outside of our control. Because being such a small team, we do have to outsource a huge amount of manufacturing.

    "And starting to bring some of that in-house, so we can shorten the lead time. So I think that's a big part of the new factory. It isn't to have this huge increase in headcount. It's to improve our efficiency even further.

    "And I think with a blank sheet of paper, knowing what the rules are now and how we need to operate, we're in an absolute ideal position to design ourselves a factory that is absolutely custom built and designed for the new era of F1."

    As Thynne pointed out, the picture will become clearer beyond 2021, as we start to see who did the best job of getting through the current season while preparing for the next, and the huge challenge of the new regulations. It will be fascinating to see how it unfolds.


     
    E60 M5 likes this.
  13. simpen

    simpen Formula Junior

    Jun 14, 2016
    291
    What is this rear downforce of the RB16B, Albon asks?
     
  14. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    Will be interesting to see high rake aero response vs lower rake response on Mercedes.
     
  15. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    https://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/55992727

    Formula 1 bosses are to discuss a new proposal to introduce shorter 'sprint' races in an attempt to increase entertainment levels this season.

    Teams and bosses will vote on Thursday on a plan for a shorter race on Saturday, which would define the grid for Sunday's grand prix.
     
  16. Mitch Alsup

    Mitch Alsup F1 Veteran

    Nov 4, 2003
    9,252
    You want entertainment ??
    Ban the aero !!

    Simple--done.

    Oh, but wait, we need all that space for advertizing ......
    Well, then you can't have the entertainment !!
     
    DF1 likes this.
  17. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Oct 31, 2016
    20,529
    Corpus Christi, Tx.
    Full Name:
    Joe R Gonzales
    F1 will drop its WeRaceAsOne rainbow branding logo.
     
    kes7u and jpalmito like this.
  18. Natkingcolebasket69

    Natkingcolebasket69 F1 World Champ

    So last year was a gimmick then?


    Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
     
    stavura, jgonzalesm6 and jpalmito like this.
  19. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154977/f1-drops-rainbow-branding-from-we-race-as-one

    Formula 1 has confirmed it will drop the rainbow branding from its We Race As One campaign after updating its objectives for the initiative in 2021.

    F1 launched We Race As One ahead of the delayed start to the 2020 season, adopting a rainbow flag as the symbol by merging the colours of all 10 teams.

    The campaign was intended to acknowledge the worldwide battle against COVID-19 and the fight against discrimination across the world, using the rainbow as "a symbol used internationally in the recent crisis to bring communities together".

    The branding featured on teams' cars and on trackside hoardings, but will now be dropped ahead of the 2021 season after F1 outlined its plans for We Race As One on Wednesday.

    "This season the rainbow will no longer feature alongside the #WeRaceAsOne platform," a statement from F1 reads.

    "While the COVID- 19 pandemic is still an ongoing battle, we are focussing the platform on the three core pillars of our Environment, Social and Corporate Governance strategy.

    "Those pillars are sustainability, diversity and inclusion, and community. These areas are a priority for the sport where progress has already been made but with more commitments to be delivered in coming months and years."

    F1 used time before each race last year to allow drivers to make a gesture against racism, with the majority of the grid opting to take a knee before the start of each race. The slot will be kept in the schedule for 2021.

    "We plan to include a moment before the start of each race this season to show our united support for important issues and will be discussing this with the drivers and the teams ahead of the start of the season," the statement reads.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    F1 also outlined where the focus of the series will lie in its We Race As One campaign, furthering diversity and inclusivity within motorsport, as well as helping its environmental push.

    F1 hopes to create "a clear path towards sustainably fuelled hybrid engines" in 2021, as well as reducing the amount of single-use plastic in the paddock, and alter freight methods, as well as switching to remote operations in some cases to eliminate the amount of freight being taken to races.

    Another goal is to "roll out internships and apprenticeships within Formula 1 for under-represented groups to provide access to a promising career in the sport", as well as "funding scholarships for talented engineering students from diverse and underprivileged backgrounds with work experience opportunities at F1 and the Teams during their studies."

    F1 will include W Series among its support series at eight grands prix this year, and has included a growth in awareness of the category, as well as the FIA's Women in Motorsport initiatives, as part of its plans for 2021.

    "Our We Race As One platform was very effective at raising the awareness of socially important issues and our steadfast commitment to make a positive change," said F1 president and CEO Stefano Domenicali.

    "We are very proud of it and the teams have embraced it fully. While our commitment through words to tackling issues like sustainability and diversity in our sport are important, it is our actions that we will be judged on.

    "We have already made good progress on our sustainability plans and you will see strong actions being executed this year across all three of our WRAO pillars. We know we must continue to move forward on these issues and the whole sport is united in doing this in the months and years ahead."
     
  20. kes7u

    kes7u Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Oct 18, 2017
    1,136
    Shorewood, MN
    Full Name:
    Kevin
    Hell, can you imagine if F1 used all the time it spent with these initiative on improving the racing???

    Kevin
     
    jpalmito and DF1 like this.
  21. jgonzalesm6

    jgonzalesm6 Two Time F1 World Champ
    Rossa Subscribed

    Oct 31, 2016
    20,529
    Corpus Christi, Tx.
    Full Name:
    Joe R Gonzales
    They (F1) were riding the Lewis Hamilton-social-media bandwagon.
     
    stavura, Picchu88, william and 3 others like this.
  22. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154985/f1-awaits-engine-freeze-sprint-race-decisions

    An engine freeze, the final 2021 calendar and a sprint race experiment will dominate talks between teams and the sport's chiefs in a meeting of the Formula 1 Commission today.

    The meeting, which will be attended by F1 management, teams, and the FIA, is set to vote on a series of changes that could have huge ramifications for the sport over the next few years.

    As Autosport revealed yesterday, F1 is expected to tell teams that it has given approval for the Portuguese Grand Prix to go ahead on May 2.

    The move, while finalising the opening stages of the season, will however require some extra commitment from teams because of quarantine restrictions in the United Kingdom.

    Portugal is currently on the UK's 'red list' of countries where anyone returning needs to complete a 10-day hotel quarantine on arrival.

    With elite sports having not been granted an exemption, it means F1 personnel are included on such a requirement, so any staff attending the Portuguese Grand Prix will be unable to return home prior to the following event in Spain.

    One of the most interesting decisions that will be taken is whether or not to approve a proposal from F1 to trial Sprint Races at three grands prix this year.

    F1 wants to run a Saturday 100-km sprint qualifying race at the Canadian, Italian and Brazilian Grands Prix this year to see if the change of format helps improve the weekend experience.

    While a previous push to trial reverse grid races failed to get unanimous support, because Mercedes was wholly against the idea, there may be more backing for a sprint race format.

    Furthermore, a new governance structure that has been introduced for 2021 as part of the new Concorde Agreement means that unanimous support is no longer needed.

    Now a 'super majority' of 28 votes out of the 30 available (F1, the FIA and teams have 10 each) will be enough to get it passed.

    The most complicated discussions of the meeting, though, could revolve around the possibility of an engine freeze from 2022.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    The proposal has been pushed hard by Red Bull, which wants a freeze in place so it can take over the Honda engine project from next year without the need for an expensive development budget.

    But the move is not just about Red Bull, because F1 is clear that if a freeze is in place from 2022 onwards, then that will mean manufacturers can focus their efforts and budgets solely on a future powerplant that should come into play for 2025.

    The situation is quite complicated though, because a push to use ever-greater sustainable fuels means that there could be the need for some engine developments in the short term.

    Furthermore, there are some concerns that if one engine manufacturer finds itself on the back foot at the start of 2022, the lack of any development could leave them facing several years of struggle.

    One idea being looked at, but not yet agreed, is for some form of equalisation structure to come into play - which will allow for all the power units to deliver roughly the same amount of performance.

    This could be achieved through allowing an increased fuel flow for any engine that is down on power at the start of 2022.

    But such a 'Balance of Performance' strategy for F1 risks opening a can of worms and has not so far had universal approval from all teams.

     
  23. DF1

    DF1 Two Time F1 World Champ

    https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/154995/f1-teams-approve-engine-freeze-plan-for-2022

    Formula 1 teams have approved plans for an engine freeze from 2022 and are open to the idea of sprint races, but have requested more details.

    Following a meeting on Thursday of the F1 Commission, made up of teams, the FIA and the F1 organisation, Autosport understands that unanimous approval was given to an engine freeze to come into play from the start of next year.

    The push for a freeze was originally led by Red Bull as it hopes to take on the Honda engine project after the Japanese manufacturer pulls out of F1 at the end of this year.

    Red Bull was clear that it had the resources to continue running the power units for the next few years, but could not afford to take on the project if it also had to develop the engines itself.

    While there had not been initial full support for the freeze when it first came up at the end of last year, discussions have moved forward in recent weeks and teams are now in agreement.

    F1 teams also discussed the idea of sprint races, which have been proposed by F1 management as a trial for this year to see if the concept can work.


    F1 wants to run an experiment of the sprint race format at three grands prix this season - in Canada, Italy, and Brazil - to see if it can help improve the spectacle of a race weekend.

    Image Unavailable, Please Login

    The idea is for F1's official qualifying session to be moved to Friday afternoon, with Saturday's action then being dominated by a 100km sprint race that will decide the grid for Sunday's main race and potentially offer half points.

    It is understood that, while the plans did not get a formal green light to be put into the rules, teams were open to the idea and have requested more time to look into the finer details.

    The introduction of sprint races could result in some unintended consequences, so teams will likely want their sporting directors to look at potential pitfalls before committing fully to the idea.

    F1 teams also discussed with the FIA and F1 the idea of a salary cap coming into force over the next few years, but no final decision was made on whether to proceed.
     
  24. kes7u

    kes7u Formula 3
    Silver Subscribed

    Oct 18, 2017
    1,136
    Shorewood, MN
    Full Name:
    Kevin
    The only way I could support sprint races is if the cars were made smaller and aero was simplified a bit. With the cars as they currently are, I find the qualifying format significantly more interesting than a sprint race.

    And I'm not understanding this engine freeze at all. Does anyone benefit other than Red Bull and Mercedes? Is this what F1 is looking to become?

    Kevin
     
    fil likes this.

Share This Page