The Formula One car of tomorrow will already be undergoing radical changes, primarily due to efforts by the FIA to reduce fuel consumption, but according to Pat Symonds, a former Renault engineering boss, the alterations to the F1 cars of 2020 will be even more radical than the previous decade.
Contributing a piece to an issue of F1 Racing that will be out in the near future, Symonds shared his thoughts and views on the future of F1 cars with stricter emission regulations and heaps of changes.
The FIA has already implemented a ruling that all F1 teams must cut their fuel consumption by 35 per cent by the year 2013. This will be achieved by switching over to a new engine design, a 1.6-liter turbocharged unit, for that season. Furthermore, the use of kinetic energy recovery systems (KERS) will be bumped up further, up to 250hp from the current 80hp, which could see fuel consumption drop by as much as 50 per cent.
Currently, the trend is leaning towards an emphasis on efficiency over outright power. This sees the rulings gunning for extracting every last bit of power through channels like reducing energy loss and improving aero. To further build on that, drastic changes to the aero package will be enforced, like seeing the car’s lift-to-drag ratio reduced from the current 3:1 to 4:1. Part of that could include a standardised non-downforce rear wing that would be primarily for advertising purposes.
Symonds adds that that move will be countered by the more efficient ground effects. The results could see cars that are less prone to pitch changes courtesy of the downforce acting centrally.
Nonetheless, the downside could be that overtaking may suffer, due to the downforce being more susceptible to the trail of the leading car. It’s moments like this that the more powerful KERS will level the playing field or the FIA could intervene to keep things interesting.
The aero itself could be active, with retractable membranes on the sidepods that will open up on the straights or under the driver’s command. Plus, the huge air inlet located above the driver on today’s cars could be a thing of the past as the smaller displacement four bangers of the future will get their intake feed from the lower down.
There were some whispers of F1 cars going the closed-cockpit way following Felipe Massa’s debris-to-head collision but for now, it appears that open-wheel and open-cockpit will remain the recipe of choice. Still, the newer cars could be getting larger wheels wrapped in lower profile rubbers.
While we lament the changes that are taking place in F1, claiming that it takes away a portion of the excitement on track, the fact of the matter is that F1 will remain as the pinnacle of motorsports and we will be glued to it even if they race on square tyres.
Source: Jalopnik
