Formula 1 continues to make progress with its plans for all-new regulations for the 2021 season, and an update has been issued detailing what the sport is working on.
The design of 2021 cars will be radically different than the vehicles currently found up and down the paddock. The new concept will focus on ground effects to improve downforce, while simplified front and rear wings will be adopted. The current thinking is that placing an emphasis on ground effects as opposed to large wings will allow the cars to follow each other much more closely and result in better racing.
Current F1 cars lose approximately 45 per cent of their downforce when following a car due to the turbulent air they must pass through. Under the new regulations, its is thought they will only lose between 5 and 10 per cent of downforce when trailing a competitor. The regulation changes may also include the use of more standardized parts to level the playing field.
Also Read: F1 To Drastically Reduce “Dirty Air”, Make Overtaking Easier With 2021 Regulations
In addition to the radical aerodynamic changes, F1 will add 18-inch wheels for the 2021 season and Pirelli is hard at work developing new tire compounds for the sport which will provide less flex.
Work is still being done to tweak the regs before they are officially announced in October. According to the FIA’s head of single-seater technical matters Nikolas Tombazis, one aspect of the new cars which still needs improvement is the front wing design.
“The front wing, we are still not completely pleased about. Both from an aerodynamic point of view and from an aesthetic point of view,” he said. “So we are trying to make it better in both aspects. There are good reasons why the wing is very wide, aerodynamically, but we agree it is not the best visually.”
