Wheel Covers Banned for 2010

[axle]

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/n ... 4902.shtml

F1 teams have agreed to ban wheel fairings for next season, Auto Motor und Sport claims.

We reported earlier this year that the devices, having first emerged last year, were likely to be banned for 2010 because they make it even harder for following cars to overtake.

Williams' technical chief Sam Michael said in July that studies have shown that the covers have "quite an adverse effect on the following car".

However, the Australian warned that banning the covers will not be a silver bullet.


"It is the sort of thing where you need to find three or four little things like that and that will add up to a difference," Michael added, "so I think it is going in the right direction but it just needs more."

[ESPImperium]

From a saftey point of view, they should have been banned ages ago anyways.

How many have came off at high speed??? And dare i mention the Fernando Alonso incedent at Hungaroring with the wheel coming off.

Never really liked them, they made the cars look like space ships and fake. Altho in complete contradiction to my self, the only ones that looked good were the McLaren rear wheel ones that are actually built to be a part of the wheel design and not a add on.

Mike Gascgoyne had been canvasing support for dropping them since they emerged in 2007 on the Ferarri and McLaren if i remember rightly as they cost then $40,000 a corner and the R&D cost what is equivelent to a R&D cost for a complete new gearbox from the ground up would cost.

Next thing that will make a diffrence will probably be the banning of multi element front wings, probably to the point where they are only to be like what the Toyota front wing was like at Monza. No Red Bull eske front wings.

[WhiteBlue]

Good move IMO. Next they should look at whishbones. Titanium was more cost efficient.

[Miguel]

Great! I'd love to see those wonderful magnesium alloy rims again.

[RacingManiac]

Good move IMO. Next they should look at whishbones. Titanium was more cost efficient.

steel will probably be cheaper with similar weight if you can get the wall thickness down....

but I think composite might actually behave better during an accident in that they might be less likely to puncture the tub...

[ESPImperium]

Good move IMO. Next they should look at whishbones. Titanium was more cost efficient.

steel will probably be cheaper with similar weight if you can get the wall thickness down....

but I think composite might actually behave better during an accident in that they might be less likely to puncture the tub...

Thats the exact reason that composite suspension will be kept for the front end. Saftey first, then aero purposes.

However, i think they should look to ditch composites for the rear suspension. Next thing they should look at is the mid car bodywork section. Basically a maximum cross-section air box and a standard cross-section side pod inlets to provide some drag to the cars. try and give the car behind something to punch thrugh. Exausts will get looked at as well, ban perriscope ones and bring back the ones that interfere with the diffuser like the cars of the late 80s and early 90s.

But Sam Michael has it right, if we get the small things right, the big thing will come out of it.

[King Six]

They also caused problems for the pit crew, they got in the way. They looked cool but wouldn't mind seeing them go

[mx_tifoso]

+1 on the banning of wheel covers/fairings.

Exausts will get looked at as well, ban perriscope ones and bring back the ones that interfere with the diffuser like the cars of the late 80s and early 90s.

So they can look even more like GP2?

[ds.raikkonen]

Its a good move for sure, those wheel covers always felt uncomfortable while coming off in a pit-stop, now we can observe the glowing orange hot brake discs & the beautiful BBS or Oz racing wheels instead of a photo of them on the cover. But, wont it start the brake heating issues all over again?

[mx_tifoso]

But, wont it start the brake heating issues all over again?

Was it even a problem to begin with? IIRC it was just an excuse, although somewhat credible, to use them for aero purposes.

[modbaraban]

But, wont it start the brake heating issues all over again?

If you look carefully, whenever the track is very demanding in terms of brake durability and cooling some teams DO NOT use rim shields on 2 or even all 4 wheels. They actually make cooling worse, and it was 'unofficially' confirmed by team members a number of times.

A random example:

Bahrain:


Singapore:


most of the time:


Wheel fairings are there just to reduce drag. Also there's no Father Christmas and the Stig doesn't sleep inside out.

[Michiba]

So how do they affect a car following another car?

[ackzsel]

So how do they affect a car following another car?

Not to much compared to the wings and diffuser, I think.

[axle]

So how do they affect a car following another car?

I doubt we'll ever know without a CFD model. But it's got to adversly affect the air that trails behind the car. Making it messier/reducing available air pressure for the following car.

[axle]

So how do they affect a car following another car?

Not to much compared to the wings and diffuser, I think.

Genius. Well of course not.