Clean sheet design for 2011 regs

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

this year we've had times when the front wing moving thing gets stuck. Any guesses on what will happen if that happens to the rear wing?

And I don't think the oversteer will be solely Schumi territory. I think it benefits a few others as well, such as Hamilton, and maybe Vettel

But at least it will give us a chance to see Schumacher do his thing and hustle a car, rather than correct on entry and exit for ever slow corner he takes.
Thats probably more to do solely with his current car than current regs, but I agree Hamilton will also be happy with tail happy!

[marcush.]

the weight bias will be to the rear as I understand it.

[horse]

Is the blown diffuser still a goer for next season? Shouldn't the new regs stop any openings into the diffuser?

[raymondu999]

I believe a DDD is banned, but exhaust blown? Nah. Maybe it might not be able to go straight into the diffuser though. Might go above it to energize the flow.

[gridwalker]

The weigh distrubution isnt even in the rules, its a document of understanding signed by all teams for the duration of the 2011 season as the 2012 season they will go back to their own distrubution.

Personally, i think its a stupid thing that is totally un-workable as the weight distrubution is seemingly for a car that is inert to any forces, whitch basically means stationary.

According to Paddy Lowe, the weight distribution will be measured for qualifying ONLY.

http://en.espnf1.com/mclaren/motorsport ... 27477.html

"What the teams agreed was an insurance policy to say that for one year only the front-to-rear weight distribution will be fixed to a legal range," Lowe explained. "And the way that's being achieved is to set - only for qualifying and not in the race - the front axle weight above a certain amount and the rear axle weight above a certain amount. When you do the maths with the total weight that is permitted, it's limiting to just a 1% range of weight distribution when you're in qualifying format."

[Just_a_fan]

And I don't think the oversteer will be solely Schumi territory. I think it benefits a few others as well, such as Hamilton, and maybe Vettel

What has been interesting has been to watch Hamilton adapt from being very oversteery to being more neutral in style (although still leaning towards oversteer) over the last couple of years. That he has done so without losing any speed is the interesting bit.

But at least it will give us a chance to see Schumacher do his thing and hustle a car,

I think next year is the most important in Schuie's career. If it is like this year has been, then his reputation will be in shreds. People will question how he managed to win so many titles and those who claimed cheating / FIA favouritism etc., etc. throughout his career will have a field day.

He needs to soundly thrash his team mate next year at the very least; a win or two would be ideal. No excuses will save him.

He was always in danger of this happening to him; he was daft to come back IMHO.

[raymondu999]

If you watch though, He still throws the nose of the car around. That McLaren is a very pointy car with a mighty nose. What was interesting (to me) was his onboard lap in Abu Dhabi (you can watch it on the FOM website). Sure he still locked wheels up etc, but had to only apply opposite lock very rarely, and seemed so smooth. A lap almost worthy of Jenson Button's smooth style.

[Just_a_fan]

Exactly. Think back to his first season and he had the car sideways all over the place and was renowned for being hard on tyres. Now, however, he can run as long as his supposedly smoother team mate and still be quick.

I think an obediant front end is the only thing he looks for. Much like Kimi did.

[raymondu999]

I think that's the only thing an oversteery driver looks for actually. They want the aggressive turn in. But I don't imagine they'd prefer having the tail dance around on the exit, rather than being able to power on.

[Steven]

Personally, I regard Sam Michael as an intelligent bloke, but Williams have claimed just about every last 5 years that they were going to make a clean sheet design. If it was not for regulation changes, it was to get back on top with a major change in design. They're not doing bad now, but still there's some way to go.

I actually wonder how much change these regs will induce on the cars. Weight bias is already fixed then, a movable rear wing cannot be that hard, and KERS they have been researching in the run up for 2008 (remember that Williams are developing their own flywheel KERS system in-house, but didn't make their own targets to introduce it into their car.

I believe a mixture of 2009 with 2010 would be a good combination, but Williams might argue that would not be good enough to meet their performance expectations for 2011...

[timbo]

I believe a mixture of 2009 with 2010 would be a good combination, but Williams might argue that would not be good enough to meet their performance expectations for 2011...

Williams never run a single deck diffuser, so they have some work to do. RedBull and Ferrari might be better as at the beginning of 2009 they had best working single-deckers.

[Steven]

I believe a mixture of 2009 with 2010 would be a good combination, but Williams might argue that would not be good enough to meet their performance expectations for 2011...

Williams never run a single deck diffuser, so they have some work to do. RedBull and Ferrari might be better as at the beginning of 2009 they had best working single-deckers.

While it may be under slightly different regulations regarding diffusers, Williams have run single deck diffusers all the time before 2009. Furthermore, from what I have heard from Martin Whitmarsh and James Allison, single deck diffusers as we have always known them are much simpler to master and model, and also reduce the number of variations as the rules are more strict. There is much less time difference in there than there is now with DDDs.

[donskar]

To the extent that a "clean sheet" will be required, look out for RBR. Newey always excels at interpreting/maximizing new regulations.

[mx_tifoso]

Newey's magic can't last forever, and next season will be a continuation of this years regs for the most part. And we're seeing the RB6 lose ground to the McLarens and Ferrari's just like it happened to the BGP001 last year.

[timbo]

Furthermore, from what I have heard from Martin Whitmarsh and James Allison, single deck diffusers as we have always known them are much simpler to master and model, and also reduce the number of variations as the rules are more strict. There is much less time difference in there than there is now with DDDs.

That is quite logical. However, it would put focus on the ability of designers to find the new "optimum" configuration. This is where Newey excels, with every big regulation change he immediately senses what areas would return more and what can be sacrificed.