marcush. wrote:"Still I ask myself if the steeply falling sidepods we see everywhere are really the optimum.. on their own they will definitively produce lift ...is there a possibility to raise the ducting behind the coolers completely from the floor under current rules?"
You'd rather not have those steeply falling sidepods because yes, they will produce a certain amount of lift, but the name of the game is all about getting as much air as fast as possible to the rear of the car to create more downforce. That's what some people around here haven't really got. A car isn't just an upside down aeroplane. There are tradeoffs that you make, and if it creates enough downforce at the rear of the car where the wheels and tyres are then you generally do it.
It's indeed a good idea. Ferrari famously had a double floor in 1992 and the question everyone will have been asking themselves last year would have been how on Earth do we create enough space to get as much air to the rear of the car and the diffuser as possible?
Hats off to Torro Rosso. They were under some pressure last year, their future is uncertain and they needed to do something and prove they could innovate in their own right. They've done just that. Not a sharp edge or abrupt curve in sight. The only thing is they're really going to have to work at this to make it worth the obvious higher centre of gravity.