bhall II wrote:
That said, I do believe they've probably bitten off a bit more than they can chew, because I genuinely can't see how the cars will be only five seconds quicker. Top teams could find four seconds from the tires and diffusers alone. Add the wider track-width to all the other gizmos, and...
7s gain in corner speed, 2s penalty in extra drag perhaps? Drag will go up by a large amount next year, which I think is a good thing. Slower cars on the straight ultimately make a straight "longer" because you're being power/drag limited sooner. But then again, you're coming onto the straight at higher speed, thus effectively shortening the straight (in terms of time spent on it).
Can't actually be sure which is better come to think of it, but current inherently low drag cars do have a problem catching onto meaningful slipstreams unless the following car has at least 1s advantage.