New 2021 rules

[TimW]

Would a 2021 car be legal under 2020 rules? I.e. Could a team decide (if season is lost anyway) to start testing for their 2021 car in practice and races?

[Jolle]

Would a 2021 car be legal under 2020 rules? I.e. Could a team decide (if season is lost anyway) to start testing for their 2021 car in practice and races?

In theory yes, but these cars, from the 2017 ruleset are more evo versions than new designs. The 2021 car's won't be radical new designs. Who ever does, will not only loose the 2021 season, but also be behind on the 2022 season.

[jjn9128]

Would a 2021 car be legal under 2020 rules? I.e. Could a team decide (if season is lost anyway) to start testing for their 2021 car in practice and races?

In theory yes, but these cars, from the 2017 ruleset are more evo versions than new designs. The 2021 car's won't be radical new designs. Who ever does, will not only loose the 2021 season, but also be behind on the 2022 season.

Also it's meant to be costing them 0.5s/lap. Not sure any team, even if struggling, would willingly cost themselves that vs the competition.

[Holm86]

I think they will run the new floor in some FP's just to get an understanding of how it will affect the car

[jjn9128]

Oh definitely. Especially with the budget cap coming. They'll test as much as they can.

[godlameroso]

To what extent will the new 2021 floor force even more focus on the bargeboards? They'll have to do what the floor used to do now in order to retain the performance they had before.

Knowing this, then it's clear that the focus should absolutely be on the bargeboards this and next year, so that when the floor edge is lost the effect won't be as catastrophic.

This isn't such a bad move, the bargeboards are not terribly expensive to develop compared to the rear of the car. The freedom in this area can give smaller teams a chance to make up ground.

This can also be a learning experience, see how very powerful bargeboards affect the following car, if the car's wake is wider due to the bargeboards, or narrower, if the following car loses downforce on the inside or outside of the lead car in a corner.

On some corners, following isn't so bad because the following car can get closer to the inside of the corner than the lead car, the effect is the outwash misses the rear car, and the following car also has free stream air. In such a situation only 10 to 15% of downforce is lost rather than 30-40% in shorter consecutive corners.

It's actually easier to follow through Copse and Stowe than it is through Maggots-Becketts

[Morteza]

[JordanMugen]

The further cuts are most curious! Won't this further disadvantage high-rake cars!?

Except McLaren changing to Merc PU...

McLaren would still need to spend tokens to copy Mercedes rear suspension, as McLaren make their own gearbox and suspension... Racing Point is however allowed the free upgrade to 2020 Mercedes rear suspension and gearbox.

[JordanMugen]

For supposedly stable regulations they sure are making a load of changes...

Do you suppose the aero rule changes will mess up the handling of many of the cars on the grid?

It seems curious that the rules target ground effect, instead of just, say, reducing rear wing size or introducing the (smaller? racing aid to reduce wake?) 2022 rear wing early.

[Blackout]

Even though the massive rule change delayed to 2022 there are still some changes to the technical regulations for 2021, with a new ban on floor slots and a triangular cutout from the maximum width at the rear face of the cockpit entry template, to 650mm from the car centreline at the rear axle line. The idea being to cut some downforce.

Nice illustration from F1.com - looks like Sauber provided a car.
https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fo ... /image.jpg
https://www.formula1.com/content/dam/fo ... /image.jpg

There's also a 3kg increase in the minimum weight - on the power unit increasing from 147kg to 150kg. There is a change of definition making it explicit that 4 studs can be used for the gearbox mounting to the ICE, and a stipulation banning the DAS steering.

https://twitter.com/AlbertFabrega

[jjn9128]

Do you suppose the aero rule changes will mess up the handling of many of the cars on the grid?

It seems curious that the rules target ground effect, instead of just, say, reducing rear wing size or introducing the (smaller? racing aid to reduce wake?) 2022 rear wing early.

Dunno, initially maybe, but I'd expect them to get a handle on the balance by round 1.

Personally I would have enforced Monza style rear wings, surely would have been easier/cheaper.

[Wass85]

Today I read they are cutting downforce next season so the tyres can handle it.

It's about time they parted ways with Pirelli and let someone more capable step up to the plate.

[jjn9128]

THE TEAMS REJECTED MORE ROBUST TYRES FOR 2020 BECAUSE TESTING WITH THEIR 2019 CARS DID NOT SHOW AN IMPROVEMENT IN LAPTIME!!! THE TEAMS ARE TO BLAME NOT PIRELLI!!!!

[henry]

Today I read they are cutting downforce next season so the tyres can handle it.

It's about time they parted ways with Pirelli and let someone more capable step up to the plate.

Pirelli designed more robust tyres. The teams tested them. The teams rejected them. They rejected them because the new design behaved differently aerodynamically and so downforce would have been less, until they understood them. Now downforce is more than the tyres in use were designed to handle.

I’m not the first to point this out and I’m 100% confident you’ll ignore it. That’s how the brain works.

I see @jjn9128 beat me to it. In another thread I produced an estimate of the forces on the left front at Copse. More than 1 tonne lateral, at 40hz, every lap.

Everybody appears excited by turn 8 in Turkey. Same forces as Copse for 3 times as long. I guess we need to get ready for moaning about tyre pressures, camber restrictions, lap restrictions and whatever it takes to help the tyres survive. In fact why not start now?

[Wass85]

THE TEAMS REJECTED MORE ROBUST TYRES FOR 2020 BECAUSE TESTING WITH THEIR 2019 CARS DID NOT SHOW AN IMPROVEMENT IN LAPTIME!!! THE TEAMS ARE TO BLAME NOT PIRELLI!!!!

Over one lap or over the stint because a more robust tyre should allow you to push harder for longer?