The sidepod sides edge tip of Formula 1 car design history

[theriusDR3]

Since late 1990s, most Formula 1 teams were opted the straight sidepod sides edge tip of Formula 1 car design whilst rest of F1 teams were opted the curved design like Arrows.

Here are the examples:

The straight sidepod sides edge tip design


The curved sidepod sides edge tip design

But to be honest, i would take both in terms of aesthetics. How about yours?

[Stu]

To be honest, I think that this is largely regulation driven. There used to be a ruling that the flat floor HAD to shadow the upper bodywork (it was not allowed to be viewable in a plan view of the car). Assorted areas then went on to take advantage of that reg by firstly scalloping the vertical part of the side pods (which is not visible in the plan view); this was then evolved into creating spoilers/wing sections that were integrated into the bodywork, culminating in the flips, chimneys (etc) that were seen before the big rule reset for the 2009 season.
I’m not sure why, but that part of the rules must have disappeared after that point as we ended up with the downwash style of side pods that we still have now.

[wesley123]

I’m not sure why, but that part of the rules must have disappeared after that point as we ended up with the downwash style of side pods that we still have now.

The 'shadow' rule still exists. It's the reason why there are so many slits and cuts in the horizontal pieces of the bargeboard.

[Stu]

I’m not sure why, but that part of the rules must have disappeared after that point as we ended up with the downwash style of side pods that we still have now.

The 'shadow' rule still exists. It's the reason why there are so many slits and cuts in the horizontal pieces of the bargeboard.

It no longer covers the floor though, I seem to recall that the floor itself was increased in size when they went back to ‘wide-track’ cars, but the bodywork for that area did not get an increase in regulatory box. The floor no longer has to shadow the bodywork above it.

[jjn9128]

I’m not sure why, but that part of the rules must have disappeared after that point as we ended up with the downwash style of side pods that we still have now.

The 'shadow' rule still exists. It's the reason why there are so many slits and cuts in the horizontal pieces of the bargeboard.

It no longer covers the floor though, I seem to recall that the floor itself was increased in size when they went back to ‘wide-track’ cars, but the bodywork for that area did not get an increase in regulatory box. The floor no longer has to shadow the bodywork above it.

The shadow rule covers viewing from the bottom not the top.

[Stu]

The 'shadow' rule still exists. It's the reason why there are so many slits and cuts in the horizontal pieces of the bargeboard.

It no longer covers the floor though, I seem to recall that the floor itself was increased in size when they went back to ‘wide-track’ cars, but the bodywork for that area did not get an increase in regulatory box. The floor no longer has to shadow the bodywork above it.

The shadow rule covers viewing from the bottom not the top.

Thank you for the correction, that does make sense.