Unrestricted Designing of a F1 Car Question

[fastback33]

I think that the drivers would cause a natural limit to how far the car goes, no matter HOW FAST it is built to go.

Like Pat Symonds said in a podcast I listenend to. "To bring back overtaking, we need to give the car more power than the chassis can handle, and we can make a pretty damn GOOD chassis."

More power than the chassis can handle? Doesnt that mean that the driver himself becomes the point of integration? OMG! I think there may be something TO THAT!

Chris

+1

I was thinking the same thing the other day, the driver(s) would limit the ability of the cars. therefore limiting the performance of the car. Rather then a driver exploiting the car engineers would be building a car that exploited the drivers ability. If only raational people could have power in the world....

[captainmorgan]

safety regs will always be necessary. Racing is a test about human limits, and should be more so than who is willing to die. This has probably been the only successful aspect about the last 14 years of F1.

Within that constraint relatively unrestricted cars would probably look roughly similar due to the safety cell/box limitations. Then again, maybe not. Ridiculous speeds beyond physiological tolerance can be controlled with tire and fuel allotments or flow rate limits. Those are the two bottlenecks anyway for speed.

[flynfrog]

I have been looking for this article for a few years now

http://www.freddifred.com/Trevor/Popula ... %20pdf.pdf

pretty good insight on what an unlimited racing series would be like

[G-Rock]

My car would have more hp, more kgs of downforce, wider tires, lighter, bigger brakes than any of my competition. Then if they were to catch up to me, I would build even more hp, traction, lightness until I'm on top again. I would also design it so it could fly over cars for better passsing.

[Conceptual]

I have been looking for this article for a few years now

http://www.freddifred.com/Trevor/Popula ... %20pdf.pdf

pretty good insight on what an unlimited racing series would be like

Great article, but he may have missed an earlier point. No driver would sign to drive a car like that unless he was able to drive it to HIS maximum. As long as the setup of his car was set to the drivers ability, it may be overkill, but realistically the driver has final say as to how much power he asks for. As long as the throttle isnt an off/on button, he will stay within his own operating tolerance. I hate the thought of the Pharmaceutical companies becoming involved with better chemically altered states that allow for faster racing. That part is rather rediculous.

Chris

[flynfrog]

I have been looking for this article for a few years now

http://www.freddifred.com/Trevor/Popula ... %20pdf.pdf

pretty good insight on what an unlimited racing series would be like

Great article, but he may have missed an earlier point. No driver would sign to drive a car like that unless he was able to drive it to HIS maximum. As long as the setup of his car was set to the drivers ability, it may be overkill, but realistically the driver has final say as to how much power he asks for. As long as the throttle isn't an off/on button, he will stay within his own operating tolerance. I hate the thought of the Pharmaceutical companies becoming involved with better chemically altered states that allow for faster racing. That part is rather ridiculous.

Chris

There was another article in that issue about how the tracks would have to become the rule book

things like grates to mess up the underbody before corners loops slick sections ect

I should really find that issue it was probably one of my favorite of any magazine

[Belatti]

Very interesting readings, but I would like to curve a little bit the topic, reformulating the question:

How faster would a present F1 car run if built with, lets say, 1991 rules?

I mean faster compared to a 1991 car, not faster compared to a 2008 one (just in case).