2019 performance speculation

[LM10]

What about laptimes? We've heard drivers saying downforce will be more of less equal, but the front wing is getting a serious nerf even with the extra width. Outwashing potential is severely limited. I predict at least 1s slower cars on average during quali. We don't know what pirelli will bring to the table, but from their ramblings late last year I expect them to go more conservative for 2019, kinda like 2017 where most tires could go race distance easily. That would probably make race pace on par with 2018, also helped by extra fuel available.

I don’t think that they are going to be much slower, surely not by 1 second.
I guess that towards end of the season we’re gonna see even faster times than last season.

[Juzh]

What about laptimes? We've heard drivers saying downforce will be more of less equal, but the front wing is getting a serious nerf even with the extra width. Outwashing potential is severely limited. I predict at least 1s slower cars on average during quali. We don't know what pirelli will bring to the table, but from their ramblings late last year I expect them to go more conservative for 2019, kinda like 2017 where most tires could go race distance easily. That would probably make race pace on par with 2018, also helped by extra fuel available.

I don’t think that they are going to be much slower, surely not by 1 second.
I guess that towards end of the season we’re gonna see even faster times than last season.

I think you're underestimating the effect of outwash and how important it was to the overall car performance. Something like 2/3s of surface area was only there solely for that purpose and now all of that is gone. I'd say at least a few teams will get this wrong at the start and will have to scramble, while even the best solution will be nowhere as effective as the old wings.

[turbof1]

What about laptimes? We've heard drivers saying downforce will be more of less equal, but the front wing is getting a serious nerf even with the extra width. Outwashing potential is severely limited. I predict at least 1s slower cars on average during quali. We don't know what pirelli will bring to the table, but from their ramblings late last year I expect them to go more conservative for 2019, kinda like 2017 where most tires could go race distance easily. That would probably make race pace on par with 2018, also helped by extra fuel available.

I don’t think that they are going to be much slower, surely not by 1 second.
I guess that towards end of the season we’re gonna see even faster times than last season.

I think you're underestimating the effect of outwash and how important it was to the overall car performance. Something like 2/3s of surface area was only there solely for that purpose and now all of that is gone. I'd say at least a few teams will get this wrong at the start and will have to scramble, while even the best solution will be nowhere as effective as the old wings.

There will be a lot of focus on the bargeboards now to compensate for the loss to manipulate the flow structures. Yes, this will still not be as good as the old wings, partially because the bargeboards can't stop the flow hitting the front tyre, but it will recuperate atleast quite a bit of the loss in rear and floor downforce, probably in expense of more drag.

[Capharol]

I don’t think that they are going to be much slower, surely not by 1 second.
I guess that towards end of the season we’re gonna see even faster times than last season.

I think you're underestimating the effect of outwash and how important it was to the overall car performance. Something like 2/3s of surface area was only there solely for that purpose and now all of that is gone. I'd say at least a few teams will get this wrong at the start and will have to scramble, while even the best solution will be nowhere as effective as the old wings.

There will be a lot of focus on the bargeboards now to compensate for the loss to manipulate the flow structures. Yes, this will still not be as good as the old wings, partially because the bargeboards can't stop the flow hitting the front tyre, but it will recuperate atleast quite a bit of the loss in rear and floor downforce, probably in expense of more drag.

wasn't it RB or rumours around RB saying that they are already par with the 2018 speed?

[turbof1]

I think you're underestimating the effect of outwash and how important it was to the overall car performance. Something like 2/3s of surface area was only there solely for that purpose and now all of that is gone. I'd say at least a few teams will get this wrong at the start and will have to scramble, while even the best solution will be nowhere as effective as the old wings.

There will be a lot of focus on the bargeboards now to compensate for the loss to manipulate the flow structures. Yes, this will still not be as good as the old wings, partially because the bargeboards can't stop the flow hitting the front tyre, but it will recuperate atleast quite a bit of the loss in rear and floor downforce, probably in expense of more drag.

wasn't it RB or rumours around RB saying that they are already par with the 2018 speed?

But what part of 2018? There's probably more than a second difference between wintertesting of 2018 and abu dhabi 2018 .

[subcritical71]

I think you're underestimating the effect of outwash and how important it was to the overall car performance. Something like 2/3s of surface area was only there solely for that purpose and now all of that is gone. I'd say at least a few teams will get this wrong at the start and will have to scramble, while even the best solution will be nowhere as effective as the old wings.

There will be a lot of focus on the bargeboards now to compensate for the loss to manipulate the flow structures. Yes, this will still not be as good as the old wings, partially because the bargeboards can't stop the flow hitting the front tyre, but it will recuperate atleast quite a bit of the loss in rear and floor downforce, probably in expense of more drag.

wasn't it RB or rumours around RB saying that they are already par with the 2018 speed?

I believe they mentioned they were back to the downforce levels. Which I 100% believe. I even think they could get greater downforce if they wanted. As someone mentioned earlier the 2018 spec wing had alot of surfaces dedicated to outwash. 2019's wings can now use that area for downwash in addition to the extra surface due to being a wider wing.

[Capharol]

wasn't it RB or rumours around RB saying that they are already par with the 2018 speed?

I believe they mentioned they were back to the downforce levels. Which I 100% believe. I even think they could get greater downforce if they wanted. As someone mentioned earlier the 2018 spec wing had alot of surfaces dedicated to outwash. 2019's wings can now use that area for downwash in addition to the extra surface due to being a wider wing.

yes correct, it was the Downforce level and no advantage in overtaking

[nevill3]

I think that Mercedes have the advantage of having less rake than most other teams so the new regulations that require a rethink on the extreme rake angles should impact them less.

I do believe that McLaren and Williams will have an early season advantage over their immediate rivals due to them switching to developing next years car so early, making up for their inferior budgets compared to the top three. Their proportionally limited resources would have been focused on development longer so they could match the top three in their initial aero packages but may slip behind as the development war through the season catches and passes them.

However if they have a working package from the start with any initial flaws already ironed out they can concentrate on fine tuning things and stay competitive until the summer break/Spanish GP.

Fingers crossed for eight races with eight different winners at the start as we had before

[LM10]

I think that Mercedes have the advantage of having less rake than most other teams so the new regulations that require a rethink on the extreme rake angles should impact them less.

Why do you think that the new regulations require a rethink on high rakes?

[gandharva]

I think that Mercedes have the advantage of having less rake than most other teams so the new regulations that require a rethink on the extreme rake angles should impact them less.

Why do you think that the new regulations require a rethink on high rakes?

Because with the simplified aerodynamic rules the sealing of the diffuser becomes more difficult. In the past most of the vortices to seal the diffuser were generated at the frontwing. This is not that easy anymore.

[Bill]

Teams had wide wings between 09 and 14 they are not new new am sure they will find a solution

[nevill3]

Why do you think that the new regulations require a rethink on high rakes?

From all the reports online that I have read so far, with the increased difficulty in controlling the front tyre wake due to the limiting of the "outwash" front wing concepts sealing the floor will be made more difficult and a more neutral rake should be easier to seal. I am no aerodynamicist so could be totally wide of the mark but it is just my perception of how the previous aero regs had been manipulated to provide the drag/downforce that was achieved by many teams.

I can see one or two teams running into the same problems McLaren had last year with controlling the negative effects the wake from the front wheels were having on their aero package. Resulting in a loss of downforce whenever the wheels were turned.

[dans79]

Teams had wide wings between 09 and 14 they are not new new am sure they will find a solution

You need to read the rules in more detail. The issues don't stem from the wings being wider, its because they are now required to be substantially simpler.

[dans79]

here is a decent short overview.

[lio007]

There will be a lot of focus on the bargeboards now to compensate for the loss to manipulate the flow structures. Yes, this will still not be as good as the old wings, partially because the bargeboards can't stop the flow hitting the front tyre, but it will recuperate atleast quite a bit of the loss in rear and floor downforce, probably in expense of more drag.

wasn't it RB or rumours around RB saying that they are already par with the 2018 speed?

But what part of 2018? There's probably more than a second difference between wintertesting of 2018 and abu dhabi 2018 .

Part of 2018: August

Source: https://www.formel1.de/news/news/2019-0 ... s-wirklich

Außerdem reizen ihn die neuen Formel-1-Regeln, die 2019 (und dann noch einmal im Jahr 2021) kommen. Und mit denen scheint er auf einem guten Weg zu sein: Bereits zu Weihnachten hatte Red Bull im Designprozess des 2019er-Autos das gleiche Downforce-Niveau erreicht wie im August 2018 ...