This coming Formula 1 season features the largest regulation changes we’ve seen for many years. The specific changes are covered in some detail elsewhere in this issue (see page 22) but, while each one of these presents some challenges, which are the ones that have the potential to really unlock performance? While there are myriad factors that ultimately determine performance, the main ones are aerodynamic load and efficiency, tyre grip, engine performance and vehicle weight, so let’s examine these.
Aerodynamics remains the primary area of performance research, but there is a change in how it may be evaluated. This is because of the active aero. Previously you had to look for efficiency when producing downforce because, though it would help round corners, the drag induced in producing this downforce would,…
