F1 Fanatic

2009 F1 cars are ugly as sin but will the racing be better?

Guest writer John Beamer from F1-Pitlane begins a two-part feature on discussion about the future of F1 aerodynamics technology at the World Motorsport Symposium.

In the first part he looks at how the radically re-shaped wings on the 2009 F1 cars and their moveable sections will transform racing.

Last week at Oxford Brookes University the finest technical brains in motor racing gathered for the fourth World Motorsport Symposium, organised by Race Tech Magazine. The event was split into two days – the first focusing on engines and the second on aerodynamics, with an awards dinner sandwiched in between.

Because of work commitments I could only go to the aero day, which was chaired by John Iley of Ferrari and featured several top F1 aerodynamicists from the past and present. Here’s what the key men at the cutting edge of aerodynamics in international motor sport had to say.

John Iley, Ferrari

Ferrari's curvy 2008-style front wing

After a short welcome from Race Tech editor and Symposium proprietor, William Kimberley, John Iley kicked off proceedings by comparing the aerodynamic characterises of the F2008 with a 2009 machine.

Iley spent about 15 minutes discussing the F2008’s front wing and in particular the design of the central spoon section. The FIA regulations allow the central ‘spoon’ to be lower than the rest of the front wing, which means it works more in ground effect. As a result the central section generates a lot of downforce and is an important contributor to the performance of a 2008 F1 car.

Iley went on to discuss the purpose of the ‘blow nose’ that the Scuderia debuted to much fanfare in Spain. Because of how hard the central section is worked its wake gets stuck beneath the nose harming efficiency. Very simply, the ‘blow nose’ provides an outlet for this wake increasing the efficiency of the central spoon albeit at the cost of a little drag. At tracks with a lower downforce requirement evacuating this wake wasn’t an issue and the extra drag penalty incurred by the blow nose wasn’t worth it.

The problem with working the central section so hard is that in turbulence airflow here is upset and performance suffers. Iley contrasted a 2008 front wing with a 2009 version run by BMW at the recent Barcelona test.

Parts of the 2009 front wing on BMW's interim car produce lift

Under the 2009 regulations the geometry of the central section is standardised with no camber. In fact it actually produces a little lift to calm any disturbed air. That’s a pretty major change. Moving from a heavily worked central section to one that generates no downforce means that teams must completely overhaul the vehicle’s aerodynamics.

Iley considered BMW’s 2009 car pretty well advanced. Aside from the odd shape of the front and rear wing he pointed out the bulged sidepods as evidence that KERS places new cooling demands on the car. Add to that the banning of shark gills (the BMW car was still running these) and the cooling requirement in 2009 is a lot more substantial that it was for 2008. Incidentally this could help McLaren, whose Mercedes power plant is a lot more efficient at dissipating heat than many others are.

Iley closed by talking about the ever increasing restrictions placed on teams by the FIA. After the imposition of control tyres and homologated engines, aerodynamics has now come under the FIA’s scrutiny. With rumours about impending Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) and wind tunnel restrictions, Iley posed the question of how would the role of the aerodynamicist change over the next few years. He offered no answers except to say that given the economic backdrop he was quite concerned.

More pictures of 2009 F1 testing

• BMW tests its 2009 Formula 1 car – and it ain’t pretty (Pictures)
• 2009 F1 testing begins (Pictures)
• 2009 Formula 1 testing pictures part 2
• 2009 Formula 1 testing pictures part 3

Robin Tuluie, Renault F1

Tuluie runs Renault F1’s R&D department. The thrust of his talk was that for motorsport to thrive as a technical adventure it must remain relevant to road vehicles.

What was the last innovation to pass from F1 to your average hatchback? It certainly wasn’t bargeboards or shark fins! It is noticeable that Toyota, a leader in the quest for greener vehicles, will not be an early adopter of KERS. Tuluie would like to see road car technical development an explicit goal of F1. Perhaps being part of Renault that isn’t a surprise given the on-going rumours that the parent company will pull the plug on the Enstone-outfit.

As an example under Tuluie’s model teams could have to meet certain emission standards. Whether teams elected to use KERS or some other device to meet that target is up to them. The idea isn’t new but it would surely encourage innovation and is 100 times better than the current snafu.

Read more: KERS not powerful enough for F1?

Mark Hanford, Ex-F1 aerodynamicist

Will moveable front wing elements improve racing in F1?

Hanford started in F1 as assistant to the legendary Ross Brawn but has been working as an aerodynamic consultant in America for many years. He is an intelligent thinker and the most interesting aspect of his talk was his take on moveable aerodynamic devices.

Hanford argued that with overtaking at a premium moveable aero would allow wings to tune themselves to the turbulence thus overcoming the in-built disadvantage of following a car. He is, of course, correct and in 2009 F1 will allow the driver to control a small section of the front wing flap for the first time.

The subject of moveable aero isn’t new and as Hanford reminded us it is worth revisiting. The obvious counter argument is cost and given the current economic climate the likelihood of the FIA giving teams more design (and cost) leeway is remote. If the restrictions are the relaxed optimising aero tuning or trying to reduce weight (e.g. of various control electronics) will almost certainly suck up a lot of resource.

Who knows – if the 2009 driver-adjustable flap is a roaring success then perhaps the FIA will embrace other dynamic parts. Don’t expect it to happen anytime soon.

Read more: Adjustable wings in F1 – a change too far?

This is a guest article by John Beamer. If you want to write a guest article for F1 Fanatic you can find all the information you need here. Check back tomorrow for the second part of this article.