2011 Technical Regulations - The Changes

ahpadt

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I've been reading up on various forums lately and thought it would be a good idea to share the changes we will see with the cars and racing next year, in a simplistic way:


- Smaller diffusers - reducing diffuser height from 175mm to 125mm and at the same time banning what we've learnt to call Double Decker Diffusers. All slots in the diffuser used this year for blowing exhaust gasses are also banned. They are however still allowed to blow exhaust gasses over the top of the diffuser. This ban will possibly lead to a slightly shorter wheelbase for some.

- It was agreed within FOTA not to run KERS in 2010 but this 'ban' is no more from 2011.

- Adjustable rear wings will be introduced, mimicing what the 'F-ducts' have done this year. However, there will be quite complicated rules around it. I think the essence of the rule is something like that you can only use it when you're 1 second behind the next car.

- 'F-ducts' (because they are driver controlled) are banned for next year, including the 'anvil' (basically the huge bit over the engine that has sent all the air to the rear wing this year, used by almost every team - might also give better aero stability?). However, they will still be allowed to passively blow air to the rear wing, like BMW did in 2009.

- Pirelli P-Zero tyres. Gives every team a major challenge in balancing their car to work with all new compounds.

- Mandatory weight distribution of 46/54 front/rear, giving everyone an equal chance to find the balance with the new tyres. This is only for 2011.

- All 'inventive' airboxes like what Mercedes have used this year are banned. They all have to run the 'traditional' layout.

- The minimum weight of the cars goes up from 620 to 640 kg.

- Adjustable front wings will be banned (need source)?

- Double amount of wheel tethers - the load-bearing cables connecting tyres to the bodywork


I think that's it. If I'm wrong or have missed out on something, share it!
 
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Ferrari could just use the F60 with better balance and all the 2011 additions and get away with it. It was the car behind RBR and Brawn, since everything those two had going for them will be banned, an F60 esque simple car would be the answer.

Don't take this too seriously, just an idealised, simplified thought :D
 
- Adjustable rear wings will be introduced, mimicing what the 'F-ducts' have done this year. However, there will be quite complicated rules around it. I think the essence of the rule is something like that you can only use it when you're 1 or 2 seconds behind the next car.

I think that's it. If I'm wrong or have missed out on something, share it!

So this essentially is like Mario kart - makes you faster until you catch up to the next player. haha

Thanks for the info! I hope no one is too dominant. The last half of 2010 with different teams dominating different track sections was "mighty" hehe martin.
 
- Adjustable rear wings will be introduced, mimicing what the 'F-ducts' have done this year. However, there will be quite complicated rules around it. I think the essence of the rule is something like that you can only use it when you're 1 or 2 seconds behind the next car.

Sounds it'll bring some controversy. "He shouldn't have done that because he was was 0.005 s over the time limit at that time". Too complicated rules don't make a good spectacle. I hope I'll be proven wrong.

- All 'inventive' airboxes like what Mercedes have used this year are banned. They all have to run the 'traditional' layout.

Why? I liked that someone had a different approach, a little like in older days when every car looked different.

So this essentially is like Mario kart - makes you faster until you catch up to the next player.

I understand it works the other way round. You can go faster but only after you'll catch up. When you are this 1 or 2 seconds behind than you can adjust wing so it will help you with an overtake.
 
Why? I liked that someone had a different approach, a little like in older days when every car looked different.

I believe it has to do with apprehension over how they might use that area to get round the F-duct ban...
 
Yeah, that's what I'm guessing. They ban it because some clever engineer can think of something they didn't ban... That's just stupid.
 
I understand it works the other way round. You can go faster but only after you'll catch up. When you are this 1 or 2 seconds behind than you can adjust wing so it will help you with an overtake.

Ah, Ic. I wonder how that will work with the turbulent air. thanks for that.
 
- Smaller diffusers (enforcing a maximum height in that aero of the car), basically banning what we've learnt to call Double Decker Diffusers. All slots in the diffuser used this year for blowing exhaust gasses are also banned. They are however still allowed to blow exhaust gasses over the top of the diffuser. This ban will possibly lead to a slightly shorter wheelbase for some.

Good thing, I feel the best cars this year have been a bit too easy to drive. That has been the case before too. In 2008 a lot of the cars looked very good, cause they were perfected after a long time without major rule changes. Getting rid of the double diffusers should make the driving more demanding, and improve racing.

- Adjustable rear wings will be introduced, mimicing what the 'F-ducts' have done this year. However, there will be quite complicated rules around it. I think the essence of the rule is something like that you can only use it when you're 1 or 2 seconds behind the next car.

Seriously that is the most convoluted, useless and rubbish rule in years. Extremely complicated and is very hard for the announcers (and for everyone) to explain. All the old drivers said this was a bad idea. Way to go, FIA.

- 'F-ducts' (because they are driver controlled) are banned for next year, including the 'anvil' (basically the huge bit over the engine that has sent all the air to the rear wing this year, used by almost every team - might also give better aero stability?). However, they will still be allowed to passively blow air to the rear wing, like BMW did in 2009.

I thought the F-duct was quite a cool thing, a good innovation that apparently some job trainee student came up. Some might say it's a bad thing that some teams have it and some don't, but that's F1, right? And if by anvil you mean 'sharkfin engine cover', I'm not sure what to say. On the other hand it was nice to enhance performance, but it also makes the cars look less good.

- Pirelli P-Zero tyres. Gives every team a major challenge in balancing their car to work with all new compounds

Probably will be alright, I don't have a clue yet how it might affect laptimes. But manufacturers don't want to make short-lasting or some other way bad tyres, cause it's bad advertisement.

- All 'inventive' airboxes like what Mercedes have used this year are banned. They all have to run the 'traditional' layout.

Teams didn't really explore this, I can only remember MercGP's. Not a good rulechange anyway, everything that limits the teams innovations is not a good thing.
 
Ferrari could just use the F60 with better balance and all the 2011 additions and get away with it. It was the car behind RBR and Brawn, since everything those two had going for them will be banned, an F60 esque simple car would be the answer.

Don't take this too seriously, just an idealised, simplified thought :D

Remember, this can go both ways as a non-diffusered RB5 won in China, and was the only real competition to the Brawns at that point, so RBR could do the same thing...
 
Yeah, that's what I'm guessing. They ban it because some clever engineer can think of something they didn't ban... That's just stupid.

I think that this airbox was banned also for the reason of it being a bad rollover hoop. It's just a plate. Not that the traditional airbox is much better, bu it is a bit better. This one can just cut in or sink.
 
I'm having a hard time believing that the adjustable rear wing will actually happen. Since nobody wants it...
 
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That sounds more reasonable. Since we're just guessing, we have to wait for some official reason of that.

As for the adjustable rear wings I found some more info. It looks car will have to be no more than 1 second behind, also driver can't use it on the first two laps. I will deactivate when the driver hits the brakes. And they expect it will give +15 km/h.

Two more new rules:

Minimal weight goes up from 620 to 640 kg. It should massively help KERS cars since it's 40 kg more than in 2009.

Number of cables holding the wheel will be doubled.
 
During free practice Ant said that they were banning the driver controlled front wing adjust seeing as it was being used more to balance the car and not aiding overtaking.
 
The adjustable rear wing is one of the worst ideas to hit F1 ever. "Hey, I have an idea! Lets give anyone not leading the race a huge advantage to artificially making the race close instead of leaving that to the drivers and engineers."
 
Number of cables holding the wheel will be doubled.

Cables? :confused:

During free practice Ant said that they were banning the driver controlled front wing adjust seeing as it was being used more to balance the car and not aiding overtaking.

I saw read that somewhere too, but couldn't find a source to verify it.
 
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^ LMP cars have a nasty habit of turning into aircraft when they go sideways though. F1 cars don't really have that issue.
 
Hopefully FOTA will just do with the adjustable rear-wings what they did with KERS this year and have a gentleman's agreement for no team to use them because they add nothing overall but extra danger and driver workload. Actually, hopefully they extend their agreement not to use KERS for 2011 too. It was a total failure, nobody thought it added any excitement and it's not a relevant technology to racing.
 
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