Oliver White
After a meeting today in Paris between the teams and the FIA, it was decided that a raft of aerodynamic changes (due to come in to force in 2008) would now be delayed until 2009.
Late last year, the FIA proposed changing the rear wing on Formula One cars to reduce turbulence and help drivers get closer to one another, thus encorouging overtaking. This wing (known as Centreline Downwash Generating Wing, or CDG) – which is split in the middle and sort of hovers behind each rear wheel – has caused some controversy among F1 employees as it seemed that the FIA had done very little testing or research into the effects and therefore its effectiveness. Many technical directors felt that more should be done to address this issue, and thus a unanimous decision concluded that this – and many other changes – would now wait until 2009 before coming into effect.
Also at the meeting, it was agreed that testing would now be regulated by the mileage done (30,000km/team/year) rather than the days spent at the circuits. This makes a little more sense and can be policed a little easier. However, the regulation will not be enforced until 2008, and so it is left up to the teams to voluntarily do this should they wish in 2007.
Im sorry, but can someone please explain to me why they want to introduce this CDG rear wing???
It seems to me they are trying to slow the cars down as much as possible, and i dont think there is any fun in that. F1 is about team work, who can build the best car and who can find the best driver. So why are they trying to purposely make every team slow so the poorer teams can have a chance? It should be up to the poor teams to raise the money needed and work hard enough to produce a car capable of challenging the Ferraris, McLarens and Renaults.
Every year the cars seem to be getting slower, and new rules are introduced, and i think this is just stupid for any sport. Sport is about being the absoloute best you can be, pushing limits and boundaries. The FIA just want to remove these boundaries and give the teams nothing to aspire to.
If anyone had said five years ago that Fernando Alonso would win the world championship in a Renault, you would have just laughed. Renault won the drivers and constructers championship 2 years in a row because they put the money and hard work into it to make it happen. This to me is proof that any team can accomplish the same thing as long as they are willing to spend money, push their limits and find an outstanding driver.
Yes, sure i would like to see more overtaking, but as the great Jeremy Clarkson said, if you offered every driver 2500k for overtaking another, they would all go for it and the sport would be as exciting as we all want it to be.
Its all about will power, the teams and drivers just have so little freedom to take chances and do what they want. An F1 car should be the fastest machine on 4 wheels, and every year they should be made faster and faster, not slower and slower. Why not allow superchargers back? Why not let the aerodynamics evolve into perfection?
Who knows, in five years from now Red Bull might be world champions. If they put the work in and get a good driver, its entirely possible.
Where is the thrill on driving slowly?
Thanks for taking the time to comment Alonso.
Regarding the FIA making silly suggestions to try and help the sport, I’m all with you. They have made some poor decisions in the past that have troubled fans like you and I, and I’m sure they will continue to do so into the future.
However, if the F1 teams were ‘let loose’ they’d design cars so damn fast they wouldn’t be safe on the current crop of circuits we have. And just because a car can lap quickly doesn’t necessarily mean it will be better at passing other cars. The solution, it seems, is quite complex.
I also believe that Renault successfully won their titles on 2005 and 2006 with a budget substantially less than the power-teams of Ferrari and Toyota. While the numbers are all ‘hush-hush’, it is generally believed that Briatore manages Renault with a lot less money, which only makes Toyota look even worse. More money does not necessarily mean a fast car. Seriously, just look at Toyota! 😀
From my point of view, F1 cars are meant to look great and corner quickly. The CDG wing does not look particularly nice and it will reduce grip in corners. So I’m with you – why are they trying to introduce it?
The irony of this rule change is that any rule change that reduces the scope of invention will inevitably lead to a narrower focus of performance increase. Since it costs more for every unit of performance increase, this plays into the hands of the rich teams – the opposite of the effect “cost-cutting” rules are intended to have.
CDG wings were delayed last year through lack of research. The fact that little research has been done since indicates that the FIA is worried that their pet project will fail if they bother to produce the real figures, proving that skilled people are smarter than computers. The lack of suitable response to people’s scepticism leads me to believe CDG is not going to improve overtaking.
If CDG won’t improve overtaking and will widen the have/have-not gap, then why is it so popular with the FIA?
Yes i agree that the teams would make cars so fast that they would be dangerous. But what really annoys me is that the FIA are purposely slowing the cars down every year. Why dont they just set a limit as to how powerfull the engines can be and how fast the car can go, and leave it at that?
Last year they reduced the engines from V10 to V8 and knock a couple of hundred horse power off them, why????
What was wrong with the V10 engines and their top speed? They were not unsafe, and the drivers had no complaints about them either. God knows if the drivers feel unsafe they will always tell us.
I also agree that from the diagrams we have seen so far, the CDG rear wings will be ugly, but as you said they will also decrease grip and downforce on the corners. I would imagine this would make the cars less safe, and force the drivers to take corners at very slow speeds. This may also reduce the excitement in the sport, for both the fans and the drivers. Im sure one of the biggest thrills in driving an F1 car is the speeds at which you can corner and the G-forces you experience while you do so. Again, i think this is just going make the sport less fun for all.
One thing i would like to see more than overtaking is more street circuits in exotic cities. I would like to see street circuits in Valencia, Las Vegas, Edinburgh, Prague and the one they have already proposed in the Phillapines.
Fernando Alonso has made clear he would like to see a Grand Prix in Valencia, which i think is a great idea. As far as i know, there has been one Grand Prix held in Las Vegas in the past, and lets face it, Vegas would be an amazing city to watch an F1 race. Edinburgh in Scotland would be a breathtaking spectacle in my opinion. Can you just imagine the Castle as a backdrop and all those beautiful buildings?
More street circuits would be getting back to F1 roots, and i bet interest in the sport would grow if it happened. Everyones favourite Grand Prix of the year is Monaco because its so special and steeped in the history of the sport.
Las Vegas, Edinburgh and Valencia could be just as spectacular.
One more thing. I think this rule for using both the hard and soft tires is rediculous, and i cant see any advantage to it other than slowing the cars down even more, which the FIA seems insistant on doing.