In light of Alonso's crash into the rear end of Esteban Gutierrez and other high profile rear end crashes; I think the most damaging are the ones where one of the trailing car's front wheels hit a rear wheel of the car in the front. From what I can tell, the resulting kinetic energy from the two cars colliding plus the rotational kinetic energy from the wheels can launch the following car into the air and sometimes totally break the suspension of both cars leading to loss of control, flipped cars, flying wheels and just general carnage. I think this can easily be mitigated by equipping the cars with semi-wheel covers, fairings, or trailing fenders on the back side of the rear wheels. I propose using the back-side rather than fully covering the wheel in order to keep the look close to what is there now. I am not sure what the exact term of this sort of fender is but I have posted a photo below. The lateral profile of this bodywork would be shaped to still allow cars to ride wing to wheel for close racing. There might be some aerodynamic benefits of using them too. What do you guys think?
