T Wings and Shark Fins on 2017 cars

[Wigan301072]

It has been proposed that the T Wings and Shark Fins on this year's cars are banned for the 2018 season. But this will be hard for the teams as they will need to find new ways to clean up the air flowing over the roll bars and lower rear wing... But let's take a moment to discuss them first.

It's a shame that Shark Fins have resurfaced in F1 - almost like we had Jaws previously, we now have Jaws 2.. Whilst they are one way to clean up air flow over the rear wing, they are ugly and have been previously banned. F1 rule makers forgot to update this ban for this year's cars so teams took advantage of this (with some teams saying they create new Advertising space).

Shark fins help create a tidier air flow over the rear wing, creating extra down force on the rear tyres, leading to better grip, traction and faster cars.

If these shark fins are banned again then the new so called faster cars will be no faster than last season, due to the untidy air flowing over the rear wing will result in a loss of some down force on the rear tyres. F1 rule makers will have to allow some area for area packages around the top of the car behind the driver.

The T Wings attached to the shark fin or in Mercedes case the body work behind the air intake area behind the driver, are in my view are an accident waiting to happen.

Most areo packages have to be rigid in design, but after watching the first 3 races, they are flexing and vibrating at high speed. Whilst a novel idea for tidying up air flow over the rear wing, they are unsightly and look like a designer came up with the idea 30 seconds after the cars design was finalised. I personally think t wings should be banned with immediate effect. The fans deserve better.

But what next? If these are banned for next year then what are the possible solutions to increase speed, traction and down force?

I am a fan of bringing back refueling - F1 cars should look cool, be bloody fast and have some danger.

F1 shouldn't change the rules every year or two, and should stop setting so many rules and controlling a cars development - instead they should ask the fans what we want and actually listen to us. F1 was best when teams could design a car on their own, that's what made F1 attractive for the fans and led to amazing developments for a car. cars today all look the same as there is so little room for unique ideas, designs and engine development.

Until then fans will continue to move from F1 to other sports.

I would like to hear your views on these issues and on how you would make F1 better for the fans.

[JonoNic]

It would be interesting to see a lower mounted t-wing working in conjunction with a monkey seat at Monaco.

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[The_table]

I'd ban the T wings (purely for aesthetic reasons), i'd keep the sharkfin and put some rule in place that the back side cannot be square like the force india for instance. (I like the haas fin, the renault fin, the merc fin, etc... the more agressive the better.)

[Ozan]

Shark wings can stay but I think T wings should be banned asap.

[Just_a_fan]

The wing and shark fin should be removed. Purely for aesthetic reasons.

[wesley123]

It's a shame that Shark Fins have resurfaced in F1 - almost like we had Jaws previously, we now have Jaws 2.. Whilst they are one way to clean up air flow over the rear wing, they are ugly and have been previously banned. F1 rule makers forgot to update this ban for this year's cars so teams took advantage of this (with some teams saying they create new Advertising space).

'Ugly' is subjective and F1 cars were never designed to be good looking.

If these shark fins are banned again then the new so called faster cars will be no faster than last season, due to the untidy air flowing over the rear wing will result in a loss of some down force on the rear tyres. F1 rule makers will have to allow some area for area packages around the top of the car behind the driver.

While I do think shark fins are effective, I don't think they are that effective.

But what next? If these are banned for next year then what are the possible solutions to increase speed, traction and down force?

Just regular development has shown to be quite effective. I don't think people should think of new rules just because something small has changed.

F1 cars should look cool

Who decides that? Plus, I think the Ferrari and Red Bull are looking pretty 'cool'.

and have some danger.

Sounds like something the T-wings could have a hand in!

F1 shouldn't change the rules every year or two, and should stop setting so many rules and controlling a cars development

And here you are thinking of ruling out shark fins and T-wings and thinking up new rules to counter these.

instead they should ask the fans what we want and actually listen to us.

Haha that's a good one!

No, really. The past few changes were all done because F1 listened to their fans. The 2009 rule set? All because fans wanted more overtaking. And guess what, the first thing they did was complain what was wrong and how it should be. OH, the fans wanted turbo engines as well, when they were introduced it wasn't what they wanted. And now the cars are much faster, because that is what they wanted, and now the fans are once more complaining.

F1 should actually stop listening to their fans, because there is no way you can possibly please the whole fanbase as it's so large and diverse.

F1 was best when teams could design a car on their own,

Which they still do, unless I missed something and the current cars are all Dallara's

that's what made F1 attractive for the fans and led to amazing developments for a car. cars today all look the same as there is so little room for unique ideas, designs and engine development.

And when the rules were free they'd all look the same as well because that's the best design. F1 cars have always looked very similar, either because of the dimensions or because a certain design is simply better.

1980s F1 cars have differed as much from each other as cars do now. Same as 1970s cars. Sure, teams did something different, but these were either failures and they switched back to something conventional, or they were the trendsetters that then everyone followed.

[everythingisawesome]

The shark fins seems to divide opinion.

The T-wings however... I think everyone agrees they need to go.

[marvin78]

I do not. On cars like Haas, Ferrari or Williams they look ok and fully integrated. McLaren style is not nice and Mercedes also.

[mclaren111]

The wing and shark fin should be removed. Purely for aesthetic reasons.

Totally agree with you !!!

It looks horrible !!!!

[Wigan301072]

Since the take over off F1 by Bernie Ecclestone, F1 cars have had rules forced on it to make F1 cars look a) pretty and b) look the same. Although not introduced all at once, the results of these continual rule changes have led to a) F1 cars all looking the same except for a very few areo ideas usually around the front wing or vertical winglets at the side of the side pods. Some ideas are better than others and I agree some teams (with enough money) can copy an idea, but the small team struggle to afford most of these designs.

Shark Fins and T-wings are in my opinion just as ugly as the Ant-eater noses and the ugly sounding turbo hybrid engines. Some thing just don't fit in F1...

Shark Fins work in three ways
1) Due there large side on surface area, the shark fin acts as a Wind Vane, this is because the side on surface area of the fin doesn't like to face the air flow.. Meaning if a car should Yaw (tail slide) the force of the air flow against the side of the fin will try to correct the slide.
2) The Fin works to straighten air flow over the rear wing. If air flow hits a rear wing at an angle then then rear wing is less effective, as rear wings are designed to be effective with an airflow that flows straight over the wing. This effect also allows to straighten more quickly in the event of a slide.
3) Makes the airflow along the wing to clean airflow as it leaves the the end of the fin. This creates a much cleaner Laminar flow which in turn creates a better air flow over the rear wing and rear of the car and decreasing the drag effect on the car.

After refueling was banned and cars were forced to carry a set amount of fuel, and the change to hybrid engines, a lot of races became processional, and overtaking became more difficult on track, usually taking place during pit stops or a result of non finishes.

F1 cars and teams have had to find a way the make cars faster. F1 has as a result tried an number of ideas including faster wearing tyres which made races more about managing tyres than pushing a car to the limit, Kers, DRS and of course the MGU-k and MGU-h. Also F1 have changed the rules on flexing front wings, lowering, Highering and now re-lowering the rear wing. This year we also have a delta shaped front wings, and perhaps in the future delta shaped rear wings?

Modern F1 cars are designed to extremely controlled rules governing everything from the design of o wheel nut to how a F1 car should look. This leaves very little room for non controlled designs.

Some aero ideas such as the clever move by Ferrari moving their side pods back, and then using aero wings to make a) the shape look correct from above (angled side pods) are very clever.
b) help clean up airflow into the side pods which leads to cleaner airflow over the rear of the car and helps to reduce drag...

[cplchanb]

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/f1-t ... 18-897958/

Naysayers have gotten their wish

[Thunder]

Then i'm a happy naysayer now.

[WaikeCU]

Happy to see them gone for next season. Cars will look even more natural! =D>

[F1NAC]

Banned area for any additional bodywork in red

[cplchanb]

Banned area for any additional bodywork in red

https://cdn-4.motorsport.com/images/amp ... in-ban.jpg

There's still that "50mm" space just in front of the rear wing they can still exploit lol...man if you're going to draw an exclusion box Fia, draw it so it connects from end to end! If this drawing is accurate it'll keep a crack open for exploitation just in front of the rear wing (if there's any benefit albeit...)