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Why are movable aero devices banned?

NtsParadize wrote: ↑

22 Apr 2019, 15:44

Why are movable aero devices banned?

"in the beginning" they were prone to failure. We see even these days what happens when for instance a DRS fails to close, resulting almost always in a crash.

And now, just imagine how a car would look like if the aero would be allowed to move. You'll have all the wings open, folded and Monaco spec wings when the brakes come on.

Expensive and potential dangerous.

Jolle wrote: ↑

22 Apr 2019, 16:15

NtsParadize wrote: ↑

22 Apr 2019, 15:44

Why are movable aero devices banned?

"in the beginning" they were prone to failure. We see even these days what happens when for instance a DRS fails to close, resulting almost always in a crash.

And now, just imagine how a car would look like if the aero would be allowed to move. You'll have all the wings open, folded and Monaco spec wings when the brakes come on.

Expensive and potential dangerous.

Exciting to watch however. Air-brakes would look epic, but I wouldn't support anything that shortened the braking zones any further, as we would see a huge drop off in overtaking attempts.

Zynerji wrote: ↑

22 Apr 2019, 16:45

Jolle wrote: ↑

22 Apr 2019, 16:15

NtsParadize wrote: ↑

22 Apr 2019, 15:44

Why are movable aero devices banned?

"in the beginning" they were prone to failure. We see even these days what happens when for instance a DRS fails to close, resulting almost always in a crash.

And now, just imagine how a car would look like if the aero would be allowed to move. You'll have all the wings open, folded and Monaco spec wings when the brakes come on.

Expensive and potential dangerous.

Exciting to watch however. Air-brakes would look epic, but I wouldn't support anything that shortened the braking zones any further, as we would see a huge drop off in overtaking attempts.

Exciting indeed.
Probably comparable with non restricted turbo's from the early eighties. Nothing to do with efficiency and less about high tech design but more about who has the biggest balls and dares to put in the most boost (or, in the case of movable aero, less )

although movable aero has been banned except DRS, these were a few instances where it still was used within the grey area of the rules. The active Williams from the nineties could squad down at the rear for less drag on the straights and McLaren used air switches to steer air to stall wings with their F-Duct.

They were banned initially because they were prone to fail. They were also banned to prevent the use of fans to create downforce - a fan is a moveable aero device. They remain banned to curb costs and lap times. If we had active aero today, the cost of development would bankrupt half of the grid, the remaining cars would be so quick that an accident on some circuits would probably be fatal if the aero devices didn't deploy correctly at the end of the straights.

Do we think variable ride height (via suspension) should be included in this, or left free?

I don't remember the all sing and dancing Benetton having any failures. While not in favor of more driver aids they certainly worked well. Matchett still decries the fact they made the car illegal.

Given that this kind of movable aero is becoming common on high performance road cars it is a surprise we haven't seen it on F1 in a capacity where there is low risk of failure, for example adjusting a radiator duct.

Big Tea wrote: ↑

22 Apr 2019, 19:07

Do we think variable ride height (via suspension) should be included in this, or left free?

As long as it's in the grey area of the rules, it will be a few mm here and maybe a cm there. Imagine when it's free to change your ride hight.... Cars will suddenly be jacked up a half a meter at the rear before entering a corner.

strad wrote: ↑

22 Apr 2019, 19:58

I don't remember the all sing and dancing Benetton having any failures. While not in favor of more driver aids they certainly worked well. Matchett still decries the fact they made the car illegal.

I think "movable aero devices" includes more than just the suspension, if we're looking at the whole thing.

Going back to the acive suspension, TC, ABS systems of 1992 wouldn't be great, and add active wings etc. and we'd be in "interesting times".

They had adjustable front wings a few years ago, and now the DRS.

The ban is not fully on

The front wings and the DRS were/are limited in use. Active aero would presumably be fully on all the time.

I wouldn't object to fully active aero but I think it would need to be carefully controlled to prevent an absolute "war". Cars could become too fast very soon.

Just_a_fan wrote:The front wings and the DRS were/are limited in use. Active aero would presumably be fully on all the time.

I wouldn't object to fully active aero but I think it would need to be carefully controlled to prevent an absolute "war". Cars could become too fast very soon.

The biggest issue would be the gap that could be created within teams, if we have championships dominated by engines today... Domination by a team that gets the active Aero better than the rest would place F1 in an even worse position in that regard than it is today


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Cars could become too fast very soon.

Devils advocate here... What's too fast????

strad wrote: ↑

23 Apr 2019, 20:31

Cars could become too fast very soon.

Devils advocate here... What's too fast????

Wouldn't surprise me if they get close to 400km/h in certain areas.

The issue isn't really how fast they would be. It's how they would slow down, they already pull 5 to 6 G in the breaking zones. Drivers could start blacking out under breaking. They'd also be relaying on a computer too adjust the down force levels, we've seen what happens when Drs fails imagine all the active aero elements failing to open at the end of the Baku straight.