I think it's ominous that there isn't even a preliminary set of regulations outside the PU. It already feels like "2027" regulations. In typical F1 style...
wuzak wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 5:32 am
Thinking more smaller overall, including width, and probably narrower tyres, especially at the front.
I don't think the narrower cars after 97 did anyone any good. Plus the length to width ratio is already comical. I can see somewhat narrower tires, but I don't think it would have much significance. As it didn't when they increased them twice since the 2014 engine formula.
Just_a_fan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 9:34 am
So making massive weight savings without removing safety is going to be very difficult once the length and hybrid weight are removed.
I think we should keep fever dreams out of this. Hybridization is increasing, so does its weight, that's already decided.
Just_a_fan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 9:34 am
A lot of the weight is the safety stuff - the halo is about 9kg but adds much more because the mounting points have to be reinforced - there must be no deformation of the tub when the halo is test loaded - and that reinforcement is heavy. Likewise the SIS - these are just CF tubes, but where they are mounted has to be reinforced that the SIS deforms and not the tub. Then there is the anti-penetration panel in the tub sides - that's additional weight albeit not in the scale of the halo, etc.. The nose and rear crash structures both add weight and have become heavier as the tests have become more energetic.
There's potential here actually. All of these, the crash structures and the Halo are FIA dumb, crude spec parts. Just abandon them as such and replace them with crash tests.
Plus there's a feedback mechanism at play. The less weight you have you need less crash protection, which means they can be lighter.
Just_a_fan wrote: ↑Fri Jun 30, 2023 9:34 am
Making them smaller is relatively easy - just mandate the wheelbase to be X less than it is now. The teams will fit the kit in. Of course, making them shorter will make them lighter as there will be less "stuff".
This could be a major save I suspect. They can remove around a meter and a half of "stuff. Not sure why the obsession with wheelbase in the regs and elsewhere. Just impose a hard limit of 4.3 meters for the car and they can move around the wheels within that the way they please.
Outside this there would be a major area to gain in the ICE itself as mentioned before, if they bothered with it and didn't just mandate the same weight and materials as it is now... Why? I hardly think the billions of dollars of engine development would be much effected by the use of materials superior to steel. (They explicitly ban metal matrix materials for a start)
But I think there's also a much greater potential for weight savings in the car body. They're using plain carbon fiber composites since the early eighties. If the minimum weight is much decreased they could start developing nanotube or graphene based composites. Maybe even finding much lighter materials to fill the fiber matrix. Now they have no incentive since they can reach the the minimum weight with carbon fiber reinforced plastic.