Formula 1’s Managing Director of Motorsport Ross Brawn is hoping to offer fans an insight into the research being done to try and improve the aerodynamics of F1 cars and enable better racing.
The study was one of the first tasks the former Mercedes and Ferrari man undertook in his role as part of the Formula One Group and has seen him compile a group of engineers, led by former Williams head of aerodynamics Jason Somerville, to look for solutions at making the current designs less sensitive to turbulent air when closely following another car.
This work is particularly interesting after it was announced the changes introduced this year, with wider tyres and bodywork for more grip and downforce, led to a 49% drop in the number of overtakes, though some praised it as more authentic racing than in previous years.
Offering details into how the study has been carried out, Brawn revealed: “We’ve bought the geometry of the old Manor 2017 car because we wanted to have a generic model that we could use in CFD modelling to at least give us a basis. We know the Manor car is not a front-line F1 car but the geometry is there for the 2017 regulations and that’s all working there.
“We have a model of two cars running together and we’ve carried out all the initial work. Now the season has finished, the teams are going to start giving us their 2017 cars to have more representative models to look at,” he added.
“We’ve been putting in place the confidentiality agreements with the teams and they are going to start providing us with representative models to run in our CFD program.
“I’d say the team of people we are putting together is about 75% complete, there’s a couple more to join in the new year and that’s all going very well. I’m quite excited about it and there’s things that we’ll be able to show you early next year that will demonstrate what we are trying to do.”
What makes this different from past attempts at solving this long-standing F1 problem, including the Overtaking Working Group which came up with the 2009 rule changes, is this is the first time cars are being tested for aerodynamic efficiency in racing situations with more advanced technology.
“One of the interesting things for us is that we don’t have the limitations on the CFD technology and capacity that the teams do with the regulations,” Brawn explained “They have quite strict rules about how much CFD they can do and what type of processes they can use.
“We don’t have that and it’s slightly opened our eyes in a way as to where F1 is and where the world is — and the world has overtaken F1 by a long way in terms of CFD. So the capacity we have and ability to do what we need to do is far in excess of any F1 team.”
