2021 Formula 1 cars get aero updates to make racing more exciting

The Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) and Formula 1 are set to unveil new regulations and subsequent changes to its racecars for the 2021 season, and development is fully under way. A major focus of the changes deals with the aerodynamic wake that is left behind a car. A new video released by F1 details exactly how the changes will affect the car’s driving dynamics and how it could alter the way drivers race. 

Current Formula 1 cars are not very friendly to the people driving behind them. F1 says that the air wake that trails off of one car can reduce a following car’s downforce by up to 50 percent. It goes without saying that could be very bad when racing and might deter drivers from spending too much time behind other cars. F1 wants to change that in hopes that cars will follow closer and races will be more exciting.

By analyzing computational fluid dynamics in a wind tunnel this past July, F1 found that its new car design could reduce its impact on the vehicles behind it, while only reducing the following car’s downforce by 5-10 percent – a massive improvement. A few of the design changes include bigger wheels, a new rear wing, a remodeled floor, and tweaks to the front wing.

“We are trying to find things that make the car go faster,” FIA’s Head of Single Seater Technical Matters Nikolas Tombazis said in a statement. “These are things a team would do, you would want to put them on your car, but they might make the wake significantly worse. If the team makes the car faster but the wake doesn’t get any worse, we don’t have any problem with that. But if a team makes the car faster but hurts the wake, then clearly they will do it because if the rule permits it and we can’t ask them to be benevolent. But we want to know about it so we can see if there’s any fundamental weaknesses in the rules, any loopholes.”

Tombazis says they are looking for a balance of uniform rules and individuality amongst teams. 

“We want to safeguard the wake performance but we don’t want all cars to look the same or to be exactly the same,” he said. “But there are some areas of the car where performance can be found and not worsen the key parameters of the following car and we want to encourage those areas to be a bit freer.”

This video shows a design that is somewhat close to the finished product but not totally complete. This is just one of numerous wind tunnel tests that are part of building the future of the cars. Stay tuned for the final design.