Ask Gary: Who really designs F1 cars?

Can you say F1 cars are really designed by an individual anymore? I understand that lots of individuals contribute to the design of various components, but given the technical director oversees it would it be fair to give them credit for 'designing' the car?
Sarah Morris, via email

Every ship needs to have a captain and the moment you don't is the moment you don't know where you are going. And if you don't know where you are going, how do you change direction to go somewhere you need to?

In reality, that's all a technical director really is. He or she needs to have the vision and to make sure that everyone else involved is striving in that direction. As long as that is happening then you can change direction at any time.

No one person was ever responsible for the design of an F1 car and as the years have gone past, the headcount in design and research is one of the biggest changes that an F1 team has had to deal with.

Everyone involved, down to the floor cleaner, is partly responsible for the success or failure of a team and within a team's structure no one should be left out of getting credit where credit is due.

In 2016, the power unit can have two separate wastegate exhausts. Do you think it will make the sound better?
Eggry, via Twitter

In today's world of electronic control, I would be very disappointed if any of the power unit manufacturers were using a wastegate to any great extent. By the whole philosophy of the rules, waste is something that everyone is trying to reduce.

I am not expecting a big change. The biggest difference in noise is when the driver is on power and during this period neither electronic nor mechanical wastegates should be in use. Actually, the sound when off power is quite good because you can hear the noise of the turbo and the tyres squeal.

What effect do you think the new wide-open engine-token situation will have this year?
Paul Kiefer Jr, via email

At a time when everyone is complaining about costs, it will certainly cost even more money. However, on the positive side, and as long as you know what direction your development needs to go in, it should allow power unit manufacturers that have missed the boat to catch up.

I am not a fan of this token system. It just confuses an already very confusing situation. We all want competitive racing and if one manufacturer has an advantage it will lead to domination.

More power is of use no matter what the circuit characteristics. That's a fact of life in racing.

Do you think the new soft-compound tyre Pirelli are bringing in will change the racing?
Warren Nel, via Twitter

The new tyre regulations allowing a team to nominate some of its own tyres are just adding another layer of confusion to who is using what and when.

The softer the tyre compound you use, the better balance the car needs to have. Basically, when you go from a medium tyre to a soft tyre the car will inherently understeer more. With an extra softer compound available, that problem will be increased.

Some teams have a better handle than others on what makes the tyre work well over one lap and some teams understand how to make it last longer in a race. To achieve both at the same time is the real challenge.

It all stems from the aerodynamic characteristics of the car. If the aerodynamic centre of pressure is moving around then you will need to run the car stiffer to keep this under control. This means that the tyre will warm up faster.

If the aero is stable then the car can be run that bit softer, making it more compliant and easier on the tyres over a longer period.

I've read with interest your articles about how to improve F1. My question is whether you would like to be involved with setting the way forward for F1 so you could put some ideas into effect? I'm afraid I'm not Bernie Ecclestone, so can't really offer you the job!
Stuart Harris, via email

Stuart, I think I am past my sell by date for that kind of role now.

I have been involved in F1 for many years and through those years there have been many changes - some in the right direction, some in the wrong direction - but at least someone, namely Bernie, got on and did it.

I remember Eddie Jordan, Bernie and myself having a chat on the way back from a race and Eddie, as usual, was complaining about everything.

Bernie turned around to him and said, "Jordan your problem is that you know everything that's wrong and nothing that's right".

What I feel now is that the group in charge are only looking at their own interests and not the bigger picture. They need to, as Eddie used to, recognise the problems before anyone can do anything about fixing them.

How detailed a schedule will teams have for planned upgrades when the cars first hit the track? Will teams know what components are scheduled to appear, say, for the Spanish GP and then later for Silverstone? Or does it depend on how things go?
Michael Lewis, via email

Michael, every component on the car has a manufacturing time so when the cars hit the track for the first test it will be with the best components that time has allowed you to design and research.

After that, each team will have an update either for the last test or just before the first race. At this time, this will be their final definition of the 2016 car.

Most teams will have about three reasonably big planned upgrades per season. Barcelona, Silverstone and Monza are the races that split the season roughly into equal sections so those are the races where I would expect to see modifications.

That said, each team will react to how the car performs in initial testing and will alter this development plan to suit their problems.

I've heard people talk about designing cars that are gentle on the tyres. Is this really possible to do in F1? Surely the way the car is driven is a far bigger influence?
David Bates, via email

I have sort of answered this question above with the question about softer tyres.

You are correct a gentle right foot can be kind to the tyres but the car's characteristics will also allow the driver to be ahead of the car, as opposed to playing catch-up.

If you are driving a very stiff car, it is very difficult to know what it is going to do before it does it and you are always reacting to it. If the car is softer and more compliant then you feel the loads build up earlier and can react before it becomes critical.

As a good measure of this, just watch the driver's steering wheel input. This normally tells all: if it is snappy and violent they are using the tyres more than a driver who is gentle and quiet with their inputs.

At what point did F1 cars become so complicated that they couldn't be run by a 'normal' race team without huge numbers of electronics and power unit specialists? Why did things become so complicated?
Mike Jones, via email

Mike, it has just happened as the years have drifted past. I remember going testing with Patrick Tambay in the McLaren M26 with just me and the truckie!

Today, everything is more complicated and it just needs more people to make sure everything is working as it should. But what it does show is that the responsibility of getting the best out of the car is actually being taken away from the driver.

I am pretty sure that this is why young drivers such as Max Verstappen or Carlos Sainz Jr can come in and be competitive immediately.

They are good drivers but we now have a situation where experience doesn't count for much, as most of the understanding is done in the back of the garage.