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The "completely mad" nose job that transformed F1 design

When Ferrari expats Harvey Postlethwaite and Jean-Claude Migeot landed at Tyrrell in 1989, they devised a stepped-nose that would become commonplace in F1 for the next three decades. This is the story of that car, the Tyrrell 019.

In 2021 Formula 1 will, for the first time in approximately 25 years, stray away from the commonplace raised nose designs. In their place, the front wing will now be directly attached to the nose; for the aesthete, the reversal will evoke memories of F1 challengers from the late 1980s and early 1990s.

For the aerodynamicist, it will deprive them of a lucrative stream of downforce made available by opening up the centreline of the car.

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake studied engineering at university, as his original ambition was to design racing cars. He was bad at that, and thus decided to write about them instead with an equally limited skillset. The above article is a demonstration of that. In his spare time, Jake enjoys people, places, and things.