Highlights
Series
Explore
 |
Roll on the first tests of the pukka 2009 Formula 1 cars. That's when we get to find out if the established order has been shaken up. For the past decade, each team's designs have evolved year on year. Making a competitive car has been all about finding a fruitful direction and following it, constantly making an improvement in one area, then going round the whole car and optimising it all over again. It's called refinement engineering in the road-car industry. The radical changes to the aerodynamics for 2009 break that cycle completely, and in theory how well a team has developed its car this year should have little or no benefit next year. The last major shake-up was the grooved-tyres/narrow-track regulations introduced for 1998. Since that time regulation changes to wings, underbodies etc have been relatively minor tweaks and have not rendered all previous development obsolete. Even a change in engine formula, from 3-litre V10s to 2.4-litre V8s, had little effect on the technical philosophies of the cars. Instead, the tyre war of 2001-06 drove most of the changes. For example, the great longitudinal strength of Michelin's construction encouraged Renault to take full advantage by making their cars ever-more rearwards-biased, allowing them to convert that tyre quality into traction and get more out of the tyre than conventional cars. There was a trade-off - it meant a slightly less aerodynamically efficient car than the best of the more conventional designs, as the aero distribution had to match up to the weight distribution - but by 2005 and 2006 it seemed Renault had hit upon the best compromise. Just as the characteristics of a tyre drove the main variation in form during that period, so the standard Bridgestone control tyres from 2007 took Renault out of the equation. Ferrari had always been on Bridgestones so were unaffected, while McLaren's technical philosophy was much less 'out on a limb' than Renault's and they were therefore less vulnerable. © 2021 Autosport
In the magazine: Wheldon the Lionheart In AUTOSPORT magazine this week, we reflect on the life of Dan Wheldon with those who knew him best, and remember the day, just a month before his death, when he showed off IndyCar's staircase of talent Mag 
MPH: Mark Hughes on... A law that invariably applies in racing: the genie will not go back into the bottle once released F1 
MPH: Mark Hughes on... Competitors entering motorsport are getting ever-younger - but are even the youngest missing out on a crucial age in physiological development? F1 
MPH: Mark Hughes on... So, team orders failed to secure the world championship for Fernando Alonso. But neither he, nor the Ferrari team, can function happily – or truly effectively – any other way F1
Read more features by Autosport magazine.
Subscribe to Autosport Plus
The point-less F1 teams of 1991 Six of the 18 teams that appeared in the 1991 Formula 1 season failed to score a point, whether through lack of funds to build and test new parts, under-par engines or management musical chairs. Here are their little-known stories F1 
How Tandy joined an exclusive club of endurance legends Victory at last year's Spa 24 Hours meant Nick Tandy had completed the unofficial sextuple crown of the world's six biggest endurance races, becoming the first Briton to do so. Ahead of his fresh start with Corvette Racing, he explains how he did it GT 
The reluctant Lotus ace who was dropped for Clark A firm believer that motor racing was a sport for gentlemen, Innes Ireland lived a spirited life. NIGEL ROEBUCK recalls a character whose outlook ceased to fit with modern Formula 1 F1 
The ground-up refresh behind Toyota's new Le Mans challenger Toyota's new GR010 contender for the World Endurance Championship's Hypercar era has little in common with the LMP1 TS050 that preceded it. But within the confines of the scaled back new rules, its latest challenger will be no less formidable a prospect WEC 
Please note that unauthorised reproduction or translation of any content (including words, data, information, photos, videos and any other intellectual property) published on this page and any other copyrighted content published on Autosport.com is strictly prohibited. Please see our terms and conditions for further information. |
