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Williams chief technical officer Paddy Lowe is confident that the new front wings in 2019 will somewhat improve then racing throughout the grid. The new aerodynamic regulations were instated in an attempt to allow the cars to follow each other more closely on the circuit.
Earlier this week, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff spoke about how members of his team had already found a way to keep the same levels of 'outwash' despite the change in the regulations.
Another rule change for next year will see the maximum fuel limit rise from 105kg to 110kg. While there seems to be hesitation on whether the racing will improve next year or not, the Briton is sure that the new front wings will do more for Formula 1 than the fuel regulation change.
“It seems to be popular to say the aerodynamic changes that we’re making won’t make any difference,” said Lowe. “But I can tell you for sure it’ll make a lot more difference than the fuel limit.”
“I don’t believe it’s going to make any difference to anything,” he continued. “That’s my opinion. You put in fuel that makes sense for your race. That’s always been done and it always involves a bit of fuel saving. Cars are often doing what we call ‘lift and coast’. They do it for tyres more than fuel as well. There might be the odd race where it makes a little bit of difference.”
Lowe confirmed that Williams is trying to re-create the 'outwash' effect, but he would be surprised if the levels remain the same next year: “Everybody is, of course,” he said. “You can’t un-invent knowledge. But it’s not easy. I’d be amazed if people can recover it to where it is today.”
Grand Prix of Belgium
G. Zhou
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Replies (2)
Login to replycalle.itw
Posts: 8,527
Very nice to see fuel limit increase, fuel saving should generally not factor into F1 methinks aside from being a very minor strategy element, and currently its playing a bigger role than it should.
Now even Williams try to circumvent the barrier they themselves agreed upon with the rest of the teams and the FIA for 2019, meaning the rule is bollocks, will likely not lead to better racing if the teams can help it, and might aswell be tossed into the sea. A nice idea that turned out to be a nest of cockroaches.
blade
Posts: 341
This is F1 - I'd be disappointed if those clever chaps could figure it out. The sport has bigger flaws in it, as I keep saying: 1). B Teams - a way to get around spending caps, team orders making certain results more inevitable, 2). Crap tracks - get rid of all track where only two cars can fit on the road, and only one of them on the racing line, 3). Prize money - make it a more even playing field.