Move over NASCAR, Formula One is introducing a new car too. On Thursday, the FIA revealed a full-scale mock-up of the car. Showing the bold regulation shaping the F1 grid for years to come.
The goal for the FIA with the new car is to produce more exciting racing on track, with cars able to follow closely in the draft and increase overtaking opportunities. One of the words thrown around was the reintroduction of ground effect. The way that air passes around the car. Rather than having a flat underbelly, the body will now have two channels that run underneath the car. The hope that the cars downforce is created from the underbody which creates cleaner wakes behind the car.
The front wing and endplates on the rear wing have been designed to be less sensitive to dirty air from the car in front of it. The new rear wing does away with the endplate and the stong streams of air the produce. With simulation and wind tunnel testing that has been conducted, the FIA believes that a car would have at least 86% of its maximum downforce at the distance of one car length compared to the 55% downforce the current cars have.
Rims have also been increased to 18 inches from the current 13-inch rims that are currently being used. Engines will remain the same until new engine regulations will be introduced in 2025. But the design of power units will be frozen for the next three years starting in 2022. As well as a new fuel regulation of at least 10% of the fuel must be sustainable ethanol in the mixture.