Formula One Insights – by Jason Sultana

Of all the components of a contemporary Formula 1 car, steering is the element that had changed the least since the world championship was created in 1950. However, to do the job that a driver demands, it needs to be precise and offer plenty of feel.

Steering is a simple function. The driver turns the steering wheel and the ‘message’ is fed down via the steering column to the rack-and-pinion steering mechanism. The pinion is a small gearwheel attached to the end of the steering column, and its teeth engage with teeth on the rack, a horizontal arm mounted at right angles to the steering column. When the steering column turns, the pinion moves the rack from side to side, and this motion is transferred to the front wheels via the aerodynamically shaped track rods.

Fast action

An F1 steering column consists of two tubes made of steel with a carbon fibre exterior. The first of these runs forwards above the driver’s legs from the steering wheel to the second, shorter tube, which is towards the front of the car and angles down to the steering rack. The two tubes are linked by a constant velocity (CV) joint to ensure that they both rotate at the same speed. Steering columns are inspected after 1,500km of use and then stripped down, crack-tested and serviced after 3,000km.

An F1 steering mechanism responds very differently to that of a road car, with as little as half a turn on the steering wheel being enough to turn the car through a 90-degree corner. Such ‘quick’ steering is vital, because the driver needs it to react almost instantaneously when he has to get the car back under control if it should break into unwanted understeer on the entry to a corner or oversteer at the exit. If this all sounds fairly straightforward don’t think for a second that the Formula 1 teams’ design departments ignore it in their quest to make their cars go faster. As with almost all things F1, the designers are constantly trying to make the parts lighter without losing strength and functionality.

Steering wheel design

While it’s taken for granted that the steering system has to turn the car in the direction the driver requires, to do the full job required of it the system must offer the driver feedback, via the steering wheel, on how the car is handling. The accuracy of this ‘feel’ can be affected by everything from track condition or tyre performance to the car’s aerodynamic design.

Back in the 1950s, when cars were longer, heavier and higher than they are now, as well as having their engines in front of the drivers rather than behind them, steering wheels were large and made of steel with a polished wooden rim. Over time, as cars became smaller and lighter and had their engines moved to the back, steering wheels became smaller. Their reduced diameters also enabled drivers to operate them quicker and more accurately. Then, in the 1990s, the steering wheel’s functions were boosted considerably as more and more buttons, dials, toggles and paddles were added to offer the driver control of such diverse elements as engine mapping, brake balance and changing differential settings. Yet above all, the steering wheel still had to steer the car around corners.

Because drivers have to remove the steering wheel to get in and out of the car, there’s a quick-release electrical plug incorporated into the top end of the steering column to supply power to and carry signals from the wheel’s numerous functions. The outside of this end of the steering column is shaped with deep splines to hold the steering wheel firmly in place when mounted.

Power steering

With considerable load being fed back from the tyres to the steering wheel and thus to the drivers’ hands, drivers longed for some power assistance, especially on circuits containing long, high-speed corners where the loads are greatest. So power steering – a feature of heavy roadgoing cars for decades –  was introduced by Ligier in 1988. As others followed the French team’s initiative, it was developed to the point that it often cut the steering loads reaching the driver by half.

There is a trade-off, though, in that drivers appreciate the assistance, especially at circuits where the climate is hot and humid, but they don’t want the loss of feeling that power steering can bring. For example, Jarno Trulli, a driver noted for his delicate touch, struggled to get the best out of his Lotus T128 in 2011. One reason was that its power steering was preventing him from getting all the feedback that he traditionally received through the steering wheel. The situation illustrates the delicate balance that must be struck between what designers offer and what drivers want.

Four-wheel steering

Having all four wheels steering can have obvious advantages in terms of speed of turning. Benetton tries four-wheel steering in 1993, with signals being sent from a sensor next to the pinion to electrohydraulic valves at the rear. These operated a rod attached to toe-in links on the rear wheels. The rear wheels would turn only a fraction of the amount that the front wheels were being turned – up to just one degree in either direction – but this was enough to make a discernible difference.

However, the drivers didn’t enjoy the feeling. Interestingly, the rear wheels would turn the opposite way to the front wheels in slow, tight corners to improve turn-in, yet in the same direction in high-speed bends to improve traction. Four-wheel steering was then banned (along with a host of other driver aids) for 1994 as the sport’s governing body sought to make F1 simpler and less expensive, as well as to put more control back into the drivers’ hands.

Coming out from a hugely disappointing season, Williams on the eve of the 2020 pre-season testing revealed images online of the FW43 and later did some filming runs in Barcelona. With ROKiT as the main sponsor and a few other added sponsors partly thanks to the freshly joined rookie Nicolas Latifi, the livery change drastically from the one used on the FW42. Red, white and blu took over to form a very catchy look. Partnering Latifi will be George Russell as he will be going to start his 2nd year with the team thus bringing Williams’s line-up the youngest of the entire field. The problems of last year prompted the team to change its processes and conduct a reshuffling amongst the staff, a much needed revamp. The FW43 is the car that bears many hopes for the beleaguered Grove-based team under the helm of Claire Williams.

As Willaims said, its new FW43 retained the architecture of the FW42 and worked on to improve on that aerodynamic concept during a very busy winter break, indeed the car does not feature any huge fundamental changes and are in-line with the evolution trend as mostly seen on some other freshly launched cars. Design Director Doug McKiernan disclosed that the team mainly focused on solving the issues it has encountered last year with the FW42. This work included the development of the cooling systems, the overall weight of the car and several mechanical issues related to the brakes when keeping in mind that Williams had to deal with a rather right budget.

The FW43 showed up with a front wing devoted to an outwash concept, with the second element of the main profile that has the task of generating the notorious Y250 vortex. The nose tip is in line with that used on last year’s car, slightly narrower near the front wing pylons and with a more profiled nose. A pretty straight forward, huge cape that works in perfect synergy with the turning vanes and the bargeboard is used. The endplate of the front wing does not feature a cut out at the back either. Great attention was paid to the front suspension: last year the arms were tilted outwards while on the FW43 have also been raised, to have a better cleaning of the aerodynamic flow. The upper triangle shows a very protruding bracket but unlike other cars with the same solution, the fulcrum is not offset with the axis, but this job is done by the lower triangle. Also, the steering arm does not align with the wishbone but is located above the lower triangle and is used as an airflow conditioner. On the sides of the S-duct outlet, two small air deflectors is used. Interesting to notice the blown wheel nut concept at the front wheel rims central part.

The bargeboard with a double boomerang connects a vertical flow diverter consisting of an array of 7 elements: the first connects to the bottom while the next 3 arches at the bottom in profiles that become horizontal and the last 3 make up the bridge with the lower wing in front of the sidepods’ impact structure spar. Following the general fashion, there is also the upper wing which sandwiches in between the supposed radiators inlet. The lowest part of the sidepod is flared with a similar design of that of a Mercedes and tightens dramatically as it goes backward while the upper part widens, opposite the concept used by others. This shows that the FW43 has its own cooling system with the radiators positioned above the engine instead of in the sidepods.

The airbox is a Mercedes look-alike, although the two elements of the roll bar are more separate so the main inlet (used for feeding the turbo) is larger. The engine cover is quite wide but tightens in the tail, making space for a generous shark fin  like Alfa Romeo adopted. No T-wing added till now but it has the mounting points ready if needed. The rear suspension is new: the layout is a pull rod with a very long tie rod that attaches to the raised bracket protruding from the rear hub. The mentioned bracket is quite big and looks not well streamlined like the Red Bull’s for example. Also, the rear wing support is of a twin pylon layout with a spoiler added mid-height in between them just above the main exhaust outlet, while the double wastegate outlets are located underneath, blowing on the rear structure. A spoon-shaped  main plane for the rear wing is used, while the DRS flap has a ‘V’ cut in its central part. The endplate is quite simple so far with only 3 vertical slots on the lower front edge and 3 flow conveyer at the top. To conclude, the floor has 3 very long slots in the leading edge, with 5 diagonal slots in front of the rear wheels, to eliminate the generated tyre squirts.

All in all, the only way is up for Williams and let’s hope that 2019 was a one-off and that sooner rather than later, the 9 times Formula 1 Constructors’ Champions are seen competing at least around the midfield on a much often basis. Fingers crossed!

Alfa Romeo Racing Orlen planned the official launch of their new car on the first day of testing in Barcelona and the plans are still there but surprisingly on February the 14th, the Hinwil built car made its shakedown at Fiorano with Kimi Raikkonen behind the wheel wrapped in a unique snake design livery. With a limited mileage permissible during such tests, still, the C39 wasn’t ‘fast’ enough to escape the camera lenses and thanks to this, a quick technical analysis of their 2020 car can be pointed out even before its official launch.

The C39 is an evolution of the C38 and some concepts that were used by the Chief Designer Luca Furbatto were kept. Starting from the front end of the car, the nose tip is no longer rectangularly shaped but interestingly is in the shape of the traditional shield of the brand, the reason behind it is not clear enough though but looks neater and also a nice touch! This element has 3 supports: one above the tip and two slightly inclined towards the pillars supporting the front wing. Alfa Romeo insists on the philosophy of the outwash after being the first team to use it last year. One point that is worth mentioning was that Kimi drove with a very discharged front wing setup on a track that requires a lot of downforce and he was caught locking into corners with a touch of understeer i.e. balance issues with the car! Moreover, the main profile just in the outer most part shows a curl that precedes a rather large endplate, divided almost equally by the lateral bulkhead which is slightly arched at the exit.

The front suspension is an evolution of 2019: following the prevailing fashion this year, triangles have also been raised on the C39. The lower os preceded by the steering arm and is articulated at the hub holder around the wheel centre, slightly lower than that Mercedes, Red Bull and McLaren did. The upper triangle, on the other hand, is so high that it flanks the flow destined for the lower central wing in front the sidepod inlet, thanks to the adoption of an upright bracket protruding from the hub. The pushrod strut also connects to a pivot that extends beyond the brake air duct. The bargeboards remained detached from the lateral flow diverter that reaches the central wing in height, but the two elements are not attached together to form the bridge solution.

Moving towards the central part of the C39, the radiators inlets are located on the top, it affects the larger surface area compared to the other two Ferrari powered cars, a sign that you do not want to take risks with the reliability of the PU. If the front of the sidepods is huge, the same cannot be said for the continuation of the side which tightens a lot towards the rear. This is because of some radiators are not placed in the sidepods, but unlike Ferrari and Haas, they have been placed above the engine. The triangular main airbox is sandwiched between two other cooling openings to serve for cooling purposes to the other PU elements.

It is noted that the engine cover which features a hump, is elongated towards the tail of the car which makes space for a generous shark fin. This is an unusual design compared to others. the T-wing has 2 planes while the rear wing support is of a doubly pylon design, with the main exhaust in the middle and a single wastegate pipe. The pull rod rear suspension and the rear axle are quite similar to the Ferrari concepts, this is possible thanks to the reduced in size Ferrari gearbox. This leaves considerable space for two large openings that feed air towards the diffuser upper part. The rear wing has a main spoon profile and a large DRS flap.

Alfa Romeo Racing with Kimi Raikkonen and Antonio Giovinazzi behind the wheels (with Robert Kubica now the third and reserve driver) expects to make something better than 2019, to try climbing up the order in the championship after a disappointing 8th place. The battle at the midfield is always tight so they need to find that edge to surpass the likes of AlphaTauri, Racing Point and Haas to say the least. What will the actual race livery look like?

14 years had passed since Scuderia Toro Rosso took over from Minardi and after such a long, quite a successive period for the Red Bull’s sister team, they decided to give a refresh and rebrand to Scuderia AlphaTauri, after the Red Bull’s clothing fashion brand. From Hangar 7 in Salzburg Austria, the first-ever F1 car under this name was unveiled: the AT01. With 2 podiums achieved in 2019, the expectations to continue on this trend are high for 2020 as both drivers Gasly and Kvyat were retained. Toro Rosso in the past was always considered as a serious threat for the midfield and usually pop up when the right occasion arises especially now with a much reliable and improved Honda PU powering their cars. This will be the start of the 3rd year as partners with the Faenza based team.

When the veil was peeled back from the car, the completely new livery wowed everyone present. The striking and stylish white and dark blue colors will make the AlphaTauri cars one of the most distinctive on the entire grid. A new era and exciting time had just begun for the rebranded team.

The AT01 looks very similar to the RB15, Red Bull’s 2019 challenger. This was expected after Dr. Helmut Marko had announced the two teams would have a closer relationship ahead of the 2020 season and will not be surprising as the season progress that more parts similar to the RB16 appear on the AT01 as their main aim is to to make it into the top 5! The biggest difference between the two is the front wing. The AT01’s wings are attached low against the endplates where the RB15’s front wing met the endplate at a relatively high point. Also, it’s not wildly different from last year’s STR14. Bearing the fruit from Red Bull is a very huge asset for a team the size of AlphaTauri and which operates at a fraction of Red Bull’s budget but thanks to their Technical Director Jody Egginton, the team moved forward in that area of maximizing their development within their limited budget. The nose of the AT01 is almost identical to the RB15 too. The bulge it has just behind the front suspension was adopted, the S-duct is identical as well which features a winglet bridging over the top to improve the guidance of airflow along the bulkhead, with the slotted deflectors at the nose sides a new addons, eschewing the trend seen this year in which teams opt for a thinner nose by tapering in the bulkhead.

Those bargeboards look somewhat similar to last year’s design at least for now which will be developed further along the way. The sidepods do look different as the air ducts are smaller, indicating the radiators have been placed on top of the engine rather than on the sides of the car, enabling them to slim down the sidepods. It’s all about Honda’s PU design philosophy. There’s also a selection of small vortex generators nestled on top of the sidepods, sat next to the repositioned mirrors – featuring like many, the shroud around the top to trim some of the drag off of the mirror assembly. The turning vanes around the sidepod are somewhat similar to those seen on the Ferrari, where the horizontal element turns upwards and AlphaTauri has used this to connect it to the boomerang which attaches to the front face of the bargeboards.

Those Red Bull design areas are evident in the new air intake, which strays from the style used last year where the opening was divided into 3 distinct inlets and moves towards the Red Bull horizontal split. AlphaTauri continues to showcase some incredibly slender bodywork giving the airflow a clean path towards the coke bottle section of the diffuser. The rear suspension’s concept seems to be taken over from the RB15 as well. The AT01 has no T-wing for launch version, the shark fin is very small too. The team has also persisted with a spoon-shaped rear wing in its launch spec. The outboard portions of the rear wing generate less downforce than the centre, and so creating a spoon section in the middle snips off a good level of drag without so much of a penalty. The single pylon rear wing support neatly engulfs the main exhaust outlet in it with a twin wastegate layout beneath the whole thing and interestingly also under the top wishbone. Also noted is the huge opening at the back of the engine cover.

The new AlphaTauri looks the part, and it’s seriously dressed to impress. Now it’s all about how much the new AT01 performs on track. The future looks bright for this team that gives many F1 breakthroughs to many young guns!

On Valentine’s day, Mercedes unveiled their 2020 challenger: the W11 that hopes it can take it to a 7th successive title double this year, prior to having its shakedown at Silverstone. Early in the week, the team from Brackley revealed the tweaked livery which will have a touch of red, thanks to a new partner INEOS that joined recently. For the 4th consecutive season, the unchanged driver line-up of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will be seeking massive personal milestones. Will it be title No.7 for Lewis or title No.1 for Bottas?!

From the first look, the trend of tighter and slimmer car concepts for 2020 is kept going especially at the central/back section of the car. The W11 is more like an evolution compared to McLaren for example and followed the Ferrari/Red Bukk way. Let’s be clear, a world championship-winning car can’t be a bad choice to not continue refining to its successor with stable regulations for one more year. This is the start of the 11th consecutive year successive journey for Mercedes, let’s take a look around the 2020 Silver Arrow.

The front wing is still of the same design and aims at producing more front-end downforce unlike Ferrari and the nose is still just as narrow. On the side, we see the cape which helps control the airflow similar to the one seen on the Red Bull RB16. The front suspension is also mounted high up on the axle side thanks to the upright bracket solution which clears the flow of air passage underneath the car as much as possible. In conjunction with this, the bargeboards are the next thing airflow hits before it reaches the floor sides and sidepods. When compared to the setup used in Abu Dhabi last year, Mercedes seems to have made a big leap in that area. Elephant ears winglets are utilized just outside the S-duct outlet and the top wishbone chassis mount. Another pair of added small winglets are located on top of the tub above the bargeboards and near the Petronas Syntium logo.

Moving to the sidepod area Mercedes took a design concept originally introduced by Ferrari back in 2017 and then taking it a step further. The W11 shows a very aggressive sidepod solution, with the inlets smaller than before. The idea of this design is for flow quality improvement into and around the sidepod structure. In 2020, teams seem to go the route of lowering and bringing the upper part of the side impact spars forward to improve PU performance and reliability by better cooling while reducing drag and refining the aerodynamic output. The sidepod undercut and the general shaping is very extreme due to their adoption of the mentioned impact structure and the letterbox styled inlet solution. One more area Mercedes focused on was to improve cooling efficiency in order that it can run in high power modes for longer, a glitch in 2019. This gave Mercedes more scope and took advantage of it by redesigning some parts underneath and to improve weight distribution.

The Managing Director of Mercedes-AMG HPP Andy Cowell said the new M11EQ Performance PU had benefitted from the team’s involvement in Formula E to secure that it will operate more efficiently throughout. This emphasizes how much Mercedes are operating at a very high level and commitment. The airbox, similar to the W10’s is split into 3 segments for various PU elements cooling. The mirrors split 2 part design follows the norm. At the rear Mercedes had gone for an adventurous suspension layout in order to free up aero development opportunity later on around that area. The rear wing endplate feature a 3 step layout on its leading end instead of the one on the 2019 machine. The back of the car is also narrow and just like Ferrari, the shark fin looks sizeable. Red Bull and McLaren chose a smaller version and therefore more space under the cover. The rear wing is supported by a twin pillar layout with a T-wing mounted low close to it. To finish it off, according to James Allison, some of the W11 used concepts will be the basis for the next year’s car that will be built under the new revamped technical regulations. This makes this year a very important one to try to squeeze as much as possible before the budget cap is also introduced.

Smart money will be on it being another weapon that will have the rest of the grid chasing as usual, but by all accounts, it should be closer than ever at the very top.

On February the 13th all eyes were on McLaren’s headquarters in Woking for the unveiling of their 2020 challenger: the MCL35. Once again and for one final season, McLaren will be powered by the updated Renault PU and driving for the team will be the lively pairing of Carlos Sainz and Lando Norris which stole the show on various occasions last season on and off the track, something the sport misses badly nowadays. 2019 was the best year for McLaren since 2012 as they finished in 4th place overall and for sure the main aim is to continue building on this after all the revamps done both in the technical and management departments from late 2018 onwards left its fruition thanks to Zak Brown, Andreas Seidl and co. Also this year McLaren will commemorate the 50th anniversary from Bruce McLaren death, so it will be quite a memorable one and nothing will do justice other than another solid performance throughout. Here is the technical analysis of the product that took around 800 people to create.

The first car designed by James Key in Woking represents his philosophy we had seen in the past, with a very narrow back end and a raised front suspension. It is the first we have seen so far that it is quite a new design overall rather than an evolution from its predecessor. Rightly so, the good concepts were passed on the current car but with a very different concept, the way to go was to design from a clean sheet. Livery wise it’s a striking one when you look at, with matte papaya dominating the major part of the car with a contrasting touch of blue on the front, rear wings and sidepods and black to top it off.

With a more outboard-loaded front wing, the new car appears to be pursuing a more aggressive philosophy. This type of way and the flow it implies tends to give a greater peak of downforce but is trickier to manage. Both Red Bull and Mercedes showed it was possible to get adequate control to access greater downforce potential. The MCL35 has a very narrow nose that tightens near the vanity panel and goes down to the small tip. An interesting feature is the long front wing pylons that blend into the cape which also incorporates 3 slotted deflectors on its side. Although the S-duct does not appear it’s more than likely to be added as soon as from the pre-season testing.

The real revolution on the McLaren MCL35 is observed in the front suspension: the 2 triangles have been raised as never seen before in any modern F1 car. The lower wishbone is pivoted to the mid axle and on the chassis just below the car cameras! The steering arm is aligned with the lower triangle, while the upper has been raised considerably thanks to an outboard upright bracket on the axle side, a concept introduced a few years ago by Mercedes and Toro Rosso. This setup is more in favour of aerodynamics (to open up space for air to flow towards the floor and around the sidepods as much as possible without unwanted obstacles) rather than mechanics of the car. Something that will put the front tyres under more pressure to operate in the ideal window especially when taking into consideration this was achieved successfully most of the time. So its a risk going this way. The pushrod is very inclined forward too, almost reaches the highest point of the monocoque.

The bargeboard is a refinement of the one developed during the end of 2019 and the outer deflector is made up of 3 distinct vertical elements that are connected to the wing profile just below the radiator inlet which as the norm nowadays is located very high. The sidepods are a bit wider compared to the MCL34 at the front but they shrink considerably towards the coke bottle area. A plan view as shown below will confirm this.

The central main wing on top of the sidepod provides the support to the mirrors and both are neatly designed exploiting the rule book to the max to direct the airflow towards the back end. Behind the driver’s head, the bodywork tightens a lot at the bottom but what is striking is that at the upper part it does not degrade at all: on the contrary, the release of the hot air in the tail seems deliberately held up, to have a very clean lower channel, in the hope to have greater efficiency of the rear diffuser. Another concept that goes against the trend. The oval enlarged airbox is divided in 4 sections due to Renault’s PU design as the ERS and gearbox radiators are located above the engine, thus the space for the shark fin on the engine cover is limited.

No T-wings are seen so far while the rear pull-rod suspension is a development of that used on the MCL34 with a very long Red Bull styled tie rod. The rear wing is supported by a double pillar layout which sandwiches the main exhaust outlet and a double wastegate design underneath. The rear wing itself seems of a high aerodynamic load as the mobile DRS flap is quite large. The floor also features more slots along it’s leading-edge with an added ‘obligatory’ tyre squirt slots just in front the rear tyres. The black Enkei wheel rims at the rear once again feature the prominent bulges across its internal diameter to increase the surface area for heat dissipation for tyre temperature control.

This car looks very promising on paper. Will it be the underdog of 2020 and battle for podiums on a more frequent basis? We’ll get more of an idea as early as next week when the car hits the track for the first time!

It was Aston Martin Red Bull Racing turn to unveil the 2020 F1 car, the RB16 which they aspire to challenge Mercedes and Ferrari with. The 2nd year powered by Honda looks very promising on paper after last year’s solid performance throughout and good reliability from their side in which they won 3 times and stayed within half a second away from Mercedes in most weekends. Max Verstappen, fresh from a contract renewal will be partnered by a more experienced Alexander Albon since he made his F1 debut a year ago with Toro Rosso and made the best from a given opportunity mid-season at Red Bull. Livery wise it is the same as the one used on the RB15 with Aston Martin making the headlines one last time with Red Bull Racing but there a numerous amount of changes on the RB16 compared to its predecessor. Here is the technical analysis of the latest Adrian Newey’s and co creature.

One of the very first things you notice about the new Red Bull is the complexity of the so-called ‘stump’ on the front of the nose. Indeed this is a major technical update seen so far. There was only one hole in the past there, but 2 more slots have been added at the top, all of this has the purpose of directing air to very specific places, partially for cooling and the rest to generate more downforce and direct airflow to the back of the car. Further back instead of the serrated fins, we see a kind of a snowplow (cape) on both sides of the thinner nose, more like Mercedes and McLare used during the past seasons, to better direct the air to the floor and just above them a small NACA-duct inlet to feed the S-duct. Also on top of the nose cone where the suspension mounts to the chassis, 2 small ‘elephant’ ears were retained and a reworked S-duct outlet is noticeable. Regards the front wing Red Bull is sticking with their concept to generate as much downforce as possible (upwash) without disrupting the overall balance of the car from the front end as opposed to Ferrari for example which headed to a more lightly solution (outwash) so they can balance out the rest of the car more. This works very well with a high raked car that Red Bull is synonymous with. A concept like this needs a very stable front end to work at its best and its what made them stand out from the rest in this front. Therefore the elements are more inclined over their entire length along the front wing.

More details are added around the cockpit area with the mirror design now feature a wing on top which seems a common practice this year. Between the sidepods and the front suspension, there is a more complex bargeboard and wings array compared to the ones seen on the RB15. This area is a continuous development zone and will keep updating on a GP basis. The front suspension layout is also changed with mounting points moved forward, a sign that the RB16 wheelbase is increased. The vanity panel that covers the dampers and steering system also confirms this with the pushrod top end mounted just before the stepped section.

Moving to the sidepods, the radiator inlet remains in a high position which is located between two aero wings. The floor now features an array of 4 new aero deflectors on both sides just below the main Red Bull logo and a streak of slots on the edge and at the back of the floor just in front of the rear tyres compliments them. In addition to the headrest, we also see two small raised edges which are also new. A pair of wings under the airbox which is slightly enlarged too continue to refine and direct the air that passes around the driver’s helmet towards the back.

Moving to the rear of the car, Honda seems to do a very good job with the PU cooling for this year, as Red Bull now adopts a very narrow and tight engine cover and the coke bottle area, something more extreme than we saw from Ferrari. From the rear wheels, we see nothing but a gaping hole as the bodywork is completely hidden in the middle. The sidepod curvature is a lot stronger with the rear pull-rod suspension mounts a bit higher especially the lower wishbone as used on the RB15. No T-wings were seen so far and a twin pillar layout is used to support the rear wing. This compliments also with the split design of the wastegate exhaust to further enhance its gases flow efficiency towards the diffuser to generate that little bit of extra downforce.

With so many little details except the nose concept, which was quite surprising, this car looks quite interesting ( a norm when designed under the watch of Adrian Newey) and so is much awaited to hit the track. The spotlight will be on the team from Milton Keynes for sure. Will somehow manage to take on Mercedes and Ferrari? Verstappen is more than eager to do so…… watch this space!

Ferrari was the 2nd team to launch their 2020 F1 car in such an extravagant launch at Teatro Valli in Reggio Emilia. This year Ferrari will reach the 1000th F1 race, the most ever team to achieve this and to give tribute to this enormous feat, Ferrari named their 2020 F1 car: the SF1000.

A very important year for the Scuderia after the disappointment of last year in which they started with arguably a strong car but ended up trailing behind Mercedes later on a variety of tracks which weren’t matchable with the SF90 balance plus a combination of mishaps on and off the track. Vettel and Leclerc, in the huge need to be a stronger pairing this season will continue to push forward towards one aim, that of winning both titles as it’s been a while since the last one. Here is a round-up analysis of the technical aspects of the new car as seen during the launch.

From the first look and overall its a continuation/evolution from the SF90 as the rules remained stable but as Binotto said they went to the extreme with all the known concepts and tried to figure out the areas which they lacked last year. Regards the livery, red is more prominent and the matte finish retained (for less weight) with the retro-styled numbering used.

The front wing features the outwash and low drag coefficient concepts, an area very important to the car’s overall aero balance especially when you go to a higher raked car, although less downforce is expected to be produced from such design it will condition the airflow better towards the rest of the car. The typical thumb style nose with a flat upper surface was retained with a bit of refinement in the area between the tip and the pillar just behind the Y250 neutral zone. Also, the cape is used with a number of serrated elements just behind it. The bargeboards appear considerably different too, much work was done in a very sensitive area which is still quite open to being explored and works in conjunction with the front wing and feed the sidepods. It looks similar to what McLaren used on the MCL34 coupled with a boomerang styled flaps like Red Bull’s.

Sidepods continue to feature the high but tighter air inlet, with ahead of it a wide flow of conditioners that connect the monocoque to the aerodynamic elements outboard to manage the wake of the front wheels. As mentioned above, they put some seen effort around the coke bottle area which is more tighter and sculpted from the UPS decal rearwards towards the lower under the RayBan sponsor to further feed the diffuser and floor area section in front the rear tyres, where much of the low pressure generate downforce. With a new designed PU, the wheelbase was shortened too due to moved forward highly redesigned gearbox. 30mm improvement seems minimal but highly effective. Front suspension was touched a bit too with the top wishbone assembly ( mounting point to the chassis side) and the pushrod pickup point to the axle, to integrate with new brake ducts for maximum aero/cooling compromise.

The airbox feature horn wings like we used to see in mid-2000s that compliment the shortened and sleek engine cover (not more attached to the top camera area), these will help to direct airflow towards the rear wing rather than creating more downforce with the help of the featured double T-wing. With the newly designed gearbox (a prominent developed section), the rear pull-rod suspension was reprofiled to attach to it with minimal disruptions towards the diffuser. The rear of this car is worth to keep an eye on as it seems where they are going to gain some downforce on tracks (slow-mid speed) which they lacked last season. The reprofiled mirrors are made of 2-part segments as permitted by the rules. The floor also features slots and flick ups at its leading edge to eliminate the unwanted tyre squirt produced by the rear huge tyres. Overall the new SF1000 is much more tightly packed compared to its predecessor with a cooling system lowered for centre of gravity improvement. The race to the first updates starts now and a constant development process will be the key to success. Is this the car that will give Ferrari a first F1 title in 12 years? Only time will tell…….

We’re into February and another Formula 1 season is around the corner. This brings the much anticipated new car launches into a priority and Haas was the first team to unveil the first rendering images of their 2020 contender: the VF-20.

Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen

2019 was a dismal year for the US team with too many issues hindering their season from a political point of view due to their former main sponsor Rich Energy fiasco to the technical issues of the car which was too sensitive to operate into the optimal tyre temperature windows especially on long runs and in changing conditions.

Last year was effectively derailed by an upgrade that was introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix not delivering the step forward that had been hoped for. The changes cost the team both a loss of performance as well as forcing it down a sequence of races where it had to run its cars in different specifications. In the end, the problem was traced back to a wind tunnel correlation issue which it hopes that it has got on top off. So Haas are in urgent need to be and do better across all areas, as 2020 will be a breakthrough year before the new rules and budget cap kicks in next year. Something that they already confirmed that will keep operating within their current allocated budget of $150m, much less than the agreed!

From the first look, apart from its distinctive livery of red, white and black colors which dates back to their ‘original’ colors, the VF-20 looks much similar to last years’ Ferrari SF90, nearly in every area. Haas might be applying the philosophy of if it worked for them, why not try it ourselves, especially when the rules remained stable from 2019 and cars will be much more of an evolution of the previous machines rather than completely new designs. The front wing or let’s say the nose cone design look like the one Ferrari introduced during the 2019 Singapore GP and which Haas already tested few races later in Brazil. It lacks the S-duct air inlet on its side but a partial under-nose cape is mounted beneath the tip to guide airflow under the nose around the barge boards en route the floor, thus it will influence the front wings’ neutral section. It follows the trend for ‘outswept’ design around the end plates area.

Mirrors too seemed to be split into 2 parts with neater stalks installed to aid aerodynamic flow. This will complement the sidepods which are much of a refined design due to the low mounted side-impact support spar and to accommodate a tighter, much more slanted radiators. By doing so the car’s centre of gravity will be lowered. The triangular airbox arrangement too is taken from the SF90. This design will improve drag and airflow towards the rear wing but it is also based on the PU specification being used. Another noticeable area of improvement is the rear wing endplate which had been tested already the previous year and so retained. Also, the wastegate pipe layout is above the main exhaust outlet. Looking from the side, the rake of the VF-20 seems a bit higher than its predecessor.

Anyway, this was just a basic explanation about this car based only on the featured images. Obviously more parts, details, and upgrades will be added when it hit the track in Barcelona for the pre-season testing in a few days time and so we will have a clearer picture of the machine in which Grosjean and Magnussen will prove their worth of being retained and try to push the team up the midfield where they belong during the teams’ 5th season in the sport!

1960 would be the final season of the 2.5 litre Formula, and Jack Brabham retired from the opening race in Argentina with transmission trouble. His teammate Bruce McLaren made the early championship running winning in Argentina, helped by race leaders Stirling Moss and Jo Bonnier both hitting mechanical trouble. Moss finished 3rd, returning to the race in Maurice Trintignant’s Cooper.

Tragedy at Spa

Moss’s new rear-engined Lotus 18 appeared at Monaco, and he drove brilliantly in the wet to win from McLaren; Brabham was disqualified for receiving assistance from marshals after he spun off. Moss was also on top form at Zandvoort in the Durch Grand Prix. Challenging Brabham for the lead, he suffered a puncture, by the time the wheel was changed he found himself in 12th place, but managed to finish 4th, Brabham, who led from the start, was beginning a runoff of success. Moss was about to run out of luck in dramatic circumstances.

A series of dreadful accidents marked the Belgian GP at Spa. A wheel came off Moss’s Lotus during practice and he broke both legs; there were deaths in two separate incidents in the race itself both involving young British drivers. Alan Stacey was hit by a bird and Chris Bristow went off the road. Brabham won, with McLaren second. Jim Clark was in 5th place, gaining his first championship points. He had made an impressive debut at Zandvoort; though he succumbed to gearbox trouble, he tussled for 4th with Graham Hill.

Four in a row for Brabham

Brabham had another win on the fast Reims circuit. Phil Hill and Wolfgang con Trips, driving Ferraris, had been in contention, but both suffered from transmission failure and gave Brabham his third success. He made it four in a row at Silverstone, although Graham Hill got most of the praise. After stalling his BRM on the line, he roared through the field and took the lead, but spun off 7 laps short. Brabham received maximum points, and Surtees, who was in his debut year, took second, the motorcycling champion was driving for Lotus. Silverstone was his best finish, but his best performance probably came in the following race, in Portugal. He built up a 10-second lead over Brabham but was forced out of the race when his radiator split. Brabham profited, and his fifth consecutive victory assured him of another world title with two races still to go. Moss was back at the wheel for the race in Oporto, and was second at one point, but was disqualified for pushing his car in the wrong direction after a spin.

Ferrari’s hollow victory at Monza

The championship may have been decided by Monza, but there was still controversy. Many considered the banked sections of the circuit dangerous, and the British teams boycotted the event in protest. Ferrari were left to sweep the board, Phil Hill winning his first championship race. Apart from that somewhat meaningless victory, it had been a wretched year for Ferrari, and the team didn’t bother to contest the United States Grand Prix, staged at River Side. Moss won, ending the series on a high note, and his victory also meant that Climax engined cars had won every race apart from Monza. Ferrari certainly understood the implications, and their persistence with front-engined cars was about to end.