Will the Formula 1 cars of 2023 come up with extreme solutions on the body? Expectations are growing that the racing teams will invest more energy in the bodywork. The reason for this is that two predictions about the new regulations have not come true.
For example, Formula 1’s tightly knit set of rules for the 2022 season has fueled fears that all cars could look the same. The regulations give the designers much less freedom for unconventional solutions. In the first year of the regulations, this expectation was not fulfilled.
Especially with the sidepods, the teams come up with a variety of solutions. Ferrari relies on an “inwash” solution, Red Bull on “downwash” and Mercedes completely dispenses with the side box.
However, as the season progresses, teams are becoming more aligned with their ideas as they gain a better understanding of what works and what doesn’t with the new cars. This is where the second prediction comes into play, which has not been fulfilled.
This states that performance depends primarily on how the airflow is managed on the underside of the vehicle. Instead, teams have come to realize that the body is just as important when it comes to improving underbody and diffuser performance.
Why the focus moves back up
It is therefore expected that in 2023 teams will have a greater focus on the top of the car and come up with extremely aggressive solutions.
Alan Permane, Team Alpine Sport Director, says: “We still find many improvements to be made on the underbody and on the upper. I expect that the lessons learned will inevitably lead to more extreme solutions in the coming year.”
“Where we’re currently limited on packaging by radiators, exhaust and things like that, we can make changes for the coming year.”
McLaren Engineering Director James Key says the bodywork has to be gotten right after the teams are so limited in everything else.
“It was a learning process because we have so fewer parameters available and therefore have to switch to completely different parameters. As a result, bodywork has become more important. It’s one of the few areas in which you still have a lot of freedom.”
“Of course you would have had things like this last year [bei der Entwicklung des 2022er-Autos] could do, but it was a significantly smaller point than what could be found with the bargeboard and diffuser. Now all that is done, so you have to move on to the next area. And that’s where the body plays an important role.”
The side boxes are far from finished
Mercedes caused a lot of excitement with its concept without any side boxes. So there is the theory that the omission of the sidepods contributed greatly to the “porpoising” problems.
Mercedes insists that’s not the case, but Key admits that airflow over the body plays an important part in the performance of the current generation of Formula One.
“What you do on the sidepods complements what you do under the car in many ways,” he says. “There are still different philosophies. Look at Ferrari with the ‘inwash’ concept, they have a fast car. I think we haven’t learned the lesson with these rules by a long shot.”
“There’s still a lot to learn and the teams don’t agree on what the sidepod design needs to be. We see different solutions and I’m not sure it will be over by next year.”
“Yes, it’s all about the underbody, but everything that’s done around it like bodywork, suspension and so on is there to support it.”
It will be exciting to see what solutions teams will come up with in 2023. Will the reorganized focus cause the disparities between the teams to widen as they pursue increasingly aggressive solutions? Or will they all work more or less towards the same solution? We’ll find out at Launches 2023.