Formula 1 cars have become longer and longer in recent years. New photos of the “naked” Ferrari from Mugello now show how the engineers artificially extended the wheelbase. But an end to the stretch limo trend is already in sight.
Many fans will probably not have noticed it yet. But if you place a Formula 1 racer of the current generation next to a ten-year-old model, you could almost believe that the scales are different. In direct comparison, earlier racing cars almost look like toy cars.
The fact that the modern F1 generation is so much bigger is due, among other things, to the fatter tyres and wider wings that were introduced for the 2017 season. At that time the cars grew 20 centimetres wider. The intervention was necessary to bring the proportions back into balance.
However, the ratio of length to width threatened to get out of hand again in the end. The distance between the two axles grew more and more. On old tracks with narrow pit lanes, such as in Melbourne or now in Mugello, pilots can hardly roll out of their garages without getting stuck somewhere.
More length equals more downforce
The pioneer of this trend was Mercedes. The design department of the world champion team was the first to realise that extending the cars would enable more efficient aerodynamics at the rear. The aim of the engineers is to guide the air as tightly as possible around the side boxes and without turbulence over the diffuser. In the ideal case, the clean airflow ensures significantly higher downforce values at the rear.
However, a long wheelbase is not entirely unproblematic. In theory, this trick is particularly noticeable on narrowly angled courses. The stability in fast corners was bought by the technicians for a long time with a less agile steering behaviour in slow corners. But thanks to modern suspension technology the problem could be alleviated. In the meantime, the more than five-metre long F1 rockets also fly through the Monaco crash barrier labyrinth without any problems.
Pictures taken by AMuS photographers in Mugello now show for the first time the way in which the engineers pull the cars so extremely long. During one of the two race interruptions, Ferrari had kindly parked Sebastian Vettel’s company car in the pit lane without the carbon bonnet. Of course, the paparazzi didn’t let AMuS ask them for long.
One meter space between engine and rear axle
Even if you don’t know anything about technology, you’ll immediately notice the long exhaust pipe, which extends from the engine to the rear under the rear wing. So you can easily see where the V6 engine ends. Behind it, only the gearbox with the differential should follow, which, thanks to its compact design, takes up hardly more than half a metre of installation space.
Even without precise measurements, the pictures clearly show that there is considerably more than half a metre between the engine and the rear axle. Apparently there is still plenty of air in the gearbox housing, to which the engine is attached at the front and the suspensions at the rear. Cautious estimates suggest that the carbon box was artificially stretched by almost half a meter.
The fascinating pictures also show the staggered radiators in the side boxes. The arrangement in several stages is intended to provide a more compact accommodation and more efficient heat dissipation. In the gap between the radiators and the underbody you can see a lot of electronic elements, which are placed very low and far in front in the chassis for better balance.
Moderate wheelbase reduction
The aesthetes among the fans have long been a thorn in the side of the artificially extended cars. When stationary, the racing cars therefore appear ponderous and less aggressive. No comparison to the much crisper F1 models of the 80s and 90s. Therefore, the wheelbases should be significantly reduced with the new generation, whose introduction has now been postponed to 2022 due to the Corona crisis.
But in the end the cosmetic surgery was not quite as simple as the technical department around F1 sports boss Ross Brawn had imagined. The modern V6 turbo-hybrid engines need considerably more space under the bonnet than the old suckers. Above all, intercoolers and batteries cannot be reduced in size so easily.
After lengthy discussions with the teams’ engineers, the newly introduced wheelbase limit of 3.60 metres turned out to be far less restrictive than hoped for. By way of comparison, the distance between the two axles is currently just under 3.70 metres. So only about 10 centimetres would have been gained. The cars would therefore not fall below the five-metre mark in overall length.
Which aero-philosophy has a future?
It is still unclear what effect the reduction of the wheelbase will have on the car’s hiring. With the “high-rake” principle, much downforce is gained through the larger air volume under the diffuser. Here, however, the new regulations limit the possibilities of “locking” the air with artificial vortices under the car, i.e. preventing it from escaping to the outside.
Cars with less power gain the downforce to a greater extent on the upper side. So in theory they benefit more from the additional space that guarantees a clean and stable flow to the wing elements. Whether 10 centimetres less clearance will make a big difference, however, is difficult to estimate.
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