What if they said the only limitations for the cars were: ***kg weight, up to 6.0L V12 and open wheels? Any aero they can come up with (but cannot change between races). Any tire tread and size. Any material. What would they be like? Would they end up somewhere more like fender-less LMP cars?
If the above rules were allowed, I believe the issue would not be a ceiling for the car performance itself, rather the ceiling would be what the human body would be capable of withstanding and controlling without passing out due to extreme g force and acceleration let alone Intel processor speed thinking capabilities to navigate a circuit. As F1 sits right now there are few who are able to fully drive these cars.
The Red Bull X2014. This is what Newey came up with when he was allowed complete freedom. Image Unavailable, Please Login
And even then, they are neutered for aero to supposedly increase competition and passing. I also understand that they have so many rules on testing to help the smaller teams keep a more reasonable budget. With the shared engines and lack of tire options it's feeling more and more NASCAR-ish. But it would be exciting to see an unlimited type of class that really pushed the maximum engineering and human performance. Fascinating - I hadn't seen that, but it's pretty close to what I imagined. I figured more and bigger wings.
That is a car that is in Gran Turismo. It is a freaking handful to drive, as it's limits are ridiculously high. Here is Vettel driving it in the game...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=nu5UvgIcMOg
Wings would make the car slower due to drag whereas something like ground effects wouldn't. However, active aero with adjustable wings would be a lot better than the fixed wings they currently have in F1. Jenson Button set the top speed record in F1 back in the Honda factory team days. He went basically 400km/hr on the salt flats and still kept to F1 regulations, but there was no rear wing...just a single fixed "rudder" that was the equivalent to the rear wing endplate just to meet regulation. Honda F1 sets land speed records at Bonneville
Unlimited aero and tire development would create 7-8G cornering It would be not be possible to for any driver to control the car
The ultimate would be drone cars controlled from a command centre by 'drivers in VR environments' - bit like controlling UAVs today. The reason for this is human body limitations as stated previously. Downforce via ground effect would be enormous. Engine power with all the ERS magic that can be mustered today would be (at a guess) 2,000hp. The entire car would be engineered to last one race and be junked - thereby minimising weight all round. Etc etc.
I think this is close to what un limited would be. As may suggested here its the human limits that would define the actual cars limitations. I would say that with super computers that can monitor the driver - it should automatically tie in to the amount of G's cornering and lateral .. so that way the car can never go above the pre set limit... ( accidents excepted.) but that would be the risk. with out rules - active aero - fans to suck the car down etc... wings would be much less prominent and used to sculpt the air flow rather than generate down force. as for engines - lots more ceramic and exotic metals. i think in time a fully carbon engine would emerge with less and less use of oils, and petrol. graphite lubricated parts, hydrogen fuel etc... vectoring motors for stering etc..
I suspect they would look a lot like the full ground effects cars of the 1980s. With the amount of knowledge they have aerodynamically, the cornering levels would be at around 8 Gs. braking at 10Gs. The HP of a 6L V12 would be close to 2000+ HP. 0-60 in 1 second
There was an interesting article in F1 Racing about this 10 years ago. They asked Williams what they would do if they were given total freedom and they came with a six wheels car (4 at the back) with side skirts, no front wing and a simple spoiler at the back. Active suspension, aero, ABS, TC, etc... The drivers would probably need anti-g suits like in jet fighters. The car would drive itself automatically most of the time with input from the driver just for overtaking or pit stops and the winning driver would be the one who could hold a gp distance without fainting because of the Gs. Scary, isnt' it?
I bet movable aero would be one of the first things to go on, such that the wings would be flat on the straights and as the steering wheel turned all the downforce aero would progressively increase. I remember designing this on my billy cart as a 5 yo and it only made more sense as I got older, unfortunately I don't think it did anything on the billy cart
+1 (Almost....) Remember the great Jim Halls Chaparrals? I saw the 2H (Sorry, don't recall the model # ?) at Brands "back in the day" - Flat wing till the jockey hit the anchors, then it tilted to a pretty extreme angle - Was awesome to watch, even if a little crude by today's standards.... (It's possible I'm remembering wrong and there was a 4th pedal that did the manipulation? Nowadays of course, the computers would take care of it.....) However, I too think given active suspension and the return of skirts we wouldn't see any wings at all - They'd just suck themselves down. The drag/downforce equation is one they still battle with today..... It's a *very* fine line between top speed & cornering ability..... As I'm sure you know, the all conquering Cans (& laterly Mercs?) were never at the top of the speed charts. Probably zero benefit on a billy cart.... Other than added weight and more "area" to carry sponsors logos of course..... Cheers, Ian
Let them make the cars as fast as they can be. Then it would up to having the best driver with the most skill, guts, and ability to withstand the Gs. Drivers would just have to regulate the speed so they don't die. Sounds like real racing to me.
Personally, I'd like to see a return to a diverse field, but "Formula" implies restrictions. That said, it would be great to see manufacturers creating these machines with limited constraints. But, I don't think you can achieve this with cost controls in place. F1 is already outrageously expensive, and imagine how much more it would be if the controls were relaxed. Still, maybe the monies would be spent better and more efficiently? In other words, instead of spending millions on tweaking designs for air flow or whatever, designers think outside of that. Would be interested to hear what LMPDesigner has to say on that "balance". CW
600kg? 6 liters could be making several thousand horsepower add unlimited aero and grip for BIG G forces and horrific crashes Better yet, bring back Can-Am
