Quote:
Originally Posted by Taxi645
Well perhaps I should accept we live in a world that prioritizes the look of a car over the ability of a racing driver being able to look out of his cockpit and see the damn parts of the track he is being well paid to navigate around...
If these F1 cars weren't such enormous barges, smaller wheels would look perfectly proportionate. I didn't hear anyone complain about the small wheels and tires on the 2021 cars though.
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At least two cars from the 1968 season already used
15" wheels:
Front rims: 15x8.5"
Rear rims: 15x9.5" (Lotus 43 sizes, 49 may be wider)
Front rims: 15"x9.65"
Rear rims: 15"x11.5" (Honda RA273 rim sizes)
Source:
http://srmz.net/index.php?showtopic=4952
Therefore 13" wheels with high profile tyres being regulated in Formula One was surely
arbitrary and of no real engineering basis? I think the rear wheels were restricted to 13" first, as teams still had a choice of 15" fronts in the early 80's.
Why stick to 13" when USAC allowed 15" to the present day with no issue? 13" is so arbitrary, adopting 18" is perfectly fine... The only drawback is the FIA increasing the total tyre diameter as well, which is silly.
18" wheels with 680mm tyres (so only +10mm instead of +55mm) look perfectly ok:
