[Rules] Future Rule Changes

[Richard C]

Originally Posted by chillibowl

thanks for the response and link Richard.

Originally Posted by chillibowl

definitely like the idea of a cheaper simpler solution but what happens if everyone is fast in the corners as well as fast in the straights? rather where would one find the performance and speed differences needed to affect overtaking? is this trading one solution for another problem kind of situation?

I think F1 has this issue in which they want performance parity between team as the idea is that they will close up the gaps and create "Good Racing ®", but this is also going to likely create not just performance parity over an entire lap, but likely at most places on the circuit as teams figure out there is typically one way to get to the "fastest lap". So no "some cars optimized for speed" and "some optimized for cornering". I expect most will have broadly similar performance characteristics/goals. Not to mention drivers not making mistakes, car reliability being high, short pitstops, etc. Meaning it may still be hard to pass as the other guy is just as quick as you. Which is why something like DRS or a "push to pass" is going to likely remain. F1 technical regulations are this long term experiment that never quite gets to the perfect answer. Not to mention I am not sure we even agree on what the question is!

Originally Posted by chillibowl

about the porpoising issue...i guess this will also be a problem for the post 2026 cars hence why they are looking at active suspension?

As long as they continue to use the underbody aero, the potential for porpoising remains. That article I linked is from 2022 when the porpoising was a problem and there was talk about how active suspension would fix it (which it would). I don't know if 2026 cars are expected to be more susceptible or not, but they might be. If they have active aero that is reducing drag, it's likely that this will impact downforce as well. So I can imagine that as the active aero is switched on/off it might create dynamic increases/decreases in downforce which might aggravate or trigger porpoising or not! What do I know, I am not an aerodynamicist! Again, I think the talk of active suspension is likely "instead of" and not "in addition to" active aero in the article posted earlier.

Richard