2008 technical regulations (draft) released

[Blake]

The draft of the 2008 technical regulations has been released.

You can download the draft here.

Blake

 

[amp88]

"All further bodywork dimensions will be fixed in consultation with the teams which have indicated their
intention to compete in the 2008 Formula One World Championship with the following objectives :
- downforce to be reduced to approximately 10% of current maximum levels ;
- drag to equal or exceed current levels in high-downforce configuration ;
- wake of car to facilitate close running of car behind in corners and on straight."

About time!

"5.16 Starting the engine :
All cars must be fitted with a starter which is capable of starting the engine at any time during the Event
when operated by the driver whilst in his normal seating position."

Interesting...the drivers start the engine themselves, rather than using the current starter, done by another member of the team

"9.3 Gear changing
Every gear change must be carried out manually by the driver using a chassis mounted lever or actuator
which is connected to the gearbox via a mechanical system. During each gear change any modulation of
the engine output must be made manually by the driver."

£9.4.1 The clutch may only be operated manually by the driver via a single chassis
connected to the clutch operating mechanism via a mechanical system."

A return to manual boxes...good!

"12.4.1 Complete wheel width must lie between 390 and 405mm when fitted to the front of the car and between
490 and 505mm when fitted to the rear."

16 inch front tyres and 20 inch rears...more mechanical grip...good

"b) No competitor may carry out more than 30000km of testing during a calendar year."

A new(?) limit to testing distance

 

[RSCosworth]

I'm sure these regulations will make the racing safer and closer, but I can't say I'm happy with these. F1 is the highest level of circuit racing and the cars are supposed to be devilishly fast and extremely high-tech. And now we are reducing downforce, going back to manual gearboxes, and reducing the power of the cars. I think it's wrong against the sport but oh well..

 

[Blake]

So they use the word "competitor" a fair few times in those regulations. I'm wondering whether a competitor is a driver or a team. I'm assuming it's a team, anyone know how they define it?

Blake

 

[amp88]

So they use the word "competitor" a fair few times in those regulations. I'm wondering whether a competitor is a driver or a team. I'm assuming it's a team, anyone know how they define it?

Blake

I think it's a bit unclear, sometimes it appears to mean the driver, e.g.

"1.16 Camera housing :
A device which is identical in shape and weight to a camera and which is supplied by the relevant
Competitor for fitting to his car in lieu of a camera."

...and other times it appears to mean the team, e.g.

"6.6.1 Competitors must provide a means of fully draining the fuel tank."

Overall, though, I'd say competitor means the driver, but then I could be wrong (of course)

 

[Beelzebub]

alright, no traction control, sequential gearbox makes less predictable racing. im all for it. (reminds me of sennas monaco qualifying vid )

 

[FWA2500]

some bits i like, others i think destroy the nature of the sport (eg: limiting speeds).....F! has always been showing just how far humans can push automotive technology in terms of speed, tech and the car its self.....

 

[katana87]

I think that F1 should be the sport of all sports. Crap Le Mans I think is a better motorsport now. F1 needs more power and as much technology that you can fit in those cars. Put a freaking Jet engine if you have to

IA

 

[Brett]

I don't really like the idea of so many standards. Like standard ECU, standard gearboxes, standard brakes, etc. The FIA may as well come out and say they want to copy CART because that is basically sounding like what they are wanting to do. Pretty much every one of the ideas for revisions on F1.com sound like something from CART. And heck while they are at it, they might as well specify a standard engine for all the teams and make it last the entire year.

I think F1 does need to slow down some and make passing more possible, but not as the expense of making everything standard between the teams. That dumbs things down and defeats the purpose of F1 being the ultimate form of engineering in motorsport.

 

[Mclaren_Man]

I reckon that one of the main problem with the lack of overtaking is based on the fact that all of these new modern tracks aren't producing enough opportunities, i mean sure all of the aerodynamics makes it more difficult, but if we had some of the classic circuits back we would see more overtaking.

Having said this the risk for the drivers would probably increase

 

[Appie]

There destroying F1 and they taken out the nice V10 3.0 and put a V8 2.4 there out of their mind

 

[SouL]

I reckon that one of the main problem with the lack of overtaking is based on the fact that all of these new modern tracks aren't producing enough opportunities, i mean sure all of the aerodynamics makes it more difficult, but if we had some of the classic circuits back we would see more overtaking.

Having said this the risk for the drivers would probably increase

\

You can't blame everything on technology. At the end of the day, it's the driver's decision if they want to attempt an overtaking maneuver. You can build a race track that gives an opportunity to overtake at EVERY corner... and I guarantee that you won't see an increase in position changes in races.
Overtaking is risky because you increase the likelyhood of having contact and causing an accident, which would effectively end the involved drivers' race. It's statistically better to overtake in the pits than on the course.

Gaining position is important, that's true. But everyone wants to finish the race.

Senna in the past was able to overtake his way through the lead because he bullied his way through. He would risk everything to gain position, and in doing so, scared the other drivers when he was approaching in the side mirrors at an upcoming corner. Senna left it to the other driver if the 2 of them were going to have accident or not. More often than not, the other driver would back away and let Senna through.

 

[Brett]

There destroying F1 and they taken out the nice V10 3.0 and put a V8 2.4 there out of their mind

I don't see this as destroying the series. There are much more serious things that are destorying the series and reducing engine size is not one of them. Though I do think the engine manufacturers should have the choice of the type of engine they build, instead of being mandated on a specific configuration.

 

[Omnis]

How long till the unlimited seperatist league?

 

[Mclaren_Man]

\

You can't blame everything on technology. At the end of the day, it's the driver's decision if they want to attempt an overtaking maneuver. You can build a race track that gives an opportunity to overtake at EVERY corner... and I guarantee that you won't see an increase in position changes in races.
Overtaking is risky because you increase the likelyhood of having contact and causing an accident, which would effectively end the involved drivers' race. It's statistically better to overtake in the pits than on the course.

Gaining position is important, that's true. But everyone wants to finish the race.

Senna in the past was able to overtake his way through the lead because he bullied his way through. He would risk everything to gain position, and in doing so, scared the other drivers when he was approaching in the side mirrors at an upcoming corner. Senna left it to the other driver if the 2 of them were going to have accident or not. More often than not, the other driver would back away and let Senna through.

Ok i understand that it is the drivers issue if he cant overtake, but if you watch the broadcast of a race you can visually see that the straights arent long enough for the drivers to get close enough to overtake under braking. So the aerodynamics is an important part of the equation as it doesn't allow the cars to get closer during corners.
If however we had tracks with much longer straights (like Indy) followed by a heavy braking zone i think you would see more overtaking. That is why i was so disappointed by Indy because there is normally lots of overtaking happening at that track.
So basically what i am saying is that some of todays tracks arent designed with overtaking in mind (ie all of Herman Tike's circuits) especially with the long continius radius corners, they just piss me off .

 

[Blake]

I agree that the standardising of many parts is bad. I feel that is not what F1 should be about, parts shouldn't be standardised, it's just stupid. I mean Champ Car has spec cars and it's a great series (I don't want this debated), but it is not what F1 should be. F1 is the pinnacle of motorsport, and the pinnacle of motorsport shouldn't be using spec parts!

The way the cars are forced to use aerodynamics to get grip now is the main reason why there is no passing, because wings on the surface of the car depend on still air, and when the cars get in turbulant air the wings don't work well. If the cars could use ground effects more than they could now overtaking would increase because the cars could follow eachother and still be 'stuck' to the ground. Then again, increasing mechanical grip will also have that effect (allowing cars to follow eachother) but it will slow the cars down significantly.

The track design also has something to do with it but there is really little than can be done in terms of circuit design that will not cost millions of dollars, and decrease safety.

Blake

 

[Beelzebub]

technology advances can take the sport as far as it could, but at the end of the day, formula also has to think about its form of entertainment.

 

[Brett]

How long till the unlimited seperatist league?

I don't think an unlimited everything would be too great of a series. I think there needs to be regulations. The engineers will find away around the regulations one way or another. But I do think the way the FIA is going about making regulations right now is not the way regulations should be made, which is exactly why some things are wrong at the moment.

 

[Blake]

I think they should take off all wings and winglets and stuff and give the cars full ground effects, skirts and all. Would make the racing alot closer, maybe more dangerous though....

Blake