Technical 2014 Technical Regulations

McLarens new sponsor to go with next seasons car:

2935628466_d1bee0cd93.jpg
 
Wow, that is an awful looking nose cone. How can they have produced two sets of regulations resulting in the two worst looking nose cones back to back. The stepped noses were really bad, but this just stinks of a lack of forethought.

How does this "hook" nose help? What's the point of it?
 
Remi Taffin -- who wears several ten gallon hats at Renault Motor Sports -- reportedly has been working in close coordination for more than three years with a certain Adrian Newey on the design and conformation of their 2014-formula V-6T. Which means rumours of the imminent collapse or Red Bull's dominance might be just a smidge exaggerated.

RBR wanted Renault to build an "A" spec (heavily Infinity-influenced) engine for them, and a "B" spec for all the other customer teams, but the FIA forbade that. So it would stand to reason that, as the next best thing, they would have have pressured Renault to release as little advance information as possible to their other customer teams. Not necessarily indicative of their position relative to the Ferrari and Mercedes-engined teams, but it probably put them a leg up on the other Renault-powered teams.

But if Newey already has been collaborating for three years with Renault on the conformation of the new engine/ERS, that means he also has for three years been refining the design of the RB10. The implications which are obvious.
 
Is Newey known as an engine builder? Red Bull might be the best at the start of 2014, but they might not. No-one has ever achieved perpetual domination of Formula One.
 
Is Newey known as an engine builder? Red Bull might be the best at the start of 2014, but they might not. No-one has ever achieved perpetual domination of Formula One.
The engine's internals aren't Newey's bailiwick, but the design of the sidepods and engine covers -- which shepherd the airflow through their radiators and intercoolers and past their outsides -- are.

The takeaway I get from that story is that, what with aero being so crucial in modern F1, Renault likely were engineering their power pack from day one to outside dimensions specified by Newey. And/or Newey was kept apprised of every change made to those dimensions. Which gave him opportunity to begin roughing out his 2014 chassis design and bodywork at the same time.

The new lower noses means aero boffins will have to begin retooling the airflow starting at the front wing. And the 2014 power pack is so much bulkier than current that from sidepod back, the shape of the 2014 cars will be dramatically different. Which adds up to one hell of a lot of work to produce a coherent, well-sorted design. It remains to be seen how mature other teams' designs will be but I suspect much of the RB10's design already will be as much as a four years old -- with refinement to match -- by the time it arrives at Jerez.
 
We're going to have a 3 way fight for 2014 and beyond until the teams with the customer engines catch up with the main teams.
 
Back
Top Bottom