The Future Of Formula One

The radical new rules intended to make F1 worth staying up for again

THREE SECONDS. That’s how much slower Formula One cars will be when the sport introduces a sweeping set of rule changes to revamp operations from the ground up in 2021.

However, what the sport stands to gain in return is much more important. Under these new rules, devised over two years between the FIA, F1, and owners Liberty Media, it’s believed cars should be able to follow a leading vehicle at one car length with only a 14 per cent loss of downforce.

Currently, cars lose 45 per cent downforce at the same distance, robbing them of the chance to keep the pressure on the car ahead. It’s no wonder Lewis Hamilton holds the record for the most wins from pole position.

Key to changing this is a radical new aerodynamic philosophy that forces cars to rely on ground effects from a tunneled underfloor instead of being wing-dominated. It’s the latter, and the bits designed to maximize each wing’s effectiveness, that push turbulent ‘dirty air’ outwards at the car behind.

Instead, the new ground-effects package retains this dirty air within bodywork before lifting it over and out of the following car’s way. Its projected gains improve even more at three car lengths, where the loss of downforce is claimed to be only six per cent instead of 32.