Racing Point doesn't suspect Red Bull will suffer high rake in 2021
General
- GPblog.com
Because the new regulations have been postponed by one year until 2022, Formula 1 has decided to impose aerodynamic restrictions as from next season. This was done so that the Pirelli tyres would not have to endure even more. The teams will continue to look for more downforce for their cars.
For example, the choice has now been made to drive with less advanced floors, which means that less juggling can be done with the air currents underneath the car due to the race teams . As a result, a lot of downforce is lost. It is therefore very likely that the 2021 cars will be slower than the cars that will be driven next season.
"It is true that there are no other limitations in terms of aerodynamic development, but I would be very surprised if a team manages to compensate for that loss of downforce. I think we're going to see the fastest lap times in 2020 and not 2021," Andrew Green said in an interview with Auto, Motor und Sport.
Small intervention, big consequences
The fact that everyone now has to drive with a similar floor seems like a small intervention, but according to the technical director of Racing Point the whole car will have to be recalibrated in order to limit the losses. "We have to rebalance the car," says the British top man.
Former McLaren-engineer Marc Priestley recently said it could be that Red Bull Racing is one of the teams that will lose the most speed because of the rules in 2021. That would be because the RB16 has a very high rake. At Racing Point, however, they don't think that the other top teams like Mercedes and Ferrari (with a lower rake) will have a significant advantage.
Simulations are the same
"Our simulations say that both concepts will be hit hard. It is clear that cars with a lot of downforce will lose proportionally more than cars with little downforce. That should bring the field closer together. On the other hand, the top teams will remain at the forefront because they can still prepare themselves with their usual way of working," says Green, who also points out that the budget ceiling is not yet in place and that the teams with high budgets can still do what they want for a few more months.