GPWizard F1 Forum
F1 News & Discussions => General F1 Discussion => Topic started by: John S on March 17, 2011, 08:25:50 PM
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Makes more sense to do it before Flappy Wings surely, not after if this research is right? :confused:
With the noses seemingly higher than ever this season I just hope we don't get any more cars reaching for the sky again.
Formula 1 could make moves to change the design of high noses over the next few years in a bid to try and avoid a repeat of the type of take-off accident that Mark Webber suffered in Valencia last year.
That is the view of the FIA Institute's technical advisor Andy Mellor, who reckons that cars being launched into the air after nose-to-wheel collisions, like when Webber struck the back of Heikki Kovalainen's Lotus, could be eradicated by tweaking regulations.
Speaking in the FIA Institute's new IQ magazine, Mellor reckons that ongoing research into F1 collisions may point to the fact that lower nose designs may be better.
"The key aspect is the nose height of the car behind, as this will determine whether or not launch occurs," said Mellor, who said more conventional designs often mean a nose will 'submarine' under a rear wheel rather than lift up in a collision.
"Another influential factor is velocity and the resulting fore-aft acceleration and vertical acceleration."
He added: "Nose-to-wheel science is solved. There are very definite parameters by which these contacts do not cause a launch. The knowledge exists, so it just needs to be eradicated."
Rather than banning high noses total, it is suggested that changes could be made to the design of the front wings so that they help keep the nose down in the event of a collision with a rear wheel.
AutoSport /Eurosport, Today.
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I hope they move to lower noses, I never liked the high ones. Less front down force in all situations will help with passing as well.
Lonny
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I don't like how they look and can't imagine that they aren't more dangerous in crashes (for the other guy)
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Me too, Scott. They look like a battering ram stuck way up there.
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How many times have we seen a car 'submarine' under another car?
Yes, having a car flip over and land on the roll hoop is scary. It's also rare, and generally safe because of the said roll hoop.
When it comes to cars on top of other cars, with tires or hot exhausts, or even fractured carbon fibre resting right on a crash helmet, it happens far more often. A lower wedge shaped car will not help.
I agree the lower nose looks better, but I don't believe it will be safer over all.
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I think the high nose is one of the things that separates F1 cars
from ordinary open wheelers.I liked the barge boards too
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Iconoclast :P
Lonny