Williams 2019 F1 front wing test, Hungaroring, 2018

F1 teams will recover lost performance from 2019 wings – Pirelli

2019 F1 season

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Formula 1 teams will recover the performance lost from new, lower-downforce front wings in 2019, Pirelli believes.

The FIA predicted the simpler front wing designs which will be introduced next year would make the cars up to one-and-a-half seconds per lap slower. However Pirelli said it has been advised by teams that their development programmes for the 2019 F1 season are likely to add that much performance to the cars.

“We ask the teams for some simulations that we should receive by the end of this month, to understand the impact,” explained Pirelli’s sporting director Mario Isola.

“Obviously the design of 2019 tyre also depends on the estimated downforce. To give you an idea, some of the teams said that at the beginning of 2019 the performance is probably in line with the beginning of 2018. So you cancel [out] one year of development by reducing the downforce.”

Pirelli is developing new tyre constructions for the 2019 cars, evaluating softer rubber and considering a reduction from the current seven dry-weather compounds.

“We are working on the construction in order to improve the wear profile because it is important to manage the degradation in a different way,” said Isola. “At the moment we have some areas where we can work to optimise the wear profile and how the tyre is working on the asphalt. So the first step is to optimise the construction, to make some changes to both front and rear and we are developing the new construct for next year.

“And obviously also to develop some different compounds because we know the target is also to reduce a little bit the number of compounds, we don’t want to have seven next year. But also with the right delta lap time between the levels.”

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14 comments on “F1 teams will recover lost performance from 2019 wings – Pirelli”

  1. SOFTER? WHY!

    1. @RB13 Why softer? To increase the chances of something other than one-stop races? To make the cars faster?

      1. With the caveat of a more pronounced tyre-saving mode during the races, which was seen in Monaco and Montreal. Theoretically, if drivers had harder tyres, they could push harder for longer.

        1. @brickles The current tyres are already very hard.

          1. @jerejj – Yet drivers often still have to manage their tyres… odd.

      2. @jimg because that’s worked really well this year hasnt it? At least last year we had one stoppers where the pace was pretty relentless. This year it’s one stoppers with a ton of tyre management.

        1. I think the tyres are awkward at the moment because they’re not quite hard enough for an easy one stop but don’t wear fast enough to be worth two stopping.

          They could make them slightly harder to mean less tyre management on a one stop strategy but I would rather they go softer so a two stop is ideal but you can also just about stretch to one or even do a 3 stop race using the softest compounds.

          Also softer is faster and means more grip which should encourage overtaking.

          1. No pitstops in dry MotoGPs, = better racing.

  2. The constant argument of F1 fans…. the cars need to be as fast as possible vs the need to make them slower to get better racing

    1. If the cars can be faster with less complex wings then maybe there is some truth to the allegations that current wings are designed to create as much turbulence behind the car as possible (without inducing extra drag on the car).

      1. @hohum – Oh…I like that theory! Conspiring to increase one’s own performance to the detriment of a competitor is what makes F1 great. In an unfair style of great. ;-)

  3. Look, we all know the peformance lost with these new wide front wings will be found elsewhere. The question is, will how they do it create the some wake issue for following cars, as the smaller wings they replaced. Or maybe put it another way. Have the regulations closed off enough loop holes designs to emerge allowing cars to follow each other for long enough to pass with or without drs.

    1. @bonbonjai, That indeed is the question, but what will the answer be ? I’m not any more optimistic this time, haven’t been since they announced wider tyres for more mechanical grip and then went on to make it a purely aesthetic change by adding bigger wings too.

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