The FIA says 2017 Formula 1 cars will be up to 40km/h quicker through the high-speed corners, so expect lap times to fall dramatically!
We all knew that this year’s new pack of F1 cars would be faster than their predecessors, due to the aero regulation changes and wider tyres.
But data from the FIA states that they could be up to 40km/h quicker through the fast corners, with speeds increasing in slower corners too.
That’s a significant step up in terms of performance, all thanks to the wider, more arrow-shaped front wings, lower rear wings and other smaller aero rule modifications.
It’s also thanks to there being more Pirelli rubber hitting the track because of the 25% wider tyres for 2017.
So, we’re not only expecting the cars to be awesome and aggressive to look at, but also a few seconds faster per lap too.
“Every single team has been asked to provide simulations for their 2017 cars,” said F1’s deputy race director Laurent Mekies on stage at the Autosport Show. “We used these simulations to feed our simulation software. We simulated every single track with the 2017 car, so there is much higher cornering speed. It’s up to 40 km/h faster in high-speed corners.”
We already knew the Albert Park Circuit in Australia had been told to make modifications to tyre walls and Tecpro barriers to make the circuits safer.
Apparently, according to Mekies, all of the F1 2017 tracks will receive a request from the FIA to make safety-related changes:
“Every single track is receiving from the FIA a request to upgrade based on that [speed increase]. That process is ongoing; we are doing it in the order of the championship. Therefore, not all the tracks have received it yet, but they will. Melbourne is OK.
“In a straight line, we want the walls close to the track. We want to limit the possibility for the car to take an angle and hit head-on. If instead you are looking at run-off areas at the end of a braking zone, we want the run-off to be as long as possible, according to the barriers we have.
“In some tracks, very often, we ask [for] the walls to get closer to the track, because if we lose a car there, we want it to be picked straight away by the walls and slide into it.”
Hurry up new F1 season!