The alarming speed gains that prompted F1’s 2021 changes

That is because beyond the natural evolution of designs, there are some new rules regarding floor area and other car components that are aimed at cutting performance.The target of the changes – which include the removal of an area of the floor and new limits on brake ducts and diffuser dimensions – was to cut downforce by around 10 percent.It was prompted by the fact that Pirelli’s tyres were being put under ever greater stresses by the rampant march forward that teams were making on the performance front. The gains in lap time, allied to F1’s car being the heaviest they have ever been, meant tyres were having to cope with the biggest forces ever experienced in F1 history. That opened the door for a greater risk of tyre failures, as we saw at last year’s British Grand Prix where, with Silverstone being one of the toughest tracks for cars with such high-speed corners, the end of the race was marred by a number of failures.The only route open for Pirelli to minimise the dangers of repeated tyre failures was to mandate ever increasing minimum tyre pressures – which was great for maintaining the robustness of tyres but is something… Read full this story

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