Quote:
Originally Posted by yellowperil
Question. Seems one of the rule changes this year allows a body panel
to hide the step in the step-nose, then what is the purpose of the step?
Why not have a smooth decline to the front of the nose like last years
early McLaren?? BTW I too like the look of this Lotus, but the step itself is
hideous to me. F1 cars are usually quite graceful but the step ruins that look IMO
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The nose structure needs to be below a certain height to insure if it spears another car, it impacts with crash structure, rather than say, another driver's helmet. To make the multilink suspension geometry work correctly, and to get maximum air flow under the car, the suspension needs to be high in the car. So the nose section is low, and the suspension behind it is high. Its purely a result of rules.
The ugly front wings of last year, are also a result of the rules. Its rear downforce that the car's need, not front, by "forcing" a certain amount of front square footage to the front wing in the rules, it pushes air away from the rear of the car, and keeps the speeds down. Rule makers need to keep the car's speed within the safety designs of the tracks.