© F1i
LEGALITY BOXES
When they have to begin from a blank canvas, F1 engineers start drawing up the volumes and areas where they will place the parts and bodywork elements that will house key components such as the fuel tank, engine, transmission, etc.
“The starting points are really the regulations. You have to look at them and then construct where the legality boxes are. [It is worth remembering that technical regulations do not specify the dimensions for every single component – otherwise all cars would be the same. Instead, the rulebook marks out areas where engineers are free to place parts. For instance, Article 3.7.1 stipulate that the front wing be within a box defined by four lines, hence engineers speaking of ‘legality boxes’, or regulatory areas].
“That tells you where the driver’s feet can be compared to the bulkheads, where the fuel can be located behind the driver. It tells you where the bodywork has to sit.
“That gives you a framework, knowing where you can position key geometry, where the driver is going to sit and what homologation loads you have to design for.”
