© XPB Images
ACCOMODATING MANY PARALLEL PROCESSESS
It would be erroneous to think that F1 aerodynamicists are designing the car in isolation from the team’s other departments, leaving their colleagues with a set framework where they have to fit all the parts. F1 design is all about collaboration:
“There are many parallel processes going on. The aerodynamicists work with the body envelope to try to generate as much aero performance as they can. They might have a concept of what they want to do with the flow structures on the car, and then they think ‘how can we design a geometry that is going to achieve want we want?’
“We work in parallel with the engineers from Viry [Renault’s engine factory in France] to work out how we can package the back of the chassis and engine to effectively get the lightest car and one that will work well aerodynamically. So there is a lot of iteration and concepts being bounced between Viry and Enstone [Renault’s chassis department in the UK].”
© Renault F1
Let’s take the specific example of the fuel tank, which has to carry a 105kg load for a race. Engine and chassis engineers have to work and think together in order to come up with the best possible design, bearing in mind that the rear part of the tank sits close to the heat released by the V6 engine.
That means the right compromise has to be found between length and width: a larger tank will naturally have an impact on the design of the coolers, as well as determining airflow resistance. Likewise, increasing the energy recovery systems’ (ERS) operating temperatures would allow for smaller radiators, which in turn helps in terms of reducing aero drag.
