AN ITERATIVE PROCESS
The design of a new F1 car is an iterative process, as engineers look to fine-tune existing concepts all the while exploring new avenues and ideas.
Teams use CFD (computational fluid dynamics) to assess the car’s aerodynamics before building scale models that will be run in their wind tunnel. The process is repeated over and over as shapes and volumes get refined.
Mechanical parts are also put to a whole battery of tests, which include a lot of back-and-forth to reach optimum robustness and rigidity. The finishing touches on the chassis design usually come in late summer.
Once the design office has signed off the key components, these still need to be manufactured, as we shall see in the third chapter, devoted to the car's design.
The birth of a Formula 1 car: 1. The conceptual work — 2. The production schedule — 3. The design — 4. The productio
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