A brand new technical challenge
In Formula One, major regulation changes have usually been designed
to limit performance and provide the technical teams with new
constraints to work within. The new rules for 2017 opened up a new and
exciting challenge – the freedom to explore a more generous set of
regulations, coupled with the uncertainty of not knowing exactly where
targets should be set, or what will represent a good result.
If last year’s W07 was all about refinement and elaborate, detailed
evolution, the W08 project has gone back to first principles. With the
car having to be designed before running the definitive 2017 tyres, and
in some parts before the regulations had even been finalized, it was
important to arrive quickly at a sound base architecture, while
following a flexible, adaptable philosophy to allow scope for major
developments during the season. With this in mind, only 17% of the
components in W08 have been carried over from its predecessor, with the
team’s main focus lying on optimizing the car within the new aerodynamic
regulations.
This is also the first major regulation change to occur under the
Aerodynamic Testing Regulations (ATR), which limit every team to the
same maximum amount of wind tunnel testing – 65 runs per week. Given the
extent of the regulation changes, the first W08 concept ran in the
team’s 60% Brackley wind tunnel before the first race of last season and
has completed over 2,000 runs during its development so far.
In addition to the new shapes of front and rear wing, the biggest
areas of aerodynamic opportunity are the floor and the barge board area
in front of the sidepods, which have been the focus of significant work.
And while the performance opportunity has been significant, the design
teams have also worked to improve the W08 structurally in order to
withstand the substantial increases in aerodynamic and mechanical loads.
The Power Unit, christened M08, has also been comprehensively
redesigned for the new season. Although the previous token system did
not constrain power unit development since 2014, its abolition allows
the technical group more freedom for engineering solutions.
As ever, much focus has been on the primary energy conversion
opportunity – the combustion process – but there are also many
opportunities for gains further downstream, including within the engine
ancillaries. The new aerodynamic regulations have had a significant
impact on the configuration of the engine which, as a structural
component of the car, must cope with significantly greater physical
loads. To maintain its structural properties, the engine is therefore
slightly heavier than its predecessor.
In addition to this comes an increased duty cycle, with the cars
expected to spend approximately 10% more of every lap at full throttle –
a change that is reflected in a 5% increase in race fuel allowance for
the new season. M08 has also been designed for increased durability,
with only four Power Units per driver per season permitted by regulation
in 2017.
