Adrian Newey believes the regulation changes for 2012, which in particular focus on where the exhaust gases exit, will create a major challenge for the designers.
Many have dismissed next years changes as minor, considering the huge changes to the regulations over the past three years, but Newey, the designer behind the RB6 and RB7 which won this and last years championships, doesn’t agree.
“Banning the blown diffuser [as a result of the top exiting exhausts] is a big change,” Newey told the Telegraph. “It has a fundamental affect on the aerodynamics of the car which then knocks on through the car. It is an enormous challenge to stay at the top,” he explained.
Whilst the RB8 will be an evolution of the current car, it will require major changes to the rear which have, in recent years, been wholly designed around the blown-diffuser concept pioneered by Red Bull in 2010.
“The RB7 was designed pretty much from the outset with that exhaust location,” added Newey. “Everyone else, possibly with the exception of Ferrari but probably without exception, copied what we did. Whether they got as much performance out of it as we did having designed are car around it is difficult to know.”
Other changes next season include lower noses to avoid accidents whereby a car is launched into the air when making contact with the rear of another car, as seen with Mark Webber in Valencia last season.
Discussion about this post