Pierre Waché: “The risk of missing out is not small”

Expected by some, feared by others, the upheaval brought by the new regulations F1, which will come into force in 2017, will constitute one of the determining factors in the face of the next season in the World Championship.

For several weeks, the technical managers of the teams have been working on the future single-seaters which will be used on the world circuits next year. Chassis, management of Pirelli tires, which are currently developed by the Italian manufacturer, helped by Mercedes, Ferrari et Red Bull, but also impact on the Power Units will be crucial elements, but the new aerodynamics proposed by future cars will remain one of the critical points for engineers.

“We are all facing a profound questioning of the functioning of tires, aerodynamics, and at the end of the chain, the car, says Pierre Waché, head of vehicle dynamics at Red Bull. It’s another car, with a step to take at least identical to that imposed between 2008 and 2009.”

According to the French engineer, the good integration of all parameters will remain essential, under penalty of immediate sanction on the track. « The risk of missing out is not small since it is not a question of building one more floor to the current construction – and of which we know everything – but of starting from scratch… Everything we know about mechanics, dynamics and aero of a 1 F2016 is to be thrown away. »

Find our special report dedicated to the F1 2017 technical regulations, in issue 2080 of AUTOhebdo, available now in digital version, and on newsstands.