Paddy Lowe: Moveable rear wings will be a hit in the 2011 Formula 1 season – Formula 1 news
Formula 1 team McLaren Mercedes recently announced that they will launch their new car on February 4, 2011 ahead of the first pre-season test session in Valencia.
The team will reveal its car later than most of the other teams on the grid including Ferrari and Red Bull Racing.
Since the teams will be allowed to use the Kinetic Energy Recovery System and moveable rear wings, it would be interesting to see how each team experimented with its car separately.
Both of these devices were banned after the 2009 Formula 1 season and Paddy Lowe, McLaren’s engineering director believes that moveable rear wings would make racing even better in 2011.
“What is less clear is how that will pan out and what the effect will be in a race. I think that is something we are going to have to see and explore through the season. It could be quite exciting I think,” Lowe said.
Moveable rear wings allow a driver to change its rear wing’s settings and increase or decrease the downforce of his car during the race. This enables drivers to obtain more straight-line speed even in tracks like Monte Carlo. However, according to the 2011
Formula 1 rules and regulations report, the driver will be allowed to use this device only at a particular section of a single straight on each track.
“The one control that the FIA has is, for each race circuit, they can set the point in the deployment straight that the driver can first press the button. So, for instance, you might be able to press it for the last 300 metres of the main straight until
the braking point,” Lowe added.
Ferrari’s boss Stefano Domenicali believes that moveable rear wings would make Formula 1 “too predictable.” A moveable rear wing makes it easier for a driver to overtake his rivals but since it will be allowed at only one section of the track, it is believed
it would not make it as easy as it sounds for the drivers.
On the other hand, Lowe believes that the FIA has the power to manage this situation and the authority of system is making sense according to the rules and regulations report.
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