Allowing 'active suspension' could be a neat way to spice up the overtaking spectacle in F1. That is the view of Ross Brawn, who is F1's new sporting boss in the new Liberty Media era.
In Australia, it seemed the faster 2017 cars had meant F1 has taken a step backwards in the overtaking department. But then in China, passing moves were shown to be difficult, possible and genuine.
Brawn said: "The goal must be that overtaking is basically possible but still difficult." But he is concerned there will be more races like Melbourne in 2017, with the main problem being the way the cars currently create a big aerodynamic wake.
However, F1 is fundamentally stuck with the basic overall car concept until 2020. "In the long run, we have to make sure that the wings don't create so much turbulence. But in the short term we need other ideas," he told Auto Motor und Sport.
One potential solution is bringing back active suspension, which in the purest sense was banned in 1993. "The problem with following a car is that the balance changes," said Brawn. "That could be prevented with active suspension." (GMM)
"The problem with following a car is that the balance changes," not necessarily. One of the main concerns at the moment when following other cars is that the car behind will have more tyre wear, so the problem is grip rather than balance, and active suspension doesnt really solve that bit.
"The problem with following a car is that the balance changes," not necessarily. One of the main concerns at the moment when following other cars is that the car behind will have more tyre wear, so the problem is grip rather than balance, and active suspension doesnt really solve that bit.
Active suspension gives more mechanical grip which partly compensates the lack of downforce in fast corners. So it will cerainly have a psitive effect on overtaking possibilities
I think they should focus on track design for more overtaking as loads of overtaking on some and none on others, obviously this comment doesn't apply to street circuits!
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"The problem with following a car is that the balance changes," not necessarily. One of the main concerns at the moment when following other cars is that the car behind will have more tyre wear, so the problem is grip rather than balance, and active suspension doesnt really solve that bit.