According to Williams performance chief Rob Smedley, finding loopholes in the regulations has become even harder with the 2017 set of rule changes.
The aerodynamic designs will be hugely different from that of the 2009-2016 era, but with such a shift in regulations, it can often be down to interpretation as to how designs come through.
Brawn, Toyota and Williams exploited the ‘double diffuser’ in 2009 despite claims from other teams that the concept was illegal.
According to Smedley, the loopholes in the 2017 regulations are less clear.
“Every time there has been a new set of regulations, at least through my time in F1, those openings have become smaller and smaller,” he told Autosport
“The reason for that is that the technical regulations are pretty much written by senior technical people within the teams.”
Designers are always looking to exploit every loophole possible to gain an advantage on their opponents, but 2017 is looking like it could prove difficult for any team to find a magic bullet solution.
Smedley added: “The senior technical people in the teams are of the mind that we’re all looking for a loophole, we are all trying to get the start on our competitors.
“But as these rules get written and because it’s a collaborative process and it’s written by people who are looking for loopholes, then the loopholes are pretty much closed off in the regulations.”
Comments.
Loading comments…