Red Bull chief engineer Paul Monaghan says he doesn't expect all top cars to be physically similar in 2023, despite the rules maturing.
In its second year since its introduction in 2022, the Ground Effect Rule will allow teams to fix identified weaknesses in their car's design concept through the winter off-season.
A revolutionary design for 2023 is unlikely as Red Bull stole the march on the rest of the field with their dominant design for 2022, but if they are confident in their concept other teams will look to them for inspiration You can look to Red Bull's design path. It can have long-term consequences throughout the rule cycle.
Convergence of the rules is to be expected, as teams all work out how best to extract performance from the current rulebook, but Monaghan nevertheless risks teams designing identical versions of the same ideas. I am not thinking about
"Simply put, no," he told media at the end of the 2022 season.
“I don't think the cars will look the same. As you can see, there are some differences.
"There are some key differences. We have a regulation change coming up next year, will everyone use the same solution for Race 1? I doubt it. That doesn't seem to be the way our sport does it.
"So I think there are differences. They are compared to things like what we saw in 2010, 2011, 2012, etc[see the last major aerodynamic rule change introduced in 2009]. It's going to be smaller, that's the evolution of this sport and it will be."
The rule changes coming in 2023 are primarily focused on neutralizing the "porpoise" phenomenon. This is the violent vibration that travels through the car when it accelerates at high speeds and creates ground effect. The FIA has taken steps to reduce the risk of side effects during 2022 and is implementing long-term solutions through floor design for 2023.
Asked about his opinion on the success of the new ground effect rules and whether he would like further changes in 2024, Monahan said:
"Personally, I think they are a little constrained in that the machines are very similar. Perhaps compared to previous years, our freedom is limited.
“If the goal was to bring the cars a little closer together, it would seem that it was achieved, but that was one of the goals. And very kindly told us that we were probably lucky, hitting a rich seam from the very beginning of development and extracting profits.
“So, in terms of leveraging the regulations, we … all teams seem to be able to do that.
“As mentioned earlier, the FIA introduced AOM and the interpretation of the regulations applied to Spa and affected everyone. There are some small changes for next year that everyone should try to learn, adapt and take advantage of.”
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