FIA bans BMW's vertical nose fins
The FIA has gone ahead and banned BMW-Sauber's controversial vertical nose fins that first appeared on the team's F1 car two weekends ago at Magny-Cours for the French Grand Prix. The team claims that the vertical wings, nicknamed the "Twin Towers" after the Petronas Towers – the world's tallest buildings – in Malaysia, aid downforce at the front of the car, but the FIA cited safety concerns for their decision to toss them from the track. The governing body claimed the wings could impair drivers' visibility, though both of BMW's drivers who raced in the French GP say they don't. Regardless, BMW has decided to accept the FIA's decision, though it's understandably irked since there's nothing in the rulebooks preventing the fins and the cars passed a pre-race inspection before the French GP.
Both Ferrari and Williams were suspected of studying the new design with plans to copy it on their own cars, so perhaps we should praise the FIA for its preemptive move to uphold the aesthetic of F1 racing.
[Source: SPEEDTV]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Chad Gallion 4:11PM (7/27/2006)
No doubt. Just because it works, doesn't make it pretty. They should reduce the downforce by a lot anyways to make driving skill more influence in the race results, not just the manufacturers design success, or failure.
But please let McLaren keep the Viking Wings! GO KIMI!!!!
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TSW 4:12PM (7/27/2006)
I seriously doubt they're for downforce as much as they're for lateral stability, much like the tailfin of an airplane.
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Bryan 4:17PM (7/27/2006)
Petronas Towers are no longer the tallest in the world. Current record-holder is Taipei 101, which has been the tallest since 2004.
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epilonious 5:43PM (7/27/2006)
This is why I don't think I'll ever taking pro-racing that seriously: An innovation is just as likely to get banned or reclassed rather than praised.
Mazda: "Yay! We are the first Japanese Automaker to win Lemans and we did it with our efficient and hyperdurable side-ported VLIM Quad Wankle!"
FIA: "ZOMG! WANKELS ARE OUTLAWED"
Audi: "Yay! Our Quattro totally whups rally ass"
WRC: "ZOMG NEW CLASS FOR CARS LIKE THAT"
BMW: "Yay! Our vertical fins aid the aerodynamics of the car in a desireable way"
FIA: "ZOMG NO!"
Here's to hoping the R10 isn't suddenly outlawed for 2007.
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Aki 6:00PM (7/27/2006)
Lame. I highly doubt those would seriously impair vision when real cars have much thicker A pillars obscuring vision. FIA sort of had good reasoning for clamping down on F1 designs (no ground effects, no exotic components in engines etc), but sometimes they're way too petty--this is a perfect example.
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naggs 6:10PM (7/27/2006)
if the fia did nothing, f1 cars would become unrecognizable messes with little wings, foils and crap all over the place. the more they learn about aerodynamics the less i like how the cars look. i can think of worse things than f1 going to a spec body with a flat bottom and no wings.
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Seabass 6:56PM (7/27/2006)
I may as well say it before someone else does...
"It looks like the Twin Towers are coming down."
/sarcasm
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Brian 10:28PM (7/27/2006)
the more they learn about aerodynamics the less i like how the cars look.
I like good looking cars as much as you do, but damnit the more engineers learn about aerodynamics the more society as a whole benefits. I really don't care if the selfish motivation of winning/profit produces the gain.
Boeing just figured out a way to increase laminar air flow over a section of the new 787 Dreamliner and is incorporating it into that upcoming jet. The result is a greater range and better fuel economy than thought. A bunch of airplane junkies have been complaining that the 787 loses a little bit of its good looks with each tweak Boeing adds (I'm really not joking about this!). Should Boeing not be allowed to improve their plane?
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James2 10:54PM (7/27/2006)
#8 is right. The original rendering of the 787 had swoopier lines, including a so-called shark tail, but as Boeing refined the aerodynamics the Dreamliner became more conventional looking.
Back to the subject, I hate Max Mosley (aka FIA) but here he (she? it?) is doing the right thing. The fewer aerodynamic add-ons the better. The McLaren viking horns aren't helping Kimi and I think only one other team (Midland?) has tried them, so neither Ferrari nor Renault think they must be worth a damn.
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groov 11:37PM (7/27/2006)
F1 needs to reduce downforce a whole bunch and go back to slicks.
Mechanical grip would make the racing a lot better and it would still be high-tech racing.
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Finished.Law.School 1:09AM (7/28/2006)
Can they make them shorter and get the same effect?
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RickDom 9:59AM (7/28/2006)
I doubt making them shorter would have the same effect. They probably have to be so tall to get into the airflow above the car. My guess it it helps align the flow going over the car.
I'd rather the cars didn't have crap like that on them. Modern F1 cars are a bit of a mess. It's not like sticking a wing like that on a car would ever make it out of racing anyway or that it's the result of some grand new fluid dynamics theory. Like most of the fins on F1, my guess is some guy though, let's put a wing here, it should do XXX, it works in the wind tunnel, then it goes on the car.
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Cly 12:18PM (7/28/2006)
It's not about banning innovation, the FIA is just making a point that - we'll ban you if you exploit our dumb-founded rules.
I'm sick of watching F1 because the rules changes every freaking season. Other pro sports have rules that last for centuries with minor changes here and there. F1 is headed in the direction where the rules will tell you the place you should finish the race in.
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