Brawn Wants to "Iron Out" Shark Fins

[Bethonie Waring]

The shark fin. Some teams have managed to integrate in nicely into their cars. Others appear to have considered it as an afterthought and stuck it on at the last moment. Either way, it’s there to play an important part in the aerodynamics of the car, but that doesn’t stop people complaining.

With the look of the car more important to many fans than how it actually works, Formula One’s new sporting boss Ross Brawn wants to “iron out” the “unintended consequences” of the new regulations.

“As always with new regulations, there are a few little hiccups,” he told F1.com. “We’ve got the unpopular shark’s fin on the back. In time, I think we need to address those.

“Part of the objective of the new rules was to produce more exciting-looking cars, so we don’t want to spoil it with peripheral bits that take away from that. But that’s normal with new regs.

“[The fins and the “t-wings”] are all the consequences of new regulations, and not intended So unintended consequences, over time, we need to iron out. And get the things to looking a bit more pure.”​

Possibly a bit more important than the look of the car is how it actually performs on track. Drivers are saying they’re tougher to drive, as was expected, and they are faster, but not every problem has been solved.

Drivers have already complained that it will be difficult to follow behind each other, a problem that has, in recent years, led to overtaking only happening under DRS, which is almost as unpopular as the shark fin.

Thankfully for those who want quality racing, Brawn is also looking into the problem of overtaking, but DRS is here to stay for the time being.

“We have to look at the whole topic over overtaking in racing, and how the cars can follow over overtake each other,” he said. “I would prefer that to be achieved by a normal process, rather than enhanced by something like DRS.

“But DRS was a solution to a problem we had at the time. I don’t think we should rush into taking DRS off, but what I’d like to see is a better long-term solution to car design so we don’t need it.”​

For more thoughts on Formula One and the latest news, head to the Formula One sub forum here at RaceDepartment.

Would you like to see the shark fin gone or is it being made into a bigger issue than it deserves? Do you think DRS should be taken away asap or would that make F1 more boring? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

 

[Sky]

get rid of all wings. basically turn them into superfast formula fords. would be more exciting.

 

[Andrew Ford]

get rid of all wings. basically turn them into superfast formula fords. would be more exciting.

Great idea. And everytime a driver wins..hr should have a 5 kg bag of sand added into his cockpit...

..on second thoughts, if we tried that last season, the mercedes would have been a beach lol

 

[Vapir]

How about we throw all this DRS, KERS and whatever into the garbage and really start racing again for a change?

 

[Celestiale]

get rid of all wings. basically turn them into superfast formula fords. would be more exciting.

Would make them slower then LMP1/2 and probably DTM/GT500 as well..not particularly what "Formula 1" stands for..

How about we throw all this DRS, KERS and whatever into the garbage and really start racing again for a change?

And don't see a single overtake in the race? No thanks. I'd rather enhance it, or build a push-to-pass in, to see more overtakings then we have currently, then having less to none.

 

[Boby Kim]

What happens to the arodynamics when the shark fin is removed?

 

[Maximiliano]

What happens to the aerodynamics when the shark fin is removed?

It depends on how each team integrates their design. If you put a shark fin as an afterthought, then not much will happen. However, if you go a step further and design everything to work as a whole, then you'll probably notice some kind of decrease in performance. To be specific:

• Shark fins reduce yaw (slide). Removing it will cause the car to be less stable during cornering and the rear tyres will wear faster.
• Shark fins provide a smoother airflow to the rear wing and,
  
• They also help to straighten the airflow during cornering. The rear wing works better when the airflow arrives perpendicularly (relative to the leading edge). Both of these effects cause the rear wing to generate more downforce. So, removing the shark fin will obviously cause a loss of downforce.

However, shark fins reduce the stability of the car under crosswind conditions (just like a bike with a disc wheel). Removing them will certainly make the cars more stable in such situations.
Bear in mind that I'm not an aerodynamicist, so some things I wrote might be completely wrong.

 

[yusupov]

would "cross wind conditions" apply to dirty air? bc i'm really at a loss as to why this was even brought up. they look cool + make the cars faster...ppl who don't like them aesthetically can deal.

its confusing to me bc everything else i read in the article was totally in line with my thinking.

 

[Maximiliano]

would "cross wind conditions" apply to dirty air? bc i'm really at a loss as to why this was even brought up. they look cool + make the cars faster...ppl who don't like them aesthetically can deal.

its confusing to me bc everything else i read in the article was totally in line with my thinking.

I'm not sure if dirty air has a relevant effect on the rear wing, but in any case, shark fins should help "smooth out" any turbulent air that reaches that part of the car. I agree with you, though. Some cars look better with them (specially the Mercedes) and they are functional. The problem here is that (as Brawn said) these aerodynamic devices (shark fins and T-wings) are an unintended consequence of the new regulations. In my opinion, they should leave them. It won't do any harm.

 

[Bobby Pennington]

Having been an F1 fan all my life, I've seen the sport slowly deteriorate into very low flying fighter jets yet they can't run the afterburner because of "fuel usage" limits. Yes we need the wings and down force, but at some point we need to remember that it is an Automotive sport. Now they have more flick ups and tucks than an aging Hollywood Actor or Actress.
Get rid of the fin, allow more under body down force and if we can't get a better acoustics out of the Turbo V6.......well bring back the V8's or V10's. Once you've heard an F1 V10, in person, at full chat and then the violent spitting and sputtering backfires as they gear down it's hard to go back.
Having said all that, man, I still love F1.

 

[Kakusso]

As with the sharks, the fin looks good in the F1 cars. The fin could also represent drivers in the attack and the end of dull races. Really don't see a reason to ban them.

 

[Riblo]

F1 is a joke nowadays... And it's sad cause i really loved the series in the past...

 

[aduo]

F1 sucks today , whoever says different he never watched 90s and 90s . all the cars looks the same , try paint them all in black and then recognize each team ..... my F1 is V12 or even V10 not less , no turbo , no electric jokes , Brutal power and great sounds , that should be F1 , not that ridicolous farts .

 

[aduo]

F1 sucks today , whoever says different he never watched 90s and 90s . all the cars looks the same , try paint them all in black and then recognize each team ..... my F1 is V12 or even V10 not less , no turbo , no electric jokes , Brutal power and great sounds , that should be F1 , not that ridicolous farts .

i meant 90s and 80s .. and even 70s the latest

 

[el chasco]

The shark fins it looks great!

 

[Vapir]

Would make them slower then LMP1/2 and probably DTM/GT500 as well..not particularly what "Formula 1" stands for..

And don't see a single overtake in the race? No thanks. I'd rather enhance it, or build a push-to-pass in, to see more overtakings then we have currently, then having less to none.

The P2P I could live with. I like the 10 per race limit as done in Indycar for example.

 

[InsaneOzzie]

WTF, F1 is attempting to mimic WEC from my point of view, 1st with hybrid engines & now with fins which were born from WEC, no wonder F1 is tumbling down the popularity ladder.

Go back to basics FFS, all this tech has dragged the sport into nowhere land, give the teams a blue print that they have to abide by and put a stop to all the tech madness.

 

[Kurei]

I don't know, it could honestly be worst, at least they aren't the literal sponsor-boards this time like they were in the past.

I'm too busy looking at those new fat tires and how everything sits lower really.

WTF, F1 is attempting to mimic WEC -snip- with fins which were born from WEC...

How were fins born from a series that didn't have anything close to a fin prior to 2008? That Renault above is from 2008, and (off the top of my head) I don't recall LMP cars growing them until like 2011 after the open-cockpit R10.

 

[Celestiale]

How were fins born from a series that didn't have anything close to a fin prior to 2008? That Renault above is from 2008, and (off the top of my head) I don't recall LMP cars growing them until like 2011 after the open-cockpit R10.

They hybrid-part is also wrong..first in Formula 1 in 1998, first in LMP in 2012

 

[Sky]

the 1998 f1 engines were v10s. what are you talking about?