Will F1 2014 be different from F1 2013?

**steveaki13** · 27th October 2012, 10:15

I know its early, but in light of the interesting thread on F1 2013 compared to 2012, I thought with the big changes on the cards for 2014 it mightb be interesting to discuss what F1 2014 will look like in terms of the season and the teams approach.

Afterall I think personally that 2013 will remain so stable that it will be really close and tight like 2012 and the order wont change much.

However from some things I have heard people say, 2014 will spread the field wide open again as teams go completely different ways on the 2014 design and engines could vary in performance widley. Going back to the 5 or 6 even second spread on say the early 2000s or late 90s perhaps rather than the 1 second covering the top 16 as we sometimes get now.

Also would it be worth a team like Caterham taking a chance on still being around in 2014 and fogetting 2013 completely and just have a 2013 car and do no further development on it and throw loads at 2014. Afterall if all stays similar Caterham have little or no chance of catching the midfield, but with the potential spread of the field and relatively clean slate for 2014 it could be worth the getting set early and they might find themselves up the field.

What do people think?

**F1boat** · 27th October 2012, 10:17

I think that if Newey stays in Red Bull, he will outsmart the rest again

**steveaki13** · 27th October 2012, 10:49

Could be. Afterall when its a fresh start and clean slate, then the best designer has an advantage.

The rest will be hoping he decides to design boats.

**zako85** · 27th October 2012, 11:40

Originally Posted by aki13

Also would it be worth a team like Caterham taking a chance on still being around in 2014 and fogetting 2013 completely and just have a 2013 car and do no further development on it and throw loads at 2014. Afterall if all stays similar Caterham have little or no chance of catching the midfield, but with the potential spread of the field and relatively clean slate for 2014 it could be worth the getting set early and they might find themselves up the field.

What do people think?

This wouldn't make sense for Caterham. The issue is that the money for TV rights is dispensed only to the top 10 teams. I believe the 10th position pay off is about 30 million euros. 11th place team gets nothing. The backmarker teams need this money, so they will fight for it seriously. I do think that Marussia will overtake Caterham next year. Marussia stands 10th right now, and I would love to see what they can do with increased budget. Caterham hasn't demonstrated the leap everyone was hoping to see, even with Renault engine, 2010/11 prize money, and a couple of good drivers.

It's possible that we might see big changes due to new engines which will not be equal. However, the difference in engine power will not be huge. These days engine RPM and turbo pressure are limited. Horsepower and torque figures will probably lie pretty close to each other.

**wedge** · 27th October 2012, 15:06

Smaller wings and mandated lower nose. Aero spec will be just as interesting (or ad nauseum).

**wedge** · 27th October 2012, 15:31

If you're planning to run your own F1 team/struggling at the back of the grid Cosworth is up for sale and PURE doesn't look like a viable business.

**wedge** · 2nd November 2012, 16:03

Paddy Lowe reckons the blown diffuser concept will be nullified by the turbo exhaust set up:

Lowe said: "There is a completely new set of regulations around the exhaust location, with the turbo engine, so there will be one pipe with a wastegate and that has to be central and exiting just forward of the rear axle.

"So in that context the systems we are using now will be eliminated completely."

BBC Sport - F1's exhaust development is within acceptable levels say McLaren

**N. Jones** · 2nd November 2012, 20:08

Yes. I need more teams and engines! More choices for FGP!

**zako85** · 3rd November 2012, 03:51

There is no reason to believe that 2014 cars will perform similar to 2013 or that the current car ranking order will be the same at the time. First, there will be differences in engine power. By now, the currently frozen V8 engines have gone though several stages of "equalization". All engines have very similar performance, except perhaps for Cosworth engines which supposedly use more fuel and suffer from a massive loss of power after the first race weekend. There is no reason to believe that 2014 engines will have equal performance. Moreover, bad engineering mistakes in engine designs can have a very long lasting impact. For example, Ferrari basically "lost" the first half of the 90s decade because their V12 naturally aspirated engine was an inferior design and they couldn't do much about it until they finally came up with a clean sheet 3.0 V10 design. (By the way, this sort of issues can affect Ferrari again as well as Mercedes, because if their design is not good, it's not like Ferrari or Mercedes would put a Renault engine in their car, but other teams can usually switch engines at will if they're not bound by a long lasting contract).

Next, the entire car is redesigned around the new engine spec. Aerodynamics profile, suspension setting, etc will have to be changed, as the new engine will be lighter and smaller.