Advanced Formula one Set up Guide
To start with, the first thing a beginner should do, as far as setting up his car is concerned, is
complete as many possible laps without worrying about other drivers. He must try to learn all
about the car, systematically changing key components to see how they affect it: try a different
anti-roll bar, softer then harder springs, adjust aerodynamic downforce, that sort of thing. Even
in the junior formulae, driving skill alone is not enough, so you must know how to get the most
out of your chassis. At that skill level, you can probably gain a second per lap through skillful
driving, but lose three times as much by setting up the car incorrectly.
Alain Prost from his book Competition Driving
Forward
First off: this guide will not make you a faster driver! Unfortunately, there is no quick fix for that.
There is no substitute for logging the laps that make your reactions to the car become second nature. There
is no quick way to learn a new circuit so you can concentrate totally on what the car is doing at any given
point in time. The only way to be faster is to practice, read, learn, and practice some more.
What this guide can help you with, is understanding the various components involved in car setup,
and why their adjustments affect what they do. In other words, the guide will give you the knowledge with
which to create a faster car. After that, you still must drive the car to its limit!
And what makes a car fast? Well that depends on the driver and his technique. Some drivers
prefer a lightly understeering car that reminds them gently where the limit is. Others have a more
aggressive style and prefers to use oversteer to steer the car from both ends. And here is whats tricky:
there is not one defining setup that is faster than any other setup for everyone. Its whatever gives a
particular driver the confidence to drive a particular car at its limit. One thing is for sure, as you learn what
settings work well for your style, you can generally apply those setup philosophies to most cars with
desirable results.
This guide will refer to weight transfer over and over again. An F1 car has a minimum weight
limit of 600Kg. That weight is subject to the laws of physics, and manipulating that weight is the science
no, make that voodoo, of car setup. The ultimate goal is to load that weight into the cars contact with earth,
its tires, as evenly as possible at all times thus generating the tire temperatures that are deemed optimum for
grip. As the car pitches (movement forward and backward) and rolls (movement from side to side) under
acceleration, braking and cornering, this weight transfer must be manipulated to your advantage. Keep this
in mind at all times because it is the name of the game.
This guide will not get into hotlapping. We will instead, focus on setting up the car for good solid,
consistent performance. However, it shouldnt be too hard to push the principles outlined here to their
limits and learn how and why those hotlap setups work.
The guide is divided into two basic parts: Part 1 will focus on all the various parts and pieces of
the car, explain their principle roles and what they do, and give a brief setup guideline for each. It is the
goal of the first part of this guide to give you a better understanding of what these components are, so you
can better understand how and why to adjust them. Part 2 will be a testing session at Silverstone featuring
the Arrows A-23 where well go over, in detail, all things discussed in the 1st part, while charting the effects
and laptimes while we sort out the car and develop a well balanced, competitive setup.
Lets begin
Aerodynamics
Aerodynamics is the single most important aspect of a modern day Formula 1 car. Much of the
design budget is devoted towards shaping airflow over, under and around the car. Not only is airflow
crucial in generating downforce with the lowest possible drag coefficient, but also serves to cool several
systems including brakes, engine and transmission. The most often adjusted aerodynamic aids (at a Grand
Prix circuit) are the front and rear wings and car ride-height.
Wings
The wings on an F1 car are not truly wings, as they do not achieve their downforce from purely
airfoil low-pressure principles (United States CART and IRL series cars do in fact use airfoil wings in
super-speedway trim). Wings on an F1 car are more like spoilers, in that they spoil the airflow in order to
create downforce. This spoiled airflow therefore creates its downforce at the cost of aerodynamic friction,
or drag.
The rear wing is always a compromise of rear downforce vs. top speed. High downforce settings
produce serious drag, therefore greatly hindering the cars top speed. When setting rear wing angles, you
should always try to obtain maximum rear downforce without impacting the cars ability to reach a
competitive top speed.
The front wings do not impact drag much, even at their highest downforce settings. Therefore, the
rule of thumb is to use as great a front wing angle as possible without upsetting the cars rear-end balance.
While not done often, the front wings are adjustable during a Grand Prix pit stop.
7
Brake and engine cooling
Brakes and radiators require air at the cost of upsetting the airflow around the car and creating
drag. Inside and slightly ahead of each hub/wheel assembly, are the brakes cooling ducts. These ducts are
necessary to force cool air over the brake discs. They come in seven variations in size. Well cover brake
temperatures in the later section on brake wear.
The car also sports twin radiators whose airflow entry is at the front of the sidepods. These
openings can be made larger or smaller depending on the circuit and radiator size. The smaller the inlet,
the less friction is created as airflow is allowed to pass along the cars slippery sculptured body pieces. As
a side note: The engine runs the most efficiently at its optimum temperature of 107.3 C. Overheating
begins at 110.6 C and, by 113.9 C the engine life expectancy is cut to 50%
Ride height (rear diffuser)
Airflow underneath the car is another source of downforce, particularly at the rear of the car. The
airflow close to the ground is meticulously channeled under and around the plank. This airflow, due to the
small gap between the car and road is highly pressurized from its venturi effect. From here, the air is
accelerated by means of the rear diffuser. The diffuser design calculates the amount of space underneath
the car, then sculpts an exit of increasing spatial volume. Much like an aircraft wing creates lift from lowpressure
by accelerating airflow over its tapered surface, the diffuser creates this low-pressure acceleration
at the rear of the car, and in the opposite direction, as the undercar airflow is literally pulled out from
underneath. This suction causes downforce without any drag penalty. Therefore its very, very efficient.
This low-pressure downforce increases as the ride height decreases. This is why we want to run
the car as low to the ground as possible without drastically affecting plank wear. Ride height is initially
dictated by spring rates, which themselves are selected for handling characteristics. Then the cars rideheight
is fine-tuned by the ride-height adjustments on the suspension push rods (see picture on following
page).
General principles:
Wing (rear): As high a degree as possible without effecting the cars competitive, straight-line speed.
Wing (front): As high a degree as possible to balance the rear downforce.
Ride height: Should be setup as low as possible without adversely effecting plank wear.
8
Suspension (overview)
The suspension of an F1 car is comprised of a complex set of hardware components. First theres
the upper and lower control A-arms, or wishbones. These are the triangular, black carbon/fiber or steel
pieces, which attach the wheel/hub assembly to the chassis. These are hinged both at the chassis and the
wheel/hub assembly and provide the radius on which the wheel travels up and down. Usually by design,
the wishbones run roughly parallel to the track surface and are aerodynamically shaped.
The push rods run diagonally from the bottom of either wheel/hub/lower wishbone, up to the
chassis where through a complex pivotal rocker arm, it interfaces with the springs, dampers and anti-roll
bar (see below right). The push rod transfers the weight of the car into the spring and damper assemblies.
The push rod is also the point at which ride height is fine-tuned. Height adjustments are made via an
adjustment nut where the push rod penetrates the body.
Also running parallel to the front edge of the upper wishbones are the steering arms. These
connect the upper front section of the wheel/hub assembly to the steering box located in the nose of the car,
which houses the steering ratio gear. The gearing of this unit dictates the steering lock. This point also
allows the setting of the front wheels toe adjustments.
Altering the front ride height Push rod, dampers and packers
The front springs and dampers reside under a cover-plate located on the nose of the car, just ahead
of the drivers cockpit opening. When this panel is removed, crew can access the all hardware including
front springs, dampers and packers.
In motor racing, including
Formula 1, you must always
reach a compromise between the
various settings which affect the
performance of the car. There
is no clearly defined procedure
that will allow you to find the
most effective setup in a
scientific and dependable way
Ayrton Senna from his
book Principles of Race Driving
9
Its vital to make a point at this time. When adjusting suspension components, more so than at
any other time, you really are balancing understeer and oversteer from all 4 corners of the car. Because the
springs and dampers affect weight transfer, it is possible to dramatically, and directly affect the front of the
car by adjusting the rear. And vise versa. In other instances, such as wings for example, even though
understeer and oversteer are used as descriptors, youre actually only affecting the specific end of the car
where the adjustment is being made. Its because of the complexity of the suspension, its important that
you fully understand all the components and their specific purposes.
Springs
Springs store energy by absorbing or deflecting force. That is, when weight is transferred, the
resulting energy is stored temporarily within the springs of the car until the weight is returned to its static
state. At this point, the springs merely store the energy resulting from the cars weight under the force of
gravity.
2 sizes of torsion springs Top of installed spring and spring pivot
The springs on a typical F1 car are not springs in the tradition coil sense, but rather torsion bars
(see picture above left). Rather than dissipate energy through a coil, the torsion bar spring twists while
absorbing energy. The diameter of the spring indicates its torsion strength and therefore how much energy
it can store. In general, the springs strength ranges from 100 N/mm to 250 N/mm (a conversion table is
located in the References and Resources pages for conversion into imperial lbs.). The bottom of the
spring is fixed to the chassis, while the top is attached to the push rod rocker arm (above picture on right)
via a short connecting arm. In the rear of the car, the springs are enclosed on either side of the
gearbox/differential. From the pictures, you can imagine exactly how easily the springs can be changed on
a modern F1 car.
The springs main function is to suspend the cars mass (thus being called sprung mass) while
establishing a basic ride height, absorbing bumps and undulations, and controlling the motion of the vehicle
under weight transfer during acceleration, braking, and cornering. These are critical functions, as due to
the increasing influence of modern aerodynamics, any drastic changes to the cars pitch and attitude will
disrupt the aerodynamic downforce and overall efficiency.
Heres the basic principle: Softer springs generally absorb more weight, therefore when the
weight is unloaded away from that corner of the car, the spring unloads slower. This allows for better
grip because under weight transfer, by allowing the sprung weight to roll while less energy is transferred
from the tires. This however, comes at the cost of lower response time to driver input. Stiffer springs
deflect weight because they load weight slower and unload it quicker. This increases driver response
time, but due to higher deflection under weight transfer can overload the tire quicker, thus producing
less grip. And remember; softer and stiffer are relative. In a modern F1 car, even the softest springs are
stiff by road car standards.
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Dampers
Dampers, or shock absorbers, are oil-filled cylinders which control the movement of the springs
travel. In its basic form a damper consists of a piston, piston rod, and the oil cylinder. The kinetic energy
from the piston movement is damped into the oil, resulting in increased heat. Therefore, the damper
placement needs some form of cooling, since excessive heat can effect the performance.
Front dampers (blue) and packers (white) Rear dampers
In above left picture, note the layout of the suspension. The lower left, larger hole marks the
pivot point around which the push rod connection interfaces with the spring and damper (via the rocker arm
that originates from the pivot-point and connects to the damper piston rod and spring connecting rod).
Note how the travel of the damper and the spring connecting rod runs parallel to one other.
Basically, the internal workings of the damper are as follows: The piston forces the oil to flow
through small holes in both the inner cylinder wall and through the shim stacks (which are diffusers
above and below the piston). When adjustments are made to the dampers, it affects the size of the holes,
thereby regulating the oil resistance during piston travel. Adjustments to the slow response are made to
the shim stacks, while adjustments made to the various inner cylinder holes alter the damper fast
response. Since the fluid in the damper is hydraulic oil (and allows for no compression), an inert gas,
nitrogen is used to allow slight compression as the damper piston travels.
Dampers control the way the springs react in the transition of loading and unloading energy.
Example: under severe braking, the front-end pitches down, and front ride height decreases under weight
transfer. While the springs dictate the amount that the nose pitches down, the dampers control the rate
at which the pitch occurs. And of course, this applies to all transfer of weight during acceleration, braking
and cornering.
Dampers on an F1 car are 4-way adjustable. You may adjust the slow and fast response of the
bumpmovement (energy loading into the springs), and the slow and fast response to the rebound
movement (energy unloading out of the springs). The terms fast and slow do not correlate to the speed of
the car, but rather the speed of the pistons travel within the cylinder under the force of the push rods
energy transfer. An easy method to analyze this is as follows: slow damping affects the weight transfer of
the cars sprung mass (chassis pitch and roll) on the springs; fast damping controls the springs response
to the deflection of the cars unsprung weight (the tire/wheel/hub assembly reaction to bumps). In other
words, slow fine-tunes the cornering balance, fast fine-tunes the cars ability to handle over bumpy surfaces.
Dampers are the most finely tuned adjustments made to the suspension. The dampers should be
the finishing touches to a well-crafted car setup. Because the nature of the dampers is so critical to the
ultimate performance of the racecar, I suggest reading as much as possible on this topic. A great resource
for this and other technical topics is the website Technical F1. It is listed (along with many more) in the
chapter titled References and Resources.
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Packers
Packers are composite spacers placed on the piston rod of the dampers. The packers are a last
ditch effort to keep the plank underneath the car from being damaged. When the suspension push rod
moves up with extreme force, compressing the spring and dampers to their maximum, the packer stops the
travel of the suspension by impacting the damper cylinder body and the bump rubber (yellow rubber seals
in previous picture on the left). If you look closely at the picture on the previous page, youll see the
packers are free to move along the damper piston rods. Packers range from 0.0 cm to 4.0 cm in the front
and 0.0 cm to 8.0 cm at the rear. The packers on the previous page appear to be about 2.0 cm.
Anti-roll bars
So far, the springs, dampers, and packers are grouped where each wheel/tire has independent
control. And even though all 4 corners of the car are completely independent, most adjustments to these
components are made symmetrically, with both left and right front spring/damper settings adjusted the
same and both left and right rear spring/damper settings adjusted the same. This way, they handle the
transfer of weight from front to back very efficiently, and handle bumps at each wheel extremely well. But,
weight transfer from inside to outside during steady state cornering is not yet at maximum efficiency. The
inside tires lose traction while the outside tires load-up during cornering. This is where anti-roll bars come
into play.
2 sizes of anti-roll bars The rear bar couples here The front bar is in the nose
Anti-roll bars, like springs, are torsion bars on todays F1 machines. Here is how they work: the
anti-roll bar ties the left and right side springs and dampers together laterally. Remember the picture of the
front springs and dampers where I pointed out how they traveled parallel to each other? Each end of the
anti-roll bar attaches via a connecting rod to the same rocker arm as the damper and springs; one end to the
left side, the other to the right. When the car hits a dip in the road, both wheels reaction is roughly the
same (travelling up then returning down), so the bar merely rolls equally in the same direction with
little to no effect. However in a turn, the weight transfer is from inside to outside. The inside wheels
travels down (losing sprung weight) as the inside springs releases energy under weight transfer and the
outside wheels travels up (remember the car weight is rolling inside to outside) as the outside springs
absorbs more energy. This causes the anti-roll bar to twist its ends in opposite directions. This in turn
limits the chassis roll and suspension travel due to the anti-roll bar limiting the amount of opposing
spring/damper energy loading/unloading, thus transferring some grip back towards the inside of the turn
and the inside wheels.
Like springs, anti-roll bar strength is size depended. The range of anti-roll bars are 100 N/mm to
200 N/mm in 5 N/mm increments for the front and 50 N/mm to 130 N/mm in 5 N/mm increments at the
rear. Notice the front is generally higher? In general front anti-roll bars, as well as springs, are stiffer than
those in the rear of the car are. This facilitates better front-end turn-in response and rear-end traction under
corner turn-in and exit acceleration.
12
Suspension: how it all works together
General principles:
Springs (Primary usage) Establish ride height and rough-in the handling balance of the car.
Springs (front): Use as stiff a spring as possible for quick driver response and lowest possible ride height.
Springs (rear): Use as soft a spring as possible for better traction under braking/turn-in and acceleration.
Dampers (Primary usage) Fine-tune handling by controlling spring loading/unloading over bumps and
under weight transfer.
Dampers (front): Use as soft a setting as possible for best front-end grip.
Dampers (rear): Use as stiff a setting as possible for good high-speed cornering stability.
Slow settings: Controls sprung weight (chassis pitch and roll) during weight transfer.
Fast settings: Controls unsprung weight (tires and wheels) over bumps and kerbs.
Anti-roll bar (Primary usage) Limit chassis roll under steady state corner loading.
Anti-roll bar (front): Use as stiff a roll bar as possible for good corner turn-in stability.
Anti-roll bar (rear): Use as soft a roll bar as possible for better traction under acceleration on exit.
All of these components work together create mechanical grip. Remember the objective it to get
the tires up to their optimum operating temperature so they can produce their maximum grip. Those
temperatures are a direct result of the weight loaded into the tire. While mechanical grip does assist the
dominant aerodynamics at high speeds, it really contributes greatly at lower speeds when aerodynamic
downforce is less influential. Heres how the suspension contributes to mechanical grip:
1. The springs establish a basic ride height and mechanical grip balance from front to rear.
2. As the car brakes for a turn, lighter rear springs efficiently deal with the transferring weight from the
rear, allowing the suspension to maintain some rear-end grip by not fully unloading the tires. The
dampers control the springs transition and reactions from sudden bumps that may upset that the
springs ability to transfer this weight.
3. On initial turn-in, the dampers continue to control the transition of the springs as the weight transfer
shifts from inside to outside on the chassis.
4. As the car transits from turn-in to steady state cornering, the anti-roll bars limit the chassis roll from
inside to outside, thus reloading the inside tires with weight.
5. As the car approaches the exit of the turn, the anti-roll bars begin releasing their energy, placing the
weight transfer back onto the springs under the control of the dampers.
6. On exit as power is reapplied to the rear tires, the weight transfers to the rear. The softer rear springs
now allow the rear to absorb that energy quicker and apply it towards maximum traction under
acceleration.
Note: A compromise must always be obtained when setting up the car. Example: Damper values set
too high when using soft spring rates will negate the spring rate all together as they will control the loading
to such a degree as the spring never fully loads, or to a more detrimental degree unloads more rapidly. All
components should work together, each one doing its specific part, and its this synergy that allows the
most efficient handling of weight transfer over the various attributes of the given circuit. This guide will
demonstrate all this at greater detail in the chapter Establishing a setup.
13
Tires
A formula car has purpose-built racing tires. These tires come in five variations with an
associated optimum running temperature: soft (112 C) and hard (114 C) dry weather tires, lighttreaded
intermediate (109 C) wet weather tires, medium-treaded wet (107 C) rain tires, and deeptreaded
monsoon (105 C) severe rain tires. The general rule is the softer the compound, the higher the
tires grip level. But the softer tire is more susceptible to heat therefore increased wear. Wet weather tires
are usually softer than dry weather tires to maximize a cars grip in wet conditions, so dont get caught on a
dry track with wet tires for long or youll quickly overheat and blister them.
RacerAlex Advanced Garage Menu
Because the tires are the cars sole contact patches with the track, we can learn a wealth of
information by taking temperature readings from each tire throughout a session. This is the single most
important physical indicator of what the suspension is doing. These readings are taken from three locations
across the tire tread: inside edge, middle, and outside edge. In the above Tire Pressure and Camber menu
shot you can see the tire temperature readings above and below their respective tires. The readings are, as
if looking at the tire from above: outside temperature on top for the cars right side and outside temperature
on the bottom for the cars left side. Using these readings, you can accurately setup the tires camber angle
adjustments and tire pressure, as well as getting indications as to the efficiency of your spring rate and
damper choices. When all temperatures across a specific tire are equal, this indicates the tire contact patch
is averaging flat against the track over a lap.
The tires will achieve maximum grip when run at their associated optimum running temperatures.
The higher the temperatures, the more loading under weight transfer that tire is experiencing. The lower
the temperature, not enough weight is being loaded into the tire (or too much weight is being unloaded
from that tire).
14
Camber and tire pressure
Camber adjustments and tire pressure settings allow us to fine-tune the tire contact patch to the
road surface. The camber adjustment fine-tunes how flat the tires contact patch is to the ground by tilting
the top of the wheel/hub assembly towards or away from the chassis. With this in mind, the camber helps
us even out the individual tire wear based on temperature readings from the tires inside and outside edges.
Lets take a look at the two camber adjustment extremes:
+2.0 degrees front camber -6.0 degrees front camber
The above left picture shows the maximum positive camber adjustment of +2.0 degrees (we
measure camber in degrees of the radius in which the wheel tilts). Positive camber is where the top of the
wheel/tire assembly leans away from the car. Lets be honest here: you will probably never use positive
camber in a modern F1 racing car. In the above setting, the outside edges of the front tires will carry most
of the loading, therefore run much hotter than the rest of the tire. And that heat means greater tire wear to
the outside edges, not to mention loss of grip from less tire contact. Remember the objective is to
maximize tire grip and the beauty is that maximum grip means even temperatures across the tire.
On the other hand, the right picture shows an extreme amount of negative camber. Negative
camber is when the top of the wheel/tire assembly leans in towards the car. Under nominal conditions, this
extreme amount of negative camber setup will heat the inside edges of the tires prematurely and yield
uneven tire wear plus less than the maximum amount of mechanical grip. However, some degree of
negative camber is the most efficient setting for maximizing tire grip. As the car turns-in with a slight
amount of chassis roll, weight is transferred to the outside tires. The outside tire bares the majority of the
load during cornering. Negative camber helps the outside tires move into a more perpendicular position
under this weight transfer.
One thing though: The amount of laps and how hard the car was pushed should always be taken
into consideration when taking tire temperature readings. A setup with negative camber will be heating
up tires inside edges under straight-line running. However this heat (tire wear) is insignificant to the
amount of heat built-up during hard cornering. Still, it raises an interesting observation. Should you apply
negative camber to a setup, then go out and run two laps at 80% of the cars ability (not really pushing it),
your temperature readings might prove false information by showing hotter inside temps than when the car
is being pushed hard. For best results, you should run at least three laps at 95% of the cars ability before
expecting conclusive temperature readings.
Tire pressure is the way to increase or decrease the middle temperature reading (at the tires
crown) on each tire relative to the edges. In most upper forms of racing, nitrogen is used as the
pressurizing substance rather than air. Nitrogen being an inert gas has little fluctuation of pressure brought
on by temperature changes. Also, its less likely to allow moisture to condense within the tire (which in
turn can cause a tire imbalance).
15
The sidewall of an F1 racing tire is fairly stiff, so if tire pressure is low, the tire tends to bulge in
the sides (where it begins to bare the static weight of the car) and pull the middle of the treads crown
inward towards the wheel rim. In this condition, the outside edges heat up more than the inside since
theyre contacting the road more than the center. Likewise, if the tire is over-inflated, the middle of the
tires crown will protrude outward further than its two edges. In either case, if the tire is not flat against the
track, the point that impacts greatest will generate higher temperatures under increased friction. The result
is less grip, more wear.
Enough cannot be said about understanding the relationship between tire temperatures and camber
and tire pressure adjustments. Its vital that one consistently observes the tire temperatures during setup
changes, and more importantly, takes the time to analyze why they are at the temperatures monitored after
the laps.
All this factors into the suspension settings as well. If we are to lower the spring rates, then it will
effect the camber adjustments. Since the softer springs absorb more weight, the static ride height lowers.
Under the suspension compression, the tires begin to lean in as the wishbones move up. This in turn causes
the need for a camber adjustment to counter the effects and place the tires back perpendicular to the road
surface. The process continuously cycles through. But dont worry, as you get the car closer and closer to
your liking the changes will become smaller and smaller.
"The aim of a driver and his
team in setting up the car is
to ensure that the tyres
operate in the best possible
conditions. Only in this way
will a tyre, which is one of
the fundamental components
of a Formula 1 car, perform
to the limit of its potential
Ayrton Senna from his book
Principles of Race Driving
Toe-in
Toe is the static angle of the wheels, as seen from above, as to whether they point in (leading edge
towards the car, which is negative or toe-in) or out (leading edge away from the car, which is positive or
toe-out). The reason most cars have a bit of front negative toe, or toe-in, is to promote straight-line steering
stability. If a car was to have 0-degree toe it would be very nervous on a straight road, wanting to dart and
wander at any little bump, rut or groove. By adding toe-in (negative toe), each wheel attempts to turn the
car inward at all times. This in turn creates that centering feel we have through the steering wheel and
promotes better straight-line stability.
Rear toe is a highly debated topic. On the negative side, critics claim rear toe only adds to
increased and uneven tire wear. And this comes with no discernable performance advantage. On the
positive side, pundits claim a slight positive toe, or toe-out, at the rear can help stabilize the rear of the car
under acceleration.
But be mindful; too much negative toe-in will heat the outside edges of the tires, creating friction
and affecting speed to a small degree. Excessive toe-out meanwhile will heat the tires inside edge. You
should counter these reactions with small camber adjustments.
16
Weight distribution
All Formula 1 designers attempt to deliver the car under the legal 600Kg minimum weight limit
the FIA imposes. This is to allow the use of ballast to fine-tune the weight distribution of the car for a
particular circuit. In fact, this is such a regular practice these days that most Formula 1 cars are delivered to
the test track initially weighting less than a Formula 3 car.
With the advent of more stringent safety rules, the driver position has been pushed further back in
recent years to reduce injuries. This in turn has shifted the majority of weight towards the rear of the car.
While weight distribution seems to be a fix for this imbalance, it is simply not the case for a number of
reasons. Foremost is the FIA rule stating that any ballast must be secured to the car and non-movable.
This means F1 cars cannot take advantage of weight-jacker systems and instead must have built-in
compartments to bolt the weight in around the car. This does limit the possibilities somewhat.
The ideal materials for ballast are depleted bars of Uranium, and Mallory. These materials are
very, very dense in relation to size making them ideal to helping F1 teams conform to the FIA regulations
while giving them as many options towards placement as possible. Still compartments are very difficult to
design into the chassis, with most compartments placed under the drivers legs in the nose of the car. The
placement of the engine/transmission (as well as the fact that the majority of weight is already in the rear)
makes ballast compartments in the rear not as popular of an option.
Because of this, weight distribution is a sublimely difficult thing to grasp. The weight typically is
adding traction to the end of the car that you shift it towards. This means that weight shifted towards the
rear will put less weight on the front end resulting in increasing understeer. Shift it forward, and less
weight is distributed to the rear under acceleration. Then again, it depends on how well balanced the setup
is initially as it relies on spring and damper choices. So with this in mind, weight distribution is a fineadjustment
of the cars handling characteristics. Typically, weight distribution is one of the final, finishing
touches to a setup, and sometimes that last-ditch effort to make a stubborn car turn good.
In the simulation, each car has its own distinct weight distribution. This is due to the vario us
engine weights and chassis designs. Distribution of the ballast is in .5% increments forward or aft.
Weight distribution set furthest forward in the Arrows A23.
