As of today (March 4th), 8 of the 10 teams have released their 2021 vehicles. Beyond the flash, the spectacle, and the introduction of new liveries, there are some ways you can evaluate the cars on performance before they hit the track. Here are 3 areas of the cars you can look at to get a better view on what cars will finish where.
1. The Edges of the Front Wing
Endplates are the technical term for the edges that finish the front wing off on either side with a an often straight piece of carbon fibre. This often simple element is crucial to how the car reacts to airflow. There are three directions airflow travels once reaching the car's front wing. Over into the other elements of the car, underneath into the floor, and off to the side. Beyond creating the wash effect, airflow traveling to the side is extremely inefficient when it comes to the performance of the car. So teams design 'barge boards' to send airflow back into the side pods, and to pressure more air into pushing the front wing into the ground. Aston Martin went with a more Mercedes-esque design for their barge boards in 2021. (Surprise, surprise...) This increases the airflow to this area of the car, and it seems to be the dominant design philosophy for the 2021 season.
2. The Sidepod Size
One thing that stuck out like a sore thumb from McLaren's 2021 launch, was just how small the car actually is. Side profile shots don't do it justice. It shows just how tight the area F1 drivers have to work in is. There's a design reason for this. Airflow to the undersize and floor of the car is maximized when it isn't directed elsewhere. It increases rear downforce, and the general stability of the car as a whole. It will also allow teams with a better side pod design to run better rake setups. This has been one of the reason's red Bull's cars are often so lifted at the back. Their aerodynamic design supports it.
3. The Floor
This might be the hardest element of the car to analyse. In a normal year, it might not be so, but since the regulations require a totally drastic floor change for 2021, teams like Mercedes and McLaren have intentionally submitted blank floor designs to throw off their competition. We won't know until winter testing which teams have innovated and which haven't. That being said, certain teams have and maybe will submit fully redesigned floors. Is it a marketing switch? An intentional bait and switch? Or is it a genuine attempt to show off what they think is the best floor in the game.
4. The Mercedes Engine 'Bump' (Bonus)
Mercedes gearbox design remains the same for 2021. Despite 8 years in the current engine regulations, Mercedes have innovated an entirely different engine setup. One of the consequences of this change, has been the tiny 'bump' that exists on the side-pods of their cars. Both Mercedes and Aston Martin have debuted cars with this design, and so it's likely that Williams will too. Mercedes' is the smaller of the two, suggesting that would be the ideal way to go. Either way, its yet again another unique design akin to the 2014 noses, and it's a technical marvel as well worth paying attention to.
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