Return to F1 turbo era planned for 2013

Posted by Editor on Sep 6th, 2010

Nigel Mansell drives the Williams FW11 powered by the Honda 1.5 Litre V6 turbo engine

Sep.6 (GMM) The outline of F1′s new technical direction for 2013 and beyond has been essentially decided.

Turbocharger fitted to the Ferrari 126CK

According to Autosprint’s Italian-language auto.it, the sport’s cars of the future will feature so-called ‘ground effect’ aerodynamics and be powered by 1.6 litre, four-cylinder turbocharged engines.

The report said the package has been agreed by the majority of the teams.

A working group, featuring a group of engineers from F1 teams, has been in charge of defining the basic outline of the 2013 regulations, Autosprint said.

Turbo engines were allowed in Formula 1 from 1966 until 1988, but it took until 1977 when Renault entered the sport with a turbo engine for their to be a revolution which saw turbo power become the fashion throughout most of the eighties.

Jacques Laffite has a spectacular blow-up in the turbo powered Ligier JS27

The four-cylinder turbo engines will reportedly produce 650 horse power, with drivers to be limited to using just five separate units per season.

Ground-effect aerodynamics, meanwhile, could improve overtaking by having the majority of the downforce generated underneath the car, rather than by the wings and top bodywork which greatly disturb the airflow onto following cars.

The technology was pioneered in F1 in the late 70s, but banned shortly afterwards because while producing immense cornering grip, ground effects made the cars unstable at high speed and relied on ‘sliding skirts’ that often broke.