FIA Could Ban High Nose Designs in F1

If one could pick a common element used by the majority of the teams for this year's aerodynamic package in Formula 1, it would have to be the high-nose design. Due to the new adjustable rear wing imposed by the FIA for the new campaign, the teams were forced to revise the entire aero package, and almost all went for a higher design up front.

However, according to a recent reports appeared in the FIA Institute's new IQ magazine, the institute's technical advisor Andy Mellor might soon advise the ruling body to ban the design based on safety grounds.

To be more precise, it seems that the high-nose design present on this year's cars make could lead to accidents such as the one experienced by Red Bull's Mark Webber during the 2010 European Grand Prix in Valencia. When trying to overtake the Lotus T127 driven by Heikki Kovalainen, Webber's RB7 hit the rear wheel of the Finn's car and took off, becoming airborne.

“The key aspect is the nose height of the car behind, as this will determine whether or not launch occurs,” said Mellor, according to the aforementioned source. “Another influential factor is velocity and the resulting fore-aft acceleration and vertical acceleration.”

“Nose-to-wheel science is solved. There are very definite parameters by which these contacts do not cause a launch. The knowledge exists, so it just needs to be eradicated,” he added.

According to Autosport, several other solutions could be found in order to prevent these types of accidents, one of which being a redesigning of the front wing that would “keep the nose down in the event of a collision with a rear wheel.”