The bargeboards of F1 cars are those vertical plates that appear on both sides of the chassis and that, located between the front wheels and the rear of the car, act as a great aerodynamic asset.
Ross Brawn , along with the Formula 1 technical working group that worked on the 2022 rules, immediately pointed to that complex aerodynamic element as one of the changes needed to reduce the wake created by the cars and to have closer races in the future.
In recent years, driven by the opening of the regulations in that area of the car, bargeboards had become very complex and many subsections had emerged that accumulated the title of group or set of bargeboards.
But its beginnings were much more humble, so let’s take a look at how the life of the bargeboard began and how, over time, it grew into a series of incredibly powerful aerodynamic surfaces.
McLaren MP4-8 airflow
The McLaren MP4-8 (above) was the first Formula 1 car to appear with what we think of as a bargeboard, a simple one-piece element that was mounted between the front suspension and the outriggers. However, although these appendages appeared on the car at the first race of the season, at Kyalami , they were not used at the second round of the championship in Brazil .
The element returned for the European Grand Prix at Donington, the scene of that Ayrton Senna masterclass in the rain, where the Brazilian driver, who started fourth, lost a place at the start but finished the first lap in the lead after overtaking Michael Schumacher, Karl Wendlinger, Damon Hill and Alain Prost.
The bargeboards did not appear again until Monaco and then McLaren would use them again at the Hungaroring, suggesting that the team used them on circuits that required a slightly different aero setup, particularly at the top end of the downforce range.
The bargeboards helped position the airflow around the rear of the car differently, turning the flow ahead of the sidepods and the ground to improve low-speed performance .
Ayrton Senna, McLaren MP4/8 Ford
What was in F1 cars before bargeboards?
The MP4/8 had what we think of as a traditional bargeboard, but there were arguably earlier examples, as there were teams using a shorter wheel deflector behind the front wheel during the ’80s.
Click on the arrows of the images to scroll through them, you will be interested!
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
More teams are launching bargeboards in their F1 coaches
Following McLaren’s use of bargeboards in 1993, it didn’t take long for other teams to see the benefits of exploiting that area of the car to improve overall aerodynamic performance.
Jordan 194
Benetton B194
The Jordan 194 and Benetton B194 above are just two examples of the designs seen the following year.
Ferrari 412 T1
When Ferrari tried to overcome some problems with the original 412T1 sidepod design, it also incorporated bargeboards into its car to help adjust the airflow path around them (above).
In the following period, the teams developed their bargeboard concepts in line with the evolution of aerodynamic development and the changing rules…
Click the arrows on the images to scroll through them
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Perhaps the most controversial moment bargeboards were involved came in 1999, when Mika Hakkinen battled Eddie Irvine for the drivers’ title in a duel that would go all the way to the final race of the season at Suzuka, though the FIA later overruled it. what they had decided in the previous race in Malaysia.
Both Ferrari drivers had been disqualified from the Malaysian Grand Prix, when post-race checks revealed that their F399’s bargeboards did not comply with article 3.12.1 of the technical regulations .
Ferrari’s bargeboard that caused his disqualification
Article 3.12.1 reads as follows: All parts of the car’s springs located more than 33 cm behind the front wheel axis and more than 33 cm in front of the rear wheel axis, and visible from below , they must form surfaces that lie in one of two parallel planes, the datum plane or the step plane. This does not apply to the parts of the rear-view mirrors that are visible, provided that each of these surfaces does not exceed 90 cm² when projected onto a horizontal plane above the vehicle. The stepped plane must be 50 mm above the reference plane.
That requires that any part that can be seen below the car between the dimensional criteria is in the reference plane or the stepped plane, which means that no part can exist above those planes if it is not in the shadow below. . In the Ferrari case, a section of the bargeboard footplate (highlighted in yellow, below) was missing from the reference plane and, from below, allowed the main vertical surface to be seen.
.
Detail of the lower tray and turning vane of the Ferrari F399 (650) 1999
Ferrari argued that it was a manufacturing defect and that no attempt had been made to circumvent the regulations to obtain greater performance and, in addition, questioned the FIA’s measurement methods, since they contested that it was within the +/- 5 mm of tolerance mentioned in article 3.12.6 of the regulation, instead of the 10 mm that the stewards had suggested.
How car bargeboards evolved in history
In the years that followed, designs became increasingly complex as teams looked for ways to harness the performance of surrounding structures, as well as the bargeboards themselves, optimizing them in harmony with each other.
Click the arrows on the images to scroll through them
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
As Formula 1 entered a new phase in 2009, the series looked for ways to shape the regulations to have closer battles and increase overtaking. The small technical working group tasked with doing this had very limited resources, especially when compared to those working on the 2022 regulations.
However, they identified the key areas of the car that needed to be changed, drastically altering the dimensional criteria of the front and rear wings, significantly reducing the aerodynamic package that had grown around the rear of the car, and removing the bargeboards.
However, the teams drew the line and intervened to introduce some changes to the regulations, including a box area that would allow them to continue taking advantage of the power of the bargeboard, although in a much more limited way .
2009 Brawn BGP 001 Bargeboard Comparison
The BrawnGP BGP001 was the highlight of the season, with Jenson Button taking the drivers’ championship and the team the constructors’ crown. Though resources were tight throughout the season, the bargeboards received some of their attention, as the slightly taller, triangular-shaped element (inset) was swapped out for the shorter, staggered version as the season progressed.
As we moved into the hybrid era, in 2014, the regulations underwent another transformation but, with some aerodynamic changes made to the regulations and the removal of blown diffusers, the overall downforce levels of the cars were reduced.
Furthermore, the weight gain linked to the introduction of power units made that generation of car considerably slower from a lap time point of view.
To counter those problems, the FIA put in place plans that would help teams make up for lost lap time, with new regulations coming into force in 2017.
.
Ferrari SF16-H comparison with 2017 rules
When F1 team bargeboards got out of hand
The bargeboards were one area where the FIA had decided to loosen the ropes on the designers as part of the regulation review, allowing a larger region for them to play with on the bodywork.
That not only led to much larger bargeboards, but also to much more complex shapes and connecting structures, as the teams looked for ways to connect the bargeboards to surrounding physical structures, such as turning vanes and enlarged side baffles. , so that they work in a more harmonic way…
Click the arrows on the images to scroll through them
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
It can be seen that many of the teams started using a trick that allowed them to add grooves to the surface of the body at the reference plane, making for a much more aggressive and highly detailed lower element.
To achieve this, they added grooves on the upper surfaces, which allowed them not to fall into the same problem as Ferrari in 1999, since looking from below the car, the alignment of the grooves on each of the surfaces made them comply with the regulations.
To slow the teams down a bit, the FIA introduced some subtle changes to the rules for 2019 and again bargeboards were the order of the day, although it could be argued that they didn’t go far enough with the changes to have a quantitative reduction in its performance.
By reducing the permitted height of the sets by 150mm, the governing body gave 100mm of additional freedom in the area ahead of where bargeboards could start in the 2017-2018 seasons.
And while some are glad the FIA has finally done away with bargeboards for 2022, it’s hard to argue that they’d be out of place if they were hung in a gallery with other works of art.
Click the arrows on the images to scroll through them
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo de: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Foto de: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Uncredited
