We quite often hear F1 described as an "open wheel" form of motor sport, to the extent that it might be thought that this has been one of the fundamental requirements of the formula since its inception in 1950. In fact, it was not always so and, in the fifties, there were F1 cars that had enclosed wheels.
The most famous of them was the streamlined version of the Mercedes Benz W196 and most of us have probably seen pictures of Sterling Moss and Fangio in the car. Even in the sixties, it looked strange to me and I wondered how it could be legal. It was nothing but a single seat sportscar really.
Maserati 250F
A lesser known fact is that there was an enclosed wheel version of the most beautiful F1 car of all time, the Maserati 250F. As can be seen from the photograph, this was not quite as obviously a sportscar as the Mercedes, the tops of the wheels showing through the pannier tanks and streamlined bits ahead of and behind the wheels. But it would still be regarded with horror today, not only because the pure lines of the 250F are ruined by those added extensions.
I am not sure when the regulations were changed to outlaw such ventures beyond what we now regard as one of the essential elements of the F1 car - the open wheel. Very likely it was in the late fifties for there were no further attempts to gain speed by covering the wheels.
There is no doubt that covering the wheels does give a speed benefit, however. It is only because the wheels are the major block to smooth airflow over the car that we now have winglets, bulges and barge boards sprouting from the bodywork. All are intended to direct the air away from the wheels and to the wings that provide most of the downforce front and rear. How much simpler would the aerodynamicist's job be if he could just cover the wheels with bodywork!
It will never happen now, of course. It has become ingrained in our sensibilities that the true F1 car has its wheels out there in the airflow and the experiments of the fifties look weird to us now. It may be that there would be even more expressions of horror at the idea of covering the wheels as there was at this year's suggestion that the driver be put in an enclosed cockpit. Some things are here to stay in F1, no matter what else changes.
Unless Max decides otherwise, of course...
The most famous of them was the streamlined version of the Mercedes Benz W196 and most of us have probably seen pictures of Sterling Moss and Fangio in the car. Even in the sixties, it looked strange to me and I wondered how it could be legal. It was nothing but a single seat sportscar really.
Maserati 250F
A lesser known fact is that there was an enclosed wheel version of the most beautiful F1 car of all time, the Maserati 250F. As can be seen from the photograph, this was not quite as obviously a sportscar as the Mercedes, the tops of the wheels showing through the pannier tanks and streamlined bits ahead of and behind the wheels. But it would still be regarded with horror today, not only because the pure lines of the 250F are ruined by those added extensions.
I am not sure when the regulations were changed to outlaw such ventures beyond what we now regard as one of the essential elements of the F1 car - the open wheel. Very likely it was in the late fifties for there were no further attempts to gain speed by covering the wheels.
There is no doubt that covering the wheels does give a speed benefit, however. It is only because the wheels are the major block to smooth airflow over the car that we now have winglets, bulges and barge boards sprouting from the bodywork. All are intended to direct the air away from the wheels and to the wings that provide most of the downforce front and rear. How much simpler would the aerodynamicist's job be if he could just cover the wheels with bodywork!
It will never happen now, of course. It has become ingrained in our sensibilities that the true F1 car has its wheels out there in the airflow and the experiments of the fifties look weird to us now. It may be that there would be even more expressions of horror at the idea of covering the wheels as there was at this year's suggestion that the driver be put in an enclosed cockpit. Some things are here to stay in F1, no matter what else changes.
Unless Max decides otherwise, of course...