Ever wondered about how many people it takes to de

By Huw Alban
April 28 2002

Ever wondered about how many people it takes to design a Formula 1 car ? How much of a task is it when a team changes engine supplier from one season to the next ? What are the characteristics that OrangeArrows have tried to encourage in the new A23? Technical Director Mike Coughlan has the answers.

Speaking from the OrangeArrows official press release after yesterdays full day test involving Heinz-Harald Frentzen and the newly revieled A23, Mike Coughlan described the process by which Arrows have designed, built and already tweaked this years car.

"There were not many regulation changes this year", he began, "but we decided to produce a brand new car in order to eliminate the problems we had last year and of course make performance improvements.

"The design process has been very much concentrated on downforce levels, ride height sensitivity and the overall aero map. The biggest change visible to the untrained eye is the height of the nose. The A22 performed well at the high-speed circuits, the chassis reliability was remarkable and it was an easy car to set-up so we have worked hard to carry those strengths through to the A23.

"We have had another engine change to deal with but we are used to that! I would estimate that it adds another month to the design process but we were forewarned of the change and have struck up a great working relationship with Cosworth so the transition has run smoothly."