Racecar Engineering July 2016

There is a thirst for information that is not run through the spin doctors Competition being a zero sum game, in as much as there are only three places on a podium, it is no surprise that teams will try to get any advantage they can at every race. In a small example, finding out the optimal pressure for your tyres at a given track means you will keep it to yourself to avoid giving competitors any clues if they are adrift on that question, as it could be worth that extra tenth of a second that makes all the difference in qualifying. And it applies to everything else, from set-up to strategy to your driver’s headache or indigestion. On the other hand, the extremes that proliferate at races sometimes border on a…

Would mountaineers be as motivated to make hazardous ascents if there was a safety net under them at all times? They surely do it for more than just the view To be, or not to be … Safer. That is the question creating much attention currently in F1. I refer to the matter of improving protection of drivers’ heads from flying debris by mandating either the halo or the semi-canopy screen device for 2017. It’s a pity from the aesthetic aspect that airbags triggered by proximity sensors could not be employed, but I imagine this has been assessed and rejected during the rigorous process that has led to the above solutions. However, only race experience will fully prove their practicality. Quite what has so energised the FIA on this subject is not…

The entire aero concept of the car has been changed, with the cockpit moved towards the rear of the car in a bid to free up space low down at the front For the 2016 version of its R18, Audi has embraced change. Gone is the flywheel, replaced by a battery storage system that is mounted high in the nose of the car by the drivers’ legs, while the entire aero concept of the car has also been changed, with the cockpit moved towards the rear in a bid to free up space low down at the front, to make full use of the front wing that has been allowed by the regulations since 2014, and to direct the airflow through the car. The rear bias of the car has meant…

The ‘city’ credentials of an LMP1-H car are demonstrated by regulating that they must only use electric power in the pit lane The WEC’s Silverstone 6 hour race in April offered the first opportunity of the year to evaluate the development and changes put in place by the big three LMP1-H protagonists in anticipation of the main event, the Le Mans 24 Hours. The LMP1 regulations are a set of carefully crafted rules that aim to offer all the contestants the maximum technical freedom, but pull the different configurations together to equalise the performance of these technologies, for close and exciting competition. The FIA and ACO have been very successful in activating this through the use of a Fuel Technology Factor (FTF), a K Technology Factor (KTF), which balances fuel and powertrain…

A bombshell was dropped. The STR11 would not be a Renault-powered car after all. Indeed, it was not clear which unit it would be fitted with A falling out between a car manufacturer and an energy drinks company resulted in a team of designers and engineers in Italy facing a race against time to create a new Formula 1 car in time for the 2016 season. What they created is, according to many in the paddock, one of the best chassis of the year. When Toro Rosso technical director James Key and the design team at the Faenza-based outfit started to lay out the concept of a new grand prix car, dubbed the STR11, they believed that they were working on a Renault-powered racecar, so it is perhaps no surprise that the…

Toro Rosso pioneered a new approach to the rear wing support on its cars some time ago. The current generation of power units have the single large tail pipe located in the exact spot where the rear wing pylon or pylons need to be mounted to the upper surface of the transmission casing. To get around this some teams have experimented with inverted Y shapes at the base of the wing pylons, asymmetric supports, or just opted for the simpler but less efficient twin supports. Toro Rosso, on the other hand, simply decided to put the wing support directly through the tailpipe itself. ‘It’s pretty tricky to do that because you have to minimise any power unit performance implications from having the support running through the pipe,’ James Key says. ‘You…