Formula 1 Seminar April 19

Formula One Racing Car Technologies

SEMINAR REPORT

On

Formula One Racing car Technologies

Undertaken at

PESIT, Bangalore

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirement

for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF ENGINEERING

In

Mechanical

Submitted by

Manish Sanil

1PI04ME050

Under the guidance of

Internal Guide HOD

Mr. Vinay C.Hedge Dr. K. Narasimha Murthy

Dept. of ME Dept. of ME

PESIT PESIT

Bangalore Bangalore

DEPARTMENT OF MECHANICAL

Department of Mechanical Engineering


PES INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY

BANGALORE – 560085

JAN – JUNE 2009

VISVESVARAYA TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

PES Institute of Technology

Bangalore

CERTIFICATE

This is to certify that the seminar titled


has been successfully completed by

Manish Sanil

1PI04ME050

at

PESIT, Bangalore

in partial fulfillment for the award of degree in

Bachelor of Engineering in MECHANICAL



Of Visweswaraiah Technological University during the session

Jan – June 2009

Internal Guide HOD

Mr. Vinay C.Hedge Dr. K. Narasimha Murthy

Dept. of ME Dept. of ME

PESIT PESIT

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT



The satisfaction and euphoria that accompany the successful completion of any task

would be incomplete without the mention of the people who made it possible

because it is the epitome of hard work, perseverance, undeterred missionary zeal,

steadfast determination, unperturbed concentration, dedication and most of all

encouraging guidance. So with gratitude I acknowledge all those whose guidance and

encouragement served as a “Beacon Light” and crowned my effort with success.

I consider myself fortunate for having had Mr. Vinay C.Hedge as my internal

guidance who provided valuable support and guidance to make this seminar a

success.

I’m grateful to the Head of Department, Mechanical, Dr. K. Narasimha Murthy for

being a source of inspiration and support.

Last but not the least, the seminar would not have been a success without the

support of parents and friends.



Developments Throughout The History of

Formula One Racing

F1 Origins:

The modern era of Formula One (F1) Grand Prix racing began in 1950, but the roots of F1 trace back to the

pioneering road races in France in the 1890s. At the birth of racing, cars were upright and heavy, roads were

tarred with sand or wood, reliability was problematic, drivers were accompanied by mechanics, and races –

usually on public roads from town to town – were impossibly long by modern standards. The first proper

motor race, staged way back in 1895, was that between the cities of Paris and Bordeaux and the distance

between them was 1,200 km.

In 1908, the Targa Florio in Sicily saw the appearance of “pits”, shallow emplacements dug by the side of

the track, where mechanics could labour with the detachable rims on early GP car tires. In 1914, the massive

4 ½ liter Mercedes of Daimler-Benz dominated the French Grand Prix at Lyons – 20 laps of a 23.3-mile

circuit – taking the first three places and introducing control of drivers by signal from the pits. After this, the

Italian racing car manufacturers (like Bugatti and Fiat) dominated for more than a decade. But the great

depression of 1930 led to lack of finances and henceforth, a lack of interest in car racing. In 1934, the balance

of power in racing would begin to shift from Italy to Germany, with the emergence of factory teams from

Auto Union (now Audi) and Mercedes-Benz, behind massive financial support from the Third Reich

government on orders from Adolph Hitler. These powerful and beautiful German machines introduced

aerodynamics into Grand Prix car design and ran on exotic, secret fuel brews.



The Early Years

Motor racing after World War II initiated a new formula – originally called Formula A but soon to be known

as Formula 1 – for cars of 1,500 cc supercharged and 4,500 cc unsupercharged. The minimum race distance

was reduced from 500 km (311 miles) to 300 km (186 miles), allowing the Monace Grand Prix to be re-

introduced after a two-year interval in 1950. The Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA)

announced plans for a World Championship at a meeting held that year.

The British Era

During the 60’s and early 70’s, a series of dominant British Grand Prix teams arrived, making British racing

green the “official” color of F1 for more than a decade – and ushering in an era of British F1 engineering

excellence that extends to today. It all started in 1959-60 with the Cooper team using a 2,500 cc Coventry

Climax engine and a revolutionary rear-engine design that captured back-to-back F1 titles for Jack

Brabham with a combination of superb weight distribution and handling. Yet it was Colin Chapman’s Team

Lotus, pushed by his technical brilliance, which dominated the second decade of Formula One. The most

important technical advancement was the monocoque (or one-piece) chassis, introduced with the Lotus 25 in

1962, which along with rear engines marked the second watershed technological change in Formula One.

Wings, Shunts and Ground Effects

Formula One technology developed at a furious pace in the 1970s and early 1980s, as F1 designers mastered

the art of making airflow work to produce down force. The introduction of wings (or “aero foils”) was made

mid-way during the 1968 season. Borrowed from Jim Hall’s revolutionary Can-Am Chaparral, wings

allowed for the creation of “down force”, pinning cars to the track for greater traction and vastly increased

cornering speed. Although the Cosworth engine was by now ubiquitous in F1, the Lotus 72 – with its

distinctive “shovel” nose and nose wings – was significantly faster.



Ferrari returned to the forefront of F1 in 1975 with the flat-12 powered 312T and drivers Niki Lauda and

Clay Regazzoni. Formula One cars now sported huge air boxes behind the cockpits to increase air flow to

the engine, leading the way (after a short experiment with the famous six-wheel Tyrell P34, which was a

front-runner throughout 1976) to the next major technical revolution in F1: ground effects. Formula One

engineers, now referred to as “designers”, had been steadily working on aerodynamics for more than a

decade. The zenith of the art may have been reached in 1978 with the “ground effects” Lotus 78/79. Ground

effects turned the entire car into a large, inverted wing, using side skirts and underbody design to literally

glue the car to the circuit. Mario Andretti who took the Lotus to the championship in 1978, explained that

ground effects made the race car “feel like its painted to the road.” Despite their advances, ground effects had

a problem, namely that slight miscalculations in set-up would render the ground-effect F1 car undriveable

and wickedly unstable. The need to keep ground clearances extremely low led to rigidly sprung, rock-hard

cars with virtually no ride height tolerance and little if any ability to handle bumps and curbs. Something

really terrible, unnatural and unpredictable would happen if the airflow beneath the car were disrupted for

one reason or another. Hence, due to these reasons and also in an effort to bring more driver control and skill

to F1, ground effects – first the skirts (along with six-wheeled and four-wheel drive cars) in 1981, and then

underbody venture tunnels in 1983 – were finally banned from Formula One car racing, which brought a

premature end to an era.

The Turbo Era

The relatively brief reign of turbocharged engines in F1 witnesses some of the greatest raw horsepower ever

unleashed on the famous circuits, coupled with personal rivalries among champions that continue to affect

the sport even today. With the benefit of hindsight, one can now say confidently that ground effects were less

important to the long-run development of F1 technology than turbo charging – although both were

introduced initially in the 1977 season, and both eventually banned. While Lotus was developing the ground-

effect principle, Renault re-entered Formula One with the turbo RS01, driven by Jean-Pierre Jabouille. The

first turbo was remarkably quick, although suffering from “turbo lag” under acceleration, but very unreliable,

and it would be a year before the Renault finished a Grand Prix. The turning point came in 1980, a season in

which Alan Jones and Team Williams achieved almost complete domination. While Ferrari had a terrible

year, the Scuderia introduce their own turbocharged car at Imola, and Renault won at Interlagos, Kyalami



and the Osterreichring. Although Cosworth-powered teams would win the championship in 1981 and 1982,

Grand Prix was increasingly dominated by the turbos from 1981 onwards.

The turbo era really began to flower in 1983, when Piquet won his second World Championship by two

points – this time using a turbocharged BMW power plant – and McLaren introduced the TAG-Porsche

engine, driven to four chequered flags by runner-up Prost. But 1989 was the swan song for the turbo era, as

normally aspirated engines were made mandatory by FIA at the beginning of the 1989 season.



Aerodynamics

Theory

Aerodynamics is the study of airflow over and around an object, and thus an intrinsic consideration in racing

car design. To be quick, a car has to be able to overcome drag (the resistance experienced as it travels

forward) and it attempts to do this be presenting the smallest frontal area possible. However, that same car

also needs to be able to go around corners and this presents a differing set of aerodynamic needs, namely

downforce, which is the force harnessed from the airflow over a car that presses it down onto the track.

The simplest inventions are often the best, and never has the role of aerodynamics proved as dramatic as

when aerofoil wings burst onto the Grand Prix scene in the late 1960s. These were added in an attempt to

provide downforce that gave cars superior traction, and thus made them less likely to spin when being driven

around a corner, enabling them to turn at greater speed.

The designers who applied aerofoil weren’t striking new ground, for the technique had long been harnessed

in aviation. However, whereas aeroplanes use their wings to gain lift, the Formula 1 designers wanted the

reverse, that is to say negative lift, also known as a downforce. This was attained by fitting an aeroplane wing

shape upside down. Seen in profile (fig 2.1), an aerofoil leads with its fat edge, but differs from an aeroplane

wing in that the trailing edge curves up to the rear, with the airflow over this helping to force the wing

downwards.

However, engineers are always faced with a trade-off between maximum downforce and minimum drag, and

it’s something that varies from circuit to circuit. The need for downforce is at its greatest at circuits with

many corners, such as Monaco, and the need is least at those with the longest straights such as Monza.

However Monza circuit is now replaced by a different circuit this year.



Lotus boss, Colin Chapman, took matters a stage further by mounting the rear aerofoil onto the rear

suspension of his cars, making the harnessing of downforce all the more effective, as it produced 180 kg of

extra downforce, which is the equivalent of more than two adult males. So, it wasn’t surprising that

suspension has to be toughened up after a number of breakages.

The slick tires arrived in 1971, with their superior grip meaning that less downforce was required, giving the

designers yet another variable to accommodate. Typically, it was Chapman who came up with the next

breakthrough in 1977. Although he didn’t invent ground effect – a concept that created a vacuum under the

cars that sucked them down to the track and provided extra downforce without extra drag – he was the one to

introduce it to Formula 1.

Chapman and his design team found that by putting side pods onto the car (fig 2.2) and shaping their

undersides like aerofoil, then sealing the side pod edges to the track surface with moveable skirts, and thus

preventing air flowing in from the sides, this would produce an area of low pressure by accelerating the air

through a venture at the rear. Sucked down by this low pressure, a car would experience a huge amount of

extra downforce, which saw the Lotus 78 setting new standards in aerodynamic efficiency.

Mario Andretti used a Lotus 79 – a car developed from the 78 that he often described as “being painted to the

road” – to dominate the 1978 World Championship. By 1980, the downforce generated had blossomed to the

equivalent of double the car’s weight. On top of this gain, the faster the cars were driven, the greater amount

of downforce their ground effect found them. With downforce increasing as the square of speed, if a car’s

speed doubles, then its downforce quadruples. Put another way, a Formula 1 car could run through a tunnel

upside down, held to the roof of the tunnel (fig 2.3), thanks to its inverted wings holding it there.

Then ground effects were banned for 1983 and a rule was introduced stating that all cars should have flat



bottoms, again altering the emphasis on front and rear wings. So, as Formula 1 entered the 21st century, the

designers were poised at their computers dreaming up ways in which they can change their aerofoil to

achieve more for less. That is to say more downforce for less drag, the eternal quest for aerodynamicists.

To calculate the aerodynamic drag force on an object ,the following formula can be used:

F=1/2*C*D*A*V^2

Where :

F – Aerodynamic Drag Force

C – Co- efficient of Drag

D – Density of Air

A – Frontal Area

V – Velocity of Object



Airflow in F1 Cars



2.3 Front wings:

2.2.1 Designing:

The difference between Ferrari and McLaren is so remarkable, that one may raise some

question about the aerodynamics. It is very remarkable that in comparison some cars chose to have a

raised nose cone while others a lowered nose cone. Ferrari is one of the example which choose to

keep a lowered nose cone. Here’s an explanation.

McLaren for example had raised the nose corn. All the changes to the F1 nose parts are due to

the regulation change about the front wing, which is placed 5cm higher above the ground .with

it ,there has been lost a lot of downforce on the front wheels .Although it might seems very strange

that McLaren raised the nose corn for this ,but it makes a lot of sense .As most teams heightened up

the nose corn ,it is the most striking ,also because Newey can be seen as a reference .The reason for it

is the air flowing under the nose .Of course ,the upper air flowing over the nose generates now less

downforce ,but Newey certainly thought it wouldn’t have a very high impact on itself. So the air

under the nose is pushed(over the front wing) or pulled(for air coming under the front wing) to higher

levels. As the air has a lot more room under the nose in the center of the car , it can be directed to the

sidepods smoothly ,it causes a lot less resistance. This can be seen in fig 2.4..

Ferrari on the contrary(fig 2.5) have opted for a completed other tactic . They did not feel

maintaining the front wing efficiency as a priority ,although downforce on the front wheel is very

important .So the most appropriate solution is the lower nose cone .Exactly what Ferrari did, though

with some changes. Thanks to the low nose top ,much air that would not have any effect of the front

wheel is very important .So the most appropriate solution is the lower nose cone .Exactly what Ferrari

did through with some changes .Thanks to the low nose top ,much air that would not have any affect

of the frontwing is now flowing over the nose ,with a lot of downforce as result. The underside of the

nose, which seemed to be the most difficult problem with other teams, is solved with a curve. Passing

the front wing, and going 30 cm further ,the nose cone at that height could also be the one of a high

nose .Once air has passed under the low nose top ,it can be pushed up by the front wing ,without an

obstacle. Once the airflow has passed this stadium, lots of downforce has been generated, and the air

is guided to the sidepods exactly the same way as with high nose cones. This might be the ingenious

design of Ferrari, in which all other teams failed.



Comparison of different F1 Cars



2.3 Rear wings:

About a third of the car’s total downforce can come from the rear wing assembly. The rear wings are

the ones that are varied the most from track to track. As the rear wings of the car create the most drag

the teams tailor the rear aerodynamic load to suit a particular track configuration. As air flow over the

wing, it is disturbed by the shape, causing a drag force. Although this force is usually less than the lift

or downforce, it can seriously limit top speed and causes the engine to use more fuel to get the car

through the air. From the year 2009, the FIA regulations have changed concerning the rear wing.

What FIA wanted was to reduce the wake and aerodynamic sensitivity of the car and to increase the

ability of overtaking and slipstreaming. The solution is by using a High, Squat rear wing. Looking at

the cars from only 5 years ago, the also had only 3 or even less flaps. The only effect that might come

with this regulation change is at high downforce circuits, there will be a little more air resistance to

produce the same downforce and overtaking would be much easier. Perhaps the most interesting

change, however, is the introduction of ‘moveable aerodynamics’, with the driver now able to make

limited adjustments to the front wing from the cockpit during a race. However, the rear wings can be

changed after each race according to the situation and within the specifications mentioned in F1

regulations. Fig 2.6 and 2.7 shows cars using different wings for different circuits.



ENGINES &TRANSMISSION

2.1 EnginesThe formula one (F1) engine is the most complex part of the whole car. With an amazing horsepower

production and about 1000 moving parts, this sort of engine makes the greatest cost on a F1 car. Incredible

revolutions of about 17,000 rpm and extreme high temperatures make it very hard to make that engine

reliable. This table shows current FIA limitations concerning an engine.

At the moment, all engines have 10 cylinders and they produce about 750 to 850 bhp. These are made from

forged aluminium alloy, and they must have no more than four valves per cylinder. Some other parts are

made from ceramics because of their very light weight and because they are very strong in the direction they

need to be. This very low weight ratio is important to reduce the fuel consumption and increase the engine

performance.

The 1998 Mercedes-Benz engine was possibly one of the most revolutionary engines ever built. Ford started

this year by producing an engine that weighted at least 25kg less than any other engine. The stiffness of the

engine is also very important because it’s the only connection with the rear wheels and the chassis. The

engine must be able to take the huge cornering loads and aerodynamic forces from the large rear wing. The

picture in the next page (fig 3.1) shows the Mercedes-Benz engine built by Ilmor engineering and the latest

Renault engine.


Only 4-stroke engines with reciprocating pistons are permitted.

Engine capacity must not exceed 2400 cc.

Crankshaft rotational speed must not exceed 18,000rpm

All engines must have 8 cylinders arranged in a 90º “V” configuration and the normal section of each cylinder must be circular.

Supercharging is forbidden.

Engines must have two inlet and two exhaust valves per cylinder..


Renault RS 27 Engine



What makes these engines different from all

others??

There are many differences between racing and road car engines that contribute to the large power difference.

F1 engines are designed to revolve at much higher speed than the road units. These extreme high revolutions

make it impossible for this kind of engine to work as long as a normal car engine. An increase of 50% on

revs does not necessarily mean an increase of power with 50%. From a certain point, e.g. 16,500 revs/min,

The internal friction is that high that engine power doesn’t increase with a higher rev and even maybe

decreases. That shows the importance of the materials that are used. An increase of revs means an increase of

internal resistance of material within the engine. Lesser the weight of these materials, lesser would be the

power used only for the movement of engine parts. Exotic materials such as ceramics may be used to reduce

the weight and strength of the engine. Because of the very high cost of the materials like these ceramics and

carbon fiber, they are not used in usual cars. Most usual car engines are made from steel or aluminium.

Another deciding point trying to reach a maximum of power out of an engine is the exhaust. The minor

change of length or form of an exhaust can influence the horsepower drastically. Exhaust are important to

remove the waste gases from the engine. The faster these gases are moved away from the engine, the faster

some kind of vacuum comes in the engine and the more air is sucked into it. This causes a faster cool down

or more power from the engine with the same fuel consumption. Automatic changed length of height from

the exhaust could make so quite a big power advance. Unfortunately, these types of advanced exhausts are

completely forbidden by the FIA. Just above the driver’s head there is a large opening that supplies the

engine with air. It is commonly thought that the purpose of this is to ‘ram’ air into the engine like a

supercharger, but the air-box does the opposite. Between the air-box and the engine there is a carbon-fibre

duct that gradually widens out as it approaches the engine. As the volume increases, it makes the air flow

slow down, raising the pressure pressure of the air which pushes it into the engine. The shape of this must be

carefully designed to both fill all cylinders equally and not harm the exterior aerodynamics of the engine

cover.



3.2 TransmissionAn amazing engine may be one thing, but how do you put all the power on the ground without wasting it by

wheel spin is another. The transmission is made the same way and with the same principle as a normal

transmission but there are some capital differences. The weight for example, the height from the ground and

the size are the most logical. But thinking that a transmission can be as hot as 1000C when the power is

brought to the wheels at the start of each race is certainly very important for the engineers. Each team builds

their own gearbox, either independently or in partnership with companies such as X-track. The regulations

state the cars must have at least 4 and no more than 7 forward gears as well as a reverse gear. Most cars have

6 forward gears, some having a 7-speed gearbox. Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) systems are

not allowed and cars may have no more than two driven wheels. Transmissions may not feature traction

control systems, nor devices that help the driver to hold the clutch at a specific point to aid getaway at the

start of the race. Because the gearbox carries together with the engine the whole rear car weight, it has to be

very solid and strong, and so it is normally made from fully-stressed magnesium or new since 1998,

introduced by Stewart and Arrows, from carbon fibre, which is much lighter. Gear cogs or ratios must be

made of steel and are used only for one race, and are replaced regularly during the weekend to prevent

failure, as they are subjected to very high degrees of stress. The gearbox is linked directly to the clutch, made

from carbon fibre. Two manufacturers, AP racing and Sachs produce F1 clutches, which must be able to

tolerate temperatures as 500 degrees. The clutch is electro-dynamically operated and can weigh as little as

1.5 kg. A computer, taking between 20-40 milliseconds, controls each gear change. The drivers do not

manually use the clutch apart from moving off from standstill, and when changing up the gears, they simply

press a lever behind the wheel to move to the next ratio.



Renault Gear Box



OTHER IMPORTANT PARTS

Air Inlet:

As many may have seen on television, there is a little air inlet at the inside of the front wheels. Well little is

sometimes not the exact description, because it differs a lot from one team to another. McLaren, for

example, have a very big specimen, and Ferrari can actually cool the brakes with a lot less air.

It is very hard to say how this difference in need of air for the brakes occurs, but seemingly, the Ferrari

team is a step further in evolution compared to the others.

Brakes :

When it comes to the business of slowing down, Formula One cars are surprisingly closely related to their

road-going cousins. Indeed as ABS anti-skid systems have been banned from Formula One racing, most

modern road cars can lay claim to having considerably cleverer retardation.

The principle of braking is simple: slowing an object by removing kinetic energy from it. Formula One cars

have disc brakes (like most road-cars) with rotating discs (attached to the wheels) being squeezed between

two brake pads by the action of a hydraulic calliper. This turns a car's momentum into large amounts of

heat and light - note the way Formula One brake discs glow yellow hot as shown in fig.

The technical regulations also require that each car has a twin-circuit hydraulic braking system with two

separate reservoirs for the front and rear wheels. This ensures that, even in the event of one complete

circuit failure, braking should still be available through the second circuit. The amount of braking power

going to the front and rear circuits can be 'biased' by a control in the cockpit, allowing a driver to stabilize

handling or take account of falling fuel load. Power brakes and anti-lock braking systems (ABS) are not

allowed. The use of liquid to cool the brakes is forbidden.



.

Brake Blocks Of Both Ferrari & McLaren



Brakes Glowing Yellow Hot



Exhaust pipes:

Design:

The objective of the engine designer is to create a negative pressure at the exhaust valve during the overlap

period when both exhaust and intake valves are open. To do this he designs an exhaust system that

resonates at a particular RPM, and uses the pressure waves reflected by the ends of the pipes to modify the

time history of the pressure at the exhaust valve. By coupling two or more of the cylinders’ exhaust primary

pipes together, interaction between the pulses created by each cylinder modifies the pressure characteristics

at any given RPM. The ends of each primary pipes are brought together in a collector, such that their ends

are close enough together to interact, and the tail pipe(s) from a secondary resonant system. At the same

time , the designer will choose intake lengths to form another resonant system, which also interact with the

exhaust system. When two or more cylinder’s exhaust pipes are coupled, the firing order of the engine

becomes significant, and the firing order of the engine becomes significant, and the firing order of V-10’s

are chosen as a compromise between exhaust tuning and the torsional dynamics of the crankshaft.

The frequency of an exhaust pipe is set by its length. The shorter the pipe, the higher the frequency. As

engine RPM has risen over the years, the length of the exhaust pipes for a given engine configuration has

shortened drastically.

To accomplish an “as much as possible” ideal exhaust, some very different factors have to be compared

and calculated. Some of these very important factors are the exhaust and intake geometry, valve timing,

exhaust gas temperature, velocity, and RPM, which affect the characteristics. Talking of characteristics, an

exhaust system can only be optimized for one certain RPM. The length of the exhaust pipe affects as well

the maximum RPM and suppleness of the engine in lower RPM. The exhaust is therefore a compromise

between engine power in lieu of higher RPM.



Radiator Outlet:

Another remarkable appearance was re-invented by McLaren. The “chimneys” or “funnels” in front of the

rear wheels do not put out engine exhaust gases, but rather hot radiator air. Some other teams have copied

this novelty. The principle behind this is actually very simple. On one hand, the throttle doen’t specify the

air passing through the radiators, but it depends on the car speed. Increasing the throttle makes the engine

suck more air into it, and thus generates more exhaust gases. Radiators are only provided by air flowing in,

due to the movement of the car. So the effect of engine exhausts is just that little faster on downforce in

acceleration than with radiator air. On the other hand, it is very interesting to blow out this hot air as soon

as possible, because it heats up the inside of the car. Keeping the air longer under the bonnet will increase

the engine temperature.



TYRES

A modern Formula One car is a technical masterpiece. But considering the development effort invested in

aerodynamics, composite construction and engines it is easy to forget that tyres are still a race car’s biggest

single performance variable. A Formula One tyre is designed to last for, at most, 200 kilometres and - like

everything else on a the car - is constructed to be as light and strong as possible. That means an underlying

nylon and polyester structure in a complicated weave pattern designed to withstand far larger forces than

road car tyres.

The racing tyre is constructed from very soft rubber compounds which offer the best possible grip against

the texture of the racetrack, but wear very quickly in the process. If you look at a typical track you will see

that, just off the racing line, a large amount of rubber debris gathers (known to the drivers as 'marbles'). All

racing tyres work best at relatively high temperatures. For example, the dry 'grooved' tyres used up until

very recently were typically designed to function at between 90 degrees Celsius and 110 degrees Celsius.

Grooved tyres replaced slick tyres in 1998 with technical specifications as described in the diagram. These

were used until this year when slick tyres came into play again.

5.1 The 2009 FIA rules concerning tyre types

The same driver may not use more than a total of 40 dry-weather tyres and twenty-eight wet-weather

tyres throughout the entire duration of the Event.

For qualifying practice, warm up and the race each driver may use no more than 40 tyres (fourteen

front and fourteen rear).

All dry-weather tires must incorporate circumferential grooves square to the wheel axis and around the

entire circumference of the contact surface of each tyre.

All wet-weather tires must,when new, have a contact area, which does not exceed 280 cm2 when fitted to

the front of the car and 440 cm2 when fitted to the rear. Contact areas will be measured over any square

section of the tire which is normal to and symmetrical about the tire center line and which measures 200

mm x 200 mm when fitted to the front of the car and 250 mm x 250 mm when fitted to the rear. For the



purposes of establishing conformity, only void areas, which are greater than 2.5 mm in depth, will be

considered.

All tyres must be used as supplied by the manufacturer, any modification or treatment such as cutting,

grooving or the application of solvents or softeners is prohibited. This applies to dry, intermediate and

wet-weather tyres.

If, in the opinion of the appointed tyre supplier and FIA technical delegate, the nominated tyre

specification proves to be technically unsuitable, the stewards may authorise the use of additional tyres

to a different specification.

If, in the interests of maintaining current levels of circuit safety, the FIA deems it necessary to reduce

tyre grip, it shall introduce such rules as the tyre supplier may advise or, in the absence of advice which

achieves the FIA's objectives, specify the maximum permissible contact areas for front and rear tyres.

Tyre specifications will be determined by the FIA no later than 1 September of the previous season.

Once

determined in this way, the specification of the tyres will not be changed during the Championship

season without the agreement of all competing teams.

The FIA Technical Delegate, at the end of each race, will monitor wear of the tyres to ensure that, after use,

at least 50 percent of the length of each groove in every dry-weather tyre is evident unless the absence of

the groove is due to, solely abnormal wear caused by damage to the car.



Different types of Tyres & Specification



Slick Tyres



FUELS

Requirement of the fuel:

1. The fuel used in Formula One cars should be petrol as this term is generally understood.

2. The fuel should be predominantly composed of compounds normally found in commercial fuels and use

of specific power-boosting chemical compounds is prohibited.

3. The fuels formulated to achieve one or more of the following objectives will be prohibited:

a. Fuels needed to meet advanced passenger car designs.

b. Fuels formulated to minimize overall emissions.

c. Fuels suitable to be offered to the commercial market with some special feature permitting greater

efficiency, better drivability or economy to the user.

d. Fuels developed through advances in refinery techniques and suitable for trial by the general public.

4. Any petrol which appears to have been formulated in order to subvert the purpose of this regulation will

be deemed to be outside it.

5. The total concentration of each hydrocarbon group in the total fuel sample (defined by carbon number

and hydrocarbon type), must not exceed the limits given in the table below:-

T. no. 6.1

% m/n C4 C5 C6 C7 C8 C9+ Unallocated

Paraffins 10 30 25 25 55 20 -

Naphthenes - 5 10 10 10 10 -

Olefins 5 20 20 15 10 10 -

Aromatics - - 1.2 35 35 30 -

Maximum 15 40 45 50 60 45 10



For the purposes of this table, a gas chromatographic technique should be employed which can classify

hydrocarbons in the total fuel sample such that all those identified are allocated to the appropriate cell of

the table. Hydrocarbons present at concentrations below 0.5% by mass which cannot be allocated to a

particular cell may be ignored. However, the sum of all unallocated hydrocarbons must not exceed 10.0%

by mass of the total fuel sample.

6. The only oxygenates permitted are:

a. Methanol (MeOH)

b. Ethanol (EtOH)

c. Iso-propyl alcohol (IPA)

d. Iso-butyl alcohol (IBA)

e. Methyl tertiary Butyl Ether (MTBE)

f. Ethyl tertiary Butyl Ether (ETBE)

g. Tertiary Amyl Methyl Ether (TAME)

h. Di-Isopropyl Ether (DIPE)

i. n-Propyl Alcohol (NPA)

j. Tertiary Butyl Alcohol (TBA)

k. n–Butyl Alcohol (NBA)

l. Secondary Butyl Alcohol (SBA)

7. Only ambient air may be mixed with the fuel as an oxidant.

8. Manganese based additives are not permitted.

9. All competitors must be in possession of a Material Safety Data Sheet for each type of petrol used. This

sheet must be made out in accordance with EC Directive 93/112/EEC and all information contained



therein strictly adhered to.

10. No fuel may be used in an Event without prior written approval of the FIA.

11. The only fuel permitted is petrol having the following characteristics:

T. no. 6.2

Property Units Min Max Test Method

RON 95.0 102.0 ASTM D 2699-86

MON 85.0 ASTM D 2700-86

Oxygen %m/m 2.7 Elemental Analysis

Nitrogen %m/m 0.2 ASTM D 3228

Benzene %v/v 1.0 EN 238

RVP hPa 350 600 ASTM D 323

Lead g/l 0.005 ASTM D 3237

Density at 15C Kg/m3 725.0 780.0 ASTM D 4052

Oxidation stability minutes 360 ASTM D 525

Existent gum Mg/100ml 5.0 EN 24246

Sulphur Mg/kg 50 EN-ISO/DIS 14596

Copper corrosion rating Cl ISO 2160

Electrical conductivity pS/m 200 ASTM D 2624

12. Distillation characteristics: the fuel used in the formula 1 cars should have the distillation properties as

tabulated below:-

T. no. 6.3

At E70C %v/v 15.0 50.0 ISO 3405



At E100C %v/v 46.0 70.0 ISO3405

At E150C %v/v 75.0 ISO 3405

At E180C %v/v 85.0 ISO 3405

Final Boiling Point C 215 ISO 3405

Residue %v/v 2.0 ISO 3405

The fuel will be accepted or rejected according to ASTM D3244 with a confidence limit of 95%.

13. The proportions of aromatics, olefins and di-olefins, within total petrol sample, should comply with

those detailed below:

T. no. 6.4

Units Min Max Test Method

Aromatics %v/v 0* 35* ASTM D1319

Olefins %v/v 0 18* ASTM D 1319

Total di-olefins %m/m 0 1 GCMS

*Values when corrected for fuel oxygenate content.

14. In addition, the fuel must contain no substance which is capable of exothermic reaction in the absence of

external oxygen.



COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY

Introduction:

In motor racing there is a simplistic viewpoint, which says that if you wish to go quicker get a better

engine, better tires or a better driver. The influence of aerodynamics has not made this maxim totally

redundant given that the aerodynamic forces effectively produce more grip from the tires, and could

add that a better race engineer to optimize the package is next desirable feature.

Accepting that the ‘package’ is somewhat fixed at the average race weekend we are left with two focal

points to go quicker: a better driver and a better race engineer. When one looks at the impact of

computers at the racetrack they have been a notable aid to measuring what’s happening in minute detail,

this certainly helps the modern race engineer to some extent but does little to help the driver (except

perhaps to make him more honest!). If one focuses in at the racetrack activity there is a strong argument

that there is a need for innovation so that in the next decade tools evolve actually improve the

performance of the driver and the race engineer in a direct way.

Information in racing:

Information technology in the office environment encompasses a plethora of tools and data sources.

These are increasingly being improved to aid communication and coordination in the workplace. In

much the same way, information technology is having a similar impact at the racetrack.

The diagram 7.1 encompasses the sort of structure upon which such a racing I.T. system will be based.

At the center is a presentation package of software, which presents results graphically, or statistically in

a manner that allows the engineers to easily relate events to the track positions and driver actions. Pi’s

‘V6’ software is popularly used to perform this function at present. This displays data not only as

logged as the result of simple calculation (for example ‘roll’ or ‘pitch’) but also as predicted from a

stimulation model, providing an easy means to compare and contrast the measured with the predicted.

To run good simulation routines a great deal of data is required, in fact all of the things known about the

race car mentioned earlier on. The interface between this data and the simulation routines will be a data

base manger that defines the ‘Set up’ of the car. This ‘Set up’ manager needs a good user interface,

because it must be very easy for non-computer types to use and thereby record the configuration of the

car. To give an example: the team decides to change shock absorbers and bump rubbers. The mechanics



get on with the work while the race engineer simply pulls the appropriate pieces out of an inventory of

parts on his computer and places them into the set up sheet that describes the car for the next outing.

That is all that is necessary. The test results that characterize the shock absorber and bump rubbers

chosen are automatically loaded up by the information system and the engineer can immediately try

running the simulation without further to do. In the same way the engineering descriptions for all test

results (wind tunnel, engine power curves, tire surface plots, etc) is also defined ‘underneath’ the setup

sheet. The setup sheet may simply show that the car is running ‘anti-drive suspension 21b’.

Driver Improvement :

There is one facet of racing that is ripe for real advancement through computer lead innovation;

improving the driver. In Europe, and increasingly in the States, drivers start out in Karting. Once a

driver progresses from Karts to full size race cars there is an abrupt change. The (constructive) criticism

dries up, the driver is either ‘brilliant’ or ‘hopeless’, and the focus of the team discussion tends to be on

engineering setup. The reason is simply that the information to help the driver become better at the job

is not there and they must figure it out for themselves.

Given the gain possible from a faster driver, it would appear well worthwhile to try to train a particular

driver to do a better job. This is a subject of great focus at Pi Research and in 1998 a first step tool was

tried out in the club motor-sports market. It took the form of some clever, though simplistic, analysis of

the data typically collected by a Pi system (fig 7.2). The end result was a graph that shows ‘balance’

against speed on a lap-by-lap or whole outing basis. Use this for a day and almost immediately one

almost loses interest in the other data presentations available. It becomes apparent rather quickly how

much the driver can influence the handling of the vehicle by his ‘style’. If one has a young, ‘moldable’

driver one can improve the handling, the lap times and general consistency just by using this tool to

help the driver iron out actions that slow the performance of the car.



Conclusion

As Formula One racing enters the new era, the focus has now shifted from achievement of high speed

and acceleration levels to enhancement of driver safety. The sport’s governing body, FIA has already

taken measured steps to slow down the car, and also reduce inclination towards the technologies so that

races can be won merely on the basis of driver’s skills. This being easily the most money-generating

sport, every year more and more teams are attempting to get into it in spite of the high initial costs

involved. Thus the global appeal for this sport is enormous, with the sport now having spread its

tentacles from Europe to almost every nook and corner of the world including India. With the

introduction of newer technologies like traction control and semi-automatic gearboxes, along with the

use of diffusers and slick tyres, the sport has become more attractive than ever.


Formula 1 Seminar April 19

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Transcript of Formula 1 Seminar April 19