USF1 Formula1 Journal

Bahrain Grand Prix - The Race Stats by Paul_Murtagh

Winner

 

Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari

 

Podium

 

Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari

Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren Mercedes

 

Driver's Championship

 

1. Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari - 25pts

2. Felipe Massa (BRA) Ferrari - 18pts

3. Lewis Hamilton (GBR) McLaren - 15pts

4. Sebasiten Vettel (GER) Red Bull - 12pts

5. Nico Rosberg (GER) Mercedes - 10pts

6. Michael Schumacher (GER) Mercedes - 8pts

7. Jenson Button (GBR) McLaren - 6pts

8. Mark Webber (AUS) Red Bull - 4pts

9.  Vitantonio Liuzzi (ITA) Force India - 2pts

10. Rubens Barrichello (BRA) Williams - 1pt

 

Constructors Championship

 

1. Ferrari (ITA) - 43pts

2. McLaren (GBR) - 21pts

3. Mercedes (GER) - 18pts

4. Red Bull (AUT) - 16pts

5. Force India (IND) - 2pts

6. Williams (GBR) - 1pt

 

Pit Stops Chart

 

Most Pit Stops

 

Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Williams Cosworth - 2

Jaime Alguersuari (ESP) Toro Rosso Ferrari - 2

 

First To Stop

 

Nico Hulkenberg (GER) Williams Coswrorth - Lap 3

 

Last To Stop

 

Heikki Kovalainen (FIN) Lotus Cosworth - Lap 30

 

Fastest Pit Stop

 

Sebastien Vettel (GER) Red Bull Renault - 22.260secs

 

Laps Led Chart

 

Sebastien Vettel (GER) Red Bull Renault - Laps 1-33

Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari - Laps 33-49

 

Fastest Lap

 

Fernando Alonso (ESP) Ferrari - 1min 58.287secs (lap 45)

 

 

Fastest Trap Speeds

 

Hamilton 314.8

 

 

Facts

 

Fernando Alonso is only the fourth driver to win on his Ferrari debut. The others were Juan Manuel Fangio in 1956, Nigel Mansell in 1989 and Kimi Raikkonen in 2007

 

Michael Schumacher started his 'second' career in F1 from the exact same grid position that he started his first ever grand prix - 7th

 

This is the first time that Felipe Massa has scored a podium in the first race of the season

 

Lewis Hamilton has finished on the podium in the first race of the season in every season he has competed in F1. However, last year he was disqualified after it was ruled he overtook under yellow flags, causing the 'Liegate' controversy

Quali Results Bahrain

  Click on Picture or Chart to Enlarge

I would have to say that all thing considered the new teams did quite well. Chandhok has only done 7 laps in the car, had no testing, no practice, and he managed to be at 109.47% of Vettel's time. Senna was at 108.01 of pole. Well done guys!

McLaren's Wing Slot - A Possible Explanation by Flood1

Martin Witmarsh said today that the competition at first did not know what their rear wing slot was, and then they did not know if it was legal, and now they don't know how long it will take to replicate the wing on their own cars. Funny, but true.

The wing slot is the barely discernable curvy black line seen on the upper element (between the green ovals). The seperation between the lower element and the upper element is easily seen: there is daylight showing through it. The rules limit the number of rear elements to two, so the slot is an effort to create the effects of multiple elements, but without circumventing the rules. But there is more....

Originally it was thought that the slot was being fed high speed air via the engine airbox intake. The intake has a seperation that creates two paths. The larger one is the engine air intake. The purpose of the smaller upper air path was unknown. Some thought that this was ducted to the rear of the car to concentrate air on the rear wing.

My original thoughts were that the second intake was to facilitate cooling of the oil tank. It is believed that the tank was relocated from in front of the engine to the area around the gearbox. They may have included the oil tank inside the gearbox casing as was common in the '90s. This relocation was done to open up some space for the large fuel tank. The electronics were also believed to have been moved from the side pods for the same reason. The extra cooling was required to keep everything functioning properly. I think this is still the best explanation. But, I don't really know.

Recent photos have shown another interesting development. There is a scoop located on the monocoque that apparently is another route for air into the interior of the car. This may, in fact, be ducting that routes air through the chassis to the rear wing slot. The theory is that the ducting passes through the cockpit and provides cooling air for the driver via a hole located near the foot rest. However, it is also believed that the ducting continues rearward and exits the car via an opening and is directed toward the rear wing, specifically the slot.

 
 

Apparently the additional air influences the "shape" of the flow around the rear wing at high speed and reduces the drag, thus allowing a higher top speed. Some believe that the driver can place his foot on the in-cockpit outlet in the duct to allow some control over the flow to the rear wing. Foot-on at high speed to stall the rear wing, and foot off at slow speed to allow max downforce. Instead of the flow going to the wing, it now escapes into the cockpit. Very interesting.

It all sounds a bit Rube Goldberg to me, but who knows. Do you remember the extra rear-only brake pedal that McLaren employed in 1997? We would have never known about that except that Darren Heath snapped a pic after Mika's car retired and was abandoned near the wall at Luxembourg!

 

Ferrari Tests More Miles Than Other Teams - by Flood1

Generally speaking, we all agree that testing times do not mean very much. We have no idea of the fuel loads, tire conditions, and many other variables that influence the results. We tend to offer many opinions on what it all means, but we never really know the true pace of the teams until raceday, and sometimes not until later in the year.

Include in those variables the probability that all teams will show up for the first race with new aero parts and their latest hydraulic improvements (Virgin, Lotus), and you just never know what may happen. Brawn showed up for one test last year, kicked everyone's butts, and started the season the same way, only to be outpaced by Red Bull and several others in the last half of the year. Of course we all remember the internet opinion at the time that insisted that Brawn must be "running light, exceeding the rev limits, or some other trickery to get that pace (invariably linked to a enticing a sponsor).

So, what can testing indicate? The total miles run during testing is a true indicator of reliability. It also indicates the team's ability to solve problems. One cars causes a red light due to stoppage on-track, but then it returns 30 minutes later running full pace: problem solved. Another car causes a red light, but it doesn't return until tomorrow afternoon: difficulty solving problem.  ferrari reliability? Yes. Their ability to deal with breakdowns? Yes. Both are critical, and total testing miles is a direct indicator of these facts.

The chart indicates approximate total testing miles for all sessions. It does not factor in how many test sessions were attended per team to arrive at an average. RBR missed the first test, so their average is more in line with the mainstream numbers when based on average miles per session. But, as a data gathering exercise, more miles = more data. 

If I were dropping a bet today, I would pick Ferrari as the 2010 team champion. They went far more miles, collected far more data, and learned far more about their car than any other team. Their pace in the long runs was just fine, and they managed a pretty quick lap or two here or there. In contrast, the leading contenders (McLaren, Red Bull, Mercedes) only did on average 73% of the miles Ferrari. Red Bull only did 58% of Ferrari's mileage.

This indicates Ferrari's relaibility, their ability to solve and repair mechanical problems quickly and methodically, and indicates that the basic outlook for the team in 2010 is good.

I am not a Tifossi, but I am a student of effective design and perfected race/design team management. I think Ferrari have shown themselves in pre-season testing to be in perfect shape for 2010.

F1 Pistons - by Flood1

Large Eddie alerted me via a twitter post to some piston pics on the website jalopnik. http://jalopnik.com/5479359/this-is-what-a-ferrari-f1-piston-looks-like

These are suppossedly ferrari V10 pistons from 2001. I found the pics to be quite interesting as I can't remember seeing an F1 piston in quite a while. Do any of you have any knowledge of F1 pistons? Do you have any additional pics of them? Please share anything you know.

   

F1 Fuel Tanks - by Flood1

29.1 b) Fuel may not be added to nor removed from a car during a race

F1 Sporting Regulations - 10 February 2010 © 2009 Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile

For the first time since 1994, in-race refueling has been banned from Formula 1. There have been many discussions about how this will affect race strategies, tire usage, driver styles, safety, traffic management, and race pace vs. fuel efficiency. It certainly does create a whole new paradigm to be dealt with by engineers, drivers, and strategists.

Last year at Abu Dhabi, Fernando Alonso started the race with 103.8kg of fuel onboard. That is approximately 142 litres, and while perhaps not the biggest fuel load seen all season, it was significant. According to Jon Wheatley, team manager for Red Bull Racing, most fuel cells in F1 in 2009 were between 90kg and 120kg of capacity. Alonso made his only stop at the Yas Marina circuit on lap 34 and, assuming the same fuel consumption rates for the remaining 21 laps; his total fuel consumption would have been 167kg, or approximately 228 litres.

 According to F1 Yearbook and supported by RubberGoat on his blog Making Up The Numbers, Renault had the best fuel efficiency of any team. In theory this means that their fuel tank would be the smallest one on the grid. Other teams with poor fuel efficiency would require even larger tanks. This marks a significant change in chassis design parameters and will require redesigned fuel tanks.

The full-race fuel load requirement resulted in 2010 cars having a much longer wheelbase. The FIA F1 technical rules limit the placement of the tank. It must be in front of the engine and can only be 400mm from the longitudinal center line of the car. This gives it a maximum width of 800mm. Once you have reached the maximum width, one must make the tank longer until you have reached the required capacity. Secondly, the fuel tank can be no more than 300mm forward of the driver’s back. Since the driver sits in a reclined position, this measurement is taken from the top of his back. This leaves a little space beside the driver’s seat to place a portion of the tank.

 
Source: http://f1numbers.wordpress.com/

A Turn Page Article Experiment, Please Participate - by Flood1

The above snapshot is from a technical article that I have written, F1 Fuel Tanks 2010. I have choosen to put this article on an experimental "turn-page" format. Click on the link below to see it.

Some instructions:

When the page comes up, immediately look up to the top left side of the Issuu page and click on "full screen." Don't look to your search engine menu bars, but just look at the Issuu program menu bars on their screen.

Once that "full screen" view comes up, turn the page by clicking the margins to the right of the page to turn to the next two-page spread. To go backwards, click the margin to the left of the page. The technology is a bit dodgy, I know that myself, and that's why I have suggested this procedure. If you explore the technology, you may find a better approach.

If you click on the page, it will zoom. You then need to drag the thing around like you do on any PDF page. This format is based on PDF technology.

http://issuu.com/flood1/docs/f1_fuel_tanks_2010

Thanks for your patience and your willingness to participate in the experiment. Please make comment regarding the experiment, but be nice.....LoL!!

New, Quicker Ferrari Wheelnut - by Flood1

Ferrari's new wheelnut is meant to speed up pit stops. With only tires to change and no fuel to put in, the stops will be very fast. Any mistakes made will be very costly. This cone-shaped nut suppossedly fits the wheel gun much better. It also automatically fits the locking mechanism, saving time and eliminating the manual task from the tire changer's responsibilities.

I suspect everyone will have copied it by Bahrain and, in effect, obviating any advantage.

The wet weather at Jerez forced teams to change their testing regimes and Ferrari's new nut was seen during pit stop practice.

Ferrari's New Wheelnut with Integrated Safety Device

Typical Wheelnut Safety Pin (silver pull out)

 

Number 2 is the Safety Pin 

 

 

Is this the proper wheel gun attachment for that new nut?

 

Virgin Wing Repair Pics - by Flood1

The Virgin team had to make hasty repairs last week to get their car back on track and to put in a few laps to gain some data to go with their CFD only design. The front wing pillars apparently failed causing the wing loss. The rpairs shown in the pics below are probably outside of the dimensional regulations, but the cars are not scrutineered in testing except for safety equipment.

One would expect a factory redesign to go with the "field repairs" performed in Jerez. Whether they will get that factory wing out for this weeks tests is questionable, but surely they will have the factory redesign out by Barcelona.

Take a look at two things: 1. There appears to be an access panel on the original wing that is absent on the modified wing. 2. There is a strange seam on the nose of the repaired piece just ahead of the support pillars.

 
 

2010 F1 Noses - Interesting Designs - by Flood1

Take a look at the following pictures of the noses of the 2010 F1 entrants. These are very interesting. They are all very different from one another. The detailed work on some of the cars is quite remarkable and some have very wasplike features. The Red Bull and Virgin designs are the most radical, but all are very high in an attempt to funnel as much air as possible to the rear difusser. Aero is not my strongest area of understanding, so please comment if you have any insights.

 

Crash Testing and USF1 - CAPE Facility, Indianapolis

http://www.capetesting.com/index.html

One of the keys hurdles for USF1 in the coming weeks is the FIA mandated crash testing. Earlier tests of the nose were conducted at Cranfield Laboratories in Bedford, UK, and it has been assumed that Cranfield would be the site for the official tests. The logistics involved in flying the car to the test lab are difficult. There is little time left and every day counts.

If the car could be tested in the US, the pressure on the schedule would be relaxed, somewhat. I was not aware of any approved crash testing facilities in the US, so I thought I would look into the possibilities. The FIA has a set of lists that includes all facilities with approval to crash test cars, as well as lists of facilities to test damn near anything. This ranges from head to toe (shoes to helments) and from stem to stern (tail lights, seat harnesses, and wheel tethers).

On the list is CAPE, the Center for Advanced Product Evaluation. Cape is located on the campus of IMMI in central Illinois, very close to Indianapolis. They have full FIA approval and have been involved in the testing of open wheeled cars including the last CART chassis, the DP-01.

Their facility is about 550 miles from Charlotte, or about 10 hours by transport. The car could be shipped at 6:00 PM on a Sunday afternoon and be at the facility 3 hours before they opened their doors on Monday morning. I am told that the test procedures could be complete in 24 hours, and the transport could be on their way back to Charlotte by 7:00 AM Tuesday morning.

This seems like the best solution for USF1. A spokespersonn at CAPE decline to comment as many of their test sessions are confidential per client request.

FIA Technical Lists - http://www.fia.com/en-GB/sport/regulations/Pages/TechnicalLists.aspx

Crash Test Centers - http://argent.fia.com/web/fia-public.nsf/C8E81EACB24E82ADC12572FB00559236/$FILE/L04_Crash_test_centres.pdf

 

 

 

Electronic Marshalling System - by Flood1

The electronic marshalling system has been used since the first night race at Singapore in 2008. But few of us have seen pics of the hardware involved. The system, controlled by the lead flag marshal at each turn, does not replace the flags, but augments them. The local lights are controlled by the station marshals, not the FIA race command. This is how it should be.

The award winning system (Professional MotorSport World Expo Awards), designed and built by EM Motorsports, improves flagging by providing on-track lights that display the same info as the flag marshals. The advantage is that the lights are positioned in such a way that a driver cannot claim ignorance of the track status due to "problems" seeing the manual flags.

The manual flags are still displayed, just as they always have, but the lights provide another source of flagging information. The Marshal's hand-held display also shows the flagging status at the turns before and after the flag Marshal's station. Other course-wide info, controlled by central command, is displayed on the Marshal's controller as well. This includes data such as safety car deployment, full course yellows, and red flag conditions.

The console also includes radio communications with central race command.

Some Marshals that I know do not like the system as it represents the trend toward electronic control of marshalling duties. I understand their concerns. But as long as the responsibility of pushing the buttons and initiating a flagged response is left in the control of a lead station Marshal, I am okay with the technology.

What do you think?
 

Renault Rear Wing - The "W" Wing Rumored in Feb 2008?

Way back at this time in 2008 during initial testing there was a rumor that Renault were developing a "W" wing. When looked at from either end the wing would be in the shape of a "W". Nothing was ever seen of or heard of regarding that rumor, but today's testing pics brought me back to that 2 year old concept.

Take a look at the two pics below. One is from today at Valencia, and the other pic is one we ran on the old forum 2 years ago. I thought the comparison may prove that this year's rear wing design was a conceptual fact two years ago, and is now a component in the initial testing of the 2010 Renault F1 car.

The new one is upside down compared to the 2008 concept, and of course the current design is not nearly as radical as the one suggested two years ago, but the 2008 concept is present on the current wing.

The original 2 year old discussion can be found at http://wheelnuts.invisionzone.com/index.php?showtopic=854

Maybe we can find other examples of the proposed 2008 rear wing or the 2010 rear wing elsewhere on the net. If so, send me an email at usf1formula1@live.com and I will post them. Or, join the USF1forum and we can communicate via PM. Remember, validation will take a while, so please be patient.

Thanks everyone!
 

Multi-Car Comparison - Update!!

The McLaren is apparently the longest car, the bmw Sauber/Ferrari is very close, the Ferrari is next in the "stretch" car sweepstakes, and the Renault is pretty short. I wonder if this Renault is the car we will see in Bahrain or just a "dressed up" 2009. I do not honestly know, but the entire car launch process has been fascinating, and will continue to be so as testing starts tomorrow.

 
Thes pics were shared by

marq4porsche @

http://my.speedtv.com/go/thread/view/55846/22328033/2010_Car_Comparison?pg=2

and many were originally published by www.Gurneyflap.com

Note: Composite Pic By Large Eddie http://www.twitpic.com/11k3jc/full

Sauber 2010 - Another Stretch Ride

The new Sauber follows the trend we saw with the Ferrari and the McLaren. Only the Renault doesn't seem to have grown a great bit. Perhaps they had a huge tank in last year's car. Alonso started the Bahrain reace with more than 105kg of fuel on board, one of the heaviest fuel loads all season.

The F1 Stretch - Big Fuel Tanks by Flood1 - UPDATED

 

 
Pics from http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/ Red lines by Flood1

This blog has been talking for awhile about the new fuel rules for 2010. Sportsman and I have had numerous conversations about the implications of no refueling. We toyed with the strategic concepts, but we got bogged down in the possibilities and never reached a consensus on what may happen.

However, we did agree about the implications on the dimensional effects due to the increased fuel load. It was evident to us that the limits on fuel tank placement would cause a couple of dramatic changes in the cars.

Transverse Gearbox? by Flood1

This is a pic captured from the electrical system video. Is this a transverse gearbox? It sure looks like it espeially when compared to the pic of the Xtrac Transverse (bottom pic) used in ALMS.

Cranfield Test Laboratory - Rear Crash Structure

Cranfield Test Laboratory - Nose

USF1 Tests Nose

As with many other parts of the car over the past few months, the nose section of the new US F1 car undergoes crash testing in Cranfield, England. The nose performs well, breaking up as it should in the test last week but the guys from the composite department in the Charlotte, NC, base, watching this video for the first time, dont know whether to laugh or cry. Vid and text courtesy of USF1.com