
Everything Technical in F1 - dmmalam
http://scarbsf1.com/blog1/
======
junto
A friend of mine was a transmission/gearbox designer for F1 cars. It was
fascinating to hear about the things going on behind the scenes.

Most teams have components built by a handful of specialized external
engineering companies. Some things are dealt with internally, but the lower
order teams don't have the budgets to deal with much of the technology in-
house. Ferrari is the exception and they do almost everything themselves (this
might have changed because this was nearly 10 years ago).

The lower order teams get called "pit dodgers" (behind their backs). External
companies know that statistically these teams don't finish so many races, and
the attention to detail in the design and finish for these teams is much less
than those premium teams receive.

It is sadly a vicious circle. Statistically, they will have worse drivers, who
are more likely to crash or damage the cars early in the race, so often the
cars in the lower order teams don't have the required staying power for the
entire race.

I found it interesting to know that F1 cars have reverse gear, simply in
accordance with regulations. It doesn't always work that well however, and I
believe on one occasion its inclusion was overlooked.

~~~
foobarram
>>The lower order teams get called "pit dodgers" (behind their backs).
External companies know that statistically these teams don't finish so many
races, and the attention to detail in the design and finish for these teams is
much less than those premium teams receive. ==

Not true. I have worked for several lower rug F1 teams (purely by chance - I
live in Oxfordshire and I am not interested in relocating to Marnello).
Suppliers love lower order teams - and its because they punch above their
weight. Take for example the Saubers - low budget (~USD80 million?), high
skill engineers. Also, suppliers provide standard components - they do not
affect the race outcome - they are standardized - take for example CF brakes.
An F1 race outcome depends on car balance w.r.t aero maps. Nothing more.

>>It is sadly a vicious circle. Statistically, they will have worse drivers,
who are more likely to crash or damage the cars early in the race, so often
the cars in the lower order teams don't have the required staying power for
the entire race. ==

Not true. Statistically, all the best drivers have come from lower order
teams. Hamilton is probably the only exception. Just look at history.

~~~
junto
As I pointed out, this was a while back. Things might well have changed in the
business these days. The lower order teams were "perceived" as being less
likely to consistently finish, may have been a better way to have expressed my
earlier comment. I don't think that all components are standardized. e.g.
gearboxes? Again, I don't have any contact to the business anymore so I have
no idea what it is like today.

------
ImprovedSilence
If you ever have a chance to go to an F1 race, do it. You might have a
terrible view of the race, but it is the greatest sound you will ever hear.
It's like the sky is getting ripped apart by a million banshees.

~~~
chadgeidel
I have not been able to visit an F1 race, but for another wonderful sound
(that you feel more than hear) a Top Fuel drag race is right up there.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_Fuel>

Apologies for those of you living outside of the United States, I'm not sure
how widespread this form of racing is.

~~~
tricky
I got a free ticket to one of these races and woah... it was unreal. My
favorite part was how awful the engines sound while they're lining up to
start. They sputter and generally sound like crap until a crew member hits a
switch. The engines suddenly settle into some sort of perfectly tuned
resonance until the lights turn green and they simply explode down the track.

------
tomthorns
I've been reading this blog for over a year now and the detail and knowledge
Craig has is incredible. Understanding the technical characteristics of the
cars has really deepened my love for the sport.

On a side note, I saw on Twitter this weekend that Craig/ScarbsF1 has been ill
recently. He's actually due to go for a tripple heart bypass tomorrow, so I'd
like to wish him well and hope he makes a speedy recovery.

~~~
paulyg
One of my favorite F1 blogs as well. Best of luck & a speedy recovery Craig!

------
pinchyfingers
Why would you do this to me? I'm supposed to be working!

I'm fascinated by F1 because of the technology in the cars. The driving is
astounding, but for the technically minded, Formula One cars marvelous.

I'm already excited for the race coming up in Brazil. Now I need to forget
that this site exists or I will lose all productivity in these precious few
days surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday. (Bogus holiday BTW, but at least I
get to chill with my family).

------
philjohn
One of the big draws for me in F1 is the technology. Each team is, more or
less, producing a prototype car each year, and developing it throughout the
season. Over the course of 8 months the cars get ~ 1 - 2 seconds a lap faster.

There are some mandated "common" parts, such as the McLaren ECU, but so many
parts of the car are custom designed and manufactured it really does boggle
the mind.

------
scott_karana
As cool as the technology in F1 is, I wonder what might be created if there
weren't such labyrinthine rules imposed on them. I think a league like Can-Am,
with only a budget cap, would be fascinating. Would we be seeing three-wheel
drive cars? Supercapacitor-driven electrics? Something entirely different?

(For those who don't know, many innovations came out of the league [1],
especially from the Chapparal constructor. McLaren was another notable.)

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Can-Am#Pioneering_technology> [2]
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chaparral_Cars>

~~~
nikcub
the developers of Grand Turismo, the video game, asked famed F1 designer
Adrian Newey[0] to design the ultimate race car for their game. The question
was:

> "If you built the fastest racing car on land, one that throws aside all
> rules and regulations, what would that car look like, how would it perform,
> and how would it feel to drive?"

He came up with the Red Bull x2010[1]

[0] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adrian_Newey>

[1] <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Bull_X2010>

------
beaker52
Just wanted to say that this isn't just any F1 technical blog, Scarbs is -the-
best technical blogger and has uncovered and written about several innovations
before any other source. He's a technical sleuth, who delivers great articles.

------
brunorsini
I could never get interested in F1 again after Senna's tragic death.

~~~
Swizec
He was the last driver to die in an F1 crash. Unfortunately not the last
person, but I think the road-side crews haven't seen a fatality in years.

My interest in F1 stopped a few years ago when they downgraded the engines and
made things all weird for a while. I hear it's getting back to awesome
nowadays.

~~~
k-mcgrady
It was partly due to the weird changes they started making 5-7 years ago that
the sport is so good now. For the last few years the championships have been
fought down to the last race or two, not to mention that we have 6 world
champions on the grid. I don't feel strategy plays as important a role now as
it did but they have certainly made it more entertaining to people with less
knowledge of the sport.

~~~
SanjayUttam
Ending refueling during the race did a lot reducing the time required and
therefore positions lost when you come in - so _some_ changes are good, though
I agree most don't move the needle at all. This season is great - coming down
to the last race to see who comes out on top between Vettel & Alonso...even if
only mathematically, I couldn't really ask for too much more.

A few years ago they were discussing making qualy 3 short "sprint" races where
the fastest of the pack start at the back of the next sprint - now that would
be cool.

Edit: Forgot to mention how much I love seeing anything F1 related on HN.

------
paddy_m
I just subscribed to racecar-engineering.com . I should have done this 20
years ago.

------
mgl
If you are interested in how the construction of F1 car is an equilibrium
between technological advances and hard limits set by the FIA just go through
the "Technical Regulations" section on the right hand side at
[http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/rules_and_regulations/tech...](http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/rules_and_regulations/technical_regulations/8697/),
"approved by the FIA" is a very common phrase.

Software-related excerpt from "Electrical systems":

"The electrical and software systems of all cars are inspected by the FIA at
the start of the season and the teams must notify them in advance of any
subsequent changes. All teams must use the same FIA-specification Electronic
Control Unit (ECU) for controlling engine and gearbox.

All software must be registered with the FIA, who check all the programmable
systems on the cars prior to each event to ensure that the correct software
versions are being used. Electronic systems which can automatically detect the
race start signal are forbidden."

"notify them in advance of any subsequent changes", right...

------
prdsh
The best site for F1 technical fan. A great reference for most of updates to a
car component neatly explained with illustrations and diagrams.I am Fan of F1
for some years now and what amazes me is the speed and sound of F1 and the
different race strategies. Really its the pinnacle of Motorsport

------
udkl
It also be great to have such an exhaustive peek inside the workings of the
drivers head !! After-all the driver is maybe the most important part of the
race !

On the other hand, will there be driver-less F1 races in the future ? ... or
more aptly put, WHEN will there be driver-less F1 races ?!

------
nl
My friend works at McLaren in this building:
[http://archidose.blogspot.com.au/2005/03/half-dose-8-tag-
mcl...](http://archidose.blogspot.com.au/2005/03/half-dose-8-tag-mclaren-
hq.html)

It's crazy, but sometimes that building seems the most ordinary part of the
job!

------
MindTwister
I sometimes have a hard time trying to fathom all the regulations imposed on
the teams. Can anyone shed some light on eg. the dangers of wing design?

~~~
ImprovedSilence
If not done right, it will not make enough downforce to corner properly. The
cars are designed to have no air underneath them, so as to create a vacuum to
the track. If air does get underneath them, the car becomes (briefly) an
airplane...

edit: A lot of the regulations are also based around making the cars somewhat
slower(safer), so they dis-allow massive wings so you can't fly around corners
at 200per... And then everyone trys to take advantage at any cost, so they
bend the rules to the limit. To the point where it could almost be seen as
cheating.

~~~
wmeredith
There are some really crazy stories around bending the rules. Or pushing human
technologies to the limit to achieve the smallest advantages.

 _Here is one of my favorites:_

I read a really interesting print article a few years ago about one of the big
F-1 teams (McLaren?) creating the first carbon fiber transmission housing.
This was a HUGE deal at the time because in F-1, the transmissions are
structural component of the cars. They bear huge stresses for extended periods
of time.

The team spent a couple years and tens of millions of dollars reinventing the
way carbon fiber is manufactured. It was all very hush, hush. In the article
itself, the picture of the transmission was taken from about 20 feet away,
because that's as close as the team would let anyone from the magazine get to
it. It looked like the made the camera man stand across the shop from the
thing and take his pic with a portrait lens.

The big take away at the end of the article was that they saved 50 lbs or so
off the weight of the transmission... _but the car was already under weight
regulations_. So they were adding 50lbs to the lead plate that was already on
the bottom of the car so it makes weight. The net benefit of all the money and
time spent on the CF transmission was to lower the center of gravity of the
car 3/4 of an inch and that was considered a huge advantage until the other
teams do likewise.

~~~
paddy_m
The rulebook specifically forbids the teams from using depleted uranium for
ballast. I think most of the teams use tungsten, it's more dense than lead.
[http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=tungsten+density+vs+lea...](http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=tungsten+density+vs+lead+density)

A carbon fiber transmission, properly constructed would allow for tighter
aerodynamic packaging. Adrian Newey (the current Red Bull designer) is famous
for making cars fragile and very aerodynamic. Sometimes his tight packaging
causes his cars to overheat.

~~~
camtarn
Argh, fat fingered the downvote button - Android browser's hit area guessing
can be infuriating at times.

So I'll just have to say in a comment that your comment about DU ballast made
me grin :)

------
ivanmaeder
I don't remember and F1 story getting so popular on HN, the Austin GP has
helped :) I think the sport is fascinating because it really is a battle of
geek engineers and drivers. The most successful geek around today is this guy:

<http://en.espnf1.com/korea/motorsport/image/92108.html>

Normally the champagne can get stuck in your eyes.

These guys and the huge teams behind them battle off track with each other and
with the regulations, and the strategists and races battle on track. The off
track battles make these cars safe in accidents at 300 km/h (186 mph),

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AtrzvwayniM>
<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6GQ0MBMhDjo>

Robert Kubica was unconscious after the crash and he missed a race but Mark
Webber hit the barrier at 280 km/h (174 mph) and walked away from it. As some
other readers have mentioned, there has not been a driver death in F1 since
1994.

A typical trade off we might think about in software is this:

<http://cheezburger.com/6747638272>

:)

In F1 the trade offs when writing the regulations are between safety, cost
reductions and entertainment.

And yet the two aspects that make the cars go slower (safety and cost
reductions) are exploited to the maximum. No matter if wings are taken off the
car to reduce downforce, or traction control is banned to reduce speed into
and out of corners, or if fans are declared illegal
(<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s-rZKlutlzE>), the cars each year go just as
fast as the year before.

For example in 2009 this little trick from Brawn GP caught most teams off
guard and won them the championship:

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5oDu6nSgBg>

Interesting story: the development of this car had been carried out by three
teams separated from each other so that they each understood and explored the
regulations differently.

If you're interested in F1 I recommend Youtube:

<https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZthxDFy_pM>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AmOixmxpXF4>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHjeAS7HQbg>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EGUZJVY-sHo>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-eiKYyVr2A>

<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOhgI1hQA68>

The Peter Windsor podcast is good, and Scarbs has been on it a few times:

<http://smibs.tv/the-flying-lap>

And there are plenty of blogs around. For me the perfect dose of racing is:

<http://axisofoversteer.blogspot.com/>

The last race of the season is this weekend in Brazil. Qualifying is on
Saturday, the race on Sunday. The times are at <http://www.formula1.com/>

I sound like an F1 spokesperson!

~~~
mtr
Kubica's accident at Montreal was very scary. I saw it unfold befor emy eyes
and managed to snap a bunch of photos. Your post reminded me of this and
inspired me to write a Thanksgiving/Racing Safety blog post:
[http://blog.octanenation.com/news/an-automotive-
thanksgiving...](http://blog.octanenation.com/news/an-automotive-thanksgiving-
safety-for-all-kubica-acciden-pictures/)

Exciting stuff!

