F1 TECHNICAL

[mindgam3]

This section will be for all you tech heads to ask and post different technical aspects of F1 related to tyres, chassis, aerodynamics, car set ups, what all the engineers/mechanics do and F1 rules etc.

This is the part of F1 i most enjoy so expect a lot of articles coming this way soon.

Enjoy ;)

[mindgam3]

I thought we'd start with the most obvious thing that makes up the F1 car.... the engine ;)

I've picked a very nice article from F1 Technical for you (thanks to them ;) enjoy reading....

Note to RC45 and greywolf: take note of the mentioning of VE, ME and TE :P

THE ENGINE

"The formula one 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 revs exceeding 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.

Engine capacity must not exceed 3000 cc.
Engines may have no more than 5 valves per cylinder.
Supercharging is forbidden.
An engine must consist of 10 cylinders and the normal section of each cylinder must be circular.
The use of any device, other than the 3 litre, four stroke engine to power the car, is not permitted
Variable geometric length exhaust systems are forbidden.
The basic structure of the crankshaft and camshafts must be made from steel or cast iron.
Pistons, cylinder heads and cylinder blocks may not be composite structures which use carbon or aramid fibre reinforcing materials.

At the moment, all f1 engines can produce more than 780 bhp with 10 cilinders in V. These engines are mainly made from forged aluminium alloy, because of the weight advantages it gives in comparison to steel. Other materials would maybe give some extra advantages, but to limit costs, the FIA has forbidden non-ferro materials. In this quest to decrease engine weight, the 1998 Mercedes-benz engine was possibly one of the most revolutionary engines ever built. Ford started a new trend that year to drastically decrease the weight of the engine, and thus also improving its performance. Ford Cosworth had been able to produce an engine that was at least 25kg lighter than any other engine. Although they suffered some reliability problems trghout the season, the engine was an example for the others, as it allowed teams to shift some weight in the car. That could be placed more on the front wheels or on the rear wheels which could help the steering or the acceleration of the car.

It's not exactly known how much oil such a top engine contains, but this oil is for 70% in the engine, while the other 30% is in a dry-sump lubrication system that changes oil within the engine three to four times a minute.

Difference with road engines

Higher volumetric efficiency. VE is used to describe the amount of fuel/air in the cylinder in relation to regular atmospheric air. If the cylinder is filled with fuel/air at atmospheric pressure, then the engine is said to have 100% volumetric efficiency. On the other hand, turbo chargers increase the pressure entering the cylinder, giving the engine a volumetric efficiency greater than 100%. However, if the cylinder is pulling in a vacuum, then the engine has less than 100% volumetric efficiency. Normally aspirated engines typically run anywhere between 80% and 100% VE. So now, when you read that a certain manifold and cam combination tested out to have a 95% VE, you will know that the higher the number, the more power the engine can produce. Bacause turbos are not allowed in F1, this item does not differ that much from a normal road engine.
Unfortunately, from the total fuel energy that is put into the cylinders, everagely less than 1/3 ends up as useable horsepower. Ignition timing, thermal coatings, plug location and chamber design all affect the thermal efficiency (TE). Low compression street engines may have a TE of approximately 0.26. A racing engine may have a TE of approximately 0.34. This seemingly small difference results in a difference of about 30% (0.34 - 0.26 / 0.26) more horsepower than before.
From all that power generated, part of it is used by the engine to run itself. The left over power is what you would measure on a dynamometer. The difference between what you would measure on the dyno and the workable power in the cylinder is the mechanical efficiency (ME). Mechanical efficiency is affected by rocker friction, bearing friction, piston skirt area, and other moving parts, but it is also dependent on the engine's RPM. The greater the RPM, the more power it takes to turn the engine. This means limiting internal engine friction can generate a large surplus in horsepower, and where in F1 the stress is on power, on the road it is also on fuel consumption.
These main optimization necessities are what causes the engineer's headaches. At the end of the line, an F1 engine revs much higher than road units, hence limiting the lifetime of such a power source. It is especially the mechanical efficiency that causes formula one engines to be made of different materials. These are necessary to decrease internal fraction and the overall weight of the engine, but more importantly, limit the weight of internal parts, e.g. of the valves, which should be as light as possible to allow incredibly fast movement of more than 300 movements up and down a second (this at 18.000 rpm).

Another deciding point trying to reach a maximum of power out of an engine is the exhaust. The minor change of lenght or form of an exhaust can influence the horsepowers drastically (for more information about exhausts, look at the article concerning this topic in the Mechanics part).

Engine type

Considering internal combustion engines (thus leaving out oscillating and Wankel rotary combustion engines), there are basically three different types of building an engine. The difference here is how the cylinders are placed compared to each other.

Inline engines, where all cylinders are placed next to (or after) each other are not used in Formula one since the 60's.
Boxer engines are actually one of the best ways to build an engine, if all external factors allow it. Two cylinder rows are placed opposed to each other. These engines became popular in F1 because of the low point of gravity, and the average production costs, but later on disappeared out of the picture as this type of engine is not sufficiently stiff enough to whitstand the car's G-forces in cornering conditions.
V-type engines, as currently used in all F1 cars. As you can see on the picture, it is the same principe as a boxer engine, although the cylinder rows are located both above the cranck shaft, where in boxer engines, these are constructed aside it. With this type of engine, the first question you should ask yourself is how large should the V angle be. Currently most F1 cars run with a 72°, Renault runs a 112° engine in order to obtain a lower gravity point but having to cope with more vibrations and a decreased stiffness of the engine part.
The size of the V angle has to do with firing sequence and primary balance. A circle has 360 degrees and the (included V angle x the number of cylinders) must be a function of 360 in order to achieve evenly spaced cylinder firing and primary balance. That is why a 90 V has either offset crankpins or a funny firing order. That is why a boxer engine is an ideal layout. The cylinders are opposed at 180 degrees so having 2 or 4 or 6 or 8 or 10 or 12 isn't that big a deal. Perfect primary balance is easy to achieve, as long as the reciprocating and rotating parts are in balance and, the firing order is always evenly spaced. However, a boxer in an F1 car would be ungainly.

Cooling

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 airbox does the opposite. Between the airbox 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. The shape of this must be carefullly designed to both fill all cylinders equally and not harm the exterior aerodynaimcs of the engine cover, this all to optimize the volumetric efficiency.

This picture shows the whole engine part and surroundings on the Toyota F1 car of 2002. The black carbon box above the engine is the airbox, providing air to the engine to be mixed with fuel in the cylinders. Secondly, the flat panels located nearly vertically in the front of the side pods are the radiators. These use air flowing through to cool down the engine and its oil. The position can vary a lot, as it is not a much importance as long as it can catch enough air, preventing the engine to overheat. One thing that greatly influences the radiator positioning is to lower the side pod and improve the coke bottle effect, thereby optimizing aerodynamic efficieny."


Full Article with Pics (http://www.f1technical.net/article4.html)

[sameerrao]

Again Mindame3 a lot of your stickies already exist. - created by Jabba or Toronto. I am not sure why we need to create duplicate topics???

[mindgam3]

i replied in multimedia to that question, i can go back if you want but i just think its better so we know who did what....

In the mean time HERE's (http://www.mindgame.neopages.net/ICE.doc) my own article on the internal combustion engine. Not strictly formula one, but essentially the basics needed for any good performance engine

[Jabba]

See my comment on this in the other thread...and feel free to un-sticky my threads as well.

[mindgam3]

McLaren, although not back up to their usual form have improved since they introduced the 19B. What were the actual differences between it and the original 19.

Drawing courtesy of Giorgio Piola from Autosport Magazine:

http://www.mindgame.neopages.net/F1/MP4-19B.jpg

1) New nose is similar to that introduced at the Nurburgring to the MP4-19. 2) The chassis is slightly higher, matching the higher engine (6). This will give the engine a greater dry sump capacity. The sidepods (3) are very similar to those of Ferrari (inset) while the radiators (4) are the same as on the MP4/19 and are not of the lay-down variety used by some teams. Aerodynamically, the rear of the car (5) is different and the rear suspension (7) is totally new.

More Detail:

http://www.mindgame.neopages.net/F1/MP4-19B-2.jpg

The sidepods are very different aerodynamically and there is a Ferrari-like step in the lower body behind the bargeboards (shown by arrow). There is an extensive hot air extract (also arrowed) and behind that there's a new double-element winglet. The diffuser is all-new, but the radiator layout is as before, with the two rads (oil and water) combined but angled

http://www.mindgame.neopages.net/F1/MP4-19B-3.jpg

This shows the MP4/19B's underbody and its ballast, which comes out in one piece. The holes are for fixing

[mindgam3]

HUNGARIAN GP TECH REVIEW

from Autosport magazine:

Keep up-to-date with all the latest technical developments in F1 with the sport's leading graphical analyst Giorgio Piola. His illustrations are second-to-none, direct from the pit lane, and outline just who is doing what to find the all-important advantage in the world's fastest-moving sport. Click on each thumbnail image for a bigger picture.

New Williams front wing

http://www.mindgame.neopages.net/F1/hung1.jpg

After choosing to ditch the 'walrus', the new FW26 nose is a very different animal. The bottom section is more curved, with McLaren-like contours of its underside. The wing profile has a full spoon shape (1), necessitating long support pillars (2). An unusual endplate inner section (3) features a non-horizontal downward-facing plate. There is an additional horizontal plate inside the endplate (4) and a Gurney flap on the main profile (5).

Ferrari's high downforce front wing

http://www.mindgame.neopages.net/F1/hung2.jpg

This new nose section (right) featured big changes since the one used at Monaco (left). There is a greater spoon shape to the element in the centre (1) with longer supports (4) and only one flap (2). It is very triangular in plan view compared with the old one that had two flaps with gentler curves (3).

McLaren guide vane changes

http://www.mindgame.neopages.net/F1/hung2.jpg

There is an extra channel (1, the dotted line shows the previous arrangement) and a new horizontal plate (2) and a very thin brake duct (3) with an additional duct behind it (4).

Renault wing work

The front wing had a new endplate with a distinct cut-out (1), spoon profile (2) and non-linear chord shorter at the ends (3).

http://www.mindgame.neopages.net/F1/hung3.jpg

[sau_mathur]

Thanks a lot for the info..!! Appreciate it! And quality pictures as well..!! nice

[styla21]

This is great! keep it coming
:P :!:

[possessed_beaver]

awsome, helps you understand a bit more in the complicated world of formula 1.

[levensnevel]

A dude called "SebaZ" from the website "tbk.fameflame.dk" found this
http://news.com.com/Ferrari%27s+high-tech+tune-up/2008-1012_3-5344866.html
very interesting piece of reading.
So enjoy yourself :fadein:

[mclaren_Gt]

nice :D

[astonmartinandy]

I just want to say that this thread is great! I am fascinated by all the technology behind the F1 cars, and the explanations and diagrams so far have been top notch.

Keep up the good work mindgam3!

[saadie]

Nice stuff ya got here .....
i got a few questions .....

What type of Fuel is used in F1's ?
What hapenned to the Turbi's (twin turbo's) ?
There are currently 18 Tracks (i think) ..... FIA said that there should be 20
Turky applied ..... it got the permission ... either its 18th or 19 IDK
India also applied
so did Pakistan ... can ya believe that .... :lol:
the question is how many other countries applied and who are gonna get the permission to make an F1 circuit ...... :?:

[Wutputt]

What type of Fuel is used in F1's ?
What hapenned to the Turbi's (twin turbo's) ?
Fuel used in F1 has to meet special F1 regulations, which say the fuel used in F1 has to have approx. the same characteristics as commercial fuel used in Europe. There are of course some differences: like F1 fuel will combust more violent then normal fuel and F1 fuel will consist of more advanced additives, but it there are a lot of resemblances with normal gasoline.

Turbo's were ruled out in 1989.

[saadie]

Fuel used in F1 has to meet special F1 regulations
thats y i asked :wink:
i know all the tech stuff ..... theres a specific name of the fuel ... like JP = Jet Petrolium ... im stuck with the name ... :wink:

Turbo's were ruled out in 1989.
BUt WHY ...
they were too fast, turbo lag, pritty risky .... :!:

[Wutputt]

Ah ok.
I also don't know the exact name of the fuel.

Well the reason turbo's were ruled out was because they were becoming to powerful, so the cars became to fast according to the FIA. Well it's about the same as nowadays. The FIA is convinced the current F1 cars are to fast so they want to introduce new rules. Currently the teams can choose one of 3 proposed new rule packages. And one involves ruling out the 3.0 V10 engines and replacing them with 2.4 V8 engines. So history will probably repeat itself.

[saadie]

hmm ... interesting ....... im gonna do a lil searchey abt turbi's lateron ....

anywayz anyone knows anything about the TRACKS mentioned above ..

[levensnevel]

Fuel:
check out
http://www.shell.com/static/shellracing-en/downloads/pdfs/open_wheel/fuel_gt.pdf
for the wider picture
Similar to the technical development of a F1 car during the season the oilcompanies like Shell car continue to develop the fuel
throughout the season in order to strike the optimum balance between the characteristics of both the car and the circuit
e.g.
> During the 1st seven races Ferrari used Shell V-Power F1 ULG58 spec fuel
> as from Canada Ferrari used the Shell ULG58 / L4spec fuel
> and as from Germany Ferrari uses Shell V-Power ULG59

All thisi information and much more can be found at
http://www.shell.com/home/Framework?siteId=ferrari-en&FC2=/ferrari-en/html/iwgen/leftnavs/zzz_lhn3_3_0.html&FC3=/ferrari-en/html/iwgen/2004_race_season/2004_race_calendar/2004_calendar.html

[sau_mathur]

dunno if i shud post it here, or in its parent forum, but bear with me if this isnt the right place for it. It is a technical question about a formula 1 car. I have always been fascinated as to the engine starting mechanism of the cars..!!How does a formula1 car start????

i mean is it a computer software that triggers the engine to start? ive seen the long metallic thingy poke in the back of the car that they use as an ignition mechanism. Just how does it work ?

If someone could enrich me with that knowledge, that would be AWESOME !!!

[Wutputt]

dunno if i shud post it here, or in its parent forum, but bear with me if this isnt the right place for it. It is a technical question about a formula 1 car. I have always been fascinated as to the engine starting mechanism of the cars..!!How does a formula1 car start????

i mean is it a computer software that triggers the engine to start? ive seen the long metallic thingy poke in the back of the car that they use as an ignition mechanism. Just how does it work ?

If someone could enrich me with that knowledge, that would be AWESOME !!!
The thing I know: the long metallic thingy is used to connect it to a gearbox shaft which is connected via the other gearbox shafts and the clutch to the engine of course. Before starting, the engine has to be preheated and then they let the engine spin at low rpm so the the oil pumps start to work. If the oil pressure is high enough, the ignition can be turned on and the engine starts.

I also heard a laptop has to be connected to insert a password before the engine can be started. Of course for the race, they can unlock the password. Because in case the driver stalls in the pits, they can fastly start it up again without using a laptop for inserting the password.

[gtx28]

Ok does anyone have any detailed info about how they can get the motor reving so high are they using roller cranks? , any info on this would be very interesting links always appreciated.

[jenkF1]

I think F1 cars are started via a Laptop. But after this once the ignition is cut out for a momentery time of like 30secs or so it can be restarted without a Laptop via one of those pokey metallic things in the pitstop. Thats what I thought anyway, anyone is free to correct me.

[SPEEDCORE]

Yeap thats rite and then they are warmed up using a laptop. Check out Fifth Gear episode 2004(series 2). It shows how the laptop runs afew tests b4 they get a driver/engineer to manually go up n down the gears.
When I was walking about Albert Park earlier in the month they had the Williams F1 car(for the battle between the road cars) sitting on the side of the sideroad with a laptop on the rear wing :)

[Toronto]

^^^ they do have cooling systems in them, just no fans (the use moving air)

[ZfrkS62]

Does anyone know how the Pnuematic Valvetrain works on the engines? I've tried to picture it in my head but just can't seem to come up with a viable diagram :(

[deth]

These engines are mainly made from forged aluminium alloy, because of the weight advantages it gives in comparison to steel. Other materials would maybe give some extra advantages, but to limit costs, the FIA has forbidden non-ferro materials.

just to clarify, aluminium is a non-ferrous metal. is aluminum the only exception that tehy are allowed to use?

[antonioledesma]

Does anyone know how the Pnuematic Valvetrain works on the engines? I've tried to picture it in my head but just can't seem to come up with a viable diagram :(

some images, the first is a simple view, and the second is a more detailed one. I liked your question...I was also wondering how was done

http://www.delwestusa.com/images/2_airspring.gif

http://www.pureluckdesign.com/ferrari/f1engine/valvesystem1.jpg

http://www.pureluckdesign.com/ferrari/f1engine/

hope this works

[jenkF1]

I know this is pretty basic stuff, but there are a few things which confuse me a bit with suspensions set-ups.

With a stiffer front-end surely the front will be more responsive thus promoting oversteer/better turn-in? And with a soft front-end I would have thought this would promote understeer.

However, because the front is softer wouldn't it follow(ride) the track better thus giving more front end grip and thus oversteer?

This is fuking my head up. I personally think that a softer front end promotes better response, but softening increases front end grip. :idea: :shock:

I know what oversteer is, but I guess that 'turn-in' basically the same. Whats the difference in these two terms?

[Toronto]

Ok this is the best I can do to help you.

Understeer is when the car wont turn as much as you would like, so you would have to add more lock to the front tires, thus wearing them down more then they should be. to stop the car from understeering you simply add more downforce on the front wing. or lower the car down. another way is to soften the from wheels grip (giving them more grip), or stiff up the real wheels and give them less grip.

now what does understreer have to do with angle of attack, well simply put nothing, understreer is a mid-turn change to the amount of lock going through the apex of the turn, nothing on the turn in can help you.

now onto oversteer,
this mostly happens on the EXIT of a turn, and isn't cause most of the time by the setup of the car, but by the use of the throttle by the driver.
for example
the driver has started the turn with to much lock on the wheel, he then steps on the gas when the rear tire have more grip then the front tires, making the car oversteer because now the rear tires have more grip and are now steering the car through the conner, so he has to turn the wheel in the opposite way during the turn, adding opposite lock. and again wearing down the fron tires

now oversteer can happen on the turn when the rear is to stiff, and grips the track while the the front end of the car has no grip (cause of the turning of the wheels) and the driver then has to lift off, cuase a loss of time.
to stop oversteer you can stiffen up the front or loosen up the rear suspension.

edit. now to talk about the car spinning on the turn in, this is caused by late braking and causes the rear to loose grip and spin around, all the drivers fault.

[jenkF1]

Cheers for that Toronto. Sort of understand now. I've always had a vague understanding of oversteer and understeer, but wasn't sure that oversteer only happens mid-corner to the exit of the corner. I've been experimenting on GP4 (what a game) and its givien me a good feel of the difference in suspension settings. It would be good to experiment with tyre pressure, but I noticed a major fuking flaw in GP4- How the fuk do u change your tyre pressures?

So I know that when you hit the breaks late, the car can spin on turn-in. You say this can be blamed all on the driver, although a car wth poor balance I suppose could emphasise this problem. But this isn't classed as 'oversteer' I guess. Cheers any way.

One other thing -what exactly do 'packers' do? Do they help increase the ride height with soft suspension settings or generally stiffen the suspension?

[phantomfocus]

toronto said

now to talk about the car spinning on the turn in, this is caused by late braking and causes the rear to loose grip and spin around, all the drivers fault


Oversteer on corner entry is a touchy subject.

Yes, you can create this with extreme late breaking, but if you have slowed to a speed that your front tires are comfortable with, but the rears can not keep up and therefore slide. This can mean you do not have enough rear wing, or enough rear mechanical grip in the car. It 's not just the drivers fault. If the engineers can fix an corner entry oversteering car, the driver will probably be able to break later and get closer to the speed/stability he is looking for. The driver cannot be content to deal with this condition. If they want to go faster they have to try and correct the problem.

[saadie]

what is diffuser ???

EDIT :: ... foundthe answer myself ...

http://www.formula1.com/insight/glossary/

[|Nuno|]

FIA Technical Analysis Page

http://www.formula1.com/insight/technical_analysis/


Page with technical updates since Australia 2004 until now.

==============================================


Aerodynamics


Aerodynamics has become the most important part of racing during the latest years. It has nearly become the only way for engineers to gain considerable time on their opponents, considering the very strict regulations in today’s motorsports.
F1 is thereby the one to keep an eye on, as it is the sport where the most money is spent on technical developments.

Though the engine power, the tyres and much more, the aerodynamic streamline is very important to make the cars that fast. Many problems should be faced before starting with the design of a car. Ensuring enough air gets to the car's radiators is critical, because it's important for the engine's power.

F1 configuration

F1 (and in general, all winged racing cars) can be considered to be canard configurations in the sense that the front and back wings are on opposite sides of the centre of gravity and both are "lifting" (strongly) in the same direction, in this case down.

The car should be considered in (at least) 3 parts; front wing, body and rear wing. Each of these parts should be optimised for downforce (i.e. "lifting" down) and low drag, with the accent very definitely on downforce. This downforce can be likened to a "virtual" increase in weight, pressing the car down onto the road and increasing the available frictional force between the car and the road, therefore enabling higher cornering speeds.

This allows today's formula-1-cars to withstand centrifugal forces from 4G as to where a passenger car with sport chassis begins to slip at 1G.

Drag

The following table shows C, the drag coefficient, of some particular geometric objects.

http://img166.echo.cx/img166/5306/drag1fr.gif


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

F = ½ CDAV²

Where:
F - Aerodynamic drag force
C - Coefficient of drag
D - Density of air
A - Frontal area
V - Velocity of object


In this system, D as air density is expreseed in kg/m³. The frontal area is the surface of the object viewed from a point that object is going to. It's expressed in m³. The velocity should be placed in m/s, where 1m/s is 3,6km/h.


The overall effect on lap times can be calculated with this "Law of Amdahl".



Seff= Sf/Sf(1-f)+f

Here 'f' is the fraction of the system (when this fraction generates 5% of the car's drag, then f is 0.05) that can be improved, Sf is the improvement factor on this fraction (division of the drag in Newtons and the new drag force after improving that element), and Seff is the overall improvement that will be achieved.


Downforce

Aero foils in motorsports are often called wings, referring to aircraft wings. In fact they are very similar. F1 wings and winglets aim to generate high downforce, by having a high angle of attack, thus also increasing the drag of the aerofoil.

The evolution of an airfoil to what it is now is mainly thanks to our well-known friends Bernoulli and Newton, who initially had totally different views on generating downforce.

When a gas flows over an object (or when an object moves through a gas), the molecules of the gas are free to move around. They are not closely bound to one another as in a solid. Because the molecules move, there is a velocity (speed plus direction) associated with the gas. Within the gas, the velocity can have very different values at different places near the object. Bernoulli's equation relates the pressure on the object to the local velocity; so as the velocity changes around the object, the pressure changes as well, in the opposite way.

http://img139.echo.cx/img139/7715/wing1qo.gif

Now adding up the velocity variation around the object instead of the pressure variation also determines the aerodynamic force. The integrated velocity variation around the object produces a net turning of the gas flow.

From Newton's third law of motion, a turning action of the flow will result in a re-action (aerodynamic force) on the object.

So both "Bernoulli" and "Newton" are correct. Integrating the effects of either the pressure or the velocity determines the aerodynamic force on an object. These two equations have lead to the current airfoils used and make optimal use of both theories.


Design

Today's formula one cars are designed with CFD (computational fluid dynamics) and CAD (computer aided design) that allows engineers to design a car, and immediately simulate the airflow around it, incorporating environmental parameters like traction, wind speed and direction, and much more.
Further on, the richest teams can now test fully scaled cars in their closed circuit wind tunnels, which operate 24h a day.
__________________________________________________ ____________



Front wing aerodynamics


The front wing of a Formula One car creates about 25% of the total cars downforce. Although this only occurs in ideal circumstances. When a preceding car runs less than 20m in front, the total downforce generated by the front wing may become as little as 30% of its normal downforce. Although this reduce of drag (because the air pressure is lower behind a car's rear wing), enables higher speeds at the end of straight, it significantly hinders the pursuing car in corners, as he cannot take these at normal speeds. This problem mostly occurs in fast corners, and is one of the most important reasons of the overtaking problem currently in Formula One. It is therefore a hard job to create a performing front wing, even more because disturbing the airflow too much will affect the rest of the car's aerodynamic efficiency too.

Regulations:

3.4 Width ahead of the rear wheel centre line :
3.4.1 Bodywork width ahead of the rear wheel centre line must not exceed 1400mm.

3.4.2 In order to prevent tyre damage to other cars, the top and forward edges of the lateral extremities of any bodywork forward of the front wheels must be at least 10mm thick with a radius of at least 5mm.

3.7 Front bodywork height:
All bodywork situated forward of a point lying 330mm behind the front wheel centre line, and more than 250mm from the centre line of the car, must be no less than 100mm and no more than 300mm above the reference plane.

3.17.1 Bodywork may deflect no more than 5mm vertically when a 500N load is applied vertically to it 700mm forward of the front wheel centre line and 625mm from the car centre line. The load will be applied in a downward direction using a 50mm diameter ram and an adapter 300mm long and 150mm wide. Teams must supply the latter when such a test is deemed necessary.

Front wing design:

A regular front aerofoil is made as a main plane running the whole width of the car (almost at least, limited by FIA regulations) suspended from the nose. Onto this are fitted one or more flaps which are the adjustable parts of the wing. On each end of the mainplane there are endplates. These make sure the airflow passes above and beneath the wing rather than around it. In recent years these endplates have played a crucial role in influencing the airflow around the front tyres, especially after the rule changes at the beginning of 1998 (wheelbase made smaller from 220cm to 180cm). These changes made front wing airflow interfere with the rotating airflow around the front wheels.

Article 3.17 has been introduced during 1998, after teams started experimenting with bending front and rear wings. When Ferrari introduced such a front wing at the end of 1997, it was produced in such a way that the wing would flex under aerodynamic loads. This means that as the speed increased, a force was produced that pushed the wing towards the ground. By means of a ground effect, this was particularly interesting for front wings because if would increase downforce at high speeds without an increase of drag. As rear wings began to fail and flew off during races, the FIA thought it was time to act and added 3.17 to the technical regulations of Formula One.

At the beginning of 2001, front wing regulations had changed in such a way, that the wing should be 100mm above the ground at least, instead of the 40mm until then. The FIA introduced this change to limit the cornering speeds of the cars. The idea was to decrease the ground effect that was generated by front wings close to the ground, working just like a diffuser.

Immediatley at the start of the season, Ferrari introduced a front wing that was bent down in the center line or the car. This new concept makes a handy use of a little hole in the regulations. The whole is the result of a rule, added in 1994, where the wooden bottom made it's entry. This wooden plate can be hung up as low as possible to the ground. As this plate is 50 cm wide, it was not foreseen that the front wing may be placed that low to the ground in 25cm at each side of the center of the car. Since the introduction by Ferrari, more and more teams have adopted the idea of curved front wings, with them also McLaren and Renault (see picture).
Though the reason that McLaren didn't make any of those changes until 2002, might have to do with the curve of the front wing before the change of regulations. It was namely curved up in the middle, so that the inner side was higher above the ground then both outer sides of the front wing. This type of wing is mostly useful on fast tracks where not much downforce is needed. It is there that airflow in the centre of the car can be more used by the diffuser in the back instead of lifting it up and create downforce in the front.

End plates:


http://img139.echo.cx/img139/4748/frontwing25fw.gif

(Right Click, "view image" for a clearer view.)


Some of the air that is needed to generate the front wing's downforce interferes with the rotating air around the front wheels, F1 teams have been developing the end plates from a simple plate to an integral part of the wing. To overcome the main problem of turbulence around the wheel, McLaren, and later Ferrari made in 1998 the inside edges of the front wing endplates curved to direct the air between both front wheels. One year after, all teams had adopted this technique to maintain front wing efficiency. Some other teams decided to decrease the width of the main plane just to the width between the front wheels. This left some room for extra wings and flaps, which caused the beginning of intensive end plate research. In 1998 changes were so radical that Ferrari produced six different designs of front wings throughout 1999, in order to reclaim the lost downforce by regulation changes.


* Note that the regulations aren't up to date, since now front wings must have a higher ground clearance.
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Nose Cone


High or low front wing

Designing


As the gap between Ferrari and McLAren is widening fast at the moment, there may rise some questions about the aerodynamics. The 2001 season is an example of a regulation chage that brings the need of a complete new aero packet. It is very remaquable that compared to 2000, McLaren raised their nose cone, and Ferrari drastically lowered it. Here's an explanation.

McLaren for example has raised the nose cone. All the changes to the F1 nose parts are due to the regulation change about the front wing, which is placed 5 cm higher above the ground. With it, there has been lost a lot of downforce on the front wheels. Although it ùmight seems very strange that McLaren raised the nose cone for this, but it makes a lot of sense. As most teams hieghtened up the nose cone, 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 downfoce, but Newey certainly thought it wouldn't have a very high impact Benetton 2001 nose cone 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 more usefull then if it would be forced to change direction immediately. When the air can be directed to the sidepods smoothly, it causes a lot less resistance.

http://img133.echo.cx/img133/6306/nosecone22hh.jpg

As shown on this Benetton picture, air flows up and is sort of pushed to the underside of the nose cone. Thanks to the high nose, the air can be "splitted" to both sidepods without very much air resistance. It is the same why Benetton did not place a very steep front wing part in the center, because they probably cannot handle the air going up under the cockpit between the front wheels. It wight be a big advantage of placing the front wing that low in the center, just because of this low air. This is probably the reason of opting for a high nose, exactly bacause of not losing the efficiency of the front wing.

http://img133.echo.cx/img133/2043/nosecone14fv.jpg

Ferrari on the contrary have opted for a completed other tactic. They did not feel maintaining the front wing affeciency as a priority, although downforce on the front wheels 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 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 nosetop, it can be pushed up by the front wing, without an obstacle. Once the airflow has passed this stadium, lots of downforsce 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 feerari, in which all other teams failed.

You have here immediately a reason for the extreme high level of downforce on the ferrari. The mechanics are able to increase the downforce on the rear wing, without getting the car stable, thanks to an efficient nose cone.
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Rear wing efficiency

How it works


The basic principle of a formula one wing is exactly the same as with a common aircraft. The greatest difference is the direction air is pressed and how that aerodynamic force is generated. Knowing that an aircraft wing does the opposite of an F1 wing, I'll explain a formula one wing. I will start from the idea that we are testing a single rear wing in a wind tunnel. The main advantage of this theoretical example is that it leaves out some natural factors. With a single wing, we do not have to think about turbulence that is generated by the car itself (the engine cover mainly), neither do we have to take in account the direction and speed of outside wind. It is obvious that both these factors decrease the efficiency of a aerofoil.

As you can see in the picture below, air flows onto the rear wing with a straight direction (which is often called clean air) at the speed of the car. The white flaps push the air up. Following Newton's law, an action causes a reaction, which is why the aerofoil is being pushed towards the ground by the air. Having in mind that air flowing onto the flaps is pushed upwards, and underflowing air keeps going its own way, a low pressure area (nearing a vacuum at very high speeds) is created right behind the horizontal aerofoils. This 'vacuum' causes a suck up of the air passing under that flap. The underpassing air on the other hand again flows faster in an attempt to equalize pressure on both sides of the aeleron, and thereby increasing the total wing efficiency. Because of the car's speed this is impossible, which is why the effect is maintained. The force that is created by this type of wing, so that the car is pressed onto the ground, is called downforce.

http://img241.echo.cx/img241/2778/rwing01go.gif


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 flows 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 2001, the FIA regulations have changed concernig the rear wing. To increase the ability of overtaking and slipstreaming, the number of rear wing elements is now being limited to 3. This should decrease the downforce and acceleration. The only effect that might have come with this regulation change, is at high downforce circuits, there will be a little more air resistance to produce the same downforce.
The pictures below both show David Coulthart in his MP4/17 from 2002. The picture of the left shows him at Monza 2002, whilst the picture on the right was taken at the Nurburgring. You can see that the rear wing profiles are very different. On the left picture, very little of the rear wing can be seen, whilst the Monaco wing has much of the profile visible:

http://www.f1technical.net/articles/aero/images/rwing1.jpghttp://www.f1technical.net/articles/aero/images/rwing2.jpg


The diffuser

http://img178.echo.cx/img178/6781/rwing30wx.gif

(Right Click, "view image" for a clearer view.)


The smallest thing which you can count to the wings part is the diffuser. Acually, it does exactly the opposite of a rear or front wings. Instead of pushing the air up, it sucks the air up. The volume of the diffuser increases towards to the end of the car.

Where a certain amount of molecules filled for example 1dm³ under the car, these now fill 2dm³. This drop of pressure causes a car to be sucked towards the ground. Driving at a speed of 300 km/h, the groundeffect of the car would be extreme if there was no air under the car itself. Therefore, the FIA has forbidden strokes and sloping car bottoms because of safety reasons. Instead of raising the back of the car, the diffuser sucks the air away from under the car because the low pressure. The diffuser us placed under the rear wing and is actually a sweep up of the car's floor. It consists of many tunnels and spliters which carefully control the airflow to maximize this suction effect. The design of the bottom of the car, and thereby the diffuser is a critical area, because it can greatly influence the car's behaviour in corners. More importantly, the designers have to be carefull that the car keeps working good in all circumstances, and at any distance from the ground. Losing all of the diffuser's generated downforce when riding over a curb will greatly generate a nervous behaviour of the car itself. The strokes and flips withing the diffuser have lately become that advanced (curbed and even foreseen by gurney flaps sometimes) that any track distance is insufficient to guarantee good performance. It is still a part where a lot of time can be gained on current F1 cars, partly by pulling more air towards the diffuser by inducing the coke-bottle effect.




- All credit goes to F1technical.

www.f1technical.net

[bultaco_metralla]

As the Mónaco GP has the closest curves in all the season, all the cars need to turn just a little bit more than other circuits, this problem is fixed by all the teams cutting a little area of the end part of front suspension

You can check it here

http://img515.imageshack.us/img515/7112/sinttulo1vd1.th.jpg (http://img515.imageshack.us/my.php?image=sinttulo1vd1.jpg)

NICE!!