How Tall Is The Average Formula 1 Driver Yet despite these changes, constructors continued to extract performance gains by increasing power and aerodynamic efficiency. As a result, the pole position speed at many circuits in comparable weather conditions dropped between 1.5 and 3 seconds in 2004 over the prior year's times. The aerodynamic restrictions introduced in 2005 were meant to reduce downforce by about 30%, however, most teams were able to successfully reduce this to a mere 5 to 10% downforce loss.
In 2006 the engine power was reduced from 710 to 560 kW by shifting from the 3.0L V10s, used for a decade, to 2.4L V8s. Some of these new engines were capable of achieving 20,000 rpm during 2006, though for the 2007 season engine development was frozen and the FIA limited all engines to 19,000 rpm to increase reliability and control at increasing engine speeds. A Formula One car is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel formula racing car with substantial front and rear wings, and an engine positioned behind the driver, intended to be used in competition at Formula One racing events. The regulations governing the cars are unique to the championship and specify that cars must be constructed by the racing teams themselves, though the design and manufacture can be outsourced.
Formula One cars are the fastest cars in the world around a race track, owing to very high cornering speeds achieved through the generation of large amounts of aerodynamic downforce. As a result of the amount of braking force and the total cornering envelope of a Formula One car ; Formula One drivers experience frequent lateral g-loadings in excess of 5 g, and peak cornering forces of up to 7 lateral g. This kind of weight distribution puts an emphasis on light drivers. With heavier driver that means less freedom on weight distribution and playing with ballast. The rules are the way they are because the teams keep voting them that way, so they can't do much other than say 'well, that's what we asked for'. This problem will be even more noted during 2014 because new 1.6 turbo engines are turning out to be heavier than anticipated and teams are still struggling to meet the minimum weight limit as a result.
So having a taller - and therefore heavier - driver can put a team at a disadvantage because it means they are likely to be over the weight limit. The issue matters because 1kg of weight equates to about 0.035 seconds a lap on an average circuit. And even if they can, the taller driver is at a disadvantage because his weight is high up in the car, which also affects Center of Gravity and therefore performance. It's an unfair advantage you really shouldn't have just by being born smaller because you lose a lot of tools to adjust the car. As a result they will not have as much - or any - ballast to place elsewhere in the car because you're so limited. People say the weight distribution is fixed so there is no problem, but there is still allowed 1% which is a lot in F1 and you can move it around and put the ballast where you want.
A substantial amount of downforce is provided by using a rear diffuser which rises from the undertray at the rear axle to the actual rear of the bodywork. However, this drag is more than compensated for by the ability to corner at extremely high speed. (From 2013 DRS is available only at the pre-determined points during all sessions). The system "stalls" the rear wing by opening a flap, which leaves a 50 mm horizontal gap in the wing, thus reducing drag and allowing higher top speeds.
However, this also reduces downforce so it is normally used on long straight track sections or sections which do not require high downforce. The system was introduced to promote more overtaking and is often the reason for overtaking on straights or at the end of straights where overtaking is encouraged in the following corner. However, the reception of the DRS system has differed among drivers, fans, and specialists.
Each circuit must be homologated by the FIA Circuits and Safety Commission following a series of inspections which are carried out from the start of the work right up until the inauguration of the circuit. The homologation criteria are less strict for circuits hosting events for slower formulae. In addition to the initial procedure, the circuits sometimes have to carry out maintenance work or update their facilities so that their homologation may be renewed. In the past, with the exception of the Monaco Grand Prix, which is the only event to take place within a town itself, circuits tended to be very fast with long straights.
The increase in the cars' performances has meant that these straights have had to give way to series of bends, which are the only means of preventing excessive speeds. Monaco is still the shortest circuit (3.328 km), while Spa is the longest (6.940 km). The minimum weight, maximum weight, consumption and bore were each restricted in their turn, but the formula most frequently used, even after 1939, was to limit the cylinder capacity of the engines. The driver has the ability to fine-tune many elements of the race car from within the machine using the steering wheel. The wheel can be used to change gears, apply rev. limiter, adjust fuel/air mix, change brake pressure, and call the radio. Data such as engine rpm, lap times, speed, and gear are displayed on an LCD screen.
The wheel hub will also incorporate gear change paddles and a row of LED shift lights. The wheel alone can cost about $50,000, and with carbon fibre construction, weighs in at 1.3 kilograms. In the 2014 season, certain teams such as Mercedes have chosen to use larger LCDs on their wheels which allow the driver to see additional information such as fuel flow and torque delivery. They are also more customizable owing to the possibility of using much different software. The Scrutineers may weigh the cars at all times, to make sure that they never weigh less than 600 kg, including driver. Electronic weighing devices are located at the entrance to the pit lane to enable these checks to be carried out.
During qualifying practice, an electronic programme selects at random the cars which are to be checked. When a car is chosen by the computer, a red light comes on and the driver returning to his pit must proceed to the weighing area. If the weight of the car is insufficient, the driver is excluded for the rest of the event, but he has the right to request that the car be weighed a second time.
To avoid cheating, any car which breaks down on the circuit also has to pass in front of the computer which decides whether the car must be weighed in the same conditions. At the finish of the race, all the cars are directed to the parc fermé where they are weighed; the drivers are also weighed before proceeding to the podium or to their motorhome. If a car's weight does not comply at the finish, it is excluded from the classification. A hard or softer type of rubber is selected on the basis of the driver's style, the design of the car, the atmospheric temperature and the layout of the circuit. In general, the slower the circuit and the cooler the temperature, the softer the rubber, allowing greater grip.
On the other hand, high speeds, together with a highly abrasive track and a heavy and powerful car wear the tyres down more quickly. A judicious choice sometimes enables one of the less powerful cars to win a Grand Prix. Tyre changes are a part of the Formula One landscape; the better trained teams usually manage to change all four tyres and refuel in the space of 5 to 10 seconds. This is critical when you see the type of circuits that IndyCar races on a wide range of circuits, with drivers having to master undulating road courses, bumpy rough-and-ready street courses, and high-speed ovals across the course of a season. For each of these, the specification of car is different - so the amount of power, the brakes, the aero kits and weight all change. This is to react to the unique characteristics and demands placed on the cars.
So in terms of the latter, on small ovals, street and permanent tracks the weight is 730kg, while on speedways it is 716kg . The aerodynamic kits also change drastically for superspeedways, with the multi-element front and rear wings being replaced by thin aerofoils to minimise drag and maximise top speed. In the early years of the hybrid era, some teams struggled to make the minimum weight limit. F1 driver Adrian Sutil even tried fasting for two days leading up to a race as an experiment in 2014.
This situation was alleviated for 2019 when a minimum seat weight of 176 pounds was set; in effect any driver under 176 pounds would have ballast added in the cockpit area to equalize the field. That contributed to a 15.4-pound (7-kg) increase to the overall weight package for that season. Revised regulations introduced in 2005 forced the aerodynamicists to be even more ingenious. In a bid to cut speeds, the FIA reduced downforce by raising the front wing, bringing the rear wing forward, and modifying the rear diffuser profile. The designers quickly regained much of this loss, with a variety of intricate and novel solutions such as the 'horn' winglets first seen on the McLaren MP4-20. Most of those innovations were effectively outlawed under even more stringent aero regulations imposed by the FIA for 2009.
The changes were designed to promote overtaking by making it easier for a car to closely follow another. The new rules took the cars into another new era, with lower and wider front wings, taller and narrower rear wings, and generally much 'cleaner' bodywork. Perhaps the most interesting change, however, was the introduction of 'moveable aerodynamics', with the driver able to make limited adjustments to the front wing from the cockpit during a race.
In the 2004 championship, engines were required to last a full race weekend. For the 2005 championship, they were required to last two full race weekends and if a team changes an engine between the two races, they incur a penalty of 10 grid positions. In 2007, this rule was altered slightly and an engine only had to last for Saturday and Sunday running. In the 2008 season, engines were required to last two full race weekends; the same regulation as the 2006 season.
However, for the 2009 season, drivers were allowed to use a maximum of 8 engines per head over the season, meaning that a couple of engines had to last three race weekends. This method of limiting engine costs also increases the importance of tactics, since the teams have to choose which races to have a new or an already-used engine. Modern-day Formula One cars are constructed from composites of carbon fibre and similar ultra-lightweight materials.
The minimum weight permissible is 740 kg including the driver but not fuel. Prior to the 2014 F1 season, cars often weighed in under this limit so teams added ballast in order to add weight to the car. The advantage of using ballast is that it can be placed anywhere in the car to provide ideal weight distribution. This can help lower the car's centre of gravity to improve stability and also allows the team to fine-tune the weight distribution of the car to suit individual circuits. The two-time world champion left F1 as its third-highest rated driver in the 2018 season, then spent two years dabbling in SportsCar and IndyCar racing. Elo currently has Alonso ranked sixth in the field, with the sixth-best reliability score as well, after decaying his rating to reflect his time away from the sport.
Looking around the team areas behind the garages, it became obvious to me that Ferrari would win every year without these regulations in place. Renault's hardly a small team, and it spends a full €15 million annually on logistics, but it's dwarfed by Ferrari's grandiose, shining structures. By imposing budget, design, and workforce constraints upon teams, the FIA is keeping things interesting. Maybe it's the latent socialist in me, but I can't say I heard of a single regulation I didn't like.
The gearboxes, for instance, have to last for at least six races, or the team will get a five-position starting penalty. The bodywork used in qualifying has to be the exact same that's used on race day. Due to increasing environmental pressures from lobby groups and the like, many have called into question the relevance of Formula 1 as an innovating force towards future technological advances .
The FIA has been asked to consider how it can persuade the sport to move down a more environmentally friendly path. Therefore, in addition to the above changes outlined for the 2009 season, teams were invited to construct a KERS device, encompassing certain types of regenerative braking systems to be fitted to the cars in time for the 2009 season. The system aims to reduce the amount of kinetic energy converted to waste heat in braking, converting it instead to a useful form to be later fed back through the engine to create a power boost. However, unlike road car systems that automatically store and release energy, the energy is only released when the driver presses a button and is useful for up to 6.5 seconds, giving an additional 60 kW and 400 kJ. It effectively mimics the 'push to pass' button from IndyCar and A1GP series.
KERS was not seen in the 2010 championship – while it was not technically banned, the FOTA collectively agreed not to use it. It however made a return for the 2011 season, with all teams except HRT, Virgin and Lotus utilizing the device. The car was optimised for top speed with only enough downforce to prevent it from leaving the ground. The car, badged as a Honda following their takeover of BAR at the end of 2005, set an FIA ratified record of 400 km/h on a one way run on 21 July 2006 at Bonneville Speedway. Thus, for the 2022 season, the FIA has made technical changes to the aerodynamic characteristics of the cars to reduce the amount of this 'dirty air' and allow for easier overtaking.
Front wing, side pods, and rear wing have all been redesigned to redirect aerodynamic turbulence upwards, and larger tyres with 18-inch wheels will be adopted in an effort to limit disruptive vortices generated by their rotation. With the 2009 regulations, the FIA rid F1 cars of small winglets and other parts of the car used to manipulate the airflow of the car in order to decrease drag and increase downforce. Currently, the front wing is shaped specifically to push air towards all the winglets and bargeboards so that the airflow is smooth. Should these be removed, various parts of the car will cause great drag when the front wing is unable to shape the air past the body of the car.
The regulations which came into effect in 2009 have reduced the width of the rear wing by 25 cm, and standardised the centre section of the front wing to prevent teams from developing the front wing. The cars underwent major changes in 2017, allowing wider front and rear wings, and wider tyres. A modern F1 clutch is a multi-plate carbon design with a diameter of less than 100 mm (3.9 in), weighing less than 1 kg (2.2 lb) and handling around 540 kW . As of the 2009 race season, all teams are using seamless-shift transmissions, which allow almost instantaneous changing of gears with minimum loss of drive. Shift times for modern Formula One cars are in the region of ms. In order to keep costs low in Formula One, gearboxes must last five consecutive events and since 2015, gearbox ratios will be fixed for each season .
Changing a gearbox before the allowed time will cause a penalty of five places drop on the starting grid for the first event that the new gearbox is used. Sometimes, teams play around with the minimum weight of the car during a race. On some occasions, the weight of the car and driver are just under the mandated minimum weight. Therefore, at the end of the race, teams often instruct drivers to pick up rubber from the track. The rubber then sticks to the tires and increases the weight of the car. When the car eventually reaches parc ferme, it ends up heavier than 752 kgs.
Weight Balance is also a F1 specific tuning option and works hand in hand with the ballast. But the best current F1 designs with their special materials like titanium, carbon and magnesium may leave a car weighing something like 450kg. These days, the 450kg may be made up of a 90kg engine, a 50kg monocoque, a 40kg gearbox and the same weight for the four wheels, an 11kg rear wing and so on, with the average driver contributing about 70kg. That's a long way below a classic from the past, like the Mercedes-Benz W196 which Fangio drove to win the championship 50 years ago. Unlike F1, the IndyCar grid runs the same chassis and aerodynamic kit, with power coming from one of two engine manufacturers - Honda or Chevrolet.
In 2022, IndyCar is running 17 races in the USA, with double-headers at Texas and Detroit. Grid sizes are a bit more fluid than in F1, with most races featuring 24 or 25 drivers, which balloons up to a field of 33 for the blue riband event that is the Indianapolis 500. Teams run anything from one to six cars and teammates usually don't share the same livery. 's regulations, eight is in fact the minimum number of events required in order to be classified as a world championship. Job satisfaction is high across the board at an F1 team, and the reason for it is responsibility. There are few, if any, bullshit jobs here, and every worker has genuine responsibility — and, in that way, agency — for how the eventual team performance goes.
At Renault's Enstone facility in the UK, I met a young woman who was modeling improvements to the cars' front and rear wings. In an open plan office, she sat among similarly youthful vehicle dynamicists, stress analysts, driver safety engineers, and the people responsible for powertrain integration. Every one among them was empowered with the freedom to pull Enstone manager Bob Bell aside and have a direct conversation with him about any radical new idea they had.
The overall aerodynamic grip was dramatically reduced with the banning of complex appendages such as winglets, bargeboards and other aero devices previously used to better direct airflow over and under the cars. The maximum engine speed was reduced to 18,000 rpm to increase reliability further and conform to engine life demand. Since the start of the 2011 season, cars have been allowed to run with an adjustable rear wing, more commonly known as DRS , a system to combat the problem of turbulent air when overtaking. On the straights of a track, drivers can deploy DRS, which opens the rear wing, reduces the drag of the car, allowing it to move faster. As soon as the driver touches the brake, the rear wing shuts again.
Several teams started to experiment with the now familiar wings in the late 1960s. Racecar wings operate on the same principle as aircraft wings but are configured to cause a downward force rather than an upward one. A modern Formula One car is capable of developing 6 Gs of lateral cornering force due to aerodynamic downforce. The aerodynamic downforce allowing this is typically greater than the weight of the car. That means that, theoretically, at high speeds, they could drive on the upside-down surface of a suitable structure; e.g. on the ceiling.
