Formula-1 Cars - Some more Facts and Figures

Formula-1 Cars – Some more Facts and Figures

How did it start

There was no ‘formula’ for motor racing during the years 1894, when the first ‘organised’ motor race took place from Paris to Rouen, until 1900. The then existing vehicles were simply raced. However, a differentiation was made between those cars on the basis of their method of propulsion (petrol or steam), and their number of seats.

During that time, cars always had at least two seats and it was not until the end of 1920 that single-seater cars were used for racing. The ‘invention’ of the rear-view mirror made an important contribution to this development, since one of the mechanic’s tasks in the 2-seaters was to warn the driver that someone was trying to overtake him!

When the first F1 race took place

The ‘FIA Formula-One’ World Championship was created early in 1950 and its first even was held on 13th May 1950 at ‘Silverstone’ Tracks in the U.K., which continues to be one of the most sought after ones even these days.

Participation Criteria for a ‘Constructor’

A prospective ‘Constructor’ must submit his entry to the FIA, providing evidence that he is both the ‘Designer’ AND ‘Constructor’ of the ‘Chassis’ of his car. He also has to substantiate sufficient technical and financial resources to take part in the Championship. A ‘Constructor’ need not be its engine manufacturer also and the name of the chassis manufacturer is always given before that of the engine manufacturer. In the event of winning a Championship, the title is awarded to the Constructor/Chassis manufacturer.

Drivers of F1 Championships

To qualify to participate, a Driver must hold a ‘Super Licence’, which is awarded on the basis of his past record in junior formulae races and of his having a valid contract with an F1 team which has entered the Championship.

How long does an F1 Race last

The distance is the least number of ‘laps’ which exceeds 305 km, and no race may last for more than two hours. On certain slower circuits (such as Monaco), in the event of rain, the Clerk of the Course is sometimes obliged to stop the race after two hours.

The Race continues whether rain or shine

An F1 event takes place in all weather conditions and tyre manufacturers have developed treaded tyres, which help to avoid the risk of aquaplaning. Nevertheless, the Race Director has the power to stop the event, if this becomes necessary for safety reasons as apart from track-grip, the greatest problem during rain is visibility, which is significantly reduced due to the spray thrown up by the cars’ tyres. In order to counteract this problem, the cars are equipped with a red light at the rear, which must be switched on if it starts to rain.

F1 Engines

The engine of an F1 Car is the most complex piece of equipment that goes into it. It consists of close to 5000 parts of which around 1500 are moving elements. When all of these are meticulously put together after about 2-weeks of work, it can produce more than 750 hp and reach rpm’s higher than 20,000! At their maximum pace, the current V8 engines consume around 60 litres of petrol for 100km of racing.

While manufacturers could easily continue to develop more powerful engines within the 2006 Regulations, the FIA felt that such unnecessary costs should be avoided and thus ruled a freeze on engines’ basic specs as of the 2007 F1 season. So instead of a yearly 20 to 30 hp gain, the manufacturers cannot develop their engines further and are now imposed with a rev limit of 19,000 rpm.

At the end of 2005, the last season where the regulations allowed 3-litre engines with 10-cylinders, some engines were producing more than 980 hp and running very close to the 1000 hp mark, a figure that was never reached since the ban on turbo engines. It was thus a sign for F1’s governing body to change the Regulations, as top speeds of 370 km/h reached at Monza were deemed hazardous for the drivers as well as the spectators.

Starters for F1 Cars
As per FIA, an electric starter has not been obligatory for several years and teams choose not to fit one in order to prevent an additional source of energy/Battery from causing incidents such as a fire or explosion. They are, however, authorised to use a portable starter in front of their pits and on the starting grid, but if a driver stalls on the circuit during the race, he has to retire, even if the car restarts once the marshals have pushed it away from a dangerous position. Most cars nowadays are, however, fitted with sophisticated electronically controlled anti-stall systems.

Gearboxes on F1 Cars
’Automatic’ gearboxes are prohibited by the FIA. However, all the cars are equipped with semi-automatic gearboxes where to change gear, the driver no longer has to activate the clutch pedal at the same time as the gear lever. He simply presses a button on the side of his steering wheel. There is a button on each side: one for changing up, the other for changing down. He, therefore, no longer has to take his hand off the steering wheel also and such a electro-hydraulic device allows the driver to change gear in one or two hundredths of a second, which is unquestionably faster than with a conventional system.

Number of Gears on F1 Cars
The rapid changes possible with semi-automatic gearboxes mean that transmissions with a greater number of ratios (six or seven) can be installed. On circuits with a large number of bends, the drivers only use four or five ratios. Reverse gear is obligatory, but must not be used in the pit-lane.

Brakes of F1 Cars
The brakes on stock cars these days are derived from the ‘disc brakes’ which were first used in racing. All F1 cars nowadays are equipped with brakes with calipers made from light alloys while the discs and pads tend to be made from synthetic materials, i.e. carbon/carbon, as their resistance to heat is much greater than that of stock car brakes and they weigh significantly less. Which is why under certain conditions, the insides of the F1 wheels appear completely incandescent!

The braking power of an F1 Car is uncommonly high. At the end of a ‘straight’, at speeds around 340 kph, an F1 car can brake in less than 100 meters in order to take a slow corner. Naturally, carbon/carbon is expensive. It takes six months to produce a disc, at temperatures of between 900 and 2000°C. The same material is now used to produce clutch discs.



Fuel used in F1 Cars

No specials fuels are used – only Unleaded/‘Green’ Petrol - similar to that available at our roadside filling stations. It has to comply with the strictest EEC standards concerning pollution. At one time, the fuel used in F1’s consisted of a mixture of hydrocarbons and was a very special fuel, which bore little resemblance to commercial petrol. The FIA thus introduced regulations with the dual aim of not only steering the oil companies’ research in the right direction so that it would benefit the ordinary motorcar but also significantly reducing motor exhaust emissions.

Tyre Changes per Race

The present FIA Regulations stipulate that each driver may use a maximum of 32 dry-weather tyres (40 in 1998) and 28 wet-weather tyres throughout the duration of an event. Each driver may use a maximum of two ‘rubber specifications’ for his dry-weather tyres during free practice, but he must designate the rubber specification he wishes to use for the rest of the event before the start of qualifying practice.

Thus, the maximum number of tyres he may use for qualifying practice, the warm-up and the race is 28 (14 front and 14 rear), chosen from amongst the 32. The Scrutineers, who are also responsible for checking that no driver exceeds the maximum number of tyres allowed, identify all of these tyres by means of an FIA-supplied bar-code system.

Refuelling during a Race

It is allowed but not obligatory. It must be carried out with the refuelling equipment specified by the FIA. The system is based on aviation equipment and complies with all the other safety requirements laid down by the FIA.

Speed Limits

Strange though it may seem, yes, but only in the pit lane, where the speed limit is either 80 or 120 kph (50 or 75 mph), depending on the circuit and the configuration of the pit lane. There are electronic devices checking the speed of the cars along the whole of the pit lane. If a competitor exceeds the limit during a Race, he is usually penalised with a time penalty whereas if he exceeds it during a practice session, he is usually fined ($ x km).

However, as in everyday life, the severity of punishment is proportional to the seriousness of offence, and also takes repeat offences into account. To avoid this, most Constructors equip their cars with a speed limiter, which the driver has to activate (usually by pressing a button on the steering wheel) as soon as he enters the pit lane. However, sometimes drivers forget and thus end-up paying a penalty!

Weighing of F1 Cars

The Scrutineers may weigh the cars any time, to make sure 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. 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 could be excluded from the event, but he has the right to request that the car be weighed a second time.

To avoid cheating, any car that breaks down on the circuit is made to pass in front of the computer, which decides whether it must be weighed in the same condition. At the finish of a Race, all the cars are directed to the ‘parc de fermé where they are weighed. The drivers are also weighed separately before proceeding to the podium or to their motor-homes. If a Car+Driver weight does not comply with the 600 kg limit at the finish, it maybe excluded from the classification. This has happened in the past.