The Anatomy of Modern Formula One

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The Anatomy of Modern Formula One Cars

Formula One cars are the fastest cars in the world and are designed to cater to therequirements of formula one drivers, keeping in mind the efficiency, speed andsecurity it has to produce on race tracks. There are certain regulations laid by FIA,

by which the car manufacturers have to abide while designing these racing cars.Modern Formula One cars are mid-engined open cockpit, open wheel single-seaters.The heart of a Formula One car is the chassis -- the part of the automobile ontowhich everything is bolted and attached. Most of their chassis is made ofcarbon fibrecomposites, rendering it light but extremely stiff and strong. Thismaterial has advantages over every other kind of material for racing carconstruction (Refer to Area 2 Exhibit 5). The minimum weight of the whole carshould be 600 kilograms, inclusive of the drivers weight, fluids and some on-boardcameras.

The anatomy of modern Formula One Cars basically comprises of 4 sections:

Aerodynamics, Mechanical, Electronics and Cockpit.


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Aerodynamics is the most important aspect and latest trend of Formula One cardesign (Refer to Area 2 Exhibit 1 for more details). It defined not only the entireshape of the car, but also the positioning of all items within it, like the engine,gearbox and driver. This is to maximize the downforce (Refer to Area 2 Exhibit 3 formore details), which pushes the car down onto the track and largely controls the

cornering speed of the cars by providing extra grip on ground, minimizingfriction. This is provided by 'wings', which are opposite in direction as airplaneswings, mounted at the front and rear of the vehicle, the Diffuser, Barge Boards orturning vanes and Plank. The mechanical parts of the cars control acceleration andbraking. This consists of Engine, Gearbox, Suspension, Brakes, Tyres (Refer toArea 2 Exhibit 6) and Oil/Fuel Tanks. The computer-controlled electronics systemsof the car control most parts of it, including the engine, gearbox and driver-aidsystems like traction control. The cockpit is far more than just the place the driversits and drives but also a super-strong survival cell that minimises the chances ofinjury in accidents and also an operations centre from which the driver can controlmany of the car's control systems. It consists of Steering Wheel, Safety Cell and

Rollover Bar.

Parts of a Modern Formula One Car

Front Wing


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The front wing is vital as it is the first part of the car to come into contact with air. Itaffects the airflow down the full length of the car and even tiny changes can havehuge effects on the overall performance. The front wing is vital as it is the first part ofthe car to come into contact with the air. It is shaped specifically to push air towardsall the winglets and bargeboards (Refer to Barge Boards/Winglets) so that the airflowis smooth and to minimize drag.

Rear Wing


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The rear wing helps to glue the rear wheels to the track, but it also hugely increasesdrag. Therefore, designers are constantly working to minimize in using the angle ofincidence on the rear wing without harming overall performance.

Diffuser

The diffuser, or floor, is designed to ensure the smoothest exit for the air that isflowing under the car. It is located just beneath the engine and gearbox that creates

a suction effect as it funnels air up and passes it to the rear of the car. Designerscome up with a huge variety of complicated shapes, aiming to ensure the air exits asquickly as possible, because the quicker the air exits, the more downforce the cargenerates, and the faster it will be.

Barge Boards/Winglets


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Modern Formula One cars sport a large number of barge boards, or turningvanes/winglets, designed to closely control the flow of the air over, under and around

the car. They smooth out and separate the air that has been disrupted by the frontwheels. (Refer to Front Wing). They separate the flow into two parts - one isdirected into the sidepods to cool the engine; the other is diverted outside to reducedrag. They can also create vortices. As vortex is a rotating fluid that creates a lowpressure zone at its centre, this lowers the overall local pressure of the air. If thesewinglets are removed, the drag will be large.

Plank

All F1 cars are fitted with a 10mm "plank" made of hardwood as a means of limitingperformance to ensure they do not run closer to the ground than allowed. If the plankwears by more than 1mm, the car is disqualified.

Engine


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Exhausts


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The engine usually weighs around 100kg and is positioned behind the driver and infront of the rear suspension. That is twice the engine capacity of a typical familysaloon, but more than three times as many revolutions and eight times more power -

and less than half the weight. The latest these is 2.4 litre, normally aspirated V8revolves not more than 19,000rpm and produce just under 900 horsepower. Itproduces over 1750kW of heat per minute and can reach temperatures over 1,000degrees Celsius. Nonetheless, it is over 20% more efficient at turning fuel into powerthan an economical road car. The engine needs to be rebuilt after about 500 milesbecause it is running at such high rpms which produces an enormous amount ofheat and puts a great deal of stress on the moving parts.

GearBox

GearBox

The gearbox is attached to the back of the engine and the differential (Refer toDifferential). Each semi-automatic sequential gearbox has at least four and not more


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than seven forward gears and one reverse gear (Refer to Gears) which changes in20 to 40 milliseconds, controlled by computer. Most cars have seven forwardgears. It is sequential which means they operate much like a motorcycle gearbox,with the gears being changed by a rotating barrel with selector forks around it. It hasno synchromesh such that the engine electronics must synchronise the speed of the

engine with the speed of the gearbox internals before engaging a gear. The gearboxmust be very strong as the suspension for the rear wheels bolts directly onto thegearbox casing, carrying the full weight of the rear of the car.

Gears

Gear cogs or ratios are used only for one race, and are replaced regularly during theweekend to prevent failure, as they are subjected to very high degrees ofstress. There is a reverse gear which is designed to satisfy the regulations ratherthan being of much practical use. Most teams build a very small and flimsy reversegear on the outside of the gearbox to help keep the weight of the gearbox down, asreverse gear is seldom used. The driver signals gear changes using paddlesmounted on the steering wheel (Refer to Steering Wheel).

Clutch


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The clutch paddle has a multi-plate carbon design with a diameter of less than 100mm, weighing less than 1.00 kg and handling 900 hp (670 kW) or so. It gives

enhanced engine pick-up and the lightweight designs mean that it has low inertia,allowing faster gear changes. It is linked directly to the engine, fixed between theengine and the gearbox. The control is a lever, usually on the steering wheel, isused by the drivers only at the start as part of the automatic starting procedure inwhich the driver must operate the clutch using a lever mounted on the back of thesteering wheel. It can also be activated to prevent the car stalling if the driverspins. Once the car is in motion, the clutch is operated electronically by thecomplicated gearbox software.

Differentials

It is a set of gears allowing the rear wheels to revolve at different speeds duringcornering. And it is connected to the gearbox (Refer to GearBox) and driveshaft,

which transfers power to the wheels. This is to enable the rear wheels to rotate atdifferent speeds around a corner.

Suspension


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Brake paddle

Suspension


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The suspension of a Formula One car has all of the same components as thesuspension of a road car. These include springs, dampers (Refer to ShockAbsorbers/ Dampers), arms and anti-sway bars. It is double wishbone, thus it hastriangular support (wishbones). It is divided into front and rear suspension. Both aresimilar to each other by design. However, only the front suspension has the steering

mechanism while the only rear suspension has driveshaft and it has to carry greaterweight. The purpose of the suspension is to keep all four wheels glued to the trackdespite these aberrations in the pavement. Wheel travel is less than 5cm and adipping of the car by 1mm more than ideal under braking or acceleration can disruptairflow and make the car difficult to handle. The suspension parts areaerodynamically sculpted to reduce drag.

Shock Absorbers/ Dampers

These are to dampen the oscillations of the spring after traveling over bumps and

dips.

Brakes

High-tech carbon-fibre disc brakes are used for reduced weight and increasedfrictional performance. Braking is extremely powerful. They can slow a car from180mph to 50mph in less than two seconds and able to provoke the greatest

reaction from drivers new to the formula. An F1 car can brake from 200 km/h to acomplete stop just 2.9 seconds, using only 65 meters. The discs glow red hot atoperating temperatures of up to 1,300 degrees Celsius. Thus holes are neededaround the edge of the brake disc allow heat to escape rapidly.

Tyres


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They have four large circumferential grooves on its surface designed to keepcornering speeds under control and are mounted on lightweight aluminium wheelrims. These are attached to the car by a single nut, for speed of changing at pitstops. They can be no wider than 355 mm and 380 mm for the front tyres andrear tyres respectively, with their maximum height to be 660mm. The minimumdepth of the grooves needs to be 2.5mm; minimum of their bottom width is 10mmwhile minimum top width is 14mm; distance between two subsequent grooves

should be around 50mm. They are also open with the engine positioned at the backof the drivers seat. These tyres are made from very soft rubber compounds (Refer


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to Area 2 Exhibit 6) which adhere to the road and provide enormous gripping powerwhen they heat up. Whereas an ordinary cars tyre has a useful life of up to80,000 km, a Formula One tyre is built to last just one race distance which is a littleover 300 km.

Fuel Tanks

An F1 fuel tank is crushable yet bullet-proof. It is housed inside the chassis behindthe driver and made of Kevlar to prevent it being punctured in an accident. Size isnot governed by rules, and designers have to decide whether to go for a small tank,which may improve ultimate performance, or have a larger one which providesgreater tactical freedom in races. Ordinary gasoline punched with more hydro-carbonated fuels provide formula 1 cars the required food.

Oil Tank

Previously the oil tank is housed between the engine and gearbox, but is nowrecessed into the back of the chassis in front of the engine.

Traction Control


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Traction control is an electronically-controlled driver aid that stops the rear wheelsspinning, especially during cornering (Refer to Steering Wheel). It can thus extendthe life of tyres. It uses electronic sensors to compare the speed of the wheel to thespeed of the road the wheel is driving over. If the wheel is traveling faster than theroad surface -- an indication that the wheels are dangerously close to spinning --

then the engine is automatically throttled back. This reduces the power of the engineand slows down the consumption of fuel by the engine. However, many say itdetracts too much from the skill of the driver and makes the cars too easy to drive,thus is scheduled to be banned from the British Grand Prix

Steering Wheel

The steering wheel is one of the most complex pieces of equipment on a FormulaOne car which is immaculately designed for precision and proper grip. It comes with

an LCD screen. Through the steering wheel, the driver controls many of the systemsof the car like changing gears, apply revolution limiter, adjust fuel air mix, change


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brake pressure and call the radio. Data such as rpm,laptimes, speed and gear isdisplayed on an LCD screen. With all these controls, amazingly, steering wheel of aFormula One car is only about half the diameter of a normal car's steering wheel.

1. Engine rev sequence

2. Multi function display

3. Gear (Refer to Gears)

4. Speed limiter - This electronically prevents the car from accelerating abovethe speed limit.


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5. rpm - This shows the no of revolutions per minute of the engine.

6. Radio

7. Accelerator governor (pedal response)

8. Carburetion - A carburetor regulates the flow of air and gasoline into theengine cylinders for optimal performance of the engine.

9. Oil pump

10. Off engine

11. Power governor (in horse power)

12. Radio

13/14/16 differential (Refer to Differentials)

15. Clutch (Refer to Clutch)

17. Rev limiter kill switch (for passing)

18. Neutral It is vital for taking the car out of gear in the event of a spin

Safety Cell


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Formula One drivers are cocooned in an immensely strong "survival cell" of space-age materials like Kevlar and carbon-fibre. The chassis must pass a series ofextremely tough "crash tests" before it is allowed to race.

Roll-over Bar

This is one of the areas checked most rigorously which protects the driver's headand neck in case the car overturns.

Documents

The Anatomy of Modern Formula One