Formula One car

A avant-garde Formula One car is a single-seat, accessible cockpit, open-wheel antagonism car with abundant foreground and rear wings, and an engine positioned abaft the driver. The regulations administering the cars are different to the championship. The Formula One regulations specify that cars have to be complete by the antagonism teams themselves, admitting the architecture and accomplish can be outsourced.

Engines

The 2006 Blueprint One division saw the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) acquaint the accepted engine formula, which allowable cars to be powered by 2.4-litre by itself aspirated engines in the V8 engine configuration, with no added than four valves per cylinder.2 Further abstruse restrictions, such as a ban on capricious assimilation trumpets, accept aswell been alien with the new 2.4 L V8 blueprint to anticipate the teams from accomplishing college RPM and application too quickly. The 2009 division bound engines to 18,000 rpm, in adjustment to advance engine believability and cut costs.2

For a decade F1 cars had run with 3.0-litre by itself aspirated V10 engines; however, development had led to these engines bearing amid 980 and 1,000 hp (730 and 750 kW), and extensive top speeds of 370 km/h (230 mph) on the Monza circuit.3 Teams started application alien alloys in the backward 1990s, arch to the FIA banning the use of alien abstracts in engine construction, and alone aluminium and adamant alloys were accustomed for the pistons, cylinders, abutting rods, and crankshafts.2 The FIA has always activated actual and architecture restrictions to absolute power. Even with the restrictions the V10s in the 2005 division were accounted to advance 980 hp (730 kW), which were extensive ability levels not apparent aback the ban on turbo-charged engines in 1989.3

The bottom adjourned teams (the above Minardi aggregation spends beneath than 50 million, while Ferrari spent hundreds of millions of euros a year developing their car) had the advantage of befitting the accepted V10 for addition season, but with a rev limiter to accumulate them from getting aggressive with the a lot of able V8 engines. The alone aggregation to yield this advantage was the Toro Rosso team, which was the adapted and regrouped Minardi.

The engines absorb about 450 l (15.9 ft3) of air per second.4 Chase ammunition burning amount is commonly about 75 l/100 km travelled (3.1 US mpg, 3.8 UK mpg, 1.3 km/l).

All cars accept the engine amid amid the disciplinarian and the rear axle. The engines are a fatigued affiliate in a lot of cars, acceptation that the engine is allotment of the structural abutment framework; getting anchored to the cockpit at the foreground end, and manual and rear abeyance at the aback end.

In the 2004 championship, engines were appropriate to endure a abounding chase weekend. For the 2005 championship, they were appropriate to endure two abounding chase weekends and if a aggregation changes an engine amid the two races, they acquire a amends of 10 filigree positions. In 2007, this aphorism was adapted hardly and an engine alone had to endure for Saturday and Sunday running. This was to advance Friday running. In the 2008 season, engines were appropriate to endure two abounding chase weekends; the aforementioned adjustment as the 2006 season. About for the 2009 season, anniversary disciplinarian is accustomed to use a best of 8 engines over the season, acceptation that a brace of engines accept to endure three chase weekends. This adjustment of attached engine costs aswell increases the accent of tactics, aback the teams accept to accept which contest to accept a new or an already-used engine.

As of the 2014 season, all F1 cars will be able with turbocharged 1.6-litre V6 engines. Turbochargers accept been banned aback 1988. This change may accord an advance of up to 35% ammunition efficiency

Transmission

Formula One cars use semi-automatic after gearboxes, with regulations advertence that 7 advanced apparatus and 1 about-face accessory have to be used, with rear-wheel drive.6 The gearbox is complete of carbon titanium, as calefaction amusement is a analytical issue, and is anchored assimilate the aback of the engine.7 Full automated gearboxes, and systems such as barrage ascendancy and absorption control, are illegal, to accumulate disciplinarian accomplishment important in authoritative the car.7 The disciplinarian initiates accessory changes application paddles army on the aback of the council caster and electro-hydraulics accomplish the absolute change as able-bodied as burke control. Clamp ascendancy is aswell performed electro-hydraulically, except to and from a standstill, if the disciplinarian operates the clamp application a batten army on the aback of the council wheel.8

A avant-garde F1 clamp is a multi-plate carbon architecture with a bore of beneath than 100 mm (3.9 in),8 belief beneath than 1 kg (2.2 lb) and administration about 720 hp (540 kW).3 As of the 2009 chase season, all teams are application seamless about-face transmissions, which acquiesce about direct alteration of apparatus with minimum accident of drive. About-face times for Formula One cars are in the arena of 0.05 seconds.9 In adjustment to accumulate costs low in Formula One, gearboxes have to endure 5 after events, although accessory ratios can be afflicted for anniversary race. Alteration a gearbox afore the accustomed time will could cause a amends of 5 places bead on the starting filigree for the aboriginal accident that the new gearbox is used

Aerodynamics

Wings

Early designs affiliated wings anon to the suspension, but several accidents led to rules advertence that wings accept to be anchored durably to the chassis. The cars' aerodynamics are advised to accommodate best downforce with a minimum of drag; every allotment of the bodywork is advised with this aim in mind. Like a lot of open-wheel cars they affection ample foreground and rear aerofoils, but they are far added developed than American open-wheel racers, which depend added on abeyance tuning; for instance, the adenoids is aloft aloft the centre of the foreground aerofoil, acceptance its absolute amplitude to accommodate downforce. The foreground and rear wings are awful sculpted and acutely accomplished 'tuned', forth with the blow of the physique such as the axis vanes below the nose, bargeboards, sidepods, underbody, and the rear diffuser. They aswell affection aerodynamic appendages that absolute the airflow. Such an acute akin of aerodynamic development agency that an F1 car produces abundant added downforce than any added open-wheel formula; Indycars, for example, aftermath downforce according to their weight (that is, a downforce:weight arrangement of 1:1) at 190 km/h (118 mph), while an F1 car achieves the aforementioned at 125 to 130 km/h (78 to 81 mph), and at 190 km/h (118 mph) the arrangement is almost 2:1.11

A low downforce spec. foreground addition on the Renault R30 F1 car. Foreground wings heavily access the cornering acceleration and administration of a car, and are consistently afflicted depending on the downforce requirements of a circuit.

The bargeboards in accurate are designed, shaped, configured, adapted and positioned not to actualize downforce directly, as with a accepted addition or underbody venturi, but to actualize vortices from the air spillage at their edges. The use of vortices is a cogent affection of the latest breeds of F1 cars. Since a amphitheater is a alternating aqueous that creates a low burden area at its centre, creating vortices lowers the all-embracing bounded burden of the air. Since low burden is what is adapted beneath the car, as it allows accustomed atmospheric burden to columnist the car down from the top, by creating vortices downforce can be aggrandized while still blockage aural the rules prohibiting arena effects.dubious – discuss

The F1 cars for the 2009 division came beneath abundant analytic due to the architecture of the rear diffusers of the Williams, Toyota and the Brawn GP cars raced by Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, dubbed bifold diffusers. Appeals from abounding of the teams were heard by the FIA, which met in Paris, afore the 2009 Chinese Grand Prix and the use of such diffusers was declared as legal. Brawn GP bang-up Ross Brawn claimed the bifold diffuser architecture as "an avant-garde access of an absolute idea". These were afterwards banned for the 2011 season. Addition altercation of the 2010 and '11 seasons was the foreground addition of the Red Bull cars. Several teams protested claiming the addition was breaking regulations. Footage from top acceleration sections of circuits showed the Red Bull foreground addition angle on the outsides afterwards creating greater downforce. Test were captivated on the Red Bull foreground addition about the FIA could acquisition no way that the addition was breaking any regulation.

Since the alpha of the 2011 season, cars accept been accustomed to run with an adjustable rear wing, added frequently accepted as DRS (drag abridgement system), a arrangement to action the botheration of agitated air if overtaking. On the straights of a track, drivers can arrange DRS, which opens the rear wing, reduces the annoyance of the car, acceptance it to move faster. As anon as the disciplinarian touches the brake, the rear addition shuts again. In chargeless convenance and qualifying, a disciplinarian may use it whenever he wishes to, but in the race, it can alone be acclimated if the disciplinarian is 1 second, or less, abaft addition disciplinarian at the DRS apprehension area on the chase track, at which point it can be activated in the activation area until the disciplinarian brakes.

editGround effect

F1 regulations heavily absolute the use of arena aftereffect aerodynamics which are a awful able agency of creating downforce with a baby annoyance penalty. The base of the vehicle, the undertray, accept to be collapsed amid the axles. A 10 mm12 blubbery board arbor or drift block runs down the boilerplate of the car to anticipate the cars from active low abundant to acquaintance the clue surface; this drift block is abstinent afore and afterwards a race. Should the arbor be beneath than 9 mm blubbery afterwards the race, the car is disqualified.

A abundant bulk of downforce is provided by application a rear diffuser which rises from the undertray at the rear arbor to the absolute rear of the bodywork. The limitations on arena effects, bound admeasurement of the wings (requiring use at top angles of advance to actualize acceptable downforce), and vortices created by accessible auto advance to a top aerodynamic annoyance accessory (about 1 according to Minardi's abstruse administrator Gabriele Tredozi;13 analyze with the boilerplate avant-garde alehouse car (sedan in the USA), which has a Cd amount amid 0.25 and 0.35), so that, admitting the astronomic adeptness achievement of the engines, the top acceleration of these cars is beneath than that of World War II best Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Silver Arrows racers. However, this annoyance is added than compensated for by the adeptness to bend at acutely top speed. The aerodynamics are adapted for anniversary track; with a low annoyance agreement for advance area top acceleration is added important like Autodromo Nazionale Monza, and a top absorption agreement for advance area cornering is added important, like the Ambit de Monaco.

editRegulations

The foreground addition is lower than anytime before.

A ban on aerodynamic appendages resulted in the 2009 cars accepting smoother bodywork.

With the 2009 regulations, the FIA rid F1 cars of baby winglets and added locations of the car (minus the foreground and rear wing) acclimated to dispense the airflow of the car in adjustment to abatement annoyance and access downforce. As it is now, the foreground addition is shaped accurately to advance air appear all the winglets and bargeboards so that the airflow is smooth. Should these be removed, assorted locations of the car will could cause abundant annoyance if the foreground addition is clumsy to appearance the air accomplished the physique of the car. The regulations which came into aftereffect in 2009 accept bargain the amplitude of the rear addition by 25 cm, and standardised the centre area of the foreground addition to anticipate teams developing the foreground wing.

editConstruction

The cars are complete from composites of carbon fibre and agnate ultra-lightweight materials. The minimum weight permissible is 640 kg (1,411 lb) including the driver, fluids and on-board cameras.14 However, all F1 cars counterbalance decidedly beneath than this (some as little as 440 kg (970 lb)citation needed) so teams add balance to the cars to accompany them up to the minimum acknowledged weight. The advantage of application balance is that it can be placed anywhere in the car to accommodate ideal weight distribution. This can advice lower the car's centermost of force to advance adherence and aswell allows the aggregation to accomplished tune the weight administration of the car to clothing alone circuits.

Steering wheel

The disciplinarian has the adeptness to accomplished tune abounding elements of the chase car from aural the apparatus application the council wheel. The caster can be acclimated to change gears, administer rev. limiter, acclimatize fuel/air mix, change anchor pressure, and alarm the radio. Data such as engine rpm, lap times, speed, and accessory is displayed on an LCD screen. The caster hub will aswell absorb accessory change paddles and a row of LED Shift lights. The caster abandoned can amount about £25,000,15 and with carbon fibre construction, weighs in at 1.3 kilograms.

Fuel

The ammunition acclimated in F1 cars is adequately agnate to accustomed petrol, admitting with a far added deeply controlled mix. Blueprint One ammunition can alone accommodate compounds that are begin in bartering gasoline, in adverse to alcohol-based fuels acclimated in American open-wheel racing. Blends are acquainted for best achievement in accustomed acclimate altitude or altered circuits. During the aeon if teams were bound to a specific aggregate of ammunition during a race, alien high-density ammunition blends were acclimated which were in fact added than water, back the activity agreeable of a ammunition depends on its accumulation density.

To accomplish abiding that the teams and ammunition suppliers are not actionable the ammunition regulations, the FIA requires Elf, Shell, Mobil, Petronas and the added ammunition teams to accept a sample of the ammunition they are accouterment for a race. At any time, FIA inspectors can appeal a sample from the fueling rig to analyze the "fingerprint" of what is in the car during the chase with what was submitted. The teams usually accept by this rule, but in 1997, Mika Häkkinen was bare of his third abode accomplishment at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium afterwards the FIA bent that his ammunition was not the actual formula, as able-bodied as in 1976, both McLaren and Penske cars were affected to the rear of the Italian Grand Prix afterwards octane amount of the admixture was begin to be too high.

Tyres

The 2009 division saw the re-introduction of glossy tyres replacing the acclimatized tyres acclimated from 1998 to 2008.

Tyres can be no added than 355 and 380 mm (14.0 and 15.0 in) at the rear, foreground tyre amplitude bargain from 270 mm to 245 mm for the 2010 season. Unlike the fuel, the tyres buck alone a apparent affinity to a accustomed alley tyre. Whereas a roadcar tyre has a advantageous activity of up to 80,000 km (50,000 mi), a Formula One tyre is congenital to endure just one chase ambit (a little over 300 km (190 mi)). This is the aftereffect of a drive to maximise the road-holding ability, arch to the use of actual bendable compounds (to ensure that the tyre apparent conforms to the alley apparent as carefully as possible).

Since the alpha of the 2007 season, F1 had a sole tyre supplier. From 2007 to 2010, this was Bridgestone, but 2011 saw the reintroduction of Pirelli into the sport, afterward the abandonment of Bridgestone. Six compounds of F1 tyre exist; 4 are dry acclimate compounds (hard, medium, soft, and super-soft) while 2 are wet compounds (intermediates for clammy surfaces with no continuing baptize and abounding wets for surfaces with continuing water). Two of the dry acclimate compounds (generally a harder and softer compound) are brought to anniversary race, added both wet acclimate compounds. The harder tyre is added abiding but gives beneath grip, and the softer the converse. In 2009, the glossy tyres alternate as a allotment of revisions to the rules for the 2009 season; slicks accept no grooves and accord up to 18% added acquaintance with the track. In the Bridgestone years, a blooming bandage on the sidewall of the softer admixture was corrective to acquiesce assemblage to analyze which tyre a disciplinarian is on. With Pirelli tyres, the colour of the argument and the ring on the sidewall varies with the compounds. Generally, the two dry compounds brought to the clue are afar by at atomic one specification. This was implemented by the FIA to actualize added apparent aberration amid the compounds and hopefully add added action to the chase if two drivers are on altered strategies. The exceptions are the Monaco GP and the Hungaroring, area bendable and super-soft tyres are brought, because both are conspicuously apathetic and twisty, and so added anchor is required.