F1 Madness

Tag: technical

  • FIA introduces new penalty points system for 2014

    FIA introduces new penalty points system for 2014

    The FIA today released an updated version of the 2014 Sporting Regulations which include a new penalty points system.
    According to Article 4.2 of the the new 2014 sporting regulations, any driver who earns 12 penalty points during a 12-month period will be given a one race ban. This means that penalties could be carried over to the next season.
    The new system is aimed at punishing drivers who regularly break rules, while cutting some slack to drivers who commit minor infringements as a result of circumstance.
    According to the new regulations, “In accordance with Article 16.3 [which covers driving standards], the stewards may impose penalty points on a driver’s Superlicence,” states Article 4.2 of the sporting regulations.”If a driver accrues 12 penalty points his licence will be suspended for the following event, following which 12 points will be removed from the licence.

    “Penalty points will remain on a driver’s Superlicence for a period of 12 months after which they will be respectively removed on the 12-month anniversary of their imposition.”

    The FIA also appear to be clamping down on unsafe releases. Drivers will now incur grid or time penalties if their car is released from the garage or a pitstop in a manner deemedto be unsafe. Unsafe releases during practice sessions could result in a grid penalty for that race.If the unsafe release occurs during a race, the driver will get a 10-place grid penalty for the next race. He could however also be penalised during the current race if he can continue racing after the incident. If this were to be the case, he could incur drive-throughs and 10-second penalties.

    There will also be engine penalties. Five out of six separate engine elements may be replaced. These are the internal combustion engine, the motor generator unit-kinetic, the motor generator unit-heat, the energy store, the turbocharger and the control electronics. Should any of these elements fail, they may be replaced up to a maximum of five times. A sixth replacement would result in a 10 place grid penalty. Thereafter, sixth elements would only incur a 5 place grid penalty.
    As for the power unit … should the power unit need replacing at any time, the driver will have to start from the pits.
    They’ve also upped the anti on gear box penalties. Gear boxes will now need to last for six subsequent races.
    As for drivers at the back of the grid incurring penalties … drivers who incur a grid-penalty and are unable to drop the necessary places, e.g. he qualifies 20th, awarded a five-place drop – he would start 22nd and have to drop the remaining three places at the next races.
    What do you think of these penalty rules changes? Let us know in the comments section below.

  • Bahrain Grand Prix – Alonso’s DRS Dilemma

    Fernando Alonso suffered a very unusual DRS failure in Sunday’s Bahrain Grand Prix. The DRS flap got stuck in the open position andCapture way above the 50mm limit. The cause seemed to have been the stopper that sits in the middle part of the rear wing. This little device stops the wing from opening above the 50mm limit. In Ferrari’s case the stopper seemed to have failed, not once but twice. This resulted in Alonso coming into the pits twice in as many laps to have the flap reset. The question is, why didn’t the team tell him he should not use it? It was clearly broken and the chances that the team could just whack it back into position and for it to be working again were very slim.

    This was the second time this season where Ferrari have made strategic blunders. The first being the incident he had with Vettel in the Malaysian Grand Prix where he had his front wing damaged. Instead of bringing him in and changing the wing, Ferrari chose to keep him out. This ultimately caused his exit from the race.

    In Bahrain he was still able to drive with the rear wing open. This, in itself, is something to behold. It’s a small wonder he wasn’t sent spinning off the track. He did complain of a lack of grip but he had thought the tyres were going off.

    Nevertheless he managed to fight his way back up the field and finished in 8th place. Had he not come into the pits for the second time he could have finished much higher up the field. With hindsight it’s easy to say that, but such is the sport of Formula 1. The only thing predictable about Formula 1, is that it is unpredictable.

     

  • Formula One Pull Rod vs Push Rod Suspension

    Most formula one fans have heard these two terms thrown about but are not really clear on what the difference is between pull rod suspension and push rod suspension on a Formula One car. F1 Madness’ technical writer takes a closer look.

    At the beginning of the 2012 season we saw Ferrari run a front and back pull rod suspension. This was was in response to Red Bull Racing running a rear pull rod suspension and a front push rod suspension configuration for the 2012 season.

    For the 2013 season, Ferrari have opted to keep with the front push rod suspension and McLaren have also moved to a front pull rod setup.

    Pull rod suspension runs the pull rod from the outer end of the top wishbone down the bottom corner of the chassis.  For the rear suspension, the inner end of the pull rod set up is on the gearbox casing.  This mounts the inboard elements of the system low down on the gearbox, either inside entirely contained within the casing (which is more aerodynamic), or splits the elements inside and outside of the gearcase.

    newpullvspush
    Push-rod setup on the left and pull-rod setup on the right. Image: f1fanatic.co.uk

    The main benefit of the pull rod suspension is to place the almost horizontal pull rod in an ideal aerodynamic path to direct the airflow over the formula one car. This will offer a very small coefficient of drag benefit. With a pull rod setup, the top wishbone is under more stress, which will require a much stronger construction.

    Ferrari have stuck with the front pull rod design and carried it over to its 2013 car. They obviously see some benefit to it. Reverting to the conventional push rod setup would’ve been a major admission of failure from them. It looks as though it’s worked for them since they’ve stuck with it and were looking good in testing.