2010 F1 Cars Press releases....

[Le S2 Audi]

Dunno if anyone is interested...

But I have just seen that a number of the F1 teams have unveiled thier cars for the 2010 season...

The McLaren looks a Real Bute!!!

http://www.formula1.com/gallery/launches/2010/473.html

http://www.formula1.com/gallery/launches/2010/472.html

http://www.formula1.com/gallery/launches/2010/469.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/moto...ne/8487108.stm

[dest]

I watched the McLaren one live on their site on Friday, cant say Im a fan of the rear half!
The new Ferrari looks good though, proper oldskool style!

[Keeper of The Kitten]

Been looking at these, and reading news snippets ...apparently Ferrari are already working on new bits because the car hasn't met their expectations ...that's not to say it's bad, but clearly they want it to be better than it currently is!

I think it's about time that teams are allowed to go radical and not be constrained too much (something that Luca has referred to as well) ...perhaps the McLaren won't be to everyone's taste, but if it wins that's what matters to them!

I hate to see the end developments of cars when rules have been stable for too long, they really do start to home in on the same solutions and inevitably look the same. At this time we're seeing some interesting stuff because there's been another change to rules, albeit not as radical as last year.

[quattro84]

You can say that mate, all ingenuity has been demolished in the last decades.. Nobody is even trying to evolve revolutionair stuff because of it will be banned if (too) effective.
Looks like we are going to another class of restricted racing with limited engine suppliers and aerodynamic design.
Although i did like the idea of reducing dirty air to encourage and expand overtaking opportunities.

But still, i am looking forward to another season.. maybe it will be even more up to the drivers to make it spectaculair.. Mr. Schumacher will surely help (although i am not a fan)

[Keeper of The Kitten]

It is sad that things have gone down this path ...to the point where even the engines must have a minimum mass and a known centre of mass within a specified position ...so much has been taken out of the hands of free-thinking engineers so that the smallest gains are chased rather than trying something radical.

[quattro84]

... even the engines must have a minimum mass and a known centre of mass within a specified position ...

Didn't knew that.

Specification
Only 4-stroke engines with reciprocating pistons are permitted.
Engine capacity must not exceed 2400 cc.
Crankshaft rotational speed must not exceed 18,000rpm.
Supercharging is forbidden.
All engines must have 8 cylinders arranged in a 90º “V” configuration and the normal section of each cylinder must be circular.
Engines must have two inlet and two exhaust valves per cylinder.
Only reciprocating poppet valves are permitted.
The sealing interface between the moving valve component and the stationary engine component must be circular.

Dimensions, weight and centre of gravity
Cylinder bore diameter may not exceed 98mm.
Cylinder spacing must be fixed at 106.5mm (+/- 0.2mm).
The crankshaft centreline must not be less than 58mm above the reference plane.
The overall weight of the engine must be a minimum of 95kg.
The centre of gravity of the engine may not lie less than 165mm above the reference plane.
The longitudinal and lateral position of the centre of gravity of the engine must fall within a region that is the geometric centre of the engine, +/- 50mm. The geometric centre of the engine in a lateral sense will be considered to lie on the centre of the crankshaft and at the mid point between the centres of the forward and rear most cylinder bores longitudinally.
Variable geometry systems are not permitted

Materials
Magnesium based alloys, Metal Matrix Composites (MMC’s) and Intermetallic materials may not be used anywhere in an engine
Coatings are free provided the total coating thickness does not exceed 25% of the section thickness of the underlying base material in all axes. In all cases the relevant coating must not exceed 0.8mm.
Pistons must be manufactured from an aluminium alloy which is either Al-Si ; Al-Cu ; Al-Mg or Al-Zn based.
Piston pins, crankshafts and camshafts must be manufactured from an iron based alloy and must be machined from a single piece of material.
A supplementary device temporarily connected to the car may be used to start the engine both on the grid and in the pits.

This will be interesting as well:

Non-capped teams Capped teams
Adjustable front wings Maximum six-degree adjustment twice per lap Maximum ten-degree adjustment any number of times per lap
Adjustable rear element Not permitted Permitted
Engine performance 18,000rpm maximum No rpm limit
KERS power in Max. 60kW No limit
KERS power out Max. 60kW Max. 120kW
KERS energy release p/l Max. 400kJ Max. 800kJ
Transmission No more than two driven wheels Any number of driven wheels
KERS power delivery May only power the rear wheels May power any wheels
Wind tunnel use Limited Unlimited
Testing Limited testing outside racing season Unrestricted
Engines and gearboxes Limited number per season No limit

Source: FIA technical and sporting regulations, 2010
http://www.fia.com/en-GB/sport/regul...mpionship.aspx

[Le S2 Audi]

It is sad that things have gone down this path ...to the point where even the engines must have a minimum mass and a known centre of mass within a specified position ...so much has been taken out of the hands of free-thinking engineers so that the smallest gains are chased rather than trying something radical.

It's not about innovation any more... or about the sport...

It's about commercialisation for the few...

You just have to look at the past to see what F1 has done for road cars not just about speed but safety too... It's long gone now...

[Le S2 Audi]

Non-capped teams Capped teams
Adjustable front wings Maximum six-degree adjustment twice per lap Maximum ten-degree adjustment any number of times per lap
Adjustable rear element Not permitted Permitted
Engine performance 18,000rpm maximum No rpm limit
KERS power in Max. 60kW No limit
KERS power out Max. 60kW Max. 120kW
KERS energy release p/l Max. 400kJ Max. 800kJ
Transmission No more than two driven wheels Any number of driven wheels
KERS power delivery May only power the rear wheels May power any wheels
Wind tunnel use Limited Unlimited
Testing Limited testing outside racing season Unrestricted
Engines and gearboxes Limited number per season No limit

I thought all these regs had been dropped with the lack of capping?

[Keeper of The Kitten]

I've always been sceptical about the transfer of technology from F1 to the road, this is something that Luca was referring to in his remarks about allowing more technical freedom.

So much of F1 is alien to road cars now - some of it for good reasons (ie the improvement of the spectacle), but otherwise F1 is a peculiar beast that doesn't really relate ...you don't see many road cars with 13 inch wheels and high profile tyres, many have ABS and traction control and a variety of other systems.

I still chuckle to myself when I think about the Cosworth engines that used an ECU derived from Ford road cars, far from improving road car technology, the race cars were actually borrowing from it! I don't actually have a problem with that.

In many respects I feel that some of the current rules are very well intentioned ...banning traction control was absolutely the right thing to do, the drivers are meant to be the best at controlling an untamed beast.

Clearly the aerodynamic changes were intended to make the racing closer, they succeeded in that to a point but still didn't allow two cars to follow sufficiently closely in the corners to allow attempts at overtaking thereafter. I have read many remarks in recent times, that the circuit layouts are as much to blame for that, and no amount of messing with the cars will change it (short of removing the wings altogether - there's a thought)

I would much rather see a formula where there are minimal driver aids, even to the point of returning to fully manual, mechanical gearshift (H pattern anybody?) with three pedals in the footbox, a lot less restriction on chassis layouts and drivetrain configuration (allowing 4wd and 4ws or even allowing more than 4 wheels), and just give the teams a specific amount of fuel to complete the race distance - thus ensuring that you cannot just install the largest most powerful engine. Aerodynamics would be allowed but similar to F3 there would be a fixed set of profiles for the rear wing, front wings would be free within a specified legality box. Chassis would be free within required safety specifications. Any car could be good at one circuit and not so good elsewhere, or indeed good on one part of a circuit and not so good on another part - that in itself could improve the spectacle.

[dest]

In the same way that the BMW F1 engines used 4 cyl blocks from cars that had run on the road!
Personally I hate the way teams get penalised or brought down because they can think out of the box.
If one team can create something that gives them a big advantage without breaking the rules, then whats so bad about that?!
There is nothing to stop the other teams from doing the same.

I say bring back the turbos and ground effect!

[TDi90]

Schumacher Is My Hero!!

[G60Rallye]

I can remember reading an article a while back and the question put to the writer was what would F1 cars be like without any rules what so ever. His answer was that they would become alomst undrivable because the drivers wouldn't be able to handle the G loads so would have to be looking at G suits like fighter pilots.

The article said they would quickly move back to turbo charging producing something like 2000bhp with about 3 litres capacity. They would be using Kers system which without any limits on it can produce an amazing amount of torque out of the slower corners also would help with any off boost situations. The wings would all be full adjustable so it had almost no drag on the straights but huge downforce through the turns. He said they would also be looking at suction fans to pull the car into the tarmac even more, and perhaps going back to 6 wheels.

[dest]

Some teams tried fans years ago in the big ground effect days

[Le S2 Audi]

I can remember reading an article a while back and the question put to the writer was what would F1 cars be like without any rules what so ever. His answer was that they would become alomst undrivable because the drivers wouldn't be able to handle the G loads so would have to be looking at G suits like fighter pilots.

The article said they would quickly move back to turbo charging producing something like 2000bhp with about 3 litres capacity. They would be using Kers system which without any limits on it can produce an amazing amount of torque out of the slower corners also would help with any off boost situations. The wings would all be full adjustable so it had almost no drag on the straights but huge downforce through the turns. He said they would also be looking at suction fans to pull the car into the tarmac even more, and perhaps going back to 6 wheels.

Bring it on.... These cars sound wicked....

[Keeper of The Kitten]

I remember reading a similar (or maybe the same) article ...of course there have to be physical limitations and that's why rules exist to a point.

Tyres actually limit a certain amount of the downforce that ever gets applied, witness the IMSA GTPrototypes that had ridiculous L/D ratios and some were reportedly going close to 10,000 lb of downforce, which was starting to cause premature failures.

I think it would be nice to allow hub mounted wings again, the mounting technology is superior now and it is feasible, then the cars could have some logical suspension geometry. Has anyone seen the front wishbones on the current F1 cars? There's no logical way of getting any camber recovery with that arrangement, but because aero means everything that's the way they're arranged and the suspension is running impossibly stiff, as has been the case ever since the aero loads were ruled to be transmitted only to the "body/chassis unit" (and since the twin chassis Lotus was ruled illegal of course).

If anyone wants to see the essence of "Formula Libre" then I strongly recommend a look at the original Can Am Challenge Cup, where the rules were practically non-existent. The home of the first ever vacuum traction car and of other racing innovations like air-brake flaps, and many other developments that were truly "outside the box".