Articles tagged with "F1"
Gearing up for Goodwood
April 17, 2008 The wheels are in motion for this year's Goodwood Festival of Speed which will be held between 11-13 July under the theme ‘Hawthorn to Hamilton – Britain’s Love Affair with World Motor Sport’. (read more...)
MotoGP night race testing begins
February 28, 2008 For all the thrill of attending a Formula One (F1) or MotoGP event, the majority of the live spectators view the races on TV, and the majority of both sports’ income comes from television rights. F1 and MotoGP are both broadcast to more than 200 countries with Formula One attracting television fees of around US$380 million annually for a cumulative season audience of around 580 million unique viewers. In order to “optimize” television rights revenues, both sports are now moving to night Grands Prix in some time zones so the races can be broadcast live in prime time in the key European markets. The first night “test” begins today in Qatar and presents some interesting logistical problems for the teams. (read more...)
Details confirmed for first-ever Formula One night race
February 1, 2008 The timetable has been set for September's Formula 1(TM) Singapore Grand Prix, the first ever Grand Prix to be held at night. (read more...)
Factor 001: BERU f1systems previews high-tech carbon chassis bicycle
Performance engineering specialist BERU f1systems has provided a glimpse of its intriguing new project - the Factor 001 bicycle. Best known for its involvement in Formula 1 racing and as a supplier for supercars like the Bugatti Veyron, the company's latest innovation rolls advanced electronics into a high-tech package that includes carbon chassis, ceramic brakes and bespoke drivetrain. Marked by square, clean lines and its completely metallic finish, the prototype is designed primarily as an advanced training tool, with stored biometric data such as heart and respiration rate available for downloaded for post-training analysis. (read more...)
F1 shock: no more engine development allowed for 10 years
December 10, 2007 Last Friday, at the World Motor Sport Council in Monaco, the FIA, which governs Formula One racing, made a decision to immediately freeze engine development for the next 10 years. Unbelievably, the engine each F1 team presents and homologates by the end of next March will be the engine that team races until 2017 – and the billions of Euros normally spent on engine development will be channeled into peripheral systems. The FIA sees development outside the engine, such as with Kinetic Energy Recovery, as a far more valuable contribution to road car development than spending money on squeezing another 1000rpm and 30 horsepower out of an engine that's already spinning three times as fast as the one in your family sedan. (read more...)
Caparo’s T1 lays claim to Top Gear’s lap record
News from Caparo that its T1 high-performance two-seater sports car has smashed the leading lap time on the BBC's Top Gear motoring program by seven seconds. But there is a catch – the car wont appear at the top of the lap board because the car's inability to negotiate a speed hump doesn't meet the criteria specified by the programme makers. Drawing on its formidable power-to-weight ratio of more than 1000 bhp/tonne, the T1's lap time of 1:10.6 unofficially beat the previous record held by a modified Koenigsegg CCX. (read more...)
Ferrari upgrades FXX prototype
November 14, 2007 After two years of ferocious testing, Ferrari have made large-scale improvements to one of the most extreme supercars they’ve ever built. Available only to a select handful of owners (including 7-times Formula One champ Michael Schumacher), the FXX prototype now makes a ridiculous 860 horsepower (641.3kW) at a screaming 9500RPM, and incorporates the absolute bleeding edge of barely-filtered F1 technology. Never intended for road use, the car can only be driven at trackdays approved by Ferrari, and all driving data is fed back into the Ferrari roadcar development program. (read more...)
Ferrari Theme Park underway
October 7, 2007 Not satisfied with your Ferrari branded hat, sunglasses, sports-binoculars, speaker system and carbon-fiber laptop? Fans of the famous marque will soon be able to visit the world’s first Ferrari Theme Park in Abu Dhabi. A Foundation Stone Ceremony was held on 3 November to signify the start of construction with the official opening of the park scheduled for 2009. (read more...)
A1GP World Cup of Motorsport and Ferrari announce landmark partnership
October 12, 2007 In one of those rare deals which promises great benefits for both parties, the A1GP World Cup of Motorsport and Ferrari have reached a long term agreement for the supply of engines as well as to design chassis and consult on manufacture for new cars. (read more...)
America’s only 180mph rolling-road wind tunnel
October 1, 2007 The Windshear rolling-road wind tunnel in North Carolina will be one of the fastest and most advanced facilities in the world, and the only in America capable of 180mph (around 300kph) testing. The US$40 million complex will be an excellent resource for Formula One, NASCAR and most other racing teams – but interestingly, street-legal supercars like the Bugatti Veyron at the forefront of high-speed aerodynamic design still have nowhere to test their 250+mph models. (read more...)
Ferrari crams unprecedented F1 technology into new 430 Scuderia
When Ferrari pulls the covers off a new model, the world stops to look – especially when it’s an up-spec version of an already phenomenal car that’s been lightened, pumped up with a dose of steroids and packed to the gills with barely-filtered technology fresh from the garage of the oldest and most successful Formula One team in the paddock. Here it is: the brand new and much-anticipated Ferrari 430 Scuderia supercar. (read more...)
UK public contactless payment technology begins roll-out
August 26, 2007 Money makes the world go around, and as with any system, reducing the frictional losses should benefit the productivity of that system – so the publicity stunt staged in a McDonalds drive-through in London with a Formula One car is quite significant. It was nominally the first use of contactless payment in the UK and marks the beginning of the roll-out of contactless cards which use radio wave card technology. When the contactless card is placed in very close proximity to the terminal, it transmits data from the card to the retailer’s card reader. The new technology allows contactless purchases up to UKP10 and normal chip & PIN purchases above that amount. Trials have shown the cards can halve the time taken for a cash transaction. (read more...)
A closer look at the black art of aerodynamics in Formula One
August 21, 2007 Aerodynamics is now viewed by Formula 1 teams as the single most important piece of race car design the rules allow them to control. A good aerodynamic setup makes an F1 car slippery in a straight line, maximizes acceleration and top speed, and provides huge amounts of downforce to mash the car’s tyres into the tarmac and add extra grip in the corners. Massive money is spent on tweaking the wings and body shape for that elusive perfect flow of air. Toyota’s Head of Aerodynamics, Mark Gillan, explains further in the second part of Panasonic Toyota Racing’s ‘Inside a Formula 1 Car‘ series. (read more...)
The new Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster
July 18, 2007 With McLaren now hot favourites to win both the driver and constructor World F1 title in 2007, the announcement of the new model Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren Roadster takes on new dimensions. The exquisite roadster is built in the same factory as the cars driven by Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso, and combines all the F1 high-tech you can imagine, a 626 bhp AMG kompressor V8 producing an almost obscene 780 newton metres of torque and the long-distance attributes and sophisticated atmosphere of a classic Gran Tourismo car. The most telling F1 gift in constructing the open-top 332 km/h masterpiece is the systematic and intelligent use of high-tech materials for the body and safety technology. As in the Coupé, the bodyshell of the high-performance Roadster is primarily carbon fibre, as are the front-end and rear-end structure, the passenger cell, the swing-wing doors and the bonnet. Compared to steel, the high-tech material represents a weight saving of around 50 per cent, which is why the Electrohydraulic braking system employs massive brake discs made from carbon-fibre reinforced ceramics. There’s even an airbrake in the boot lid that extends automatically when you hit the anchors at high speed. (read more...)
Espionage and sabotage in the high-stakes world of Formula One
July 17, 2007 An intriguing tale of industrial espionage and general skulduggery at the highest level is breaking out in the world of Formula One. Amidst an investigation of one of Ferrari's chief mechanics, who is under suspicion of sabotaging the two Ferrari F1 cars before the Monaco race this year, it has emerged that the McLaren-Mercedes team's chief designer was in possession of a large amount of highly classified documents detailing the design of the 2007 Ferrari F1 cars. While it may be some time until the truth emerges, this scandal in the top ranks of racing's richest competition is threatening to overshadow the jaw-dropping debut season of McLaren's Lewis Hamilton as the defining moment of the 2007 Formula One GP season. (read more...)
The first US$100 million a year athlete and the next one
June 30, 2007 Forbes magazine released its annual Celebrity 100 list recently, noting that golfer Tiger Woods banked US$100 million in the last year, becoming the first athlete in history to do so. Woods is the perfect corporate ambassador, being handsome, charming, beautifully spoken, dominant in a major TV sport and black, giving him a commercial edge in that his sponsors are perceived to be inclusive of minorities. SportBusiness International Magazine once forecast that Woods could be the first athlete to earn a billion dollars in a year given he had all the boxes ticked and global TV sport was emerging as a gargantuan money spinner given that it’s the only time-critical news you can pre-sell. Remarkably, a new sports star has rocketed from obscurity who will almost certainly push his way onto next year’s Celebrity 100 and might well elbow his way past Woods as sport’s highest money earner in the next round of sponsorship negotiations. Unknown three months ago, Lewis Hamilton’s sporting career has begun more spectacularly than any other in history … in any sport. (read more...)
Mosley determined to push eco-friendly Formula One rule changes
May 22, 2007 The clean fuel movement may have an unlikely ally in the task of bringing environmentally friendly motoring solutions to the market - Formula One racing. FIA president Max Mosley has announced a partnership with clean engine specialists Ricardo - and a plan that could see F1 cars running on clean biofuel and leading a "green revolution" by 2011. Under the plan, the current 2.4 litre V8 engines would be downsized to 2.2 litre turbocharged V6s running on biofuel. Maximum engine revs would be dropped from the current screaming 19,000rpm to 10,000rpm, making the cars far less noisy than they are currently. The estimated power output of the smaller engines would be around 770 horsepower, down about 100 compared to the present engines. (read more...)
Formula One 2007 – Ferrari emphatically takes the first battle
March 18, 2007 The first round of the 2007 Formula One championship got underway at Albert Park in Australia today, with Kimi Raikkonen claiming an emphatic first victory for Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro. Ferrari F1 supremo Jean Todt said, “a new chapter in Ferrari's history has got off to a very good start,” and well he might. Raikkonen led from pole to his first pit stop, briefly handed the lead to the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes of talented rookie Lewis Hamilton, then was never headed again. When the pace was at its hottest, he was close to a second a lap faster than his rivals. For McLaren Mercedes, two podiums secured it the manufacturers championship lead with 14 points, but Massa’s drive from last place into sixth means Ferrari trails by just a point. (read more...)
Montezemolo proclaims "all-new Ferrari F1 Team"
January 16, 2007 It should seem strange that the unveiling of the fifty third Formula 1 single-seater built by Ferrari was also the proclamation of a new Ferrari but with the retirement of Michael Schumacher and the loss of Ross Brawn, Ferrari supremo Montezemolo underlined just that. "This is a complete new Ferrari, and I don't speak just about the car but about the whole Scuderia. There is a new driver, who is succeeding a driver that has been with us since 1996. It is a very important substitution; not only because Michael has won more races than anyone else in our history, but also because he created a personal relationship with the company and the men. It is true that Massa is here for his second year and so we can say that he is still young. But he already has some experience and he grew a lot over the last year. There are two young managers - Stefano Domenicali, Sporting Director, and Mario Almondo, Technical Director - who come from the school of Ferrari. Over all those years we put all our resources in internal growth, which is a very important fact." (read more...)
Musical chairs as Formula One launch season unfolds
January 16, 2007 Formula One is underway again for 2007 with the launch events as spectacular as ever. Toyota Panasonic was the first team out of the blocks, then followed McLaren Mercedes and Ferrari with world champion drivers champ Fernando Alonso no longer in Renault Mild Seven blue but the black and silver of McLaren. The biggest change is at Ferrari where Kimi Raikkonen now wears Ferrari (or is that Marlboro) Red and has been installed by the bookies as champion elect in the absence of Michael Schumacher, narrowly shading Alonso. Similarly, Ferrari is now favourite for the constructors title over McLaren with Renault seen as a distant third. BMW will unveil its new Sauber F1.07 later today in a live event held at its web site. Renault will trot out new R27 livery next week with the Mild Seven sponsorship leaving, and Williams will show its new Toyota-powered FW29 team in early February, followed by Honda’s RA107, Red Bull and Toro Rosso … with Dieter Mateschitz owning both teams, the party (current form here and here) can be expected to trump them all. If you’re an F1 tragic, might we suggest a new way to get amongst it is the on-line fantasy game Formula One Grand Prix Manager! which gives you the chance to become a manager of your own F1 racing team. (read more...)
BMW focusses supercomputer on F1 aerodynamics
January 16, 2007 The seemingly endless amount of money available in Formula One is directly related to its audience size and the influence it has. Success in Formula One, the world’s most watched sporting series, is the world’s most visible gauge of automotive technological prowess, and it is so sought after because it adds value to the company brand name. With BMW entering the fray under its own name last year, it isn’t about to settle for anything less than the top step of the podium and has embarked on its quest with the aid of one of the world’s most powerful computers. The BMW Sauber F1 Team new super brain, Albert2 is Europe's fastest computer currently used in industry. It’s roughly three times faster than its predecessor and is employed solely in the study of computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Rather than going with the current trend where many teams are building a second wind tunnel, BMW invested its racing budget in Albert2, which is quite a specimen. It’s main memory is 2,048 Gb – it 256 nodes with two Intel Xeon 5160 processors each, and each of these has two cores. This results in a total of 1024 cores and a maximum computing power is 12,288 GFlops. This means that Albert2 is capable of performing 12,288,000,000,000 floating-point arithmetic operations per second. (read more...)
Vodafone McLaren Mercedes F1 Launch
January 16, 2007 The launch of the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes team was predictably huge – with Vodafone is joining as Title Sponsor and Official Mobile Partner, the event took on gargantuan proportions on a bespoke circuit around the Ciudad de las Artes y de las Ciencias in Spain, coincidentally the homeland of their stellar signing, newly crowned world champ Fernando Alonso. Alonso and new teammate Lewis Hamilton form one of the youngest driver line-ups in the history of the sport and Hamilton in particular must have wondered just how big F1 would be when the pair unveiled the new livery in two MP4-21 race cars in front of a crowd of more than 150,000. This was followed by the unveiling of the 2007 car, the MP4-22. Tomorrow, the 2007 challengers will conduct a shakedown test at the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in Valencia. Vodaphone released three commemorative edition phones for the affair. (read more...)
Fuel efficiency to become a factor in Formula One
August 9, 2006 One of the most important automotive technology stories of recent times appears to have been largely overlooked by the news and automotive media. A meeting on Monday between the Grand Prix Manufacturers Association (GPMA) and Formula One's governing body, the FIA has resulted in an agreement for Formula One Technical Regulations to include means to promote fuel efficiency including energy recovery and re-use from 2009 onwards. With the world’s cleverest and most competitive automotive designers now incentivised to improve both fuel efficiency and horsepower, we can expect to see some significant leaps forward in the efficiency of the internal combustion engine and the technological pinnacle of motorsport will become even more interesting. All relevant regulations for 2009 will be published no later than December 31, 2006 – we can’t wait. Perhaps for Christmas we can all wish for Uncle Bernie to set up an electric racing formula? (read more...)
Formula One Car for the Road - the Hulme SuperCar
Conceived as a Formula One car for the road, and named after famous Kiwi racing driver Denny Hulme, the Supercars NZ Hulme is a new contender in the UKP300,000 plus European exotica category. Unveiled to the local New Zealand media in mid 2005, the company had its initial European tour-de-force over the last few weeks at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the ultra-exclusive Salon Prive. The Hulme SuperCar is powered by a BMW M5 V8 producing 550brake horses running through a six speed sequential gearbox, and weighs in at the curb with all bodily fluids topped up at a very slim 1175 kilograms. The body is a carbon fibre shell and will be produced in limited quantities of up to 30 a year in the Koeniggseg and Pagani category of high end exotica. (read more...)
Honda F1 car attempts land speed record at Bonneville
July 19, 2006 Just how fast is a Formula One car? That question was answered, at least partially, on Monday morning at around 8am local time at the Bonneville Salt Flats, when Alan van der Merwe piloted a race legal Honda 007 along a seven mile-long salt straight, achieving a speed of 220.571mph (354.975 km/h) for the flying mile and 220.897 mph (355.499 km/h) for the flying kilometre. To be frank, we were a bit disappointed too, but one of the problems of Bonneville and lots of horsepower is that of traction. Driver Alan van der Merwe put it in perspective when he said, “We haven’t done 400kph yet though, which is our ultimate target. In a way it’s quite nice we didn’t, because it shows that this is a genuine challenge and not just a case of us turning up, nailing it and going home. You have to work for every extra mile an hour here and we may not break the 400 mark, but that’s still our goal.” (read more...)
