[F1] Nieuwtjes topic #73 As-vast in China

quote:

Op vrijdag 23 april 2010 17:07 schreef Tarado het volgende:
The Ferrari 599XX is the first ever production-derived sports car to break the 7-minute barrier on the classic 20.832 km Nordschleife circuit, lapping in 6 min 58.16 sec.

quote:

Two Formula One Teams Still Stranded In China


Most of the Force India and HRT teams are still stranded in Shanghai, it emerged on Thursday.

Four days after the chequered flag waved at the end of the Chinese grand prix, it was reported that most teams - and the crucial F1 freight and cars - are now arriving back on European soil.

Red Bull's Christian Horner said the air travel delays due to the famous volcanic ash cloud will have little effect on the team's plans for Barcelona, while Lotus' Mike Gascoyne said planned developments for Spain will be applied "to both cars".

But a Force India spokeswoman said in Shanghai on Thursday that while the drivers are back in Europe, "the majority of the team" is still in China.

With the team owned by the Kingfisher airline magnate Vijay Mallya, she told Reuters that they are hoping for their charter to leave "at some point tomorrow".

Indian rookie Karun Chandhok also revealed that most of the HRT team is still in China, amid reports that hundreds of other F1-related personnel are in a similar situation and face waits for flights that could extend well into the weekend.

quote:

F1 considering gas turbines?
^25/04/2010

Mat Coch writes:

Following Pitpass' exclusive revelation that Formula One could return to turbocharged engines in 2013, it's believed another engine technology has been submitted to the FIA which could spark an engine war.

Andreas Andrianos, CEO of Project 1221, has revealed exclusively to Pitpass that his company has approached Bernie Ecclestone with a gas turbine engine developed for Formula One. He also claims that a proposal is now with the FIA for evaluation and, if approved, Project 1221 could supply engines to teams as early as 2013.

Formed in 2001, Project 1221 has developed gas turbine technologies for a number of automotive, aeronautical and military applications. The company is best known for its seemingly aborted super car, the MF1, a mid-engined sports car which was said to be capable of over 400kph.

Andrianos claims a gas turbine engine would be a much cheaper solution than an internal combustion unit, together with other benefits which he believes make it an attractive proposition.

While fuel consumption is inferior to that of current spec Formula One engines, through the use of bio-diesel fuel the engines are more environmentally friendly. Coupled with greater 'green' credentials a single turbine engine is expected to be capable of racing almost an entire season without maintenance, meaning lower ongoing costs. Furthermore, as there is no traditional cooling system the engine can be more easily packaged into a modern Formula One car - stresses on the engine during competition are expected to be similar to that in helicopters and aircraft and could therefore easily handle the demands of Formula One.

There are potential problems in relation to the gearbox however. An electric motor would be needed to engage the reverse gear, while teams would have to address their fundamental design as turbine engines cannot be a structural member of the car. It would mean reverting to a space frame design to support the rear suspension, rather than bolting it to the engine block as has been the standard since the Lotus 49 in 1967.

Ironically the man who developed the Lotus 49, Colin Chapman, tinkered with turbine power in the early 1970's. Inspired by the performance of turbine cars in the US during the 1960's Chapman produced the Lotus 56B, a four-wheel-drive car powered by a Pratt & Whitney turbine engine. In three championship starts it achieved a best result of eighth at the 1971 Italian Grand Prix in the hands of Emerson Fittipaldi. Plagued by problems, most notably turbo lag, the 56B was abandoned in favour of the Lotus 72 and a traditional Cosworth power plant.

With developments in technology, Andrianos believes gas turbine engines are now more advanced and, if given the opportunity, could race alongside turbocharged or normally aspirated rivals. By limiting the air intake of the engine Andrianos believes the FIA could effectively equalise engine performance, creating an environment where multiple engine configurations could compete on equal footing.

Such a move could potentially open the way for unheralded engine innovation within the sport. Volkswagen, for example, has produced a 2.0-litre TSI engine powered by natural gas, which it claims reduces CO2 output by as much as 80%, and has already raced at the Nurburgring 24hr in a VW Scirocco, winning its class. The German company has been forever linked with Formula One, and giving more engineering freedom for 'green' technologies may provide the catalyst for its entry.

An engine development race may go against the cost cutting initiatives the FIA has been championing, but, within reasonable guidelines, it could be seen as a golden opportunity for the sport to become a leader in 'green' technology. It would also allow the FIA to fulfil its mandate of assisting the development of technology relevant to road cars, giving motor sport a chance to be seen as part of the cure, rather than part of the cause.

quote:

Op woensdag 28 april 2010 19:59 schreef ElmarO het volgende:
We wachten in spanning af.
[..]

quote:

INTERVIEW-Motor racing-Formula One teams offered cut-price KERS

LONDON, April 28 (Reuters) - Formula One's KERS systems, scrapped by teams last year as too costly at a time of financial belt-tightening, could make a comeback next season in a cheaper and more powerful guise.

Williams technical director Sam Michael told Reuters after a meeting of the teams' association FOTA on Wednesday that Ferrari and Renault had offered to supply systems at affordable prices.

"Basically Ferrari and Renault put forward proposals that they could do KERS for less than a million euros ($1.33 million)," said the Australian.

"Those have been accepted but what Ferrari and Renault are both saying is that unless we increase the energy level from the current 400 kilojoules up to 600 or 800, to make KERS more beneficial, they are not prepared at this stage to commit that they will actually do KERS."

The old kinetic energy recovery systems, which stored energy generated under braking to give drivers a short boost of power at the push of a button, helped McLaren and Ferrari win races last year but cost 10-20 million euros to develop.

Although KERS remains in the regulations, with the governing body backing the systems as relevant to ordinary road users and important for the sport's environmental credentials, teams have agreed not to use them this year.

"I think that by Barcelona (next week's Spanish Grand Prix), the FOTA executive is due to try and make a decision on KERS for 2011. It's all pretty split at the moment on that," said Michael.

"Renault will supply anyone who asks for it on the grid and Ferrari will supply any of their customers, anyone who is running a Ferrari engine," said Michael.

Williams, who own 78 percent of a hybrid power company developing flywheel technology, would expect to use their own.

TYRE CHOICE

The FOTA meeting also discussed the 2011 tyre supply, with Bridgestone pulling out at the end of this season.

"The conversations really, at this point, are between Michelin and Avon," said Michael.

"Avon's a lot cheaper (than Michelin) but it's a less proven product although they've done plenty of highly competitive tyres.

"They are a bigger unknown than Michelin because Michelin did it (in F1) very recently. But there is a significant difference in cost and you are probably talking over three times the difference in cost to the teams. So that's what's being debated at the moment."

While Ferrari boss Stefano Domenicali suggested after this month's Chinese Grand Prix that a tyre deal could be announced before Barcelona, Michael said that looked unlikely.

"I think the discussion in FOTA is just acknowledgement that you've got to take into account a lot of different factors, it's not a straight financial decision and it's not a straight technical decision," he added.

"All this needs to be discussed with (F1 commercial supremo) Bernie (Ecclestone) as he's traditionally looked after tyre supply."

Former champions Williams, with experienced Brazilian driver Rubens Barrichello and German rookie Nico Hulkenberg, are just seventh of the 13 teams with just six points after four races.

Hulkenberg even finished behind Finland's Heikki Kovalainen, driving for newcomers Lotus, in Shanghai on April 18 but Michael dismissed the significance of that and said better times were coming.

"We've got a lot of stuff coming to the car over the next three or four races, particularly aero-dynamic performance parts which is always the quickest and most effective way of adding performance to the car," he said.

For Spain, there will be a new front wing and possibly a redesigned rear diffuser that had been set for introduction at Monaco, a week later.

"I would say by Monte Carlo, the second race from now, we should have taken a good step and then we've got a pretty steady stream past that," said Michael.