F I A 2014 Teccy Rulz O K

[HandyNZL 1]

Some more 2014 tech rules have been released today..one that means cars have to run on electric motors entering the pit lane "at all times", so I guess this also means the race proper, with no fuel being supplied to the engine...in other words the V6 has to cut out, and the battery/elec motor take over. The driver must also now be able to restart the car from inside the c#ckpit (something that is normal in lower categories).

So here's my thinking...pit stops are going to take ages, plus people in the pits will now need to be extra alert when silent cars come through them. At least with a roaring engine, you hear them coming at you.

As for the pit stops taking ages, well, imagine a car hitting the speed limit line, which invariably will be where the car must switch power supplies, and along the pits they tootle at 100kph....pull into the pits...no need to rev the car slightly as electric means no stalling...then put your foot down and...whirrrrrrrr...away you go...until you get to the pit lane exit and you can re-ignite the engine...except...barp..fluff...eeerrkkk...car won't re-ignite...so onto the track at a measly 100kmh whilst the driver scrambles to get the engine to start again, which at some tracks could be quite dangerous...

Ok so it's a level playing field, and yeah, FIA can got toot their horn about being green, but apart from the drivers being able to start the car on their own from in the c#ckpit, is this really needed?

Oh, and we can now say "isn't that a 2008 spec front wing?"....wings are going back to 2008 spec.,..on the front at least.

[Rainmaster 7]

Some more 2014 tech rules have been released today..one that means cars have to run on electric motors entering the pit lane "at all times", so I guess this also means the race proper, with no fuel being supplied to the engine...in other words the V6 has to cut out, and the battery/elec motor take over. The driver must also now be able to restart the car from inside the c#ckpit (something that is normal in lower categories).

So here's my thinking...pit stops are going to take ages, plus people in the pits will now need to be extra alert when silent cars come through them. At least with a roaring engine, you hear them coming at you.

Silent cars is an issue, although in such a "high alert" and controlled area like the pitlane I don't suppose it would be much of an issue as everyone is already on the lookout (or should be), and in any case with such a noisy environment (cars passing by on the straight) the main sense to rely on would already be vision.

As for the pit stops taking ages, well, imagine a car hitting the speed limit line, which invariably will be where the car must switch power supplies, and along the pits they tootle at 100kph....pull into the pits...no need to rev the car slightly as electric means no stalling...then put your foot down and...whirrrrrrrr...away you go...until you get to the pit lane exit and you can re-ignite the engine...except...barp..fluff...eeerrkkk...car won't re-ignite...so onto the track at a measly 100kmh whilst the driver scrambles to get the engine to start again, which at some tracks could be quite dangerous...

I imagine if it is operated from the c#ckpit then it would be as easy to do as everything else, so it wouldn't need much scrambling. And if the engine failed when they tried to restart it or something like that, then that would be just as dangerous as if one of the current engines failed exiting the pitlane today, so I don't think it really creates an extra danger (I am assuming that it is quite easy, in relative terms, to switch between electric power and the engine and it is something they can do seamlessly and reliably). Drivers usually have room to pull over, too.

Ok so it's a level playing field, and yeah, FIA can got toot their horn about being green, but apart from the drivers being able to start the car on their own from in the c#ckpit, is this really needed?

Oh, and we can now say "isn't that a 2008 spec front wing?"....wings are going back to 2008 spec.,..on the front at least.

As usual, depends what is meant by "needed" I suppose. Is DRS needed? Is KERS? Is Pirelli producing tyres with the current characteristics? Needed depends on what you want to achieve. FIA want a nice green image and saying the cars run solely on electric for part of the race (albeit the slow part) is what they *think* will help with that.

[jackgarrett 0]

what no

anymore?

[HandyNZL 1]

In a word......nope.

[Delta 0]

I'm happy to see these ultra wide front wings go. In my opinion they look stupid and contribute nothing. However I believe the idea of switching the cars to electric power in the pits is just silly, F1 cars currently burn... about a kilo of fuel for every mile they do, depending on circuit layout? Fuel saving from this measure will be negligible.

[rodders47 2]

Another item that should be considered here. The current motors, for 2011, MUST be warmed up to almost operating temps. before start as they are built with NILL clearance between piston and cylinder, so a cold motor will not turn over. Ok so the motor will still be hot when it comes into the pits, so no problems there, but the electronics will need changing in order for the driver to be able to start the thing, add to that a much more substantial battery/alternator/starter motor and the extra wiring, will mean an overall weight increase in the car. Ok so they will do away with the current balast they is used to bring the car up to weight to counteract these additional items, BUT this will mean a lot less ability to be able to BALANCE the car out, as is now the case, so I suspect it will mean a slower race car overall.

And ALL for WHAT, just looking like F1 is going GREEN!!!. Hell why not just go to 85% or 100% ETHANOL as the primary fuel and bugger the electric Sh#t. The Car will be a whole lot greener not having to dispose of all those very UN GREEN Lithium batteries

[Insider 0]

Another item that should be considered here. The current motors, for 2011, MUST be warmed up to almost operating temps. before start as they are built with NILL clearance between piston and cylinder, so a cold motor will not turn over. Ok so the motor will still be hot when it comes into the pits, so no problems there, but the electronics will need changing in order for the driver to be able to start the thing, add to that a much more substantial battery/alternator/starter motor and the extra wiring, will mean an overall weight increase in the car. Ok so they will do away with the current balast they is used to bring the car up to weight to counteract these additional items, BUT this will mean a lot less ability to be able to BALANCE the car out, as is now the case, so I suspect it will mean a slower race car overall.

And ALL for WHAT, just looking like F1 is going GREEN!!!. Hell why not just go to 85% or 100% ETHANOL as the primary fuel and bugger the electric Sh#t. The Car will be a whole lot greener not having to dispose of all those very UN GREEN Lithium batteries

An excellent post which I wholeheartedly agree with