[Racer Duck]

This thread is for anyone who has a question about Formula 1. No matter what it is, whether technical, "political", or historical, there's folks here who can provide the right answers. So, all those things you've been wondering about F1 .. now's the time to 'get educated'!!!

[Racer Duck]

I'll kick it off.

I've heard a lot about something just introduced for the 2009 season, but I don't understand what it is, how it works, and what benefit it's supposed to provide. It's called "KERS."

[Bob Tanner]

Here is one which stumps me:

I know that after each race each car is immediately weighted, with the driver in the car, to ensure they meet minimum weight. I remember some years ago it was normal for a winning driver to come to a stop as soon as possible after he crossed the finish line, shut down the power plant and then be physically pushed to the celebration area because they didn't want to burn off any fuel that would put under minimum. I see that they no longer do this. What has changed?

[Bob Tanner]

I have an additional KERS question: I know the drivers can activate it and get a temporary power boost, theoretically to aid in passing. They have this in IRL but they are limited to the number of times they can use it in a given race (20 I think the number is). Does F1 have a similar rule limiting the number of times this "boost" can be employed?

[DOF_power]

Kinetic energy recovery system.

There's actually several types of systems, but basically the idea is to convert braking kinetic energy into hp and torque that can be used as a push to pass.


A couple of youtube videos explain this:

YouTube - Williams Hybrid Power F1 KERS System

YouTube - Ferrari F2009 KERS K.E.R.S.
YouTube - Ferrari F2009 KERS K.E.R.S. 2
YouTube - Ferrari F2009 KERS K.E.R.S. 3



The systems used in F1 are actually very inefficient (, ~20 efficiency vs. ~70 efficiency of the 4 wheel system KERS system Toyota used on one of their sportscars the Supra HV-R hybrid, according to former technical director of Toyota Luca Marmorini ) due to restrictions.

Because of these restrictions they are not like production car KERS (those 4 wheel system far more efficient) and they really a PR move from Max Mosley.
McLaren first worked on such a system 8-9 years but abandoned it when FIA banned KERS in 2001.
Then under pressure from EU to make thing in motorsport (at least appear) more environmentally friendly Mosley removed the KERS ban, but placed a lot of restrictions on it.

[DOF_power]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Here is one which stumps me:

I know that after each race each car is immediately weighted, with the driver in the car, to ensure they meet minimum weight. I remember some years ago it was normal for a winning driver to come to a stop as soon as possible after he crossed the finish line, shut down the power plant and then be physically pushed to the celebration area because they didn't want to burn off any fuel that would put under minimum. I see that they no longer do this. What has changed?

Bob can you be more specific about the time period ?!


I say this because once upon of time there was a ban on refueling and drivers simply ran out of fuel.


Another reason would be ... cheating, as teams would put all sorts of stuff in the pipes to add weight.

There was even a scandal with Schumacher in 94, once they discovered he lost a lot of weight (post race) compared to went they initially took his weight.
They generally would not take weight of the drivers after the race, only of the car.
But once they took Schumacher's weight almost by accident, they found out the the car weight + current driver weight was bellow the minimum weight limit.
Frank Williams, or was it Partick Head ?!, estimated that Schumacher gained 14 seconds per race due to this advantage.

So they got more careful after that.



Currently drivers use their last laps and winner's lap to pick up all sorts of stuff on their tires and thus to add weight.

[Bob Tanner]

Originally Posted by DOF_power

Bob can you be more specific about the time period ?!


I say this because once upon of time there was a ban on refueling and drivers simply ran out of fuel.


Another reason would be ... cheating, as teams would put all sorts of stuff in the pipes to add weight.

There was even a scandal with Schumacher in 94, once they discovered he lost a lot of weight (post race) compared to went they initially took his weight.
They generally would not take weight of the drivers after the race, only of the car.
But once they took Schumacher's weight almost by accident, they found out the the car weight + current driver weight was bellow the minimum weight limit.
Frank Williams, or was it Partick Head ?!, estimated that Schumacher gained 14 seconds per race due to this advantage.

So they got more careful after that.



Currently drivers use their last laps and winner's lap to pick up all sorts of stuff on their tires and thus to add weight.

Wow! That was a lot of history I didn't know. Thanks for the answer. I'm a learning addict.

Sorry. I was a very passive and part time F1 follower when this happened but I distinctly remember a race where the winner immediately pulled over and shut the car off as he took the checkered flag in order to preserve weight.

I can't give you an exact date but I "Think" (heavy on the "think") that it was in the 80's or very early 90's. It "seems" as though I was in Spain when I saw it on TV.

[DOF_power]

Originally Posted by Bob Tanner

Wow! That was a lot of history I didn't know. Thanks for the answer. I'm a learning addict.

Sorry. I was a very passive and part time F1 follower when this happened but I distinctly remember a race where the winner immediately pulled over and shut the car off as he took the checkered flag in order to preserve weight.

I can't give you an exact date but I "Think" (heavy on the "think") that it was in the 80's or very early 90's. It "seems" as though I was in Spain when I saw it on TV.

From 1958 to 81 and then from 1984 to 1993 refueling was banned, so it fits into the ran out of fuel scenario.

[Racer Duck]

Speaking of fuel, what type of fuel do the F1 cars use?

[DOF_power]

Originally Posted by Racer Duck

Speaking of fuel, what type of fuel do the F1 cars use?

Currently it's ~99% pump gasoline and 1% secret, that's according to Shell's Dr. Lisa Lilley. Octane must lie between 95 and 102 EU standards or ~ 91–98 US standards.
The blend vary from race to race.
Also here's the official FIA article 19 link.