Secrets of the F2007
Remember back in September, when the FIA mistakenly distributed the McLaren hearing transcripts without properly removing any of the confidential information beforehand?
Sure you do. Remember also, the total wall of silence that followed, where nobody dared acknowledge what had happened – not the FIA, the teams, or any commercial media outlet?
Again, I’m sure you do. Well earlier this month all that changed.
Racecar Engineering magazine, the bona fide print publication that’s available in all good newsagents, has delved deep into the gory details the FIA failed to obfuscate. In their December 2007 issue, Racecar break down some of Ferrari’s F2007 secrets, including:
- The special type of gas that Ferrari use to inflate their tyres
- How the double-rear master cylinder variable braking system worked
- The significance of a buckling stay
It really is an enlightening read, and I encourage anyone with even a passing interest in the subject to run out and grab yourself a copy immediately. Speed TV have the first part of the article online, but it’s worth reading the entire text if you can.
A couple of things came to mind as I was reading through, so I thought I’d jot them down here.
Tyres
Racecar have discovered that the special gas used by Ferrari was based on the common refrigerant HFC R404 A, that it was co-developed by an Italian company called Gruppo Sapio, and that the gas helped increase tyre longevity but transferring heat to the wheel rim. Of note Racecar suggest using the gas helps prevent chunking… oh the irony.
One thing that Racecar appear to have missed, is that the transfer of heat to the wheel rim may explain why Ferrari see a cooling benefit from their front and rear wheel bins, while Toyota don’t. If Ferrari’s special gas enables the rim to act as a radiator, then the greater the surface area, the better the heat expulsion. Toyota on the other hand claim they had to increase brake cooling as a result of adding wheel bins.
Brakes
Moving onto the variable braking system. Racecar suggest a layout of a cylinder and spring, coupled with an adjustable wedge that sits between the two and is controlled using a lever in the cockpit. What strikes me though is, no-one has ever fully explained Kimi’s accident during free practice in Monza. Could an out-of-position (or incorrectly set) wedge, cause Kimi to violently spear to one side when he stood on the brake pedal?
The Other Bits
More details are explained relating to the mass-dampening-movable-floor used in Australia as well as what benefit a buckling stay might have relative to modern-day ground effects.
One key piece of information I did learn from the article, that wasn’t specifically related to the FIA hearings, is Formula 1 cars appear to be designed to produce maximum downforce below 200km/h before losing as much as possible above that speed. For some reason I’d always assumed that the amount of downforce would continually increase as the speed of the car does.
The best £5 I ever did spend.
your silence made me wonder a little 
November 25th, 2007 at 12:01 #1 - a.k.a. the Blue Orange Lion said:
Yeah, yeah, funny folks at the FIA like to fool around with somebody else’s secrets, shouldn’t they be penalized as well??? The Schum JR.is making noises about McLaren seat, isn’t that amusing? http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/7111752.stm “Every driver out there in the market would love to sit in their super car.” Is it the McLaren super car the Top Gear was testing a couple of years ago ot the actual F1 car? I’d love to sit in McLaren super car too, I think I should join forces with Ralf, he’s rich, he can buy me one of those machines!!! A Christmas present??? Why not! Please, Ralfie, Ich bin Betteln Sie bitte!
November 25th, 2007 at 12:37 #2 - me said:
think he must mean the road car
still expecting the guy to turn up at Force India next year. maybe this is his way of giving Mallya the hurry up?
November 26th, 2007 at 00:31 #3 - brendan stallard said:
“still expecting the guy to turn up at Force India next year.”
Me,
Can you say why?
Intrigued…..
I’m still thinking the whole thing is clouded because no one wants Alonso at the price he’s asking….He’d better get on with it though.
brendan
November 26th, 2007 at 01:42 #4 - me said:
they’re good friends. Mallya has links with Toyota through the Kingfisher brand and he and Ralf got on very well during PR events in the past.
i suspect the reason Ralf lasted as long as he did at Toyota was largely down to Vijay. the Schumacher name is still big business in F1 marketing and it’s probably one of the only racing brands that holds resonance in India.
you can’t buy that kind of brand loyalty and Ralfie knows it.
November 26th, 2007 at 01:45 #5 - me said:
here’s an off-the-wall idea.
what if schumi’s return to testing is actually Ferrari’s way of showing Alonso that you never really lose it, even after a year away?
could they be trying to convince Fernando to take a year out, and come back to them in ‘09?
November 26th, 2007 at 10:05 #6 - brendan stallard said:
“what if schumi’s return to testing is actually Ferrari’s way of showing Alonso that you never really lose it, even after a year away?”
Me,
Hmmmm: I think that might apply to MS: who is out of a different box than most of us. Mika Hakkinen was well off the pace when he tested after a year off.
I can’t see Alonso going for a big fight with Kimi in 2009.
brendan
November 26th, 2007 at 15:02 #7 - Keith said:
Very interesting will definitely pick that up. I was totally baffled why no-one else reported the ’secrets’ in the original FIA PDF.
November 26th, 2007 at 17:13 #8 - Biological Fuel | Sidepodcast : Your Weekly F1 Podcast said:
[...] from all good newsagents, but not to be confused with Racecar Engineering magazine mentioned recently, the November edition of Race Engine Technology has, amongst other things, some wonderful insight [...]
December 14th, 2007 at 11:38 #9 - Selective Amnesia | Sidepodcast : Your Weekly F1 Podcast said:
[...] On that subject, we learn that McLaren’s 2008 entry appears to bear some similarities to the length of this year’s Ferrari, but I’m sure many teams with arrive with a longer wheelbase vehicle next year. Possibly that’s why the FIA wanted other teams to review the document before February. Suspicious coincidences also surround the use of a unique rear braking system, presumably this is a double-rear master cylinder with a spring. [...]