Bob Barnard Track Engineering

A few examples of splits showed up during the Bahrain GP, some between people, some mechanical and some track related.

Mark Hughes had a great piece on Sky Sport about how Mercedes have managed to build a car/engine combination so much better than everyone else. They have split the Turbo. No it does not leak. The turbo consists of a turbine driven by the exhaust gas and a compressor that raises the pressure of the air entering the engine. Traditionally these are in one unit, one body, so the heat from the exhaust impacts the air in the compressor. This has to be cooled before it enters the engine to maximise the density, so there is an "intercooler" like a radiator mounted in a side pod, adding to the drag. The team suggested to the engine guys at Mercedes that if they were split, one on each end of the engine, then that problem would be lessened. So that's what they did, with a shaft through the block to drive the compressor. Intercooler size goes down, and the size of the unit on the back of the engine reduced so the engine cover can be tighter. The battery and gearbox also run cooler, etc. etc. Very, very clever. One of those "what if" someone asks that makes the light bulb go on.

As Mercedes designed the car around this concept they could maximise the benefits, but the other customer cars did not have time to, so they still have a benefit, but not maximised. The real hit for the non-Mercedes cars is that they cannot copy it, the engines are "frozen." Nice one. And thank you Mark for another great piece of journalism. This is Formula One, not just a bunch of noisy cars.

The other split is between Adrian Newey and Joe Saward, both angry men. Adrian hates the current rules. Would he still hate them if he were winning? He says yes, but we can only wonder. He said "It should be about man and machine performing at its maximum every lap." Well anyone watching the TV can see the drivers are performing to their limit, much more than we have seen for years. The cars are no longer on rails, glued to the track by Newey's aerodynamics. Just what Ferrari wanted, but now they have it and their engine is not good enough they want to change it too. Adrian should have watched his driver Sebestian over-performing at Turn 2 in the 3rd practice.

He goes on to say "The cars are going a lot slower and that should be factored in when we talk about the whole. OK, they are using 50 kilos less fuel, but they are going a lot slower to achieve that." Really, what timing screen is he watching? His own cars obviously. Pole time this year is less than a second slower than last, with harder tires and 50 kg more weight in the car. Top speeds are higher. Monza is predicted to be 360 km/hr! Over 225 mph. Slower? This is not an economy run, the cars are being driven to their limit over the same race distance at similar speeds with 33% less fuel due the design of the car, not by the drivers driving slower. As I said after Australia, imagine if this translates to road cars?

Joe Saward is also angry about the Ferrari's and Red Bulls of this world whining about the rules. As I said yesterday, how does he keep his press pass?

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/04/05/top-of-the-flops/

The additional set of tires for Q3 has certainly helped at keeping all the cars on track for the Q2 & 3 sessions, but we now have the teams not running in practice sessions. Mercedes did very few laps any session, did not need to, but Williams were concerned at putting too much heat stress in the power unit and sat out most of the time. The fact that the teams tested here for two weeks recently undoubtedly played a part. They knew the set up so saved the car. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next races. Teams are already using up components at a fast rate, so we will see grid penalties later in the season.

Now for the track split. In the barrier there are regular openings to allow emergency access and to allow cars to be pulled back off the track. They are called "regulation gaps" as there are regulations as to how they are installed. The lead edge is supposed to stay in line, with the trailing edge curving into line behind. This is the main straight at Bahrain.  

Not a great photo but you can enlarge. The leading edge turns in towards the track. I can't imagine why I have never noticed this, but if you hit that end then it will not only hurt but it will throw the car back on the track. Not a good idea. So how does Tilke design this, and worse, how do the FIA approve it?

In a similar vein the curb at Turn 4 was altered to install a "sausage" raised section behind the existing. This is the orange piece we see at lots of tracks now, but at the apex on slow corners, not a fast exit where it can be struck end on. So if you watched practice yesterday you would have seen a Lotus do just that and launch itself. They removed the "sausage" last night, but who approved it in the first place?

People write blogs for a variety of reasons, but I do it as an outlet for opinions I have on current events, not as a news source. So, unless something moves me to put pen to paper, or hands to keyboard, then I do not post every day, especially when I am busy building a track or writing expert opinions as I have been the last couple of weeks. Moooresville is ready to pave and will be done next week weather permitting. Then to install curbs, barriers and striping and we are good to go!

So, with a lull in proceedings I thought I should at least post some thoughts, although not much seems to change. Bernie is still waiting for the shoe to drop over the Gribkowsky affair, staying away from Germany even though he was supposed to meet the guys from the bankrupt Nurburgring there over next year's contract. Mercedes are reported to be holding off signing anything to do with the new Concorde Agreement until they know something, or do they already know it? The teams are still bickering over the Resource limitation agreement and Red Bull still trying to manipulate the engine mapping. McLaren keep shooting themselves in the foot, although I guess Lewis' puncture cannot really be their fault. The rumors about Massa continue and that dog of a Ferrari cannot help winning.

Over in the MotoGP world Spies has given up on Yamaha, or is it the other way around? Rossi seems likely to give up on the Duke, despite Hayden seeming to be able to get something out of it. Not enough to keep his seat next year though. So who's left for America, and if Casey retires, Australia? How the world changes from the 80's and 90's. CRT's are here to stay, otherwise Dorna would have nothing to put on the grid.

The whole state of GP racing on 2 and 4 wheels is not healthy. Joe Saward has a piece on the business model in F1 which supports what I have been saying for a long time. It is not sustainable. When Hockenheim with 5 German drivers, two of which are World Champions, cannot fill the stands then there is something very rotten in the State of Denmark.

The GT world is not immune with Ratelli dropping out as promoter next year, and the ELMS being cancelled. ALMS struggles along with three LMP1's, only two of which can compete, and two LMP2's. Without the grid fillers in the LMPC and Porsche Cup it would be a very thin field indeed. Too many Championships here and overseas for the current economy.

The Mole, aka Peter Windsor I suspect, has a different take on Adams sudden departure. It still involves Bernie, but his take is that Bernie forced him out as Adam was one of very few who critized Bernie from inside F1. Bernie said recently that the reorganization of Williams should have started at the top, i.e. Adam. The scenario is Bernie needs Ferrari, McLaren and Williams to sign on, and knows Red Bull and Toro Rosso will go along for the money, and Sauber will do what Ferrari wants anyway. So offer Sir Frank a deal, Sir Frank says yes please, Adam says no, so no more Adam.

Another theory, but one of the comments suggested Adam would take "gardening leave" and turn up at CVC, along the lines I suggest. Bernie and Max Mosely had some famous disagreements, it did not stop them working together, and in my scenario Bernie is not there anyway.

Joe Saward has a piece about how our friends at CVC are going to be rewarded further for their investment in F1, with an extension of their loans maturity to 2017, the end of the next Concorde Agreement. In the meantime the return for investors is guaranteed at 5% over bank rate, and they can get ready for a float. Are we never to be rid of these parasites?

Now Thailand wants a GP, home of Red Bull why not? More the merrier. We'll be able to run the whole series in Asia soon.

Sorry to have gone missing for a couple of days, my back has been playing up so lying low. One of the things that has come up and not commented on by the general media is the goings on in Austin over the Promoter. Here is the original story from Friday:

http://motorsport.nextgen-auto.com/Report-hints-US-GP-project-to-lose-promoter-Hellmund,30873.html

Joew Saward has followed this up with his own view on what is going on:

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/

This is about the fourth article so scroll down. Mind you the other articles are interesting. The Argentina track by Populous looks like a big kart track. Stick to football stadiums. Anyway Joe suggests Tavo might be looking to make more money consulting to other would be F1 race promoters. That says a lot about how much (or little) there is to be made in promoting one himself. I guess one day we will find out what is going on in Austin.

Joes first article on the Hamilton/Massa incident is responding to a number of web sites commenting on how Massa was told over the radio to "destroy" Hamilton's race by holding him up. Nothing wrong with that, except you would think Smedley would be encouraging Massa to go faster to stay in front, not slow down and keep Hamilton behind. Shows a lack of confidence in his driver. What is really the story here is the hypocrisy of Massa to complain of Hamilton's driving after the race! Adding insult to injury. And I find it amazing that in race after race I hear drivers in following cars being chastised for hitting the one in front, and yet at Spa Hamilton is in the wrong when Kobayashi hits his rear wheel!

The 14th annual Petit le Mans has been run, and who knows if we will have a 15th. Sebring is announced as a round of the WEC, but not the Petit? Scott Atherton did his usual "everything is getting better" speech but did not address the ALMS cars not being able to run in a WEC event. Has that been sorted? If it had you would think he would have mentioned it. And now we are "grandfathering" museum pieces like the V12 Aston Martin! Must be embarrassing for Aston that their 2011 car does not run but a collectors car finishes third!

ESPN3 coverage was very good except the ads were getting very old by the end of ten hours. A very eventful race. Not sure how they could edit that down to two hours, allowing for ads. I tuned in with 15 minutes to go and the race had ended, so the "highlights" were probably an hour at best. The major talking point was the Dumas crash, and I would like to know if he actually hit the front of the Porsche. Shades of Le Mans for me, stuck his nose in too far when the hole was closing. Now I am no fan of Montagny and the tactics of Peugeot, but Audi should know by now that they need to take no chances when passing them. Not sure why they had to start 53 cars? Do they need the entry fees that bad? Track density by FIA rule is 43, so 20% less and would have made life easier for the real competitors rather than those making up the numbers.

Over in Japan Honda managed to win its home MotoGP for a change in a crash fest. Stoner did well not to crash and recover to third behind Pedrosa and Lorenzo, so Casey still has a handy lead in the Championship. Rossi fell off at the second corner and took a few with him. Bit of a nightmare season for him and Ducati. Marquez failed to win the Moto2 class but still takes over the lead in the Championship from Bradl by one point.

Elsewhere lots of Championships were decided. Checa went out in style to clinch the WSBK, Tomszyk won the DTM title for Audi, Ceccon won the AutoGP title if anyone noticed or cared, Mehri won the Euro F3 title, Botolotti clinched the F2 title, and Peugeot took the inaugural, (and only?), ILMC Manufacturers Trophy. Dario Franchiti retook the lead in the Indycar championship with one race remaining.

In other news Tilke is the latest person to be trotted out to reassure us India will be "finished" on time. It is normal that the work is finished at the last minute he said, well most of it will be apparently. That may be true of a street course, but there is no excuse for a permanent facility. Bernie is due in court in Germany in November to testify in the Gribkowsky case, so perhaps we will learn what really went on.

There are a couple of items today about the plight of promoters. This has gone on since my day and the series promoters neither know no care, promoters are like buses, there will be another one along soon. In the case of MotoGP probably in Spain and the US. Damon Hill, former Chairman of the BRDC and therefore of Silverstone raises the issue, as well he might. They have been one of the very few to make a quid out of a GP, but Bernie's demands for improvements have beaten that. As Chris Pook told me a long time ago, "If Bernie thinks you are making money he will put the price up." Not the best business model one would think.

I have long compared F1 to NASCAR, and Joe Saward has a nice piece on the cost and rewards of being a track owner in each series, but of course it helps in NASCAR if you own most of the tracks when you cut them some slack.

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/

It now turns out that Bahrain had already paid Bernie for this year's race, and no they did not want it back thank you. Very magnanimous of them I'm sure. Why would they do that do you think? I wonder if they have paid for next year's race?

It now seems that the British Parliament is not to investigate the BBC/Sky deal after all. Good news you would think, but Pit Pass who broke this are running a poll on who is likely to buy a Sky subscription, and so far 90% say they won't. Not such good news. 

More news on Bradley Smith who turned down a move to MotoGP next year. Tech 3 have agreed to run him in Moto2 next year and then MotoGP in 2013. A sweet deal for Bradley and the English hopes of another World Champion at last? Reports that Stoner could wrap up his title at Phillip Island, that will be sweet!