Here’s another creeper video from the Ferrari test track, Fiorano Circuit, near Maranello. This time it’s of some of Ferrari’s old F1 cars getting some exercise. The uploader thinks that it’s Ferrari customer cars. The first and third cars sound like V12’s and the second one sounds like a Lexus LF-A, so it’s probably a V10.
This year’s Formula 1 season has been immensely exciting to watch. The FIA introduced several new technologies that have made the racing more fan friendly. The cars still feature the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) that technically turns the cars into hybrids. Electrical energy is recovered from the wheels while the car is braking and then stored in a battery pack. The driver is then able to discharge the batteries for a certain amount of time for each lap to boost the engine’s output by 80hp. The cars this year are also running a Drag Reduction System (DRS) that allows the driver to open and stall the rear wing on the longest straight if they’re within 1 second of the car ahead of them in the detection zone. This allows the cars to be more aerodynamic and hit higher top speeds in the straightaways. The KERS combined with the DRS system has the drivers setting records for the number of passes per race.
Another interesting dimension to this year’s season is tire strategy. The FIA specifically asked Pirelli to make a tire that would not last as long so that each car would have to pit 2 to 3 times per race. This has added several dimensions to the team strategies in qualifying and during the race. Nextgen-Auto.com released this series of videos detailing the construction and tire compounds that Pirelli is providing for the Formula 1 teams this year.
Part 1:
The introduction to the series talks about the design goals set for Pirelli by the FIA. We get see some of Pirelli’s factory and R&D facilities. There’s some pretty cool footage of the different steps of the manufacturing process.
This is in-car footage of Ayrton Senna as he qualified for the the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix in 1986. The car he’s driving has a turbocharged engine making 1400 horsepower and is rolling on qualifying tires that provided crazy grip for a few laps before they had to be replaced.
Circuit of the Americas via Sport Rider
The actual Circuit of the Americas in Austin Texas is still under construction, but the virtual version is already playing host to Formula 1 in Codemasters F1 2012 video game. Inside Sim Racing Games posted this exclusive video of Chief Game Designer, Stephen Hood, doing three laps around the track as Lewis Hamilton. The track looks pretty complex and very exciting. Looking forward to the real race in November.
The Sauber F1 Team has spent the last two years working on this project: the cutaway F1 car. It sounds simple, but I’m sure it was immensely complicated. It’s just like a biology exhibit you might find at a museum. The car is cut into two halves to allow you to see how the internal components are packaged. It’s an absolutely fascinating and slightly frightening look at where everything goes and it lives up to the old adage “If you want to find out how something works, push that $*%@#% through a band saw.”