How much of F1 car is replaced between races?

How much of F1 car is replaced between races?

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HustleRussell

Original Poster:

24,602 posts

159 months

Monday 29th August 2016
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Take Nico Rosberg's today car. It worked perfectly and sustained no damage. How much of it will make it to Monza?

Occasionally you hear of a driver getting a replacement chassis / tub if it's been in a major accident or hasn't been performing as expected- but I'd guess barring these, it'll do a whole season?

Power unit components, clutches and gearboxes are monitored by a million sensors and probably lifed in hours? So they (and components therein) may or may not make it to Monza. We get to hear about major assemblies being changed- Are there parts which will be replaced as a matter of course?

Wishbones, push / pull rods etc have strain gauges and I guess are also lifed components- are these parts lifed at one race weekend? More than?

Does anything get sent off for radiographic / crack testing?

I presume the cars get all new brakes etc but what about uprights, hubs, bearings, rose joints?

Pedal box, hydraulics, intercoolers, radiators, fuel delivery system, cooling system, electrical and instrumentation?

What about wheels?

I know that aero devices, steering racks, springs / torsion bars / dampers, cooling ducts etc are all likely to be changed as part of the setup change between races but do they go in a box for future re-use / spares?

i presume the cars are stripped and rebuilt between races- to what extent?

Idle curiosity.

cgt2

7,091 posts

187 months

Monday 29th August 2016
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I can ask a friend who works in F1 but as he is on the road I probably won't see him until December.. interesting question.

poppopbangbang

1,785 posts

140 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
Everything - twice. Sometimes more.

It's all lifed on KMs not hours and nothing runs twice without going through inspection first unless it's all going wrong and the teams skint.

We run ten year old stuff and even that goes down to the point of the ball bearings coming out of every bearing for inspection after it's done a weekend..... and we only do 200KM a weekend.

HustleRussell

Original Poster:

24,602 posts

159 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
cgt2 said:
I can ask a friend who works in F1 but as he is on the road I probably won't see him until December.. interesting question.
If you remember, please do dig this thread up.

I should add that I guess the cars are more or less continuously upgraded but I always though this was probably mostly aero stuff.

poppopbangbang

1,785 posts

140 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
Oh and generally you will have six or seven sets of bones, hyds, uprights etc. etc. which are rotated across use during their life so you always have an inspection passed set to go on.

A lot of the strip of sub assems will also be used to check the lifing data and create data on abnormal wear etc.

cgt2

7,091 posts

187 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
poppopbangbang said:
We run ten year old stuff and even that goes down to the point of the ball bearings coming out of every bearing for inspection after it's done a weekend..... and we only do 200KM a weekend.
Interesting - I did see a laptop running Windows XP last time I was at MTC...

HustleRussell

Original Poster:

24,602 posts

159 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
poppopbangbang, thanks for coming, I know from other threads that you have the credentials.

So will the cars be stripped back to the tub and re-assembled with the majority of the individual components being brand new- nuts & bolts and all?

Does anything get left in during the rebuild- wiring looms, hydraulic lines, instrumentation?

I knew the rebuild would be thorough but it's another level if it's literally down to components with pretty much everything renewed.

poppopbangbang

1,785 posts

140 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
We work with less than a million quid a year in budget for our race program.

This is how far we take the bearings down every 200KM


And the rack every 200KM


And the calipers every 200KM


Critical looms are generally lifed at 1000KM but will have four inspections in that time before being scrapped.



If this is what privateers with decade old kit are doing just imagine how far the teams are going! There will be an inspection procedure for everything, absolutely everything. They certainly aren't going to give it a wipe over and stick the other motor in for next weekend smile

poppopbangbang

1,785 posts

140 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
Fasteners are lifed, things like K-Nuts etc. will generally be single use or near as. So yes pretty much with regards nuts and bolts!

HustleRussell

Original Poster:

24,602 posts

159 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
That's awesome. Would you be at liberty to tell me what sort of car I am currently ogling naughty bits of?

poppopbangbang

1,785 posts

140 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
HustleRussell said:
That's awesome. Would you be at liberty to tell me what sort of car I am currently ogling naughty bits of?
Minardi PS04B

Z3MCJez

531 posts

171 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
poppopbangbang said:
HustleRussell said:
That's awesome. Would you be at liberty to tell me what sort of car I am currently ogling naughty bits of?
Minardi PS04B
Great thread! PPBB - What series do you run a 2004 Minardi in? When I've seen Historic F1, it's all been Saudi Williams and the like. And are you still running spec V10 Cosworths? How are your privateer's times compared with the in-season times from 2004 and how much have you improved the car since then (and in what way?).

Jez

TheInternet

4,703 posts

162 months

Monday 29th August 2016
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poppopbangbang said:
And the calipers every 200KM
Any ideas about the variation in piston size?

Smollet

10,465 posts

189 months

Monday 29th August 2016
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Twice this year even the driver has been replaced.

Z3MCJez

531 posts

171 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
Smollet said:
Twice this year even the driver has been replaced.
For a GBP1m budget, I'm guessing that you're looking at GBP150k / weekend in running costs. I can see why drivers don't last long!

Jez

Crafty_

13,248 posts

199 months

Monday 29th August 2016
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Rob, given the restrictions on engines / gearboxes when a component is "spent" will any of it get re-used - castings likes heads / gearbox case etc ? or does it all get binned with some kept for posterity ?

tristancliffe

357 posts

212 months

Monday 29th August 2016
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TheInternet said:
Any ideas about the variation in piston size?
Usually because there is a temperature gradient over the pad/disc as the cooler disc is heated as it travels between the pads, and so wear would be different across the pad. The pad force is reduced on the hotter end by means of smaller pistons to prevent as much taper wear as possible.

williamp

19,213 posts

272 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
poppopbangbang said:
HustleRussell said:
That's awesome. Would you be at liberty to tell me what sort of car I am currently ogling naughty bits of?
Minardi PS04B
are those checks for safety or to be competitive??

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
TheInternet said:
Any ideas about the variation in piston size?
It provides a variation in pressure applied to the pad to assist with taper wear and to try and even out the friction across the pad. The leading edge of the brake pad does most of the work, so you apply less pressure to that part of the pad.

That is why before they were banned, you used to find multiple brake pads in one calliper, rather than a single large brake pad, it gave more leading edges so higher effective friction for the same area.

The F1 cars I race prepare are from the 70's and 80's era. We don't need to strip and rebuild these as much as the kit mentioned earlier, but there is still a constant process of maintenance and inspection to ensure the safety and reliability is maintained.

anonymous-user

53 months

Monday 29th August 2016
quotequote all
Crafty_ said:
Rob, given the restrictions on engines / gearboxes when a component is "spent" will any of it get re-used - castings likes heads / gearbox case etc ? or does it all get binned with some kept for posterity ?
The DFV's I work with get rebuilt every 1000 miles.

Assuming the engine is not damaged, all the castings will be reused, you tend to replace all bearings, valve springs, valves, rod bolts. Everything else is crack tested and checked for spec, then re-used. Items like pistons will be reused if they check out OK a couple of times then replaced. Cost of a refresh is about £15K, a complete engine will set you back about £100K.

Gearboxes are stripped and the casings crack tested and reused if OK, we do this every season. The CWP tends to last for a season, so that is replaced even if it looks OK at year end. All bearings get replaced. Everything else is crack tested and replaced if required. I'll crack test all the gears and hubs every event, which usually puts about 200 miles on the car.