Ask an F1 Engineer anything
Discussion
otolith said:
Are you ever allowed to take cool things out of the bin?
No, nor would there be an opportunity. For obvious reasons all parts are accounted for and any surplus/scrap parts are destroyed. The only relatively avant-garde bits I have seen out in the real world are from sales of teams that have entered administration.Benrad said:
How useful is benchmarking the other teams (within the rules)?
My experience of benchmarking, as a performance and emissions engineer developing heavy duty diesel engines, is that most of the value is in testing the engine, not photographing it. You get some data from F1 and you can take pictures and 3D scan on the grid until this year, nothing like what we get by putting the competitor engine into a test cell. Unless you get some actual hard data I just can't imagine there being much value in copying, I'd imagine there's a very real risk of making your own design worse rather than better.
Makes sense Benrad. For obvious reasons you can't benchmark like that in F1.My experience of benchmarking, as a performance and emissions engineer developing heavy duty diesel engines, is that most of the value is in testing the engine, not photographing it. You get some data from F1 and you can take pictures and 3D scan on the grid until this year, nothing like what we get by putting the competitor engine into a test cell. Unless you get some actual hard data I just can't imagine there being much value in copying, I'd imagine there's a very real risk of making your own design worse rather than better.
Benrad said:
Second, more human, question. Have you ever had any specific recognition from a driver about a part you designed/change you made either privately or through the media?
Yes, certainly in the earlier days when teams were smaller. 
king V12s"?C2Red said:
Is there a point though in which the scale modelling is ineffective, or less effective; due I suggest to the simple physical nature of air molecules being a fixed size.
Their proportional size to the scale of the models must surely have an impact on how they react to the surface of any part of a F1 car; don’t they?
Fortunately a clever engineer in the 1800s worked all this out - google 'Reynolds number' and 'similitude' Their proportional size to the scale of the models must surely have an impact on how they react to the surface of any part of a F1 car; don’t they?
StevieBee said:
What's the view on fans from the inside?
There's a book by a former mechanic that came out a fair few years back now in which he alluded to his view that fans were a 'necessarily burden' and I'd be interested if this a widely held view the other side of the fence.
It's not a sport without fans, plus I like the buzz fans bring to any live event.There's a book by a former mechanic that came out a fair few years back now in which he alluded to his view that fans were a 'necessarily burden' and I'd be interested if this a widely held view the other side of the fence.
BaronVonVaderham said:
Great thread, thank you op!
You are welcome!BaronVonVaderham said:
Have you ever driven an F1 car?
No.BaronVonVaderham said:
Best perk of the job?
When you get to show your nearest and dearest where you work and what you do.BaronVonVaderham said:
Is it well paid or something people do for passion?
Does anyone think they're paid enough? 
In all seriousness, you have to be passionate to do the hours, the time away from home and maintain the effort levels.BaronVonVaderham said:
Are the current tyres hated by the engineers as a much as the drivers?
They are what they are, effort is best spent getting the most from them.BaronVonVaderham said:
Would you bring back refuelling?
Yes.BaronVonVaderham said:
Can you tell the FOM lot that we all hate the hairdryer hybrids and lobby for the return of louder/simpler engines?
No, that's the job of the fans.BaronVonVaderham said:
Do you think the 2022 rules will actually improve the racing and mix up the field?
Who knows? One hopes so.AnonymousF1 said:
Benrad said:
How useful is benchmarking the other teams (within the rules)?
My experience of benchmarking, as a performance and emissions engineer developing heavy duty diesel engines, is that most of the value is in testing the engine, not photographing it. You get some data from F1 and you can take pictures and 3D scan on the grid until this year, nothing like what we get by putting the competitor engine into a test cell. Unless you get some actual hard data I just can't imagine there being much value in copying, I'd imagine there's a very real risk of making your own design worse rather than better.
Makes sense Benrad. For obvious reasons you can't benchmark like that in F1.My experience of benchmarking, as a performance and emissions engineer developing heavy duty diesel engines, is that most of the value is in testing the engine, not photographing it. You get some data from F1 and you can take pictures and 3D scan on the grid until this year, nothing like what we get by putting the competitor engine into a test cell. Unless you get some actual hard data I just can't imagine there being much value in copying, I'd imagine there's a very real risk of making your own design worse rather than better.
I don't expect you to comment on this, but I don't understand how RP could have produced a good car based on photos and scans, especially as there were big bits that they had to change to suit their power train architecture (side pods/coke bottle). Equally I can't see what Mercedes would have had to gain from giving them the data they'd need to make a good copy, especially with the risk to their reputation if it were discovered.
What was travelling to races and being at events like?
Was it all done as cheaply as possible for the 'lower' staff? (economy flights, cheap hotels)
I assume there was some almighty piss-ups in various places around the world? Where was best for this and did the drivers ever join you?
What was your biggest personal cock-up on the job and did you get away with it?
Was it all done as cheaply as possible for the 'lower' staff? (economy flights, cheap hotels)
I assume there was some almighty piss-ups in various places around the world? Where was best for this and did the drivers ever join you?
What was your biggest personal cock-up on the job and did you get away with it?
Muzzer79 said:
What was travelling to races and being at events like?
Was it all done as cheaply as possible for the 'lower' staff? (economy flights, cheap hotels)
I assume there was some almighty piss-ups in various places around the world? Where was best for this and did the drivers ever join you?
What was your biggest personal cock-up on the job and did you get away with it?
If I may - It's done as cheaply as possible - I remember coming back from the Monaco GP a few years ago (as a spectator) and Valterri Bottas was on his own, relatively unknown then, on a BA flight. He just picked his bag up from the conveyer belt like everyone else. The number of people and amount of travel must be a nightmare to organise and £££££ each time.Was it all done as cheaply as possible for the 'lower' staff? (economy flights, cheap hotels)
I assume there was some almighty piss-ups in various places around the world? Where was best for this and did the drivers ever join you?
What was your biggest personal cock-up on the job and did you get away with it?
Are there still any Eureka moments in F1 design?
At the beginning of a new season car design process, do you ever start with a clean-sheet design brief from the technical director, or is every new car just the latest iteration of everything that everyone already knows minus design cul-de-sacs?
If the latter, does it irk you when a car is described as “the fabulous Adrian Newey design”, or whoever the TD happens to be?
At the beginning of a new season car design process, do you ever start with a clean-sheet design brief from the technical director, or is every new car just the latest iteration of everything that everyone already knows minus design cul-de-sacs?
If the latter, does it irk you when a car is described as “the fabulous Adrian Newey design”, or whoever the TD happens to be?
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