Ask an F1 Engineer anything
Discussion
Long-term forum member and long-term engineer working in F1. I've learned a lot from PH over the years, from finance to building regs, so thought it time I put something back in to the community (by way of a creatively chosen anonymous username...).
Feel free to ask any questions about F1 and I'll do my best to answer from the perspective of someone working in it. Anything IP sensitive will get ignored.
Feel free to ask any questions about F1 and I'll do my best to answer from the perspective of someone working in it. Anything IP sensitive will get ignored.
Edited by AnonymousF1 on Monday 4th January 15:56
Leithen said:
What's the most expensive individual part you have ever made or been responsible for?
As engineers we don't get involved in costings too much, and it's never a design consideration. Lots of parts are bespoke and usually made in-house, so the cost of tooling, machining, man hours, etc are already accounted for. If I was to guess it would be something like the PAS rack, a hydraulic manifold or the monocoque itself. The first two have hundreds of hours of design time and machining in them. The latter is high in material cost, pattern/tooling build and lay-up time.Evolved said:
What part of the car were you involved with?
Must be a very interesting job, the cutting edge of what’s possible.
I've worked in, with or managed most parts during my time in the sport - mechanical and composite design, aero, R&D and trackside. I had a short stint on the powertrain side of things at one point. It is very interesting.Must be a very interesting job, the cutting edge of what’s possible.
One that popped up recently on PH from a knowledgeable person and challenged my wisdom earned over the years from magazine soundbites: How much of a Formula 1 car's suspension movement is in the suspension, and how much is in the tyre?
I'd heard, either on TV or in magazines, that more than 50% of the car's suspension movement is undamped movement in the tyre sidewall. I also recall from John Barnard's book that he did away with conventional suspension joints and replaced them with flattened, flexible ends on the suspension arms, because the suspension hardly moves and a flexing arm can manage it.
However, I've just 15 minutes ago seen a post saying that the suspension, particularly the rear suspension, moves a lot, and posted a picture showing a Merc's rear end leaning at an appreciable angle. I trust the poster, but I also trust my memory, so I need a tie-breaker
I'd heard, either on TV or in magazines, that more than 50% of the car's suspension movement is undamped movement in the tyre sidewall. I also recall from John Barnard's book that he did away with conventional suspension joints and replaced them with flattened, flexible ends on the suspension arms, because the suspension hardly moves and a flexing arm can manage it.
However, I've just 15 minutes ago seen a post saying that the suspension, particularly the rear suspension, moves a lot, and posted a picture showing a Merc's rear end leaning at an appreciable angle. I trust the poster, but I also trust my memory, so I need a tie-breaker
Edited by kiseca on Monday 4th January 16:57
how do you feel when you've spent hours designing a part for the car, that the drivers then say is 's
t' and makes the car worse. And then the second driver says the same thing.
and then in another paradigm, it gets fitted on to the car again and the new driver loves it and goes 0.5s quicker.
t' and makes the car worse. And then the second driver says the same thing.and then in another paradigm, it gets fitted on to the car again and the new driver loves it and goes 0.5s quicker.
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