Ask an F1 Engineer anything

[AnonymousF1]

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.

Edited by AnonymousF1 on Monday 4th January 15:56

[AnonymousF1]

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.

[AnonymousF1]

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.

[AnonymousF1]

bristolracer said:

Do drivers ever give you moments where you roll your eyes and mutter "give me strength"?

Of course. You remember Pastor Maldonado, right?

[AnonymousF1]

Teddy Lop said:

What's your opinion on Lewis hair?

Who?

[AnonymousF1]

Muzzer79 said:

Who's the most talented driver you've seen driving for a team you've been in?

Mika

Muzzer79 said:

How did you get into it?

Knew as a teenager it's what I wanted to do and worked out what I needed to concentrate on to give me the best chance of getting there. Maths and physics at school got me to a good engineering degree. Then post grad studies and a relentless work ethic got me in to it.

Muzzer79 said:

Which era of regulations did you/do you find the most satisfying and why?

The next regulations are always the most interesting.

[AnonymousF1]

kiseca said:

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

50% would be a reasonable approximation for the front. Much less at the rear where heave travel is far greater.
Flexures were indeed favoured for a period but not so much anymore. I think last time I saw them used was c.2014 on the inboard end of the front wishbones of some cars.

[AnonymousF1]

Nampahc Niloc said:

How annoying do you, as an engineer, find it when people say “F1 is rubbish because it’s all about the car”?

I don't find it annoying at all. There is an element of truth in it.

[AnonymousF1]

Steamer said:

How many hours a week were you working? (average-ish if possible)

Whats the work / life balance like?

It varies depending on the time of year, your role, travelling, the project you're working on and whatever the pressures/deadlines are. Average 55hrs/week across the year I'd say.

Work:life balance is what you make of it. Some people live for the job so have no life outside of it, but they're on cloud 9 doing it so all is good. Some people see it as just a job and keep the balance in context of that outlook. Everyone's different!

[AnonymousF1]

Dynion Araf Uchaf said:

how do you feel when you've spent hours designing a part for the car, that the drivers then say is 'st' 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.

An important part of being a good engineer is leaving emotional attachment aside, remaining impartial to them, and following rational data to give you the fastest bits. I'd like to think I'm good at doing this, but seeing a part/process/procedure you've worked on make the car go faster is always a great feeling.

[AnonymousF1]

pistonheadforum said:

Have you ever worked with anybody who is a lead-swinging-by-the-book-sorry-on-me-tea-break-that's-not-my-job-out-the-door-by-4:30 sharp type or are they all super keen do anything superstars pulling all nighters?

No-to-the-first-bit, yes but to differing extents for the second bit. Everyone is keen, not everyone is super-keen.

[AnonymousF1]

TTmonkey said:

How many races will be cancelled this year? And where?

Absolutely no idea. Hopefully 2021 is going to be better than 2020, but if it's not I'm confident we'll find a way.

[AnonymousF1]

jjones said:

What do you think Ferrari were up to that gave them additional power?

No idea, various rumours and bits of gossip about the grid but I'm not a PU expert by any stretch so can't confirm the validity. The best ones usually come from forums/the media.

[AnonymousF1]

Jasandjules said:

Who has the most input into a "new" design? Do the drivers get a say?

Rarely does a single person put the majority of input in. The different departments all feed in to it, from simulation, to design, to manufacture and testing. The driver's usually have nothing to do with the car's design (most of them don't turn up to drive it until long after the majority of it has been designed and made!) but have input to the setup of the car and altering the handling characteristics to suit them.

[AnonymousF1]

williamp said:

Do you have a bit of a car to design, or do you all design all the parts?

Generally people will start out in one particular dept working on one particular part. Once proficient in that they'll move around, working on different parts of the car in different ways. The idea is to make each engineer as capable as the other and give them as much breadth of experience as possible.

williamp said:

The cars at the end of the season are often very different and much quicker then at the start of the season, seemingly due to the upgrades. Do you ever think "why didnt we do this back in januay?"

All the time! Hindsight is great eh. A worse feeling is seeing another team do something better than you, and thinking 'why didn't we just think of that'.

[AnonymousF1]

sgtBerbatov said:

I asked this on Twitter to Gary Anderson, he didn't respond, so I'll ask here.

So Nick Writh did a lot of work with CFD, both with Simtek and Marussia/Virgin/Manor racing. The latter being CFD only, having never seen a wind tunnel. It didn't work out, and none of the F1 teams seem to use CFD only, and use it in conjunction with a wind tunnel.

My question though is, why? Is it because CFD match the data given by wind tunnels? Or is it a cost thing?

CFD is a simulation of reality. A wind tunnel is a scale of reality. Guess which one's closer to reality?

[AnonymousF1]

BoRED S2upid said:

Do you think if the FIA just stopped pissing about with the rules every few years the cars would be more competitive and even? I’m guessing the engineers would year on year improve the car and catch up with the leading cars or would the leading constructors still have an advantage?

No because every time they piss about with the rules it gives engineers, manufacturers, suppliers and all the other parts of the industry a whole load of work to do, and therefore jobs/salaries/income/economic value.

From a pure sporting point of view changing the regs so often makes no sense though, agreed.

[AnonymousF1]

mikeiow said:

Did you hate the new noise when the major engine changed a few years back?
I suspect we are all used to it now......but I hated that first season!

How do you feel Formula E will shake things up as we move slowly away from the 'fossil fuel' era into a world of EVs? Are you (& the teams) influenced by it in any way?

Yes, 2014 at Melbourne was an eye (ear?) opener for all when the swarm of lawnmowers went by for the first time on the opening lap.

FE doesn't appear to have had much impact other than attracting potential manufacturer entrants away from F1.

[AnonymousF1]

rdjohn said:

Presumably, every time that Pirelli increase the tyre pressures and carcass construction, that percentage changes?

How big an impact will 18inch rims have?

Tyres are the single most important part of any road vehicle, particularly a racing car, so sensitivity to them is high. I think it was 2017 when Pirelli changed the construction mid-season (or reverted back to a known, more robust construction) and this made a notable change to the cars' performances relative to each other.

It remains to be seen what impact the 18" rims will have, but the tyre profile is dramatically lower, so I imagine a great deal.

[AnonymousF1]

rdjohn said:

Are you a one-team man, or have you moved around?

Multi team.

rdjohn said:

As a general rule, are staff moving between teams on a regular basis?

No general rule, some stay and progress. Some move for new challenges. Some don't have a choice, e.g. smaller teams go out of business, struggle to pay their staff on time, etcetera.

rdjohn said:

Are there some people who come, have a go for a few years, and then leave the sport?

Yes, some even less than this, e.g. a couple of months and decide it's not for them.

rdjohn said:

Thanks for creating an interesting thread during the closed season.

Welcome!