From: altsourinaki@vaxsar.vassar.edu
Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport
Subject: F1:Comments on fuel,tires and HP quotes...
Date: 13 Apr 92 04:56:45 +1000
Organization: Vassar College

Lots of suggestions have been presented lately concerning changes in F1 racing,
may be because of Williams-Renault's absolute domination so far.Most of them
are not even in touch with reality.Unlike any other form of auto racing,F1 is
designed to be the absolute technological cutting edge,and that's what it really
is! During the past week,I've come across some dazling suggestions:Let's ban 
reactive suspension,let's standardize F1 fuel,and so on.I really don't get it.
I think it's pretty clear by now that F1 technology eventually filters down to 
the cars that we drive every day.And if "eventually" is too long for anyone,
fine,go buy a Ferrari or a Bugatti or an NSX and you'll see how close you'll
get to F1-related technology.

As a racing and a F1 fan,I'm very comfortable with the fact that among all the
different kinds of auto racing,there is one,namely F1,where the rule of the
extremes is dominant:extreme costs,risks,speeds,glory,pace of technological
advance,danger etc.Actually,I
was stunned that they knocked out qualifying tires from this year's races.
What you get now is huge traffic jams out on the track,as each driver can
practically stay out there for the whole hour and lap continuously in the hope
of a faster lap!This is crazy,even safety wise.Before,Q-times were lower because
of better grip and so on,BUT the drivers knew that each set of tires could last
them for 2 laps,one for a warm-up and then a fast one.That was it.You skrewed
up,and you were stuck with whatever lap time you had before.With
Q-tires,strategy on the part of the driver and the team was at a premium,and
qualifying sessions were transformed into miniature races.You want to make it
interesting? Limit the number of Q-tires each team has.

Now,you have the top teams/drivers qualifying in the fear of encountering a 
bunch of slower cars
that will slow them down.Not to mention of course,the number of cars on the
track at any given moment of the qualifying session.When I went to Phoenix for
last year's F1 opening event,qualifying was spectacular,safe for the drivers as
very few cars were on the track at the same time,and it worked fine.We've
already had the Senna-Mansell incident in Brazil,where Mansell was fortunatelly
only bruised.What if he had not been able to race as a result of his encounter
with Senna? In the Q-tires era,no cars of top contenders were out qualifying at
the same time,as a result of the teams' different strategies.And the examples 
are countless...

The same,in my opinion,goes for F1 fuel.Why ban exotic mixtures,which are of
course observing FISA rules,and give all teams the same fuel to burn? The
advances in F1 fuel result in cleaner,better fuel for the rest of us,and for
the billions of cars that pollute the atmosphere every day.Isn't that a big 
enough contribution? F1 is and should continue to be an exciting lab,a window 
to the technologies of tomorrow.

Jumping onto another subject,I read in a posting that the Reanult engine gained
110 hp between 1990-91 and the Honda 90 hp.These figures look too good to be
true.In the turbo-era,the progress from one season to another was in the range
of 50-70 hp,and the main gains were coming from fidling aroung with the boost
and the flow of air to and from the turbos.In the era of naturally aspirating
engines,progress comes much slower,much harder.You need better fuel injection,
combustion chambers producing more torque,materials that will last under
tremendous temps and pressures,and in general,a combination of factors that
cannot make a big difference overnight.What I've read suggests that each season
top engines (non-turbo of course) in F1 gain about 30-50 hp.Even if you put the
numbers down,100 hp per year menas that a Renault or Honda will be cranking
out 1000 hp from 3.5 liters in a couple of seasons,when the turbo F1 engines
produced at qualifying trim up to 1250 hp in the height of the turbo era.
That makes it very hard to believe.The Renault V-10 and Honda V-12 are expected
to produce about 820-830 hp this season,which sounds more believable than 890
hp that I previously read.Remember,we're talking about normally aspirated
engines here,and any gains in hp come after lots of pain and in small doses
every season.


Alex Tsourinakis
Vassar College. 


Newsgroups: rec.autos.sport