It’s official. In 2010, there will be a United States based team competing in Formula 1. Team principals Ken Anderson and Peter Windsor announced that the team’s headquarters will be in North Carolina and will feature engines, chassis and drivers all from America.
The Toyota F1 team may follow fellow Japanese car company Honda and drop out of Formula One if their 2009 campaign is unsuccessful. Toyota is the big team with little results and the incoming Toyota president, Akio Toyoda, is expected to cut costs at the company when he takes control. A Formula One team is huge expense for any company. While a successful team reflects positively upon the brand, a poor-performing team is costly and doesn’t provide enough positive exposure to justify the expense. It looks like Toyota will need to win their first race this season to ensure they continue to race in Formula One.
Source: autoblog.com
There have been a lot of new F1 cars released lately. The style is starting to grow on me. I’ve gone from, “That is ridiculously ugly” to, “That’s not horrible”. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Other F1 Releases: Scuderia Ferrari F60, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes MP4-24, Toyota TF109
Check out the gallery below for the Williams-Toyota FW31.
Source: autoblog.com
The Toyota Formula 1 team has released their new car for the 2009 season with high expectations. Its called the TF109 and Toyota and its fans are hoping this is the car that will finally bring them a Formula 1 victory. The car looks very similar to Ferrari’s new F1 Car, the F60, which was recently unveiled. The teams are forced to conform to the new regulations mandated by the FIA this year. Many of the new regulations are intended to make passing easier and create a more level playing field for the smaller F1 teams. New regulations also have also been created in order to cut costs in this very expensive sport.
Source: autoblog.com
Two-time Formula One champion Fernando Alonso was unhurt in a minor plane accident Sunday after his private jet hit a wall at the Malindi Airport in Kenya. No one was hurt in the incident. Alonso was vacationing with his family in Africa. Alonso stayed at the Lion in the Sun hotel, which is owned by Renault team boss, Flavio Briatore.
Source: eastandard.net, iht.com
The majority of production cars use a wet sump oil system. In this system, the oil that lubricates the engine is stored underneath the crankshaft in the oil pan. The pan must be large enough to hold four to six quarts of oil. The oil pump sucks up oil from the bottom of the oil pan and then pumps it to the rest of the engine.
In a dry sump system, extra oil is stored in a tank outside the engine and a large oil pan isn’t necessary. A dry sump system uses at least two oil pumps. One pulls oil from the sump and sends it to the tank. The other pump takes oil from the tank and pushes it to lubricate the engine. The dry sump system allows for the minimum amount of oil possible to be in the engine.
Major racing series such as Formula One and Indy Car utilize the dry sump system. A dry sump system is designed to provide lubrication for the engine’s internal parts and also increase performance. A wet sump system is not practical for racing as lateral G-forces would pull the oil to one side, which would momentarily leave the engine without oil. Because the oil is stored in a separate tank, a large oil pan is not necessary. This allows for the engine to sit lower to the ground, which lowers the center of gravity.
Source: f1technical.net, auto.howstuffworks.com
In a traditional vehicle, the flywheel is the large wheel connected to the crankshaft that provides the momentum to keep the crankshaft turning while power is not being applied. The momentum is created by the energy generated during the power stroke. This energy is also used to drive the crankshaft, connecting rods and pistons during the three idle strokes of the 4-stroke cycle. This makes for a smooth engine speed. The flywheel forms one surface of the clutch and is the base for the ring gear.
The upcoming season of Formula 1 will allow teams to incorporate the new Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) system into their cars. This addition will essentially turn the cars into hybrids. KERS is not a battery electric hybrid technology that most people are familiar with. The recovered energy is stored in a rotating flywheel instead of being converted into electricity and then applied through an electric motor. The flywheel is approximately 5 kilograms and contained inside the car’s transmission. This stored energy in the flywheel can be used by pressing a boost button during certain times of the race.
Source: auto.indiamart.com, gas2.org
The camshaft is an engine component used in piston engines to open and close valves. It is a cylindrical rod that runs the length of the cylinder bank. The rod contains many cams or lobes, each which operate a valve. The lobes open the valves by pressing down on the valve as they spin.
The relationship between the rotation of the camshaft and the rotation of the crankshaft is extremely important. The valves control the flow of the air/fuel mixture intake and exhaust. The valves must be opened and closed at the exact time during the stroke of the piston in order to operate properly. The camshaft is either connected to the crankshaft directly. It can also be connected by a gear mechanism or with a timing belt (also called a timing chain).
In Formula 1, FIA regulations mandate that camshafts must be manufactured from an iron based alloy and that each camshaft and lobe must be machined from one single piece. No welding between the front and rear bearing journals is permitted.
Source: wikipedia.org, formula1.com
The inaugural season of the Formula 2 championship will include the beautiful racing star from Switzerland, Natacha Gachnang. The racing series will feature a new car with a Williams chassis and 450 hp engine built by Audi. The 21-year-old has had a promising career so far finishing third in the Spanish Formula 3 championship and second in the Copa de España.
Natacha was previously racing in the U.S. in the Star Mazda series where she had a top ten finish in each race. During her time in the Star Mazda series, she was also racing in the Formula 3 Euro series and Austrian Formula 3. Natacha’s cousin is Toro Rosso Formula 1 hopeful Sebastien Buemi.
She speaks English, French and German and her favorite tracks include Nuerburgring and Ledenon, are you really still reading this? There’s a gallery below.
Source: autoblog.com
Formula One engines work very hard. The shift point for these technological marvels is at 19,000RPM! The harder the engine works the more heat it produces, and all this heat must be taken away from the engine to avoid destroying it. This very important task is given to the radiators, which move heat from the engine into the atmosphere. Heat from engine combustion is absorbed by cooling liquids, which is constantly being circulated. The fluids carry the heat to the radiators where it is cooled by the airflow. The cooled fluids then cycle back to the engine to repeat the process. The efficiency of the cooling is determine by the area of the radiators and the amount of air flowing through them. However, the size the radiators must be minimized in order to reduce the amount of drag on the vehicle and increase the top speed.
Formula One cars do not have cooling fans like road cars. They don’t need them since their average speed is around 100mph. Due to the lack of cooling fans, when the car is running and not moving it is in danger of overheating and cooking the engine. On Formula One cars the radiators are located on the sidepods, to the left and right of the engine.
Source: atlasf1.com
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