This year marks a step change in the F1 regulations. A raft of aero and powertrain rules are set to create a more efficient race car with more direct links to road car technologies. V8s, used since 2006, will be replaced by all new 1.6 litre turbo charged V6. Engines are now also referred to as ‘power units’ thanks to the increased hybrid nature of their power generation.
As track testing of this new ‘turbo’ and what some describe as an ‘energy efficient’ era, one supplier to the F1 teams talks about the impact of the rules on its business and how it is responding to the challenges. just-auto spoke to Terry Graham, managing director of Zircotec, a supplier of thermal management products and heat protective coatings, supplying 10 of the 11 F1 teams.
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As we are now seeing the first cars hit the tracks ahead of the first race in March, Graham reckons that the key change in that respect is the power unit architecture. “Out go the 2.4 litre naturally aspirated V8s, replaced by a smaller capacity 1.6 turbocharged V6 engine with a fuel limit of 100kg, that’s about 130litres. Eight speed transmissions are to be introduced, partly to cope with the rises in torque with the hybrid aspects of the unit.”
KERS – the kinetic energy recovery system used since in the sport since 2009 and now called ERS-K (Energy Recovery System Kinetic) – has twice the power output and five times the energy storage of the previous system. Graham points out that, in addition to this, his company has a new system called ERS-H. This stands for Energy Recovery System – Heat and it is mounted to the engine’s turbocharger. “The ERS-H can spin the turbo up itself to reduce lag or deliver recovered energy back to the engine via the ERS-K. The complexity and heat aspects of the new power units make this extremely relevant to Zircotec and our technologies to manage heat in harsh environments.”
Meanwhile, Zircotec has been working closely with F1 designers and engineers to find solutions for a period of time but once the cars hit the track, then other issues tend to appear. “We are ready for this,” concluded Graham, “and have a night shift ready for the forthcoming months to be able to turn parts around in the same day.”
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By GlobalData
