Understanding Formula One: Brakes

By Michael Griffin

Welcome one and all to the second edition of “Understanding Formula One,” where I am looking to teach you in the fundamental rules and technologies that make up modern Formula One.

Here in this edition, I will look at brakes, which was also heavily discussed in the comments section of the Aerodynamics edition of this series.

A Formula One car is actually closely related to its road-going counterpart when it comes to the art of braking.

Now that ABS anti-skid systems have been banned from Formula One, most modern road cars can lay claim to having considerably cleverer retardation. That sounds slightly embarrassing really, but less aids means better racing…doesn’t it?

The principle of braking is simple, slowing the object by removing kinetic energy from it. Formula One cars have disc brakes, like the vast majority of road cars, with rotating discs, attached to the wheels, being squeezed between two brake pads by the action of a hydraulic calliper.

This turns a car’s momentum into large amounts of heat and light, eagle eyed fans will have noticed the way Formula One brake discs glow yellow hot. Looks cool, doesn’t it?

Lewis Hamilton. 2008 Formula One World Champion. Game Over.

It is now mathematically impossible for Lewis Hamilton to retain the World Drivers Title. It is September of the following year. This is normal in Formula One with a relinquishment rarely happening without only a few races to spare, if any at all!

How many of you thought, however, that it would take this long, 13 races in total, for him to lose his crown following the start of the season that he endured?

A disqualification, the possibility of being thrown out of the Championship after just one round, and a lot of mediocre results had the World Champion genuinely struggling to love the sport he has strived to compete at the top of since he was a very young boy. He was struggling, and due to the current international media machine, it showed, and was visible to the world.

Yet the McLaren Motor Racing Machine based in Woking pulled together, and somehow Lewis slowly mounted a charge, just a case of too little too late really. By the time he got properly up and running, Jenson Button had already won six Grands Prix, and was well on his way to a possible world title.

So we reach the end of the “European Season” and with it, what honestly seems like the strangest of crashes from one of the current driving masters. Nobody will know what Lewis was up to at the first Lesmos corner on the last lap, other than he was pushing too hard. Nobody will be harder on him for that error than himself. Especially considering that it certainly wasn’t a last dash attempt to keep his vague championship hopes alive, as he required Button to finish fifth or lower, and not score any more points all season, as well as for Lewis himself to win every remaining race to be able to retain his crown.

So if this wasn’t the incentive then what was? A fastest lap at the end of a race means nothing, especially since there are no points awarded anymore for the man lapping the quickest in race trim.
In the current generation of computer games left, right and centre, it seems like Hamilton was just going through the motions in “Arcade Mode”, having a bit of fun and almost hoping he’d breeze up to the back of Button and pass with ease.

He ended up with pieces of car all over the road with no way of pushing a “Restart” button.
Championship over Lewis…

GAME OVER

source: bleacher report

Client of the Month – Sharbel Dias

Sharbel Dias is a 22 year old driver aspiring to make it into Formula 1 racing one day. He has no formula racing experience before in the past so he approached Global Racing Schools for help on how to develop himself as a driver so that he can turn professional one day. He wanted to be able to learn how to drive a formula car in the shortest amount of time with a limited budget.

So shortly after working with Sharbel, we developed a training program to suit his needs in order to start his racing career as well as to take part in a crash course to develop his skills further. After much discussions, we developed a 5 day Formula Racing Program for him in New Jersey, USA.

Day 1

The day began with a classroom session on the circuit and also the F2000 Cars. There were about 15 other drivers in the classroom with him as our instructors went through the basics of cornering, circuit diagrams and also the formula car’s characteristics. After a short briefing, the official training start. It started off with a Track drive in a  Chevrolet Malibu to get the students to know specific parts of the track and after that they will put into special side cars. After that, it was back to more classroom learning and a review of the track and cars.

Day 2

After a short continuation of the program in the Side cars, it was time to be fitted into the F2000 Race cars for a test to see the racing lines of the students. Sharbel had to produce laps and racing lines to be recorded by the instructor so that the briefing will be more precisely geared towards learning on the mistakes. In order to further the driving development, the drivers were paired up with a partner with equal driving skills so that they will be able to work as a team to improve and push each other.
Day 3

The day directly into the race cars again. This time Sharbel was allowed to pass on only the stretch and on certain corners. This is to teach the students specific cornering and passing techniques in a controlled environment of racing. However as a beginner, Sharbel did spin out of the track a number of times as he misjudged the corners and entered it at too high a speed. But he managed to catch up and ended up as the lead car before the day’s session was over. By this time, the results on the timing sheets has dropped dramatically and the training was started to push more intensively and aggressively towards a more race competition focused point of coaching.

Day 4

The remaining 2 days of the program included the expertise of a professional driver and he was specially assigned to be paired up with Sharbel in order to advance his learning and driving skills. He was tagged with the driver to watch his racing lines and braking lines which added to more analysis for Sharbel to learn and by the end of the session, Sharbel cut more time from his laps and was almost beating his professional driver team mate in some of the corners. There was intensive analysis done on each lap and the timing based on every corner. After the  day’s session, the students were prepared for an official race situation that was going to take place the following day. This was something Sharbel was thrilled to take part in.

Day 5

The day consisted of 2 qualifying rounds and 2 races to achieve the best overall result. So the night before, Sharbel had been given materials to look through and also to study the strategy for this day.  The day started with 10 minutes of practice session where all the students were pushing the limits of their cars to get the best time. On the practice session, Sharbel was able to catch up to the tail of a more experienced mexican driver and he was getting blocked on every corner of the race. But finally an opportunity came and on turn 9 of the circuit, where sharbel had mastered the cornering technique and line, he passed the driver which added much boost to his confidence for the qualifying session that was to come.

Qualifying came and Sharbel knew he had to stay on the tail of the professional driver as he was the best among the pack. Squeezing out every piece of the track to run on and braking as late as possible, Sharbel managed to qualify in a decent position for the 2 races.

The first Race began and Sharbel managed to be on the lead all the way even beating out the professional driver in the opening laps of the race.  The pro driver was trying to pass him at every corner and pushing his limit at the corners. But the frustration was too much for the professional driver to take and Sharbel managed to keep him at bay for most of time.  Finally at lap 5, he was pushed out of track by an inexperienced driver that was a back marker that wasn’t looking at her mirrors. So in order to avoid a collision, he swirled off track and losing the lead in the process. That was too late for a come back and Sharbel managed a respectable 5th place for the 2nd race.
As the second race began, Sharbel noticed the mexican kid sticking onto the tail of his car right when they started and when the Mexican driver was too close, the driver loss control of his car. After which, Sharbel passed another 4 other drivers to get up to 2nd spot. Looking forward at number 1 spot, he pushed the limits all the way and on the final lap, the gap was not close enough to take over.

As they got into the Pit lanes the pro driver came up and congratulated Sharbel saying he didn’t know he could do what he did. That concluded the 5 day training and he learned so many fundamental techniques such as  learning how to think, how to pass safely and quickly, how to perfect corners, how to learn tracks by oneself and so much more. Many of the instructors were very surprised at the speed and maturity of driving that Sharbel displayed in his maiden race and training session.

Currently Sharbel is getting ready for his 2010 race season with the guidance of Global Racing Schools and we all know this is a young driver to watch for the future and we are giving him our 100% support for it.

Luca Badoer Gets His Chance After Michael Schumacher Cancels Comeback

Just as quickly as Michael Schumacher took Felipe Massa’s ride as his replacement, he gave it back. An injured neck, sustained in a motorcycle crash back in February, will keep the German away from the track in Valencia.

While the shock of Schumacher’s non-return is making headlines, what isn’t is the driver who will step in and fill the void while Massa recovers: Look no further than tester Luca Badoer, a driver with the dubious distinction of having driven the most races without scoring a single point.

I’ll go out on a limb and say he’ll end that streak in Valencia. This year’s Ferrari may not be a race winner, but it’ll definitely get into the points, or even on the podium.

So, just how will Luca Badoer do in his role as driver? Of course, this will not be his first go around as an F1 race driver; he raced for Scuderia Italia, Minardi (twice), and Footwork, before taking the role as tester for the most famous of F1 teams.

A simple look at F1 Rejects will tell you the stories of those teams, so it comes as no surprise that Badoer couldn’t score points with any of them.

Plus, luck hasn’t exactly been on his side either. Case and point: Look back to 1999. Schumacher broke his leg at Silverstone and would miss a nice chunk of the season. Badoer, who had just signed as their tester, looked to be set for a drive in (arguably) that season’s best car.

But, as you well know, Mika Salo was given the ride, and Badoer had to keep his role as test driver. And people say Johnny Herbert had the worst luck of an F1 pilot.

It seems only fitting that the Italian (a nice bonus for Ferrari I’m sure) will finally get his chance. Even Luca di Montezemolo admitted the loyalties of the veteran tester, and that he deserved a chance to race.

“We have decided to give Luca Badoer the chance to race for the Scuderia after he has put in so many years of hard work as a test driver,” said the Ferrari president.

So, what could be a realistic result for Badoer on his return to a race seat? Given that the car is not for it, and that we’re unsure of his own capabilities as a racer, a win is a little too much to expect of him, especially on his first outing.

However, as I said earlier, points should definitely be in the cards. The Ferrari F60 has improved greatly through the year, and has turned into a solid points scorer, if not a podium contender. A finish up in the top eight would do very well.

source: bleacher report

F1 Unable To Get Rid of Michael Schumacher despite Best Efforts

Michael Schumacher will make a shocking return to Formula One this month despite his advancing years and lack of experience in the new Formula One cars.

His return is not a surprise to many who are involved with the sport, as the German even admits, he’s just been waiting for someone to ask him to drive.

“I’ve been hanging around dropping hints to all the bosses, but no one would get it,” exclaimed the 40-year-old German. “I’ve been bored out of my mind. I tried to convince people I was the Stig, and then they saw I couldn’t drive a normal car. I even tried motorcycles, but I kept falling off”.

Despite his desperation to get back into a Formula One car, others were not so keen to see him around.

FOTA seemed certain they would never have him race again. After crisis meetings earlier this season, all the teams agreed to ignore Schumacher in the paddock, hoping he would just go away.

“We all liked his brother, but Michael just won’t let it go,” explained an unnamed team owner. “He’s like that kid who’s too big to join in but still tries; none of us have spoken to him in two months, but still he’s here”.

The crisis talks were well-documented in the press, but FOTA and the FIA managed to keep the topic secret by making phoney press statements about less important issues.

Unfortunately, Felipe Massa’s accident could not have come at a worse time for those involved in Formula One.

Formula One tried promoting the test drivers and teenagers in its circuit, but in a disastrous turn of events, it appears many of those drivers have yet to pass a basic road safety test and are unable to drive.

This oversight has left Ferrari with little choice but to return the calls of the former world champion and allow him to drive.  But even now, Williams, Red Bull, and Toro Rosso are openly plotting against the man who made the sport so boring by winning everything.  And it’s not just them.

It has been overheard at several dinner tables that the Drivers’ Association are teaming up with FOTA and the FIA to make things as difficult as possible for Schumacher in the hope his failure will discourage him from being around.

Sebastian Vettel was overheard this week claiming, “We’re all going to block his moves and make sure he finishes in the bottom four or five; that will teach him”.

This coming from a young German who no doubt saw the man as an idol a few short years ago.

Apparently, the self-proclaimed “King of Racing” has outstayed his welcome in the paddock, and everyone involved in the sport will be doing all they can to stop him in Valencia, hoping the humiliation will force him away for good.

The question is: Can they stop this once-great racing driver?

Source: bleacher report

Pic: Getty Image

Michael Schumacher Is Coming Back To Formula One