Eager Formula One fans yesterday got the first sight of one of the new generation of Grand Prix cars as Ferrari launched its latest model, the F60.
Even to the untrained eye, it looks a bit different this year
Ferrari always manages to confuse me with its numbering system. In the past, its racing cars were numbered according to engine capacity and the numbers of cylinders they had, thus the 312 was a three-litre V-12 and the 512 a five-litre V12 and so on. The numbers always ended in a ‘12’ in those days because for years Ferrari only ever built engines with 12 cylinders, which meant that you ended up with a sequence over the years of 312, 312B, 312B2, 312B3 etc, until they added a transverse gearbox and called it the 312T. Then we had the 312T2, 312T3 – sorry, am I boring you?
Not all engines are the same, even Ferrari ones
To add to the confusion, the company also designates each model internally by a different number, and for a few years these were also used for the Formula One cars, giving us the 641, 642, and 643. For the past few years they’ve been horribly conventional and just called the cars by the year, so we’ve had F2006, F2007, F2008 etc.
Ferrari called their cars 2006 and so on to make them sound spacey…
So why has this year’s, brand-spanking new Formula One challenger been dubbed the F60? Well, apparently it’s to mark the fact that the Scuderia (as we sometimes like to call them to show off) is the only team to have competed in each of the 60 years of the world championship. But what, I hear you ask, about the car itself?
Well the good news is that it’s a damn site more attractive than its recent predecessors, and better than I was expecting. New rules and regulations have meant that this year’s F1 cars are no longer evolutions of the previous year’s model. Gone are the aerodynamic appendages that had sprouted from all corners and surfaces over the recent past and gone too are the grooved tyres. We’re back to slicks again. The most noticeable difference in the cars is to the front and rear wings. The fronts are much lower and wider, looking a bit like designer snow ploughs, while the rear wing is tall and narrow. It’s not a combination that sits easily with the eye but at least Ferrari seem to have done a better job aesthetically than some of the hybrid models we’d seen from their rivals during winter testing.
Look at those lovely fat slick tyres
The idea behind this raft of changes is to improve the spectacle for the spectators. For too long, overtaking has been a problem in F1 (and, indeed in other categories of single-seater racing), due to the sophistication of the aerodynamics. The ‘dirty’ air found in the immediate wake of an F1 car plays havoc with the efficiency of the front wing of any car following. Get too close and you lost downforce, meaning overtaking on track became something of a lottery. The new design of front and rear wings is meant to eliminate that problem. Once the season starts, we’ll see how successful it is.
An avid F1 viewer last year
The other major difference to the cars this year, albeit one which won’t be immediately apparent, is the introduction of something called KERS. This stands for Kinetic Energy Recovery System and is Formula One’s way of trying to appear ‘green’. The idea is that, as a car brakes heavily for a corner, the kinetic energy which is usually dissipated in the form of heat from the brakes, is instead recovered and used to help power the car out of the corner. The way in which the energy is stored varies from batteries which could be charged and then power a small motor, to a small flywheel rotating at high speed. Teams are apparently having mixed success with their various systems and Ferrari, in particular, isn’t certain whether it will run with the system at the start of the season or not.
The KERS device – technical
The upshot of all of this is that the 2009 Formula One season could just prove to be one of the most interesting for a long time, as everyone tries to get to grips with the new rules and new technology. The season kicks off in Australia on 29 March.
Perhaps even Kimi will smile this year
Comment by Tom January 13, 2009
This is a really well written article and I could see it being very useful for the non-technical fans out there. Not too full of jargon and not too simple either.
On a very technical note: I’d have thought a ultra-capacitor would have been best for storing the KERS energy. An ultra capacitor will charge very quickly (a matter of seconds) compared to a battery.
Comment by steve-e January 13, 2009
Very well written, thumbs up on stumble
Comment by Bill January 13, 2009
Yeah, F1 was really boring last year. I didn’t even bother watching the last race championship decider. It was soooo predictable.
Comment by Lindsay January 16, 2009
Good, interesting article – Minor point though, the 512 is a Flat12 not a V12 …. hence commonly known as the Berlinetta Boxer! At the time, one of the hottest road cars available (’78-’81 roughly)
Cheers!