F1 in 2014

[Sven]

Thought I'd start the 2014 thread as a few posts are starting to appear in the 2013 thread about possible engine deals etc for next year.

The big change for next year in F1 is the return of turbo engines. In summary the 2014 engine rules mandate a 90-degree V6 engine of 1.6 litres, with a fixed crankshaft axis and chassis/gearbox mounting points. The engine can have a single turbo charger, which must be mounted along the cars centreline. Use of KERS is extended with a greater capacity for the Kinetic system (as used currently) as well as the introduction of a Thermal Energy Recovery System (TERS). Further green initiatives are caps on fuel flow and revs limited to 15,000rpm. Despite having a smaller cubic capacity and fuel allocation, the engine will produce the same maximum power as the current 2.4l V8 engines, albeit only when the Energy Recovery Systems are in use.

Here's the team/engine arrangements for next year

Red Bull – Renault. Red Bull is the works Renault team, getting a free supply of engines and working closely with title sponsor Infiniti, the luxury brand which is owned by Nissan/Renault

Ferrari – Ferrari. The team is the only one with the luxury of having its own engine department on site, a few metres from the chassis department.
McLaren – Mercedes (2014), Honda (from 2015). McLaren will look to Honda to provide turbo power as they did in the later 1980s. But they’ve not made a benchmark F1 engine for a while.

Mercedes – Mercedes. The works team has its engine facility around 20 miles away from the chassis factory. Like the three teams above it is in a position to specify exactly how it wants the engine from a packaging point of view.

Lotus – Renault? The Lotus team grew out of the former Renault team at Enstone. The Renault engines have served them well thus far, but the price is high. A confirmation of their engine will be due soon as the deals are all being done now. Renault Sport boss Jean Michel Jalinier made an interesting comment recently, which suggested that Renault would prefer to supply only three teams, “We hope to confirm activities in the coming weeks. We have stated that we would be comfortable with three teams and five if there was a gap in the market, but this upper bracket is not our ideal case scenario.”

Force India – Mercedes. Recently announced, the customer team that punches above its weight is keeping faith with Mercedes power.

Williams – Mercedes. Announced today, the first time that the former champions have used Mercedes engines.

Sauber – Ferrari. Sauber’s link with Ferrari goes back many years and they are politically aligned within F1 as well. However with money tight, there has been talk of a possible subsidised supply of Hondas for the team from 2015 onwards.

Toro Rosso – Renault. Recently announced, Red Bull’s sister team returns to Renault, which aligns it with the Red Bull team. They previously had a Renault contract before Red Bull did a swap deal for Ferrari units.

Caterham – Renault. Caterham has a strategic partnership with Renault in sports car manufacturing projects outside of F1. Former Renault Sport boss Cyril Abiteboul is now team principal at Caterham and provides strong links.

Marussia – Ferrari. Likely to be announced soon and not unconnected to the presence of Ferrari development driver Jules Bianchi in the team. Marussia is the only team that had to change engines from its current supplier as Cosworth will not be making a hybrid turbo unit.

2014 will see the end of the high noses that have featured on F1 cars for some time now. The nose tip must be centered around 185mm and the front bulkhead lowered to 500mm. Also front wings will be narrower, top rear wings will be shallower and there’ll be no beam wing.

Also announced is a possible 21 race season and the return of in-season testing

Next season will be the busiest on record for the F1 teams; a 21 race calendar is taking shape for 2014 while on Saturday in Montreal the Sporting Working Group approved a package of test days and aerodynamic reductions which are set to save money, while bringing back four test sessions.

The package agreed by the SWC will now be put forward to the FIA World Motor Sport Council taking place on 28 June at Goodwood House, England.

The package envisages the end of the Young Drivers test session, a reduction in straight line aerodynamic test days from eight to two, while promotional days are also cut to two. Wind tunnel time in team factories is also cut from 40 to 30 hours per week.

In their place, the F1 teams will remain in place for a two day test with one car after four European Grands Prix. Barcelona and Silverstone will be two of the venues. Eight of the 11 teams voted for the new measures which meant that it had the majority required to pass.

Meanwhile a 21 race calendar for 2014 is being discussed. This will feature the race in New Jersey and the new race in Russia and the Olympic park in Sochi.

However paddock sources suggest that this may drop to 20 as there continue to be doubts about the viability of the Korean Grand Prix, which is losing a lot of money.

The calendar is set to start in Bahrain in early March, following on from a warm weather pre-season test there and the other winter tests are set to start earlier in the year, so that teams and engine manufacturers will have time to work on any glitches with the all new, hybrid turbo engines.

 

[Frankster177]

Shame with the Turbo's.
Give us capacity, V8, V10 or V12.

 

[Sven]

Shame with the Turbo's.
Give us capacity, V8, V10 or V12.

The size of the engines for next year (1.6 litres) is actually bigger than the 1.5 litre unit used during the previous turbo era of Formula 1 (1977-1988).

The FIA have realised that large capacity engines are going the way of the dodo and the only way to get more manufacturers involved was to go back to small capacity turbo engines. The change is one the reasons that Honda are returning to Formula 1.

Maybe Ferrari will enter V8 Supercars so they can use a 5.0 litre multiple cylinder engine in racing

 

[Team DJ]

Real happy with the lowered front wings. Man they are ugly.
Was that Schumacher that started them in the Bennetton. 93ish?

 

[Frankster177]

The size of the engines for next year (1.6 litres) is actually bigger than the 1.5 litre unit used during the previous turbo era of Formula 1 (1977-1988).

The FIA have realised that large capacity engines are going the way of the dodo and the only way to get more manufacturers involved was to go back to small capacity turbo engines. The change is one the reasons that Honda are returning to Formula 1.

Maybe Ferrari will enter V8 Supercars so they can use a 5.0 litre multiple cylinder engine in racing

Yeah they should leave F1, leave it to the ricers and hot hatch brigade.... hurrah.

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

There will be heaps of driver changes for next season

 

[imadodgyumpire]

Real happy with the lowered front wings. Man they are ugly.
Was that Schumacher that started them in the Bennetton. 93ish?

Tyrrell is credited with that innovation in 1990

 

[rayven]

Shame with the Turbo's.
Give us capacity, V8, V10 or V12.

There trying to change past behaviors. No longer can we burn fuel like we use to.There trying to remain relevant as well influence the new era coming, I think that a possibility of taking this further is somehow influencing teams to recycle broken bits and old chassis's.

They give teams grid place penalties for changes of gearboxes outside the set limit.Well I think that if you've rebuilt an old one from parts of used ones, you shouldn't get the penalty.

 

[Sven]

Tyrrell is credited with that innovation in 1990

View attachment 20816

The high nose cone increases the amount of air that can be directed under the car and hence thorugh the rear diffuser. The high nose cone also increases the aero efficiency of the front wing because the wing can be placed closer to the ground and the aerodynamic surfaces can extend the full width of the wing, rather than having the nose cone in the design.

The Tyrrell 019 was a first F1 car having an elevated nose cone. This was the first time that such an idea had been tried in Formula One racing, and it set the way F1 cars have been designed until today. The car was introduced two races into the 1990 Formula One season, scoring a point on its debut in the hands of Jean Alesi. This type of nose cone was gradually adopted by other teams. The car was powered by a 3.5L Cosworth DFR V8 - a descendant of the legendary Cosworth DFV.

The Tyrrell 019 was designed by Harvey Postlethwaite, and built by Tyrrell racing team. It was an evolution of Postlethwaite's first design for Tyrrell, the Tyrrell 018. Taking the 018 as his base, Postlethwaite decided to try and improve the aerodynamic efficiency of the chassis. Postlethwaite was an experienced F1 engineer, having previously built race-winning cars for Hesketh, Wolf and Ferrari, and so was well-placed to spot the shortcomings of his own design. It was however an early idea and primitive type of high nose as several important points of a high nose design were not understood well. As the years have evolved, the mechanical parts have become smaller and smaller increasing the advantages of a small high front nose. In 1996 all low nosed cars had disappeared in favor of the higher alternative.

In practice the car did not make the same impact in terms of results as it has in technological advancement. Although Alesi qualified a strong seventh and took a point for a sixth place finish at its first race in San Marino, and then both qualified and finished in second place in Monaco, the remainder of the season resulted in only two points finishes. Nevertheless, as other teams experimented with the principle it rapidly became the norm for Formula One cars to sport a high nose cone. After this car, all Formula One Championship winning chassis have followed Tyrrell's lead.

The Tyrrell 019 was replaced at the end of the 1990 season by the Tyrrell 020, a further evolution of Postlethwaite's high nose principle.
The last really good performing low nose car was Williams FW15 built only four years after the Tyrrell's unveiling their Tyrrel 019. While Prost won the 1993 championship in his comeback year, the next year Williams FW16 driven by Airton Sena 1994 was still very good but outraced by Benetton's Michael Schumacher who took his first championship. Prost has his entry in the history books as the last man to win the championship with a low nosed car.

Williams and its chief designer Adrian Newey implemented a high nose with their 1995 challenger, the Williams FW17 was a runner up in the hands of Damon Hill and a championship winner the next two years

 

[rayven]

the next year Williams FW16 driven by Airton Sena 1994 was still very good but outraced by Benetton's Michael Schumacher who took his first championship. Prost has his entry in the history books as the last man to win the championship with a low nosed car.

Someones perverted form of history? Senna died in race 3

Why his teamate was robbed of a championship in 94 in a williams.

 

[Sven]

Someones perverted form of history? Senna died in race 3

Why his teamate was robbed of a championship in 94 in a williams.

and that's why I hate Schumacher - a low act, by any measure

 

[rayven]

and that's why I hate Schumacher - a low act, by any measure

You can blame FIA for allowing Prost to get away with what he did when he changed the rules.Thankfully the madness has stopped.

 

[Beetlebum]

World champion Sebastian Vettel has agreed a contract extension with the Red Bull Formula 1 team.
It means the 25-year-old German will stay at the team until the end of 2015.
Vettel has been with Red Bull since 2009, claiming 29 victories, 39 pole positions, and winning three successive world titles.
In March 2011, he agreed a new three-year deal up to and including 2014, with the latest extension adding one more year.
So far this season, he has won three races - in Malaysia, Bahrain and last weekend in Canada - and leads the Formula 1 Drivers' Championship by 36 points from nearest rival Fernando Alonso.
Last week Vettel said he might quit the sport in five years' time but made it clear he was not talking with any specific timetable in mind.
"Perhaps I will no longer be driving in five years' time because I no longer have the urge to," he told German newspaper Welt Am Sonntag.
Earlier this year he was linked with a move to Ferrari but the Italian team'sFerrari president Luca Di Montezemolo said in February Vettel would not be joining them so long as Alonso was there.

 

[rayven]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108129

Infiniti racing has poured a heap of cash into lotus.

Infinity Racing group - made up of private investors from America, Abu Dhabi and an unidentified oil producing nation –

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

Hope it helps them get better results

 

[ManWithNoName]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/108129

Infiniti racing has poured a heap of cash into lotus.

Infinity*. Completely different to the Infiniti mob that sponsor RBR.

 

[rayven]

Hope it helps them get better results

Have they replaced Allison yet?

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

Have they replaced Allison yet?

Nick Chester has replaced him

 

[tazzietiger]

Lotus are looking at replacing Grosjean according to the BBC. Also Vergne is apparently out of the contention for Webber's seat.

Lotus are trying to convince Kimi Raikkonen he should stay on next season rather than move to Red Bull.
Raikkonen, along with Toro Rosso's Daniel Ricciardo, is a candidate for the Red Bull seat being vacated by Mark Webber, who is leaving Formula 1.
Team boss Eric Boullier told BBC Sport: "Two years in a row we have closed the gap with Red Bull. He wants to know if we will keep going like that.
"We are in discussions about the technical package we'll have."
Red Bull have said they will decide by the end of August whether Raikkonen or Ricciardo would be a better choice to partner world champion Sebastian Vettel.
The other Red Bull junior driver at Toro Rosso, Frenchman Jean-Eric Vergne, is out of contention.
Both choices have pros and cons for the teams.
Raikkonen, as world champion and winner of 20 grands prix, is a known quantity, who is fast and consistent but may not be as engaged technically as Red Bull would like.
Ricciardo has shown promise, with some impressive qualifying performances, but there are questions over his race-craft, consistency and ability to handle the pressure that comes with partnering Vettel and being expected to perform consistently at the front of the field.
Raikkonen has to weigh up the benefits of a potentially faster car against the prospect of taking on Vettel in the same team.
While Lotus want to keep Raikkonen, there are doubts about the future of his team-mate, Franco-Swiss Romain Grosjean, who finished a strong third in Germany but has been inconsistent this year after a crash-strewn debut full season in 2012.
Grosjean's presence brings a guaranteed sponsorship from French oil company Total, reputedly worth around £5m.
German Nico Hulkenberg, whose relationship with his Sauber team has deteriorated since he joined them for this season, is keen to move to Lotus.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/23238016

 

[alfy!]

Rough sketches of what the 2014 cars will look like, compared to this years:

 

[DREAM TEAM BUFF]

Wow the nose is very low

 

[darth_timon]

I rather like the lower nose. The cars circa 2007-2009 had lower noses and looked nicer than today's designs.

 

[Team DJ]

I love the lower noses.
I actually rathered the early 90s style when it wasnt risen at all

 

[Rod Stroker]

Lotus are looking at replacing Grosjean according to the BBC. Also Vergne is apparently out of the contention for Webber's seat.

Any reason given why JEV is not in contention for Mark's seat?

 

[Rod Stroker]

There will be heaps of driver changes for next season

If Rimi goes to RBR and the talk that Lotus won't retain Grosjean eventuates, that's both seats there they have to fill.