Source - Formula1.com
The much awaited BHP-thumping Formul1® season is back and back with a bang. The first race of the season the Australian Grand Prix was a testimony to the same. The weekend was full of action at the Race track - Lewis Hamilton gains pole position, Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel & Kimi Räikkönen take podium finishes, Daniel Ricciardo of Red Bull Racing Tag Heuer records the fastest lap at 1:25.945, and a lot more!
Formul1® has always attracted automotive enthusiasts. And, why not? It’s the series like the LeMans Endurance Race that puts to test every technology & the driver. As a matter of fact, all high performance technologies are engineered and proven at the track and then put into series production for road legal cars. These race series put to test, the engineering knowledge, manufacturing techniques, driver skills, team work, etc.
Over the years, F1® has evolved with alterations to specifications for cars and new rules. The 2018 season too welcomes a lot more technical changes compared to the previous season which will make participating manufacturers to push the limits of engineering the draw necessary results.
Technical regulations:
- T-wings and shark-fin style engine covers outlawed
- Halo cockpit protection device mandatory
- Trick suspension outlawed
Sporting regulations:
- Drivers allowed three rather than four power units per season
- Simplified grid penalties for power unit changes
- Wider range of dry tyre compounds
Let’s get to know these key changes in detail.
T-wings and shark-fin style engine covers outlawed – Going by the rule books, there was nothing mentioned that said shark-finned engine covers and T-wings were not permitted on a F1® race car. This gave to an emergence of these performance enhancers. Williams introduced a double T-Wing, Renault-McLaren experimented with double planes, etc. Now, the purpose, the T-Wing was introduced was to enhance the down-force at the main rear wing by directing the airflow in a better manner. With the ban on these enhancers, the engine covers will see some sort of fins but noting as huge as the ones banned.
Halo cockpit protection device mandatory – At high speed isn’t the helmet not enough? Not really! The major difference every F1 enthusiast will notice on the race car is the introduction of the halo. Now this halo is designed to protect the driver from flying debris in an event of an accident. The introduction of the halo has resulted in an increase of the overall weight of the vehicle by 6kgs which might even go up to 14kgs to accommodate the mountings and fitments. Since the manufacturers cannot alter the design of the halo, there would be some scope for teams to modify its surface.
Trick suspension outlawed – during the last year’s season, multiple teams used suspensions with a small link in the front set-up. This performance enhance was believed to alter the ride height of the vehicle depending on the steering angle which was a key factor in aero performance. In 2018, F1® has outlawed any sorts of usage of trick suspensions.
Drivers allowed three rather than four power units per season – Maintaining the fine line between high performance and durability is very difficult. To take engineering to the higher level, this season’s contest will see one driver getting one less engine for the championship – 3 instead of 4. The manufacturer who best manages their development programme over the course of the year could stand to reap even bigger rewards.
Simplified grid penalties for power unit changes - Under the previous system, drivers changing multiple power unit elements could rack up multiple grid drops, often in excess of the number of cars at the event.
With the new rules, any driver who earns a grid penalty of 15 places or more will have to start from the back of the grid. If more than one driver receives such a penalty they will be arranged at the back of the grid in the order in which they changed elements.
Wider range of dry tyre compounds – Pirelli the official F1® tyre supplier will offer a wider range of tyre compounds which includes a new pink-marked hypersoft at one end of the spectrum and the orange-marked superhard at the other. In total, now manufacturers will have access to seven compounds rather than the previous five. The 2018 range now is as follows: hypersoft (pink), ultrasoft (purple), supersoft (red), soft (yellow), medium (white), hard (blue), superhard (orange).
With the introduction of technical & sporting regulations the F1® season for 2018 is set to be more exciting. Will it be Mercedes for the 4th time in a row or will Ferrari’s Legacy Rule? Well, the first race proved Ferrari’s legacy over Mercedes’ recent track record. But, it’s too early in the season to arrive at a conclusion.