What we see on the circuit is the end-product of hardwork of countlss number of enginers, technicians and researchers. There are some intresting things which we do no usually think of when we see Shumi or Alonso zooming ahead. Here are some intresting facts.
A Formula One car is an aeroplane in a modified form, built to run on land alone. A formula one car can go from 0 to 160 kmph in 4 seconds. The most amazing thing is that it can do the reverse too in 4 seconds, i.e 160kmph to 0kmph in 4 seconds!!!
Formula one cars use special tyres built to last only 90 to 120 kilometres while a normal tyre can last up to 100000 kilometres. So if your car uses a formula one tyre you will be spending money which would cost 2 times your whole car per year.
At a pitstop a well trained team can replace tyres in just 3 seconds! That's just the time which a normal technician takes to start loosening a nut of your normal tyre.
At top speeds a formula one tyres rotate at 50 rotations per second. An average ordinary car revs up to 6000 rpm at a maximum. An F1 car revs up to 18000rpm which means the pistons are moving up and down at 300 times per second.
Formula one car tyres are filled with nitrogen instead of air, because nitrogen has more consistant pressure. The pressure musn't vary a lot with temperature..right..?
In a race each tyre will loose around 500 grams and a race driver will loose 4 kilograms due to exposure to high G forces ( the same forces as u feel while standing in a bus taking a curve ), stress, adrenaline rush and the extreme temperature.
Formula one cars are refuelled at 12 litres per second. So you can get your car refuelled in just 4 seconds if you take your normal car to a pitstop. The refuelling gun which they insert consists of 2 passages. First the hot gases inside the fuel tank is sucked out and then only the fuel is pumped. There is a lot of risk in that procedure and a simple error can cause an explosion.
Formula 1 engines do not have a very long life. They need part replacements in every few hours. An engine is something which a car usually change when it comes to Formula 1 and something which is never changed when it comes to a normal car.
The cogs of the gearbox of a F1 car is replaced after every race as it wears out due to shifting gears often and subjeaction to stress.
In aeroplanes the buoyant force created lifts it up. A F1 car is so aerodynamically designed so as to keep it fixed on to the ground. The speeds of a F1 car is so high that an aircraft can take off at slower speeds than a F1 car travels on the track. Remember Shumi once raced with an aircraft and won it !!
The aeordynamic downforce created by an F1 car is so high that in theory it can go upside down at 160kmph, holding itself to the ceiling of a tunnel or so.
Brake disks are made of Carbon Fibre in F1 cars and not of steel for the reason that while braking the disk reaches temperatures of 1000 degree celcious, high enough to melt steel.
When a F1 driver hits the brakes he experiences moments of deceleration comparable to a regular car driving through a solid wall at 300kmph.!!
F1 cars have around 100 sensors and the car has got over a kilometre of cable connecting them, to monitor the activities of various parts.
The 'cockpit' for a F1 car is so fit that a F1 driver has to first remove the steering by removing a latch before he can enter the car. The padddles for changing the gears are at the back of this wheel.
A F1 car has to go to race with 100% perfection. A 99.9% perfection means that the car has got 80 components wrong as an average F1 car has got 80000 components.!!
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