ATLAS F1   Volume 6, Issue 39		Email to Friend   Printable Version
		The F1 FAQ
		by Marcel Schot, Netherlands

Have a question about Formula One statistics or history? Well you're not the only one, and it's about time someone came up with the answers to Formula One's most Frequently Asked Questions. Send us your questions, to faq@atlasf1.com - we may not know everything, but we will sure make the effort to find out "Is there any limit on the number of pistops allowed for a F1 racecar and is is compulsory to change tyres every pitstop? Ben" The answer to both questions is no. Especially in changing weather conditions, drivers sometimes make several more pitstops than usual to change from dry weather tyres and wet weather tyres and vice versa. In the 1993 European Grand Prix at Donington, Alain Prost set a modern day record with no less than seven pitstops. As for not having to change tyres every pitstop, Ralf Schumacher at last Sunday's United States Grand Prix is a good example. Schumacher stopped four times, one time to change from wets to dries, one time for fresh tyres and fuel, and two more times to attempt to fix his hydraulic problem. These last two stops were done without changing the tyres. "I just read that tobacco sponsorship may be banned worldwide in 2003 or '04, and that likely replacements would be computer and technology giants, such as Williams switching from Winfield to Compaq. It seems like this could be a huge blow to Ferrari and McLaren, and possibly even the field a bit. What is your opinion on the future of F1 without tobacco? Sean" This will probably not make a whole lot of difference. Sponsors are most interested in winning teams. If tobacco sponsorship is banned, which is a point the FIA is strongly battling against, other companies will step into Formula One. The current trend, as you've noticed, is technology corporations. Williams has Compaq, Arrows has several high-tech sponsors, and the number of teams with this sort of backing will only grow. With tobacco sponsorship still pretty firmly in the saddle, these companies had limited options to enter Formula One now, but assuming the tobacco companies eventually are forced out, big companies such as Oracle (Benetton sponsor in 1994) and Nokia (long time Tyrrell sponsor) look set to return to the sport. The best car to put your name on, is of course a winning one, and it looks like as long as the backing is there, Ferrari and McLaren have no plans to stop winning. Even if West and Marlboro are forced out by anti-tobacco laws, many other sponsors will be ready and willing to take their place. Another question on tobacco sponsorship, relating to last Sunday's race: ""All cars seemed to be running in full livery with the Tobacco companies logos in prime positions, all teams except Ferrari. They had large white squares on their overalls, and also on the cars Rear wing and Engine cover. When I first spotted it I thought maybe USA have banned Tobacco advertising but all other teams had there nornal livery, i.e. Jordan, BAR, McLaren, Benetton etc. Do you know the reason, have Ferrari lost the Marlboro deal? Are Marlboro banned from the USA or what, as the Ferrari cars looked like the underfunded cars of a few years back. Stephan" Ferrari have not lost the Marlboro deal and Marlboro aren't banned from the USA either. However, the rules in America say that a tobacco company may only be a sponsor at one single motorsport championship. Since Marlboro is already sponsoring the Penske team in the CART series, they weren't allowed to appear on the Ferraris in the Formula One Grand Prix. Thanks to Marcel Borsboom for explaining this to me. "What is actually engine torque? And what is the difference between horsepower and torque? Ove Rein" Most things in a car move in circles. To get something moving, you need to apply force. However, when you apply straight force to something circular, you don't get the best result possible, therefore you need a twisting force, which is called torque. In Europe, this is measured in Newton metres (Nm), while in the US it is measured in pound feet (lb-ft) - both Nm and lb-ft measure the same force, the difference being the use of metric or Imperial measurements. The longer the distance, the more torque is caused by the amount of force applied. Horsepower is dependent of the amount of torque, so an engine without any torque would also have no horsepower. There is a formula that relates horsepower to torque: horsepower = torque in lb-ft x (revs/minute) x (1/5252). As an example I will once again drive the Ferrari 550 Maranello out of the garage. Its maximum torque is 419 lb-ft at 5000 revs/minute. This means that, when at maximum torque, the engine produces a massive 399 hp. However, this isn't the maximum horsepower this car can give. At 7000 revs/minute, 485 hp roars under the hood. Calculating back, this is 364 lb-ft of torque. The reason why torque and horsepower don't peak at the same time, is that whenever the engine revs are high, which is when maximum horsepower is generally produced, the various parts in the engine suffer more friction, which takes away part of the torque, as well as other factors such as the amount of fuel and air the engine requires at such high speeds. On a similar line of thinking is the next question: "As far as I know the engine capacity is limited to 3 liters for all but why the big difference in term of speed and maybe horsepower. During introduction of new cars some of the teams do not indicate their horsepowers. Why? Mohd" The engine capacity is indeed limited to 3 liters. However, within the regulations, there's various ways to build an engine. Some teams opted for a lightweight engine, which is more prone to wear and some teams opted for a heavier, but more reliable engine. This all depends on the team's technical staff and their view and theories on how to achieve the best possible car within the limits of the rules. As it is so often, the saying "10 brains, 10 theories" applies. The engine specs also depend on the whole of the car. Some good examples are the mid 80s Osellas, which were notoriously wide due to the Alfa Romeo turbo engine which had to be fitted in, and the almost legendary flat Brabham BT55, about which you can find a good thread in our Nostalgia Forum. A reason the teams do not indicate how much horsepower their engine produces is that as usual, they want to keep as much information as possible secret. Giving out a high power figure may encourage other teams to work on finding more power, losing an advantage the team may have otherwise had. "Can you give me a list of all disqualifications in the 90s, which had effects to the scored points (teams or drivers) ? Andreas" Although quite a lot of disqualifications have taken place in the past decade, it took until the 1994 Canadian Grand Prix for the points to be affected. There, Footwork driver Christian Fittipaldi was disqualified from 6th place for being underweight, Benetton's JJ Lehto taking the final point instead. Two races later, Michael Schumacher overtook Damon Hill on the parade lap of the British Grand Prix and ignorned the black flag that followed. Schumacher was disqualified from second place, and thus Jean Alesi (Ferrari), Mika Hakkinen (McLaren), Rubens Barrichello (Jordan), David Coulthard (Williams) and Tyrrell driver Ukyo Katayama moved up a place. Michael Schumacher was again disqualified in the Belgian Grand Prix a few races later, losing the win due to an excessively worn skidblock. This allowed Damon Hill (Williams), Hakkinen, Jos Verstappen in the other Benetton, Coulthard, Tyrrell's Mark Blundell and Footwork's Gianni Morbidelli to move up a place. After that it went quiet for three years, until the 1997 Belgian Grand Prix. This time, third placed McLaren driver Mika Hakkinen was disqualified for using illegal fuel. Williams driver Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Sauber's Johnny Herbert, Jacques Villeneuve (Williams) and Benetton driver Gerhard Berger gained. A few races later at the Japanese Grand Prix, Jacques Villeneuve was disqualified from fifth place. The Canadian had ignored yellow flags in free practice, which activated a one race suspended ban he had received for doing similar things at Monza. Williams appealed the ban before the race and so Villeneuve was allowed to race, but after the race Williams withdrew their appeal, allowing Villeneuve to be disqualified. Jean Alesi (Benetton) and Johnny Herbert (Sauber) grabbed a point extra each as a result. Again it went quiet for a few years until this season. In Australia, Mika Salo's Sauber was disqualified for having an illegal front wing, giving Ricardo Zonta in the BAR reason to celebrate. In the next race, in Brazil, David Coulthard was also disqualified for having an illegal front wing, moving up Giancarlo Fisichella (Benetton), Frentzen in the Jordan, his teammate Jarno Trulli and both Williams drivers Ralf Schumacher and Jenson Button. So we have seven disqualifications that had implications on the points. Overall, taking into account both points gained and points lost, Williams gained seven points, Jordan three, Ferrari and Tyrrell two points each, with Sauber and BAR gaining one point each. Footwork/Arrows came out even, while McLaren lost seven points and Benetton suffered the most, losing ten. Editorial Remarks: Some of the questions we receive have already been replied to in previous F1 FAQ columns. Therefore, before sending in a question, we suggest you have a look at the back issues, by searching the FAQ database. Not that we mind getting so much mail, just that we feel bad for those who feel they are left unanswered... We receive quite a few questions from you all, and it is absolutely impossible for us to research and respond to each of you, be it here or privately. Please, don't feel discouraged if your question was not replied to; it might come up in the next column. And don't forget - you can always look for answers at the Atlas F1 Bulletin Board.

Marcel Schot	© 2000 Kaizar.Com, Incorporated.
Send questions and comments to: faq@atlasf1.com	Terms & Conditions

Back to Atlas F1 Front Page

Tell a Friend about this Article