Ripping Up the Rule Book in Formula One

Professor Tony PurnellCambridge University Engineering Department

F1 Glossary

20 races

Decides the FIA World Drivers Championship

Formula One is BIG

BIG audience (590m viewers)BIG businessGREAT engineering

Source www.F1.com

Governing F1 is demanding and complex

Technical Regulations

Sporting Regulations

Financial Regulations:Concorde

• 390KW (520HP) power• +30% down-force (ground effect)• 300kph top speed (as today)• Similar lap time to today

1982 F1 Car

• 450KW + 120KW (760HP) power +240HP• ≈ 30% less down-force ≈ 35% more drag• ≈ 300kph top speed• Similar lap time to today

2014

One design solution today

Paint all the cars white and try to tell the difference

Today

A snap shot – Engine Regulations

• V6 – prescribed architecture• 1.6 litre direct injection• 15,000 rpm• 120KW (160HP) electric ‘boost’ (ERS)• 4MJ of energy release per lap (33s)• Single turbo charger • Married to a highly restricted drive train• Fuel flow rate restricted (100kg/hr max)

4.1 mpg (+10%?), 31% thermal efficiency (?), generally perceived ‘green’

Is F1 missing a big opportunity?

Ripping up the Rules:

Are only three super simple rules needed?

1. Limit the flow of energy to the Power Train

Fuel Flow Restriction

e.g. 25 mg/s petrol (1.1MJ/s) about 500HP

2. Car to fit in a box• Needed only to make sure the cars fit the tracks• No dimensional restrictions, no bodywork

restrictions, no engine rules, just produce a vehicle that fits . . . . . .

Anything goes, as long as they are safe . . .

3. Safety Tests

The car must protect a crash test dummy . . . As today, but confined to the goal, not the solution

Might be nice to add a minimum weight for the driver?

Unintended Consequences?• Probably need to restrict moveable

aerodynamic surfaces:

• Best ban closed loop driving controls:

2015 Rules – Super Restrictive

20XX Rules – Minimalist

Tony Utopia Rules – Minimalist

Would these three rules work?

• Too fast? Too slow?• Too big a speed discrepancy?

• Too processional?• Too complex?• Too risky?

Go step by step:Control tyres, gearboxes, etc

What’s really wrong with this idea?

Real-Politik

Too Expensive!

“The most expensive thing one can do is change the rules” – Ron Dennis

F1’s Insoluble Problem

1950

1953

70’s to 90’s

Cost

‘When you squeeze with regulations at one end of the sausage, the other just balloons out’

Pat Symonds

‘Formula One engineers will spend as much as they are given’

Ross Brawn (then Technical Director Honda F1)

Conclusion (2008)EITHER

✗Super restrictive rules and multiple standard parts

OR✔An effectively policed budget cap

FOM

Media

Teams

Drivers

Sponsors & OEM’s

2009: A Political Football

2010: F1 too expensive for OEM’s

Level Playing Field?

£1B income – £630M to the teamsNow guess who makes the rules?

Ferrari 5% of all revenue (£50m) +

CCB: Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Mercedes £180M +

Historically important: Williams and Mercedes £9m each+£20M to each top ten team

1 st:+£40M . . . . . . . . . . . .. 10 th +£8M

11th

, 12th

£4m

Amounts from: BBC.com/sport/Formula One/Where does all the money go?

Disposable teams: Nothing extra

Just to compound the problem …• Power-train is separate:

Everyone Else . . . . £15M-£20M?

Top Teams – Free from OEM sponsor

Successful Management

How did F1 get here?Concorde:

1981 First edition‘87, ‘92, ’97, ‘98, ‘09, ’13, ‘203 way : FIA, FOM, the Teams

Cutting up the Cake

• FOM’s revenue 20% (£200M)• FIA’s revenue 5% (£50M)• Remaining 75% equally to 12 teams (£62M)

– But £12m goes to pay for Power-train– £144m goes to engine suppliers pro-rata

• Budget cap to:– this amount (£50m) +– an achievable sponsorship amount for a mid-field team

(£25m) =£75m – more than enough given the engine deal• Excess income can be taken as profit by owners• Last two teams get demoted, not actually, but the owners

must sell all shares

Descent from La La Land

Time to wake up – huge barriers to overcome

Dark Clouds

The FIA’s choice?

X-Factor OROpera?

Formula One:

The FIA’s choice?

X-Factor OROpera?

Formula One:

Sunny Side up

• The end of the Ecclestone Era - a slow shift to corporate responsibility?

• The Delta Wing– Shoestring budget– Massively fuel efficient c.f. F1– Quick (315kph) yet just 220KW– Light 475kg– Safe

Let the engineer’s have at it and this is the sort of thing you’ll get, but better because it’s Formula One

Thank you