The future of F1 engines?
Posted by Nick Trott at 5:00PM on Wednesday 18 April, 2007 7 Comments
I've just returned from giving the VW Golf GT TSi race car its world debut. Get me.
I didn't drive it particularly well (on average I had a spin every seven and a half minutes), but the car is astonishing.
With just a soupçon of ECU-tweakage and a custom-made exhaust/air filter combo, the TSi's little 1.4-litre turbo- and supercharged race engine produces a mighty 230bhp.
That's a 60bhp jump from the road car's 170bhp. From 1390cc, remember. That's 164bhp per litre.
This got me thinking about the future of Formula One engines. It is looking increasingly likely that a small capacity motor with some kind of forced induction and an energy recovery device will power the F1 car of 2012.
The FIA's reasoning is that this will make F1 more 'road relevant'.
I love the fact that a current F1 engine kicks out around 800bhp from just 2.4-litres and revs to somewhere between 'bonkers' and 'absurd', but I'm finding myself increasingly fascinated by the proposed new F1 engine rules as well.
Think about it...
Small-capacity motors = high engine revs. Turbochargers + superchargers = big power. And an energy recovery device could be used to power the electronics, or more interestingly, provide the driver with a 'power boost' control.
Effectively, an overtake button.
My only hope is that the FIA creates enough freedom in the new F1 engine rules to allow the teams to interpret the new regs as they see fit.
Then perhaps we'll see a Ferrari 'F2012' with a 1.0-litre V8 plus two-turbochargers, two superchargers and a big red power button on the steering wheel that says 'Ciao baby!'
Or a V6 Honda with 1.5-litres and a big turbo (hang on, haven't we seen that before?) or a three-cylinder Mercedes-Benz unit with 70 turbos...
Anyone got any idea what the ultimate F1 engine configuration would be if the maximum capacity limit was set at 1.5-litres, and any number of turbochargers, superchargers (or indeed cylinders) could be used?
And don't forget to think about how to use the energy recovered from the brakes...
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Turbochargers are actually coming back to F1.
Unfortunately, the 'absurd' revving is coming down from 19,000 rpm to 15,000rpm. Then again, the engines will become even more vulnerable, but thrilling race action should come out of it.
A1 has overboost buttons, maybe Bernie should contact A1 and see if overboosts could make an appearance in F1. Keep these great F1 blogs coming! Come on Alonso!
My understanding is the FIA have already limited the use of the boost button to just 7 seconds per lap, regardless of what energy is actually recovered.
Freedom isn't a word that the sports governing body is particularly fond of.
The Brabham-BMW that won the world championship in 1983 had a turbo 1.5-litre engine that produced over 800 bhp, I believe. So they might want to restrict (though not ban) the use of super- and turbo- chargers.
Perhaps a 600cc litre diesel-electric hybrid, with one turbo- and one super-charger, energy recovered from the brakes can be used to recharge the batteries.
An interesting idea, but surely you can appreciate that F1 has moved on from these times.
I don't think we'll ever see the likes of forced induction again, mainly because the FIA is determined to slow the cars down and keep safety levels high. Besides the obvious fact that the forced induction cars will just drink fuel!
It's a nice thought, but I think you need to calm down, and alow this technology to develop more before you start throwing in ideas of F1 magic.
As much as I'd love to see a revival, I can't see F1 ever returning to it's roots.
Interesting rule this, if it was to be introduced.
A bi-Turbo, bi-Supercharged, V12 1.5litre McLaren Mercedes would be a nice proposition. And a nice silver button on the steering wheel that says 'Extra Boost' on it for those nice long straights.
But an accidental press of the button at the wrong time might mean a different winner in every race: "My extra boost made me land in a nice big soft tyre wall."
FIA banned any types of chargers in the first place because engines were too powerful (above 1000 BHP).
A 'boost' button isn't a good idea because it would make it much easier to overtake, and more dangerous.
By the way, 1.5 litre V12? it's a joke right? Try to calculate how small the cylinders would be, the engine would be much heavier than a 1.5 V6, and wouldn't have to be more powerful really.
I agree that a turbo would be way too powerful and would need heavy restriction. My guess is that the FIA will cut off 2 more cylinders as they did going from V10's to V8's. Leaving us with a 1.8 litre V6 with energy recovery systems to boost the power to where we are now.