In 2014 in Barcelona, Caterham’s F1 car was SLOWER than their GP2 car! 🤯

-1.30.3 for the F1 car
-1.29.8 for the GP2 car(0.5s faster!)

F1 cars became terribly slow in ‘14, and Caterham’s car was terrible all-around!

I explain this strange result in this thread👇

F1 cars became terribly slow in 2014.

This was due to:
- New PU➡️Significantly increased mass (+49kg over 2013);
- Lower peak and mean power than the already weak V8s (Considering Caterham’s Renault PU: around 750hp+80hp of KERS for V8, around 600+160hp for V6s);
- Narrower front wing.

Caterham, in particular, suffered from the low power of the Renault PU and the very low aerodynamic efficiency (look at how wide, ‘boxy’ and simple their sidepods are. Moreover, the air intakes were HUGE).

They were 4s off the pole!

The GP2s, on the contrary, kept the same performance as the previous years' thanks to stable rules:
- They were, for the first time, lighter than F1 (-3kg, 688kg vs 691kg);
- The engine produced 612hp, around the same as the Combustion Engine of F1 cars (~600hp);
- Same track width.

The main advantages of F1 cars were:
- Better acceleration (thanks to better peak power due to the ERS system, which, however, was still inefficient in 2014 for most teams);
- DRS (that is worth several tenths in a fast, high-load track like Barcelona);
- Higher aero complexity.

Consequently, the GP2 pole was good enough to beat FOUR F1 cars!

And what is even more impressive is one team, such as Caterham, having a faster GP2 car than their F1 car. 🤯

Surely the GP2 team was grinning. 🤣

And don’t let all this tech talk distract you from the ‘14 Caterham F1 having an ‘interesting’ shape of the nose. 🤣

That's it!
Retweet the thread if you enjoyed this historical curiosity!🤩

Do you know other interesting facts?👀
I'm a Mech Engineer working on road vehicles: follow my page @FDataAnalysis to understand F1 better! 🏎

Did you know that the air resistance alone makes F1 cars slow down at a rate higher than gravity?🤯

That's more than you get when stomping on the brakes of a road car... and the F1 driver isn't even braking! 😳

Here are the calculations: over 1.08g!
Absolutely mind-blowing!

The calculation stems from the fact that at the car's top speed (311km/h) the power of the engine equates to the power produced by the drag.

As Power = Force*Speed, and Force = Mass*Acceleration, we can obtain the acceleration value using the other known quantities.

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THE CRAZIEST F1 PHOTO YOU'LL SEE TODAY!🔥

Cornering produces huge🔵Lateral forces (➡️Fy), equal to the🟢Inertial Force (-m*ay)

The resulting lateral load transfer increases the outer tyre🟣Load (⬆️Fz)

The rear left rim pokes out of the tyre, and the front right lifts!🤯

LATERAL LOAD TRANSFER
Corner to the right➡️The load transfers from the right-hand tyres to the left-hand tyres

LONGITUDINAL LOAD TRANSFER
Exiting the corner➡️The load transfers from the front to the rear tyres

Most loaded tyre: Rear Left
Least loaded: Front Right
The consequences are clear:

-The huge lateral force on the rear-left wheel shifts the tyre to the right compared to the rim. Static waves appear, too!
-The inertial force makes the chassis roll to the left
-The unloaded front-right tyre lifts
-The suspension becomes asymmetric

There are also other consequences (Camber, Toe variation, ...?) which are clearly visible from the image

Comment if you find them!👀

And follow my page @FDataAnalysis to understand #F1 to a deeper level!🏎

Leclerc on an old-gen (top) vs new-gen (bottom) #F1 car, exiting the Degner Curve in Suzuka
🧐

You can notice how softer the 2019 car was compared to the 2022 one!

The 13'' tyres were softer due to the much higher sidewall, contributing to the roll.🛞


[📸 @SmilexTech & @formu1a__uno ]

The Yamaha MotoGP Team has a new Performance Engineer: me! 🤩

I will work to extract the full potential of the bike, optimising the setup based on telemetry data, developing simulation tools... and more!🏍️

I cannot express how happy I am: I think that what I've found is the perfect match for me (as someone with a background in Motorcycle Dynamics🏍️)

And don't worry: the F1-related content will continue, as I love managing this page!🏎️

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McLaren's new livery looks... pretty familiar!👀

Maybe they will surprise the competition with some out-of-the-box thinking... as Arrows did in Monaco 2001, with a crazy additional front wing to maximise downforce!💡

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Formula 4
Formula 3
Formula 2
Formula 1

🏎 What makes these cars different, and each one faster than the previous one?🤔

This thread compares their performance: you can’t miss it if you’re a #F1 enthusiast!
👇👇

Formula 4
-Engine: road car engines (1.4l to 2.0l), ~160hp
-Mass: 570kg
-Width: 1750mm
-Wheelbase: 2750mm
-6 Gears
-0-100km/h: 3.5s
-Top speed: 250km/h (in low-drag spec)

Small, lightweight, raw: despite the road-car power, it would still destroy supercars in most circuits!

Formula 3
-Engine: 3.4l V6 N/A 380hp
-Mass: 550kg
-6 Gears
-0-100km/h: 3.1s
-0-200km/h: 7.8s
-Top speed: 300km/h (in low-drag spec)
-Max lateral acceleration: 2.6g
-Max braking acceleration: 1.9g [low, but official value]

A big step from F4: similar mass but over twice the power

Formula 2
-Engine: 3.4l V6 Turbo 620hp
-Mass: 755kg
-6 Gears
-0-100km/h: 2.9s
-0-200km/h: 6.6s
-Top speed: 335km/h (in low-drag spec)
-Max lateral acceleration: 3.5g
-Max braking acceleration: 3.9g

The game gets serious: almost unmatched downforce/mass and power/mass ratios!

Formula 1
-Engine: 1.6l V6 Turbo ~1000hp
-Mass: 798kg
-8 Gears
-0-100km/h: 2.2s
-0-200km/h: 4.4s
-Top speed: 350km/h (in low-drag spec)
-Max lateral acceleration: 6.0g
-Max braking acceleration: 6.0g

The queen of open-wheel racing: the downforce/mass ratio is unmatched

Summarising the main trends from F4 to F1:

- Cars get way bigger (Width 1750mm➡️2000mm, Wheelbase 2750mm➡️3600mm).

Therefore, the aerodynamics surfaces grow in area➡️More Downforce and Aero Efficiency.

- Better materials mitigate the weight increase.

- Engines get more complex and advanced➡️More power➡️Drag penalty is reduced➡️Possible to produce even more downforce through more loaded wings!