Well, to share an article I had written for my department newsletter about my most cherished sport, this post has taken birth! Here goes: Vroom!Auto-racing[aw-toh-reys-ing]; noun: the ultimate adrenaline rush, magnum opus of racing
Usage: “Auto racing, bull fighting and mountain climbing are the only real sports, rest all are games” – Earnest Hemingway.
Even if you don’t dig Mr. Hemingway’s surreal yet blunt words(almost whole of Inter-IIT battalion won’t), you’ll have to admit these sports do involve unfathomable guts on the part of the players. But apart from the sheer grit, another unavoidable aspect of the sport is the equipment and gear, which have to be equally endearing and strong. But of the 3 picks of ever charming Mr. Hemingway, only auto-racing is a substantial subscriber of materials of interest. So let’s take a sneak peek at the mother of all auto-races, Formula 1!
Measuring 4.6m x 1.8m and just 0.96m high(approx. figures), this speed demon goes from 0 to 100 kmph in 2.6 seconds. Weighing merely 605 kgs, it bears the brunt of marvelously designed and engineered circuits and of course, menacing drivers too-be it robust Fangio or skinny Lauda!
But it wasn’t always so. Through its avant garde, F1 car has shred its weight but has developed so speaking, muscles and has kept on breaking speed barriers; on ground, of course! It has undergone a metaphorical cosmetic surgery while shifting from an aluminium chassis to a glamourous yet twice strong carbon fibre chassis. Gone are the days when mercurial Farina sped in his Alfa Romeo 158, donning a cotton T-shirt and leather helmet. Today’s Schumachers sweat it out in fire resistant Aramid polymer suits and multi-layered carbon fibre helmets keep their hair gel on at 300 kmph and 4G forces.
The suiting, which may boast to make a ‘complete driver’, is in reality made of fire resistant Nomex fibre, the same which the gallant fire fighters don! These suits can stand about 8 seconds of fire, thereby allowing a driver safe exit from the car in case of such an emergency. The overalls, as the drivers’ clothing is called, are stitched in a very special way, allowing air cushions between the stitches. As air does guide warmth far less easy than solid material does, this is one of the most important features of an overall. Besides the overall, drivers are protected with a thin Nomex hose, all over their body. It consists of fire protective underwear, pants, a balaclava, etc. They also wear Nomex shoes with a hard sole, which gives grip on the pedals, Nomex gloves with suede on the inside for comfort and extra grip on the steering wheel.
The helmet, weighing a mere 1.25 kgs, has fibre-reinforced resin over carbon fibre sitting tight at its outer layer followed by a layer of strong plastic, mostly Kevlar, and then polystyrene based plastic covered with Aramid plastic fibre. But the fascinating part is the visor, made of special clear polycarbonate, inside of which is coated with anti-fogging chemicals, keeping driver’s vision from fogging due to oil and water spray during wet races! It’s also said to adjust brightness according to the ambient lighting pretty quickly, specially through the famous tunnel in
And believe it or not, the enormous fuel tank is shaped out of Kevlar, the same polymer that goes into a bullet-proof vest. It changes shape according to the pressure developed in the tank.
Unlike NASCAR, F1 uses treaded tyres in place of more popular ‘slicks’. The tyres in F1 aren’t exactly long distance runners, since they just do 200 kms at the most as compared to 16000 kms by a radial car tyre. Structurally, it’s a complicated weave pattern of Nylon and polyester enabling it to withstand enormous forces it is subjected to. The key ingredients however are carbon, sulphur, zinc, and oil, which makes the tyre soft. Also low density (nitrogen-rich) gases are used to inflate them.
An avid racing fan would surely agree that races are decided at corners requiring fierce braking, thus putting immense significance to brake material. More so, due to these staggering figures-an F1 car comes to a halt from 300kmph within a mere 4 seconds! At 200kmph, it takes 2.9 seconds and a space of just 65 meters. At 100kmph, these values are just as mind-blowing: 1.4 seconds and 17 meters! Under these heavy braking periods, a driver is subjected to a horizontal deceleration of close to 5.2G.
So again, the magic potion the druids at the garages emerged out with is carbon fibre. The carbon fibre disc brakes are light and can bear the 1000 degrees of temperature during heavy braking, which so often constitutes the highlights of many a race!
As for what lies beneath, at the heart of the machine is a V8 engine, predominantly made out of forged aluminium alloys. With its innumerous components, it makes F1 cars amongst the fastest on the face of the earth. For the fans and followers, the sound of a V8 engine is music to their ears; it’s a symphony at the Belgian circuit Spa-Francorchamps specially at the uphill corner, Eau Rouge.
For other parts, the pistons are Al alloys, either Al-Si, Al-Cu or Al-Zn based. Piston pins, camshafts and crankshafts are made of an Fe-based alloy. At full throttle, this modern engineering marvel delivers 750 horse powers and reaches 20000 rpm; but take this with a pinch of salt-it also consumes 60 litres of petrol to run 100 kms.
Leaving the fuel for the chemical engineers to ponder over, let’s raise a toast for one of the most exciting sports, which had’ve a bumpy ride this year but emerged victorious in the end. It was counted amongst the most dangerous sports with an ad infinitum list of fatalities to support the selection; but thanks to advancements in materials science, F1 is all the more safe and enjoyable as well. I hate to contradict one of the greatest racers of all times, the iconic Ayrton Senna, but his words, “…Every time I push, I find something more, again and again. But there’s a contradiction-the same moment you become the fastest, you are enormously fragile. Because in a split second, it can be gone. All of it.” don’t bother the drivers anymore.
