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[Ichabod]

From AUTOSPORT.COM

Lotus's rivals look set to be forced to copy its innovative reactive ride height system ahead of the 2012 season, with the FIA happy the concept is totally legal.

There has been much intrigue in recent days about the mechanism that Lotus was reported to have tried out at the Abu Dhabi young driver test last year.

The mechanical system helps maintain a standard ride height during braking - when often the front of the car would dip down.

Rivals teams are understood to have looked into the system and its legality over recent days - with a report in Gazzetta dello Sport this week suggesting it was driver adjusted by the use of a pedal in the cockpit.

However, if the drivers were changing the ride height of the cars under braking then that would be a breach of the rules.

Article 3.15 of the F1 Technical Regulations states: "With the exception of the parts necessary for the adjustment described in Article 3.18 [the DRS], any car system, device or procedure which uses driver movement as a means of altering the aerodynamic characteristics of the car is prohibited."

AUTOSPORT can reveal, however, that the adjustment to the ride height - which improves aerodynamic performance and stability on the Lotus under braking - does not come from the driver.

Instead it is reactive to brake torque and is linked directly to the suspension - so cannot be classified as a moveable aerodynamic device in the way that independent mass dampers were.

The fact that the driver is not involved, and that the system is a part of the suspension, means it complies fully with the F1 regulations.

AUTOSPORT understands that Lotus has been in liaison with the FIA throughout the development of the brake system, having first been proposed in 2010 and been given an official green light by the governing as long ago as January last year.

With the FIA happy that the brake system is legal, it means that its main rivals will now have to propose their own systems to the governing body if they want to adopt such a concept for the forthcoming season.

AUTOSPORT also understands that at least one front-running team has already submitted plans for a similar ride-height adjustment device to be used in 2012.

Could be a good scrap in the paddock this year about this one !

[LewEngBridewell]

Could be a good scrap in the paddock this year about this one !

Most likely. This is a bitter feud in the making. At least I can start planning the F1 Controversy of the Year 2012 poll early this time

[What's Burning?]

Last year no one copied their side blowing exhaust! Let's see if they've got better luck this year.

[scotty]

Wonder who the other team is. I think it might be Ferrari, cause they were apparently asking the FIA to check it's legality...

[Ichabod]

Wonder who the other team is. I think it might be Ferrari, cause they were apparently asking the FIA to check it's legality...

I just hope its not red bull


according to andrew benson on twitter it is Ferrari working on a similar system

[andrew]

Could be a good scrap in the paddock this year about this one !

Most likely. This is a bitter feud in the making. At least I can start planning the F1 Controversy of the Year 2012 poll early this time

If Ferrari are looking into this I doubt there will be any major hoo-ha with the FIA. They only cry to teacher when another kid has a toy that they didn't think of!

I like systems like this in F1. Nice bit of innovation and use of technology without costing an absolute fortune - proper engineering!

[bud]

Wonder who the other team is. I think it might be Ferrari, cause they were apparently asking the FIA to check it's legality...

Sounds like a McLaren thing to me, this is what they have done in the past with the DDD etc. Ferrari just ask to get things banned.

[scotty]

Wonder who the other team is. I think it might be Ferrari, cause they were apparently asking the FIA to check it's legality...

Sounds like a McLaren thing to me, this is what they have done in the past with the DDD etc. Ferrari just ask to get things banned.

Dunno, it is indeed the norm for them but then you have things like the Flexi Floor back in '07... i think any team who can't get something working will ask to get it banned anyway, that seems to be what usually happens anyway Reading more about this earlier, i'd actually be surprised if any of the front runners don't turn up with this system. Question is, who'll get it working the best? Combine this with the flexi wings and you've got a sizeable gain right there!

[spankyham]

Wonder who the other team is. I think it might be Ferrari, cause they were apparently asking the FIA to check it's legality...

I think you might be right. I read a tweet from a fairly reliable source that Ferrari had this done in Dec

If Ferrari are looking into this I doubt there will be any major hoo-ha with the FIA. They only cry to teacher when another kid has a toy that they didn't think of!

Ah yes, the "reds under the beds". Brilliant stuff Andrew, why shouldn't you try out your new FiA/Ferrari conspiracy - it worked pretty well for McCarthy.

[kerc]

The FIA has allowed actual innovation to come through and be legal? Be still my beating heart.

Good for Lotus!

[bud]

Wonder who the other team is. I think it might be Ferrari, cause they were apparently asking the FIA to check it's legality...

Sounds like a McLaren thing to me, this is what they have done in the past with the DDD etc. Ferrari just ask to get things banned.

Dunno, it is indeed the norm for them but then you have things like the Flexi Floor back in '07... i think any team who can't get something working will ask to get it banned anyway, that seems to be what usually happens anyway Reading more about this earlier, i'd actually be surprised if any of the front runners don't turn up with this system. Question is, who'll get it working the best? Combine this with the flexi wings and you've got a sizeable gain right there!

Well reading Scarbs site I assume his article on the LRGPs inerter dampers is the same topic? It says McLaren experimented with this as far back as 04/05 season and is similar to their J Damper. Given this history they seem the most likely to be in best position to work on this sooner than others.


Edit
It's not The same topic, Scarbs hasn't got the article up on his site, he has tweeted it though

Heres James Allens article.
In 2010 it was the F Duct, last year the blown diffuser, is this year’s must-have technical gizmo a braking stabilising system, innovated by Lotus?

Veteran technical journalist Giorgio Piola is writing that Lotus Renault GP has a system which brings back echoes of the “mass-damper”, one of the innovations when the team was known as Renault, that helped to win it the 2006/6 world championships.

According to Piola, the system is mechanical, operated by the driver (like the F Duct) and means that when the driver hits the brakes, it manages the ride height as the front of the car dives down, which in turn helps to keep the front wing’s performance more consistent.

The system enables the team to run a lower front ride height, as the thing which dictates how low the ride height can be on an F1 car is the limit of downward movement at the moment of peak braking.

Red Bull, Ferrari and others experimented in the last couple of years with ‘flexi-wings’, but this system will allow the front ride height to be low in a simple and efficient way.

It also has a great benefit in the races, as the cars start with 150kg of fuel, which drops to zero over the course of the race. Keeping the ride height optimised, as the car rises with a reduction on fuel load, gives a gain in lap time. We saw Ferrari lowering the ride height legally in pit stops as the fuel burns off, but this system would again have a benefit there. A tenth or two of a second per lap adds up over a 70 lap race.


The system is linked to a hydraulic cylinder inside the brake cowling. The suspension and uprights are connected to a tiny hydraulic cylinder in the upright, which can provide a few millimetres of lift at the crucial moment of the braking phase, activated by the driver.

One of the few technical rule changes for this year is the lowering of the nose of the car from a maximum of 62cm to 55cm, which when taken with the ban on off throttle blown diffusers puts an emphasis on front wing performance and means that braking stability will be affected.

As some 16% of the lap at many venues is spent braking, there are some useful gains to be made there if you can keep the car optimised when the nose dives under braking.

The system can be used in reverse under acceleration, to reduce the amount of lift in the nose and keep the front wing aerodynamics optimised.

The eagle eyed Piola, who started in F1 back in the late 1960s, spotted the cylinder in photos from the Abu Dhabi young driver test and has analysed it. Since that test the front wing regulations were finalised, but Lotus, led by technical director James Allison, was obviously ahead of the game. They are an innovative crowd, without the resources of a McLaren or a Red Bull, but with plenty of bright ideas. Last year they tried to innovate with the front blowing exhausts, which didn’t work.

I have spoken to some F1 engineers this morning and there is, inevitably, great interest in LRGP’s idea.

The next question is: is it legal? Does it constitute a moveable aerodynamic device? If it is legal then the other teams may be forced to copy it. We could have the usual pre-season rows, followed by threatened protests in Melbourne.

It will come down to the judgement of the FIA’s Charlie Whiting. In the past few years he has allowed some new technologies and banned others.

If an idea is interesting, not excessively expensive to copy and not environmentally offensive then it has a chance. It’s certainly a talking point in the run up to the new season and that’s good for F1.

As Lotus’ lead driver Kimi Raikkonen would say, ‘We will see.’

* LRGP has confirmed via Twitter that Raikkonen will get some F1 test mileage ahead of the new car tests, using a two year old car, as allowed under the test restriction rules.

“We can now confirm that Kimi Raikkonen will be completing some mileage in the team’s R30 car at Valencia on 23rd/24th January,” said the team.

[scotty]

As Lotus’ lead driver Kimi Raikkonen would say, ‘We will see.’

Haha, normal service is resumed!

Seems the 'other' team is Ferrari as it turns out... for now. I reckon they'll all have it by testing.

Ferrari has already developed its own version of the Lotus reactive ride-height system for its 2012 car, and is now just awaiting final approval from the FIA over its legality.

Lotus has pioneered a way for the ride height on its car to be maintained under braking - which will help both aerodynamic performance and stability. The system is fully mechanical and activated by brake torque.

As AUTOSPORT revealed on Wednesday, the FIA gave approval for the concept as long ago as the start of last year – and rival teams now look set to have to introduce their own versions of the concept for 2012.

High-level sources at Ferrari have confirmed that the Italian outfit has already been working on developing its own reactive ride height system for 2012 – and has submitted its plans to the FIA to ensure that it fully complies with the regulations.

Although it is understood that it has not received official approval yet, it is likely that a decision will be made in time for Ferrari to be able to fit the device to its 2012 car prior to the first pre-season tests.

Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali said at the team's media Wrooom event in Italy on Wednesday that there had been correspondence with the FIA over the matter.

"What you are talking about, is more related to having stability under braking," explained Domenicali. "It is a system that I know there have been some documents in writing between the FIA and the teams.

"We are waiting for the final confirmation if this kind of devices will be acceptable or not. But for sure we are looking around these sorts of devices to see if they contribute to a performance. But we need to wait and see what will be the reaction to the FIA on that."

[bud]

Scotty you're an engineer in wait, is the inerter damper anything to do with this concept?
But regardless of the hoo har about this, The fact it's cheap and easy to implement by the other teams I'm sure Lotus won't get to see many a race if any with an advantage with this concept.

[scotty]

Scotty you're an engineer in wait, is the inerter damper anything to do with this concept?

I think the inerter damper was for more complex in terms of the idea and had more to do with converting energy loads travelling in various directions through the car (and in racing terms was more 'general purpose' in terms of creating mechanical grip). This reactive technology is more focused simply on regulating ride height, and apparently based on hydraulics rather than a mechanical system. I need to read more about this new system though.

[What's Burning?]

Scotty you're an engineer in wait, is the inerter damper anything to do with this concept?

I think the inerter damper was for more complex in terms of the idea and had more to do with converting energy loads travelling in various directions through the car (and in racing terms was more 'general purpose' in terms of creating mechanical grip). This reactive technology is more focused simply on regulating ride height, and apparently based on hydraulics rather than a mechanical system. I need to read more about this new system though.

Isn't this just a form of active suspension that only works under braking? (and potentially under heavy acceleration as well) So why even consider it as legal, this is no different than the f-duct or the DD diffuser or the blown exhaust of last year, it's an exploited loophole and I hope unlike last year's debacle, it's addressed and decided upon BEFORE the first qualifying session in Melbourne.