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[spankyham]

I know we went into this in the SIngapore GP thread, but, I found this article a good read and thought that as well as share, I'd start up a tread on Traction Control as it's so topical ATM.

Red Bull May Have Invented A Secret New Hybrid Technology

At the Singapore Grand Prix two weekends ago, Red Bull driver Sebastian Vettel won by an unbelievable 32 second margin over his closest rival. Seriously, it's unbelievable. Now F1 experts believe that Red Bull Racing's F1 engineers may have invented a new kind of traction control that links the car's hybrid engine to its suspension — but no one knows for sure. The whole world is stumped.



Let me start out by saying that the technology being discussed here is based on rumor. It's a very well-supported rumor, but there is no proof that what is being discussed here actually exists. That's because we are talking about a field of technology so secret that no one outside the Red Bull Racing F1 team knows what's going on.1

The rumor begins in earnest at the Singapore Grand Prix the weekend before last. The race is held on a street circuit with many slow turns on very bumpy pavement. For an F1 driver, these are some of the most difficult turns in the sport, as you need to powerfully accelerate out of the corner, but the bumps unsettle the car and make the wheels spin. It's a test of the driver to manage exactly how much power the rear wheels can handle.

If an F1 car did have traction control (it used to be, but the technology was outlawed), the car's sensors could determine exactly how much grip the rear wheels have on the bumpy asphalt, and maximize the amount of power being put down. In short, with traction control, the driver could get on the gas earlier in the turn, with less need for correction, with less risk of spinning out. More power out of the turn means more speed.

If you watch Sebastian Vettel power out of the slower turns at Singapore, you notice that he gets on the gas earlier than any other driver, with fewer corrections, and gets massively more speed than anyone else on the track. After a safety car bunched the field up with 15 laps to go, Vettel pulled out a 32 second gap over second-place Fernando Alonso. That is unheard on in F1, where a tenth of a second advantage is significant, and a single second gap can make or break a race.

Here's where things get interesting — former F1 team owner Giancarlo Minardi published on his website that he sat near the tight first turn complex, and he noticed that Vettel's Renault-supplied engine had a different sound than any other engine on the track, including that of his teammate's.

The thing that surprised me the most was the RB1 engine’s output sound. Besides speeding up 50 m before any other driver, the Renault engine of the German’s car grinded like no other French engines on track, neither like Mark’s. That sound was similar to the sound made by the engine when the traction control system got into action in the past seasons.

Minardi is not wrong - listen to the sound of Vettel's engine at the Singapore GP...

...and listen to the sound of an F1 car from 2007, when traction control was still legal.


Can you hear how the two engines both sound like they're grinding as the car comes out of the corner?2

Of course, traction control is currently banned in F1. How is it made illegal? Well, every single car on the grid uses the exact same ECU, so no TC can work through the central computer system. Traction control could possibly come from some kind of exotic means of engine management programming, which could limit the amount of power coming from the engine out of corners. Formula One's management, however, checks every car's engine mapping code and it's not allowed to change race by race. There's no way that Red Bull could hide its traction control there.

There is a possibility, though, that Red Bull has managed to find a legal way of making some kind of traction. One theory, put forward by Racecar Engineering, supposes that Red Bull may have linked the hybrid KERS system to the suspension, getting around the problem of uniform ECUs and also of unchangeable engine maps.

Racecar Engineering starts with a simple proposition.

It is theoretically easy to modulate the output torque and charging input torque to an electric motor/generator using capacitors, batteries, inductors and a feedback signal. Torque changes are instant and control is easy and legal.

And goes on to explain how the system would work.

If torque were to be modulated in response to the normal force of the tires against the track (in response to shock pressure for example) significant unused traction potential could be recovered during high pressure phases (upside of bumps) and initiation of full wheel spin during low pressure phases (downside of bumps) could be delayed.

The excellent F1 blog Axis of Oversteer points out that this theory is supported not just in Vettel's performance at Singapore, but also with Red Bull's history with their hybrid system.

You might imagine a system like this would require extra sensors and controllers. While the KERS system is separate from the auxiliary electrical system, it is also known that the RB9 places especially high demands on its alternators which led to failures in the past (as constructed, materials were not up to demands).

Beyond this stage of theory, as Axis points out, things start getting to levels of fake-moon-landing levels of conspiracy. It should be said, though, the Sebastian Vettel stated to the press before this most recent Korean Grand Prix that he had some kind of secret system in his car.

We were playing around quite a lot with it in practice, but the first time it worked was in the race... I was quite confident other people would never figure out how we did it... We are pretty proud of the system we have because other people will never figure out how we’ve done it.

When asked about his upcoming 2014 F1 car, Vettel gave this further encouragement.

There's elements of this year's car going in to next year's...things like traction control will obviously be...

He then trailed off into a grin, reports the Times of India.

Watching Vettel monster out a lead in Singapore like never before in this season, or any season of recent memory, though, and it becomes clear that it's easier to believe that the best design team in Formula One has developed a secret form of suspension-linked hybrid-drive traction control that skirts F1's unbelievably tight regulations, than it is to believe that Vettel's unbelievable lead was down to driving style.3

If the Racecar Engineering theory is correct, this way of bending the rules will go down as one of the most legendary designs in motorsports.

[racechick]

Good read Spanky'! Thanks! and I understood it

I posted somewhere on another thread...traction control by the back door..I think it's that. Probably legal but not in the spirit of the rules. But very clever. The FIA seem unable to produce rules to actually do what they want.

So it could be linked to the KERS system....and they've only given it to Vettel. Hmmm all fair and equal there then. I think they use Mark's car To practise it on without telling him. That's why his KERS keeps failing.

[spankyham]

Good read Spanky'! Thanks! and I understood it

I posted somewhere on another thread...traction control by the back door..I think it's that. Probably legal ....

Here's where I just can't see how they can possibly get around this regulation. Perhaps some people could put forward some thoughts....

9.3 Traction control :
No car may be equipped with a system or device which is capable of preventing the driven wheels from spinning under power or of compensating for excessive throttle torque demand by the driver.
Any device or system which notifies the driver of the onset of wheel spin is not permitted.

[mnmracer]

Didn't McLaren last year, at Korea curiously, have a system where half of the cylinders would be turned off when the steering wheel was at a certain angle (indicating a corner and thus the need for 'traction control')? I don't remember what happened to that, but that basic idea is completely legal, because it's passive. It doesn't react to wheelspin, but tries to predict where wheelspin might occur.

[LRW]

I dont know. Did they?

[spankyham]

.. but that basic idea is completely legal, because it's passive. It doesn't react to wheelspin, but tries to predict where wheelspin might occur.

The thing is, the reg I quoted above, doesn't distinguish between active or passive. If it effects wheelspin, then it would be a breach of that reg - but that's only according to my reading of it. And, as it stands now, if the system does exist, then the ruling body hasn't seen it as a breach.

[mnmracer]

This is what I could quickly find:

Listen to the sound accelerating from slow corners (compared to Vettel):


"Ted said on Sky, that only 4 cylinders working mid corner, and that's causing the sound." [1]
"To reduce torque and therefore wheelspin"
"I think its operated by steering angle, when the driver turns the wheel fully to either side, the noise kicks in, if it works like this, than its driver operated, and not aerodynamic element, thus legal. Of course it might be something else."

[mnmracer]

.. but that basic idea is completely legal, because it's passive. It doesn't react to wheelspin, but tries to predict where wheelspin might occur.

The thing is, the reg I quoted above, doesn't distinguish between active or passive. If it effects wheelspin, then it would be a breach of that reg - but that's only according to my reading of it. And, as it stands now, if the system does exist, then the ruling body hasn't seen it as a breach.

The way I understand it:
no system is allowed to prevent the wheels from spinning under power
but you're simply cutting the power (at times when you predict it is most likely the wheels will spin), regardless of whether the wheels are actually spinning or not
it's no different from the driver knowing not to immediately put his foot down mid-corner, but first wait for the grip to come

[CookinFlat6]

The facts we do have are as follows:
Seb is able to get on the power way ahead of everyone without instability
This cannot be down to Sebs driving or right foot as the pedal is fly by wire, the driver doesnt moderate or pulse the aceelerator in anyway. He presses and electronics do the rest
The sound of the car is clearly modulated output
Webber does not have the same system, Webber suffers disporportionate issues with launches and kers, both related to the elctronics that would modulate output
The car is built around Seb, and Webber is a much different shaped driver
Sizing and packaging are pivotal concepts with Newey cars

It doesnt really matter what the system is, if its legal, or like the flapping wing, cannot be scutinised properly

The end result is the same. Seb has a system, a magic button that allows his car to lap upto 4 seconds faster (this is speculation, however he could have been sandbagging all season) we do know that no mater how fast the car behind is, he can produce a 2 sec gap at will

We shouldnt therefore talk about intricacies like TC or not, we should just say magic button, like a nitro boost no one else has.
Webber has matched him over a season, an no when the cars sound different cannot get anywhere near

[Jabberwocky]

So Redbull are allegedly harvesting KERS energy while the car is accelerating out of corners. The amount it is harvesting is controlled by suspension travel?

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4

[racechick]

I think he does sandbag. Take last race. He kept a respectable distance ahead of the following cars but not an obscene distance ahead, yet both times after the safety car, he can pull out two second gaps immediately. It's there for him to play with when required...but lets not overdo it.

[CookinFlat6]

So Redbull are allegedly harvesting KERS energy while the car is accelerating out of corners. The amount it is harvesting is controlled by suspension travel?

Sent from my GT-N7100 using Tapatalk 4

That would tick all the right boxes.
The kers harvests more than is allowed to be stored and just wastes the excess
Except when facing a certain suspension load threshold, where it then starts and stops harvesting excess energy resulting in defacto engine and torque modulation

So that would work perfectly on bumpy slow corner exits, and remain useful when the car squats under instant demand torque, like after the safety car goes in, and on launches out of any slow corner

Makes sense that Webbers car may have ben the testbed for this as it would take some trial and error on track to fine tune it without over cooking the kers or demanding too much start and stop excess harvesting etc

Or maybe its Sebs right foot overidding the electronics and perfectly blipping the pedal 30 times a second whilst going for ze fastest lap

[What's Burning?]

32 second gap in 15 laps. Vettel is quite the driver, he deserves every championship he can "harvest".

[racechick]

quite the comedian today WB. That's twice you've made me laugh in a few minutes!!

[Hammer278]

I think he does sandbag. Take last race. He kept a respectable distance ahead of the following cars but not an obscene distance ahead, yet both times after the safety car, he can pull out two second gaps immediately. It's there for him to play with when required...but lets not overdo it.

Yeah agree with this. But this sort of thing started only from Spa though....after the summer break. The Devil's have been busy during factory shutdown.