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[gogoguy110]

I was watching the Singapore practice sessions and I have a couple questions-

1. Why do they put covers over the tires when they back the car into the garage between runs?
2. What is the purpose of the blowers (they kind of look like leave blowers) that they attach to each wheel in the garage? Do they blow heat or cool air?
3. Where can I find something that tells more about the steering wheel and what all the buttons/gauges do?

thanks!

[LewEngBridewell]

I was watching the Singapore practice sessions and I have a couple questions-

1. Why do they put covers over the tires when they back the car into the garage between runs?
2. What is the purpose of the blowers (they kind of look like leave blowers) that they attach to each wheel in the garage? Do they blow heat or cool air?
3. Where can I find something that tells more about the steering wheel and what all the buttons/gauges do?

thanks!

I'm not an expert on the technical side of F1, but I'll have a jolly good try, seeing as no-one else has replied yet:

1. The covers are called tyre blankets, they keep the tyres warm, so they can reach optimum performance level quicker than if the cars were sent out with cold tyres.

2. The blowers? I think they sometimes put them in the cockpit sometimes too. Cold air I think.

3. More info on steering wheels can be found on various dedicated F1 sites. If you type in F1 steering wheel in Google, then no doubt all the required info will be available to you.

[vaptin]

1. To keep the tyres warm, the tyres chemically react with the road to help provide grip, it's not just friction, this is increased with heat - too much and you get "thermal degradation", they run out of rubber on the tyres, so a net effect of less grip, this is of course variable according to the track temperature, and external conditions, you'll see different tyre compounds being brought to different races. "Wear" degradation is simply rubber being "flaked" off, due to contact with the road, some tracks are "wear dependent", i.e. that is the main reason the tyres will lose their rubber (and hence lose their grip), this depends on the track surface, and the number of corners.

2. To save on weight, F1 cars are cooled in motion by the air rushing over them, not by cooling devices inside the car, when stationary the cooling effect is a lot less, so they artificially cool the car which is the purpose of the devices you described.

3. http://www.formula1.com/inside_f1/under ... /5287.html.

^There's also a lot more on there, explaining some details of f1.

[What's Burning?]

The brakes in particular must be very properl regulated with temperatures, they're designed to work best at a certain temperature range so they must come up to temperature and then come down from that temperature in a controlled way whenever possible to prolong their life. They're made of carbon material BTW, so that why you'll also see black dust being blown from them at times when they put those blowers on.

[gogoguy110]

Thank you all for replying. I assumed the insulated covers they wrap around the tyres were to keep them as warm as possible between runs. Thank you for the additional info on tyre wear, Vaptin.

As far as cooling the engines, I understand that. I found it amazing that during a race they must keep the engine revs above 7000 RPM when they pit, otherwise the engine will cool down too much/too fast and possibly damage the engine within seconds.

If you watch the practice sessions closely....when they push a car into the garage the pit crew will immediately install a blower apparatus pointing at the inside of each wheel. I assume it is to cool/warm the brake calipers so they don't cool too quickly and warp. Correct?

[andrew]

The brakes and engine are only cooled by air blowing over them, either from the car moving forward at speed or by handhled fans (leaf blowers) as unlike a road car there are no fans.

[LRW]

I was watching the Singapore practice sessions and I have a couple questions-

1. Why do they put covers over the tires when they back the car into the garage between runs?
2. What is the purpose of the blowers (they kind of look like leave blowers) that they attach to each wheel in the garage? Do they blow heat or cool air?
3. Where can I find something that tells more about the steering wheel and what all the buttons/gauges do?

thanks!

That's a few questions, not a couple.

[andrew]

It's a puclpe or even a trio but I wouldn't say as much as a few.

[LRW]

It's a puclpe or even a trio but I wouldn't say as much as a few.

Seems the modern world is going mad. Not only do people like cheese n onion crisps, but the term, a couple, is now not easily defined....

http://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2010/05/how-much-is-a-few.html

Anyway I guess the point is you've had your questions answered. Which is a good thing.

[gogoguy110]

That's a few questions, not a couple.

My apologies LRW. I guess I did ask a "few" questions.
Thank you for trolling the forums for grammatically incorrect syntactic structure, rather then offering an educated response to the questions.

[LRW]

That's a few questions, not a couple.

My apologies LRW. I guess I did ask a "few" questions.
Thank you for trolling the forums for grammatically incorrect syntactic structure, rather then offering an educated response to the question.

No worries.

Big hugs.

[vaptin]

That's a few questions, not a couple. [/quote]

My apologies LRW. I guess I did ask a "few" questions.
Thank you for trolling the forums for grammatically incorrect syntactic structure, rather then offering an educated response to the question.[/quote]

Don't worry about him, Button fans get cranky when Lewis out qualifies him, with good reason too though.

[andrew]

That's a few questions, not a couple. [/quote]

My apologies LRW. I guess I did ask a "few" questions.
Thank you for trolling the forums for grammatically incorrect syntactic structure, rather then offering an educated response to the question.[/quote]



That gave me a laugh! Hope you stick around.

How about introducing yourself formally here and joining in the madness?

[andrew]

That's a few questions, not a couple.

My apologies LRW. I guess I did ask a "few" questions.
Thank you for trolling the forums for grammatically incorrect syntactic structure, rather then offering an educated response to the question.[/quote]

Don't worry about him, Button fans get cranky when Lewis out qualifies him, with good reason too though.[/quote]

Button fan? I could have sworn he was a Vettel fan.

[LRW]

Don't worry about him, Button fans get cranky when Lewis out qualifies him, with good reason too though.

Button fan? Technically a McLaren fan.

But in all sincerity, gogoguy110, I do apologise. It was only a tongue in cheek comment, that wasn't meant to offend!!