FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[Rivelution]

Two of Formula 1's major manufacturers are believed to be keen to see a return of turbo power to the top flight in the near future – whilst drivers suggest the sport's new regulations will promote far greater overtaking from as early as next season.

Earlier this year, FIA President Max Mosley gave teams an ultimatum to come up with new ways to cut costs, improve energy efficiency and create a better spectacle in F1 – or else have the rules imposed upon them.

Amongst the discussions, there have been moves for a radical change on the engine front, with calls for the introduction of smaller, 1.5-litre turbocharged powerplants to replace the current, 2.4-litre normally-aspirated V8s from 2012.

According to the largest Austrian daily newspaper, Kronen Zeitung, both BMW and Renault are keen on this idea as a way to end Ferrari's present monopoly. Despite the Scuderia's ongoing reliability problems – with Felipe Massa and Kimi Raikkonen having suffered a failure apiece in the last two grands prix – Ferrari-powered drivers filled the top five spots through the speed traps in Valencia last weekend, in the shape of Sébastien Bourdais (313km/h), Raikkonen (313km/h), Sebastian Vettel (313km/h), Massa (312km/h) and Adrian Sutil (311km/h).

Turbo-charged engines have not been used in the uppermost echelon since the end of the 1988 campaign.

http://www.crash.net/motorsport/f1/news/168226-0/bmw_renault_push_for_turbo_return_in_f1.html

[7UpJordan]

It would be great to see the return of the turbo era, now that would REALLY test the drivers' skill, fighting with turbo lag and then the sudden boost that would come on. Also if they do ditch re-fueling that would make driving economically even more critical.

[McLaren Fan]

It would be great to see the return of the turbo era, now that would REALLY test the drivers' skill, fighting with turbo lag and then the sudden boost that would come on. Also if they do ditch re-fueling that would make driving economically even more critical.

That, coupled with research in making Formula One engines more efficient, would be a great challenge for the teams and drivers.

[Rivelution]

I wonder if Ferrari would lose their dominance too.

[7UpJordan]

I wonder if Ferrari would lose their dominance too.

That would also be very interesting to see, because it's basically another big reset. Sure I know you could say the same about the switch from 3 litre V10's to the current 2.4 litre V8's but 1.5 Litre V6 turbo's are something different.

I'm sure JensonB and Denthul would love to see this because Honda made the best turbo engines for Williams and McLaren in the mid to late 80's.

[welshie]

I wonder if Ferrari would lose their dominance too.

That would also be very interesting to see, because it's basically another big reset. Sure I know you could say the same about the switch from 3 litre V10's to the current 2.4 litre V8's but 1.5 Litre V6 turbo's are something different.

I'm sure JensonB and Denthul would love to see this because Honda made the best turbo engines for Williams and McLaren in the mid to late 80's.

Yes Honda . . . yes turbo!!

[Dardas]

As a BMW men - I would agree to that ;P

But Seriously - Question to people who really know something about how engines works.

Can someone explain - simple, but with some knowledge inside - how that would change F1 car?

Just don't try explain what is Turbo please

[f1maniac95]

I would love to see Turbo back in F1 along with re-fueling not allowed would make the race very interesting.

[Denthúl]

I wonder if Ferrari would lose their dominance too.

That would also be very interesting to see, because it's basically another big reset. Sure I know you could say the same about the switch from 3 litre V10's to the current 2.4 litre V8's but 1.5 Litre V6 turbo's are something different.

I'm sure JensonB and Denthul would love to see this because Honda made the best turbo engines for Williams and McLaren in the mid to late 80's.

Very much so.

Unfortunately, I don't think that it would help unless Honda got their chassis-design act together. The best engine can only get you so far, otherwise we'd see Toro Rosso and Force India cars scoring pole position every now and then. :/

I'd definitely like to see turbo cars, though. That would definitely add new factors of interest to the sport

[McLaren Fan]

As a BMW men - I would agree to that ;P

But Seriously - Question to people who really know something about how engines works.

Can someone explain - simple, but with some knowledge inside - how that would change F1 car?

Just don't try explain what is Turbo please

The reintroduction of turbochargers would certainly shake up things a lot. Driving a turbocharged car is generally more challenging, as the driver has to factor in the turbo lag when he is applying the throttle. If he puts his foot down too far, things will be fine for a couple of seconds and then a surge of power will come, so the driver could crash or run wide when cornering. If, however, you don't press the throttle pedal quite enough, the engine will not produce as much power and/or torque, so another driver, assuming he does things correct, could close up on you and maybe get past.

There are also numerous engineering challenges with turbochargers. First, they can often be less reliable than normally aspirated engines, so the engineers would have to find the correct balance between the risk of component failure and torque and power output. Also, the engineers could try to increase both the reliability of the parts and getting more torque and power from it. At a time when poor reliability in Formula One gets punished, this could make things more interesting. Turbochargers could also be used to make the cars more environmentally friendly. With the current crop of Formula One engines, the exhaust gases and heat produced by the engines are wasted, but turbocharged engines could turn some of the engines waste products into useful energy. Thus, the engine could produce more torque and power for its size and use less fuel to produce these performance gains.

Not only that, turbocharged engines with a lot of boost sound great.

I would certainly love to see turbocharged engines back in Formula One. I really hope this proposal is expanded upon and eventually becomes part of the sport.

For me, this just shows once again how the FIA have missed a trick when it comes to spicing up the sport and improving its "green" image. These type of measures should have been on the table a very long time ago - just as reducing the cars' reliance on aerodynamic grip and decreasing the importance of their mechanical grip should have been.

[headless]

Some guy said to me ALL electronic aids should be removed and the sport should be made less safe.
I
Interesting view. Bet he wouldn't say that if he was a driver.

[madbrad]

The way turbos would change the sport is way different from the way they changed the sport way back in the late 70s when Renault showed up with one. Back then, there wasn't a regulation prohibiting them, and the only reason no one had one was because no one thought it was the best place to spend money. Renault tried it and at first the reliability sceptics were right. Maybe this isn't worth it. But Renault soldiered on and when it looked OK then other rich teams gradually adopted it, because it was clearly the faster way around the circuit. Poorer engines were still NA with larger dispalcements. Reportedly the most powerful turbo in its peak was the BMW 4 cyl said to make some 1400 bhp, with which Gerhard Berger in 86 scored both his and Benetton's first victory(he also scored both his and Benetton't LAST victory in 97).

This time around, presumably the return of turbos would be regulated in by the rulemakers so that by the first race of season X, all the teams have it. That's a very different scenario from before. And if there's an engine freeze, teams that didn't get it right would have to live with their lumps of metal for the whole year. May as well not compete at all.

[texasmr2]

Very well put and let's not forget that some team's may still be running larger displacement N/A engine's which are just as thirsty as highboost small displacement turbo engine's. Alot more team strategy will be needed but then again we do not know what rule's and reg's will be in place regarding fuel, displacement, boost, minimum weight and possibly new aero reg's with boosted engine?

Forget waiting till 2012 let's shoot for 2010!!!!