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Ferrari racing by computer |
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Although
there has been a general ban on testing during the month of August, it
has been a month where all but Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro's drivers have
been working harder than ever in recent weeks to make sure that they
retain their World Championship titles for another year.
Testing might not be allowed on the track, but for Ferrari engineer Luca
Baldisseri and his team who look after the factory simulation programs,
it is one of the moist intense periods of the season, made even tougher
this year by the fact that the team has no margin for error as they go
into the final three races of the season starting with their special
home race in Monza.
'During the break we have been simulating all aspects of the car in the
wind tunnel, engine and chassis test rigs around a basic model of the
car. Information we have gathered throughout the season and in previous
races at the various circuits are all fed into computers to evaluate the
ideal set-up and lap times for any given race track,' explains
Baldisseri. Normally, it is infact possible to predict the car's lap
times to within a few tenth's of a second.
Since the Hungarian GP, the team has been concentrating on Monza, where
they have just completed their first test in a month just a week before
the race. 'It is good to have all the answers on paper before the car
even turns a wheel, but the ultimate answer comes from the drivers. We
can save a lot of track time by arriving at the circuit already prepared
to a certain level, but it's the driver who has to fine tune our work
and come up with the final answers,' he points out.
As well as the Ferrari factory, their tyre partners Bridgestone have
also been working flat out to develop new tyres for the final vital
three races. They too have a rolling road and computer simulation
programs to help them develop new constructions and compounds, which
must ultimately be proven on the track by the drivers. New tyre sensor
systems are also being developed by the team to help the driver make the
difficult evaluation choices over which tyre to race.
'The tyre performance is never constant because of the changing track
conditions and wear characteristics etc, so much of our work at Monza
was spent evaluating tyres. Bridgestone has produced around 25 new tyres
for us to try,' he says. Although results during the Monza test were
encouraging, it will not be until the race next weekend that we will
know just which company is ahead in the red hot tyre war between the two
tyre rivals.
As a test, the week before Monza was one of the most intense of the year
with both the race and test teams taking part along with another test
team in Maranello. Four drivers and some 100 personnel took part in the
tests last week, Monza being the last low downforce circuit of the
season and where brake performance is also another critical aspect of
the race. 'We can also simulate estimated wear and endurance for the
brakes, but in the race that can all change depending on the
circumstances or changes of fuel loads etc. We have real-time monitoring
which can alert us to any possible issues,' he explains.
With talk of further reducing testing time for teams which could
probably take place in the future; sophisticated simulation programs
will be used even more over the coming years. 'Regulating track testing
as a cost reduction method simply means that more money is spent on
simulation programs at the factory and costs remain the same or could
get even higher for the smaller teams who are obliged to invest in
simulation if they want to remain competitive,' he points out.
Whatever the outcome might be next weekend in Monza, you can be sure
that every foreseeable aspect of the car operation has been covered
either on or off the track, but however good race simulation might be,
it cannot allow for the unexpected surprises and of those there are no
shortages in Formula One, however hard you prepare! |
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