| F1-DICTIONARY |
| ADR |
Accident Data Recorder.Black Box for Formula
1 Cars |
| Aerodynamics |
The study of
airflow over and around an object and thus an intrinsic part
of Formula One™ car design. |
| Airflow |
The
movement of air around the chassis of the race car. |
| Anhedral |
The angle between an aerofoil and the horizontal
when the wing is inclined downwards from its mounting.
|
| Apex |
 |
The middle point
of the inside line around a corner at which drivers aim their
cars. |
| Appeal |
Something that
a team does on its drivers' behalf if it feels that they have
been unfairly penalised by the race officials.
|
| Ballast |
Weights fixed
around the car to maximise its balance and bring it up to the
minimum weight limit. |
| Bargeboard
|
The piece of
bodywork mounted vertically between the front wheels and the
start of the sidepods to help smooth the airflow around the
sides of the car. |
| Bernoulli
Effect |
states
that the pressure of a fluid (liguid or gas), decreases as the
fluid (liquid or gas), flows faster. |
| Blistering |
This is what
happens to a tyre, or part of a tyre, when it overheats. Excess
heat can cause rubber to soften and break away in chunks from
the body of the tyre. |
| Bodywork |
The carbon fibre
sections fitted onto the monocoque before the cars leave the
pits, such as the engine cover, the cockpit top and the nosecone.
|
| Bottoming |
When a car's
chassis hits the track surface as it runs through a sharp compression
and reaches the bottom of its suspension travel.
|
| Boundary layer |
A layer of static to slow moving air adjacent
to the surfaces of a moving body. Friction between the body
and the surrounding air holds back the
flow nearest the surfaces, whilst the air further from the body
in the mainstream flows past at unabated speed. |
| Brake balance |
A switch in the
cockpit to alter the split of the car's braking between the
front and the rear according to a driver's wishes.
|
| Camber |
An aerofoil with one surface (top or bottom) curved
more than the other side is said to have camber.
Tyre camber is the amount that the top of the tyre leans into,
or away from the car.
Track camber is the horizontal angle or curve on a track surface.
|
| Carbon
fiber |
Carbon
based composite material,that is strong in tension but reasonably
flexible. It can be bound in a matrix of plastic resin by heat,vacuum
or pressure. It is strong, light and expensive |
| Cd |
Drag
coefficient or coefficient of drag. It is determined by the
shape and smoothness of shape of the object. In this case the
car. |
| Cfd |
Computational
Fluid Dynamics.Equations that are known are programmed into
computers. The computers provide solutions to the problem of
external airflow over vehicle shapes. The body of the configuration
and the space surrounding it are represented by clusters of
points, lines and surfaces; equations are solved at these points.
CFD is divided into three steps. Grid generation, numerical
simulation and post-process analysis |
| Chassis |
Refers to all mechanical parts of the car attached to the structural
frame. |
| Chicane |
A tight sequence
of corners in alternate directions. Usually inserted into a
circuit to slow the cars, often just before what had been a
high-speed corner. |
| Chord |
The distance between an aerofoil's leading edge
and its trailing edge. |
| Clean air |
Air that isn't
turbulent, and thus offers optimum aerodynamic conditions, as
experienced by a car at the head of the field.
|
| Cockpit
|
The section of
the chassis in which the driver sits. |
| Differential |
A set of mechanical gears that eqaulises the power
between the left and right drive wheels, particularly when cornering,
when the outside wheel travels
further than the inside wheel. |
| Diffuser |
The divergent (expanding) section of a duct which
slows down airflow to reduce pressure loss. On an F1 car it
is an upswept panel at the rear of the
underbody. |
| Dirty Air |
If another car is driving in front, it produces turbulence
that can drastically reduce the effectiveness of the front wing.
This is the so-called "Dirty air" effect. Under ideal
conditions the front wing produces 25% of the cars total down
force. |
| Downforce |
The aerodynamic
force that is applied in a downwards direction as a car travels
forwards. This is harnessed to improve a car's traction and
thus its handling through corners. |
| Drag |
The aerodynamic
resistance experienced as a car travels forwards |
| Drive-through
penalty |
Drivers must
enter the pit lane and re-join the race without stopping. One
of two penalties that can be handed out at the discretion of
the Stewards whilst the race is still running.
|
| Flat spot |
What happens
when a tyre is worn through on one spot after a moment of extreme
braking or in the course of a spin. This ruins its handling,
often causing severe vibration, and forces a driver to pit for
a replacement set of tyres. |
| Force majeure |
A situation
in which a team or driver had no option given the circumstances.
Often cited for example if torrential conditions have left a
driver or drivers outside the 107% qualifying target in qualifying,
and they are duly admitted to the race. |
| Formation
lap |
This is the last
lap before the start of the race when the cars are driven round
from the grid to form up on the grid again for the start of
the race. |
| Gravel trap |
A bed of gravel
on the outside of corners with the aim of stopping cars that
fall off the circuit there. |
| Grip |
The amount of
traction a car has at any given point, thus affecting how easy
it is for the driver to keep control through corners.
|
| Ground
Effects |
Downforce
created by an a low pressure area between the underbody and
the ground, and downforce created by the front and rear wings. |
| Installation
lap |
A lap done on
arrival at a circuit, testing functions such as throttle, brakes
and steering before heading back to the pits without crossing
the finish line. |
| Intermediate
tyre |
A tyre that
has more grooves and a more treaded pattern than the dry weather
tyre, but fewer than the wet weather tyre, and is used in mixed
conditions. |
| Jump start |
When a driver
moves off his grid position before the five red lights have
been switched off to signal the start. Sensors detect premature
movement and a jump start earns a driver a penalty.
|
| Laminar |
Laminar
flow means the fluid is moving in smooth layers around the object.
Air flow becomes turbulent moving from the front to the rear
of the car, forced around obstructions such as mirrors, helmets,
and rollbars. |
| Left-foot
braking |
A style of braking
made popular in the 1990s following the arrival of hand clutches
so that drivers could keep their right foot on the throttle
and dedicate their left to braking. |
| Lift |
The
upward reaction of an aircraft to the flow of air air forced
over the shape of the wing (airfoil). The front and rear wings
of ground effect cars are shaped like inverted wings to create
downforce or negative lift. |
| Limit Layer |
As air is viscous, the air particles are 'glued' to the car
surface. The next layer of air particles move slowly on these
particles. The next layer moves a bit more fast and so on. We
call this accumulation of air particles the limit layer.
Now, if the speed of the air through the limit layer is low,
the layer maintains its laminar structure. At great speeds,
the limit layer makes turbulences and dissintegrates. This breaking
of the layer consumes energy and increases the drag factor.
However, despite the efforts in the aerodynamic design, the
limit layer destruction is inevitable, althought it may be displaced
behind the car. |
| Lollipop |
The sign on a
stick held in front of the car during a pit stop to inform the
driver to apply the brakes and then to engage first gear prior
to the car being lowered from its jacks.
|
| Marbles |
Loose balls of
track surface that have been pulled up at the corners by the
grippiness of the cars' tyres. These can then catch out those
drivers drifting off the racing line. |
| Marshal |
A course official
who oversees the safe running of the race. Marshals have several
roles to fill, including observing the spectators to ensure
they do not endanger themselves or the competitors, acting as
fire wardens, helping to remove stranded cars/drivers from the
track and using waving flags to signal the condition of the
track to drivers. |
| MMC |
Metal Matrix Composite (MMC) material
developed for Formula One piston .The aluminium and ceramic
alloy in question offers a weight saving approaching that
of aluminium-beryllium, together with excellent thermal characteristics.
Unlike aluminium-beryllium, it has a lot of potential for
inlet valve as well as piston manufacture, promising significant
gains over titanium valves |
| Monocoque |
The single-piece
tub in which the cockpit is located, with the engine fixed behind
it and the front suspension on either side at the front.
|
| Oversteer |
When a car's
rear end doesn't want to go around a corner and tries to overtake
the front end as the driver turns in towards the apex. This
often requires opposite-lock to correct, whereby the driver
turns the front wheels into the skid. |
| Paddles |
Levers on either
side of the back of a steering wheel with which a driver changes
up and down the gearbox. |
| Paddock |
An enclosed
area behind the pits in which the teams keep their transporters
and motor homes. There is no admission to the public.
|
| Paintwork |
Both vehicles belonging to a competitor must retain
their paintwork throughout the racing season for which they
are entering. Any changes have to be approved
by the Formula 1 Commission. Every vehicle must bear the start
number of the respective driver; the number must be clearly
visible from the side and the
front on a 25 cm TV screen. The manufacturer's logo must be
visible on the front of the vehicle's nose. The name of the
driver must also be printed and clearly
legible either on the bodywork, the outside of the cockpit or
the helmet |
| Parc ferme |
A fenced-off
area into which cars are driven after the race, where no team
members are allowed to touch them until they have been passed
as legal by the scrutineers. |
| Pit board |
A board held
out on the pit wall to inform a driver of his race position,
the time interval to the car ahead or the one behind, plus the
number of laps of the race remaining. |
| Pit wall |
Where the team
owner, managers and engineers spend the race, usually under
an awning to keep sun and rain off their monitors.
|
| Pits |
An area of track
separated from the start/finish straight by a wall, where the
cars are brought for new tyres and fuel during the race, or
for set-up changes in practice and qualifying, each stopping
at their respective pit garages. |
| Plank |
A wooden strip
that was fitted front-to-back down the middle of the underside
of all cars in the mid-1990s to check that cars were not being
run too close to the track surface, something that was indicated
if the wood was worn away. |
| Pole position |
The
first place on the starting grid, as awarded to the driver who
lapped fastest during qualifying. |
| Practice |
The periods
on Friday and Saturday mornings at a Grand Prix meeting when
the drivers are out on the track working on the set-up of their
cars for the qualifying that follows. |
| Protest
|
Something that
is lodged by a team when it considers that another team or competitor
has transgressed the rules. |
| Races |
The distance of a Grand Prix corresponds to thenumber
of laps that are required to attain theminimum distance of 305
km. This guarantees that allteams participating in each race
can becomeaccustomed to roughly the same distance. A Grand Prix
may be cancelled if less than 12 vehicles are available,or if
an unforeseeable occurrence three months beforethe event makes
it impossible to proceed with the race |
| Racing line |
An imaginary line around a circuit that provides
the quickest lap time. When turning into a right-handed corner,
the quickest line is to enter on the left
side of the track, turn in and 'touch' the apex and ease back
out to the left side of the track. Opposite for left-handers. |
| Ride height |
Synonymous with ground clearance, the ride height
can be taken as the size of the gap between a vehicle underside
and the ground.
|
| Qualifying |
The one-hour
period on Saturdays in which drivers are allowed a maximum of
12 laps to set the best time they can, with the driver who laps
fastest then starting the race from the front of the grid.
|
| Reconnaissance
lap |
A lap completed
when drivers leave the pits to assemble on the grid for the
start. If a driver decides to do several, they must divert through
the pit lane as the grid will be crowded with team personnel. |
| Retirement
|
When a car has
to drop out of the race because of accident or mechanical failure.
|
| Ride height
|
The height between
the track's surface and the floor of the car.
|
| Safety Car
|
The course vehicle
that is called from the pits to run in front of the leading
car in the race in the event of a problem that requires the
cars to be slowed. |
| Scrutineering |
The technical
checking of cars by the officials to ensure that none are outside
the regulations. |
| Shakedown |
A brief test
when a team is trying a different car part for the first time
before going back out to drive at 100% to set a fast time.
|
| Sidepod |
The part of the
car that flanks the sides of the monocoque alongside the driver
and runs back to the rear wing, housing the radiators |
| Slipstreaming
|
A driving tactic
when a driver is able to catch the car ahead and duck in behind
its rear wing to benefit from a reduction in drag over its body
and hopefully be able to achieve a superior maximum speed to
slingshot past before the next corner. |
| Spare car |
Each team brings
an extra car to races, or sometimes two, in case of damage to
the cars they intended to race. Also called a T-car (Test-car).
|
| Splash and
dash |
A pit stop in
the closing laps of the race when a driver calls in for just
a few litres of fuel to be sure of making it to the finish.
|
| Starting grid |
The starting grid consists of two cars per row
in staggered formation, with an interval of eight metres between
each row. The driver who set the fastest time will start from
the front in the so-called "pole position", and the
others will line up on the grid in the order of the times they
have achieved. In the event of a tie, the driver who achieved
the time first is given priority |
| Steward |
One of three
high-ranking officials at each Grand Prix appointed to make
decisions |
| Stop-go penalty |
A penalty given
that involves the driver calling at his pit and stopping for
10 seconds - with no refuelling or tyre-changing allowed. |
| Tear-off strips |
See-through plastic
strips that drivers fit to their helmet's visor before the start
of the race and then remove as they become dirty.
|
| Telemetry |
An
electronic device which transmits specific data (measurements)
to a remote site. It electronically records performance of engine
and actuation of controls by the driver. The data is then used
as a foundation for determining car setup. After 1993 electronic
data could only be received from the car, but no data could
be transmitted back to it. However, this ban on two-way telemetry
has now been lifted and bi-directional communication is once
again allowed. |
| Tpc |
Tyre Pressure Control.Tyre Pressure Control permanently monitors
pressure and temperature inside all four wheels, warning the
driver of possible punctures or tyre defects. The system ensures
a higher standard of active safety, greater economy and extra
comfort. |
| Traction |
The degree to
which a car is able to transfer its power onto the track surface
for forward progress. |
| Traction control |
A computerised
system that detects if either of a car's driven (rear) wheels
is losing traction - ie. spinning - and transfers more drive
to the wheel with more traction, thus using its more power efficiently.
|
| Turbulence |
The result of
the disruption of airflow caused by an interruption to its passage,
such as when it hits a rear wing and its horizontal flow is
spoiled |
| Tyre compound |
The type of rubber
mix used in the construction of a tyre, ranging from soft through
medium to hard, with each offering a different performance and
wear characteristic. |
| Tyre warmer |
An electric blanket
that is wrapped around the tyres before they are fitted to the
car so that they will start closer to their optimum operating
temperature. |
| Turning
Vane |
Deflectors
located between the front wheels and sidepods to direct turbulent
flow away from the tunnels. This eliminates a source of turbulent
air to the tunnels. Cleaner air to the tunnels creates more
downforce |
| Understeer |
Where the front
end of the car doesn't want to turn into a corner and slides
wide as the driver tries to turn in towards the apex |
| Undertray |
A separate floor
to the car that is bolted onto the underside of the monocoque.
|
| Venturi |
A
narrow tunnel under the side pod, shaped like an inverted wing.
As air enters and is forced through the narrow center,its speed
increases, creating a low pressure area between the bottom of
the car and the track. This creates a suction effect, which
holds the car to the track. |
| Venturi
Effect: |
Fluid
speed increases when the fluid is forced through a narrow or
restricted area. The increased speed results in a reduction
in pressure. The underbody venturi is shaped to create a low
pressure area between the road and chassis which creates downforce. |
| Visualization |
Complex
analysis tool that presents CFD data as an image. |
| Warm-up |
The half-hour
period on race morning in which the teams and drivers concentrate
on the set-up of their cars for the race, running with full
tank loads of fuel. |
| Weighing |
During qualifying each vehicle will be called
in atrandom for weighing. A red light on the approach lane to
the pits indicates exactly when the driver concerned is to drive
on to the scales. If the vehicle fails to comply with the regulations,
it will be excluded from the race by the stewards. |
| Wind
Tunnel |
A tube like structure where wind is produced usually by a large
fan to flow over the test object. The object is connected to
instruments that measure and record aerodynamic forces that
act upon it |
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