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Ken Gratton15 Mar 2013
NEWS

F1: Green has to be seen for 2014

Moseley-inspired migration to hybrid power for Formula One sets an agenda for public opinion
There's an element of political correctness in the FIA's decision to embrace sophisticated energy recovery technology for its 2014 Formula One cars – but it is in a good cause. 
A reduction in CO2 emissions from race cars would be nothing more than a token gesture at best, against a backdrop of millions of cars around the world contributing to the global greenhouse gas aggregate every day of the week. What the 2014 regs will do is set people straight about the importance the FIA places on lowering global greenhouse gas emissions. 
The initiative for the change originally came from Max Mosley, former president of the FIA (Federation Internationale de l'Automobile), the sport's governing body. Mosley and management at the FIA tasked the association's Institute for Motor Sport Safety and Sustainability to develop the new regs and see them through to fruition. 
Speaking at the Cars of the Future conference held in Melbourne yesterday, Garry Connelly, Deputy President of the Institute, explained that he and the FIA noted that the general public, globally, had been slow to accept hybrid-drive technology in road cars. 
"People are not going to want to drive a pedal car," he succinctly put it. He didn't mention by name the Toyota and Honda hybrids you can buy off the floor of a dealer showroom, but clearly those cars have informed public opinion about "low emissions technology" up to this point in history. Connelly and his colleagues at the FIA seem determined to turn around that perception. 
What's more, the FIA is placing contrived obstacles in the way of engine manufacturers so that they don't tackle the problem with the traditional excess and overkill for which F1 and its teams are known. So the sport's regulatory framework for 2014 mandates the same kind of bureaucratic measures that governments often inflict on road car manufacturers. Okay, so F1 cars don't have to pass ADR 69 for frontal offset crash protection, but engine manufacturers are not permitted to do much tweaking of the turbocharger, for instance. The FIA doesn't want the engine builders focusing too much on the incremental gains from that kind of R&D, when there's much more gain to be made optimising the energy recovery systems. 
According to Connelly, the FIA conducted an experiment in which they compared a Mercedes-Benz road car, developing 550hp, against a GT3 race car (the SLS AMG?) and two F1 cars... one V8-engined car built according to 2013 regs and a 2014 car. 
Over 100km at race speeds the Benz used 42kg of fuel at maximum power, the GT3 used 152kg of fuel and developed the same amount of power. The 2013 F1 car used 160kg and developed 730hp, whereas the 2014 F1 car used 100kg of fuel with 750hp. 
Comparing the four cars, the FIA concluded that the efficiency factor (grams of fuel per kilometre per brake-horsepower) was 0.55 for the road car, 0.91 for the GT3 (not as good as the road car), with the 2013 F1 car splitting the different at 0.72. Next year's F1 car achieved an efficiency rating of 0.44 – better than any of the other three cars. 
Connelly provided a brief history of KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) since its introduction to F1 in 2007. Basically, through a combination of weight reduction and enhanced efficiency, the KERS system of 2013 offers 12 times the energy density of its 2007 predecessor. 
For 2014 the energy recovery system is in for a major overhaul. Next year the system will be more closely integrated with the internal combustion engine – a 1.6-litre turbo V6 rather than the current 2.4-litre V8 – and will be simply 'ERS'. The new Energy Recovery System will combine KERS, as we know it, with HERS (Heat Energy Recovery System). 
With effect from next year the drivetrain system will cease to be named 'engine' in favour of 'power unit', since the ERS will be a critical part of the vehicle's drive system. Unlike the past, where using KERS was an option available to the driver – and not always the preferred option – the engine alone won't be enough to keep the lead driver in the lead. 
ERS will weigh between 20 and 25kg and must be located within the "survival cell" of the car. Compared with this year's KERS (80hp boost for 6.8 seconds a lap), the boost from 2014's ERS will be 161hp – double the power – for 33 seconds a lap. 
"It means that for the vast majority of your lap, where you are accelerating, you are not only able to use – you will have to use – the Energy Recovery Systems," said Connelly. "Next year... if you lose your energy recovery system, you're gone. It's going to be such an important part you will go from first to last."
 The entire power unit, which comprises the internal-combustion engine and two energy recovery/drive systems – the MGUH (heat) and MGUK (kinetic energy) – weighs "one or two kg heavier" than the conventional V8 used this year. 
The FIA has outlined restrictions for F1 teams in 2014, with the engine's max revs dropped back from the current year's 18,000 rpm to 15,000. As for the turbo, it is limited to 125,000 rpm, which is considerably less than some road cars. Fuel load for the F1 car next year will be just 100kg for a race. At present the fuel load is unrestricted. Among other restrictions for 2014 is the limit of just five engines for the season, rather than eight, as is the case currently. That puts a slightly different slant on sustainability.
What's happening in F1 from next year (and arguably since the introduction of KERS in 2007) is a line in the sand for the FIA. Connelly summed up the FIA's stance with what amounts to a mission statement. 
"All people in motorsport should be very conscious of the environment; we should take the lead. We think we're doing that with the FIA, with the regulations for Formula One... and we believe motor sport can truly be an environmental champion."

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Written byKen Gratton
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