Layout
Incredibly narrow and winding, three-time world champion Nelson Piquet described driving on the back streets of the Principality “like riding a bicycle in the living room”. Which gives a very good idea of the challenges that the drivers are preparing to face this week. Monte Carlo is certanly not a GP that brings out the highest skills of driving from our athletes, but there is another aspect to consider: the ‘ high level of concentration that drivers are obliged to maintain during the entire weekend , with the peak obviously reached during the 78 laps of the race.
Finding ourselves in Monaco it is almost useless to try to differentiate between the various sectors of the track. With an extension just over 3 km ( 3337 meters ) we can say, however, that despite the many slow corners, including the slowest of the whole championship, the Loews (Turn-6), taken in first gear at a speed of about 50 km / h , in addition to the high Mirabeau (5), low Mirabeau (7), Portier (8), the Nuovelle Chicane (10-11), La Rascasse (18), Anthony Noghes(19), we also find some fast sections, given by the bend of the tunnel (9), the swimming pool area (curves 13-14-15 and 16) and obviously the main straight, the only point where it will be possible to benefit from the DRS .
Aerodynamics and DRS
In order to allow the drivers to tackle the Monaco circuit with the right amount of confidence necessary to be able to pass a few millimeters from barriers and guard rails, the engineers will have no choice but to focus on the maximum amount of aerodynamic load possible. Being a ” rear-limited ” track, the suspensions will be made softer to make the most of the traction qualities of the single-seaters , while the steering arms will be suitably modified to allow the front wheels a greater opening angle, so as not to have problems traveling the very slow and very narrow Loews back.
Even if given the high aerodynamic load used, being able to operate the DRS on the straight that runs alongside the pits could also guarantee a delta of about 10 km / h, the not particularly long straight combined with a rather narrow track, will give the drivers almost only the advantage of being able to get rid of lapped drivers with greater agility. Unless there is a marked difference in performance, it will be difficult to witness any noteworthy maneuvers. The best way to try to earn a good number of positions is to rely on a good strategy. However, this is also a limiting aspect, as given the low degradation of the tires, the drivers will be able to easily complete the race through the use of a single pitstop. In this sense, the work on the wall is decisive: it will be essential to call the driver back at the most appropriate time in order to avoid any traffic problems .
Fuels and Transmission
The consumption is not a problem in Monaco. With the engine not exploited at maximum power and taking into account that due to the conformity of the track, the intervention of one or more Safety Cars is more or less the norm, the teams will be able to complete the event with fuel values much lower than the 110 kg required by regulation (closer to 90 kg to get an idea). Obviously, being a circuit with many slow corners to tackle, the drivers will be required to use the gear shift paddles 50 times during the entire lap for a total of 3900 ‘clicks’ during the entire race.
A thousand more than in the previous Spanish appointment. Higher values, but which nevertheless remain within the annual average. The aspect that could compromise its correct functioning, rather than wear, will be linked to the high temperatures that will be reached under the hood of the cars. For this reason, it will be possible to see particularly open vents , which will compromise the aerodynamic efficiency of the car, but will prove essential in order not to cause the mechanical parts in the rear part of the car to go into crisis.
Power Unit
As we have already seen for the gearbox (and for the braking system later on), the low speeds will determine the technicians to search for systems to ensure adequate thermal disposal also as regards the power unit side. For this reason, despite the mild climate that can be found in Monte Carlo at this time of the year, it will be possible to admire on the single-seaters solutions very similar to those generally taken in territories characterized by much higher ambient temperatures.. The challenge that the engineers will have to face this weekend, then, will be to go and look for a mapping that does not go so much to privilege the maximum power of the engine (factor not very influential on this track: 0.14 seconds every 10 HP ), but able to make the most of the torque curve and the ‘ power delivery at low speeds in the various sections of the track.
Braking system
Monaco is one of those tracks characterized by high downforce and high percentages of time spent braking. Even if the braking system is not stressed by very high forces ( Brembo technicians have marked it with an index equal to 3 on a scale of values ranging from 1 to 5), the track is still challenging for the brakes due to the high temperatures reached by the calipers and by the actuating fluid present therein. In the past there have also been some phenomena of ‘ vapor lock ‘ (boiling of the liquid) leading to alengthening of the brake pedal with a later response of the same . The extreme proximity to the barriers forces the drivers to be extremely precise: failing to brake even by just one meter could lead to impact with the guard-rail and consequent withdrawal. For this reason, the braking systems must remain efficient up to the checkered flag. It is not an easy task because in the entire GP each car is called to perform almost 870 braking times overall .
Despite being the shortest track in the F1 calendar, just 3,337 meters , Monaco is characterized by 11 braking sections, 3 more than the previous Spanish GP. In Monte Carlo the drivers will use the brakes for 18.5 ” per lap equal to 27% of the overall duration of the race. The lack of very fast sections, with the partial exception of the exit from the tunnel and the Mirabeau, translates into braking that never exceeds 2.6 seconds. Furthermore, there are 5 curves in which the maximum deceleration does not even reach the value of 3g. This translates into an average deceleration of 3 g , one point lower than what we saw two weeks ago at Montmelò . The many braking effects determine, throughout the entire GP, a very high value of energy dissipated under braking: 239 kWh .
From the start to the checkered flag, Brembo technicians have estimated that each driver will exert a total load of 62 tons on the brake pedal . In other words, for every minute of the race, the drivers will be required to make an effort on the brake pedal of over 6 quintals . Of the 11 braking sections on the Principality circuit, only 2 are classified as demanding on the brakes, 2 are of medium difficulty and 7 are light . The hardest is that after the tunnel (turn 10): the single-seaters arrive there at 307 km / h and brake in 2.47 ” to descend to a speed of 90 km / h in just 121 meters . At that point the drivers are subjected to a deceleration of 4.6 g and exert a load on the brake pedal of 146 kg.
Leave a Reply