Not even a week off and on Friday the drivers will be ready to get inside their cars to begin the preparation work in view of the ninth round of the 2021 Formula 1 season, the third consecutive in three weeks. The circuit will once again be Red Bull Ring, as Formula 1 was forced to take this decision in May, when the cancellation of the Canadian GP was also followed by that of Turkey (Istanbul Park still managed to take advantage of Singapore’s withdrawal to occupy the 16th slot at the calendar, October 1-3, 2021).
Although the layout is exactly the same as a few days ago, there are good indications to expect a different weekend from the previous one. Weather forecasts are still quite uncertain. A lot of wind expected on Friday with a slight chance of rain for free practice. Still cloudy on Saturday with the sessions that should take place in dry conditions. The risk of witnessing a wet race on Sunday is instead very high at the moment, with the possibility of showers that will should be present throughout the day.
2021 Austrian GP Preview: Layout
Born and known by most as Osterreichring, the Spielberg circuit, with its very long and formidable layout, was built in 1969 on the old Zeltweg airport to host its first F1 GP in 1970. The track, now known as the Red Bull Ring, was designed by Hermann Tilke and built in the winter between 1995-1996 with the task of transforming the Osterreichring into a shorter and more modern circuit. The A-1 Ring, this was its name at the time, was inaugurated in 1996, with Formula 1 then deciding to race here the following year.
Located on the hills of the Styria region, the circuit is set at an average altitude of 710 meters above sea level, presenting a difference in height of 60 meters between the straight that runs alongside the pit lane (lowest point) and Turn-3 (the higher). It consists of 3 straights with very similar lengths: the shortest extending close to 700 meters (that of the finish line) while the longest (the next) just under 900 meters. There are 10 turns: seven to the right and only three to the left, one of which, 02, is practically non-existent.
2021 Austrian GP Preview: Aerodynamics and DRS
We can define the Red Bull Ring as a medium load track. Being composed of three extensions and medium-high speed corners, it will be crucial for the technicians to obtain an optimal aero-mechanical balance. Such as to allow the car to enjoy good stability, to be achieved through a correct vertical thrust which will be useful in the three very hard braking sections at the end of the straights and in the slower section of the second / third sector. All this without compromising too much speed on the straight. Enjoying an efficient car body will certainly be a major advantage.
The wind should not be underestimated: the gusts, usually arriving from the Styrian Alps, could affect the correct aerodynamic functioning of the cars. Thanks to its wide track and the use of the movable wing, guaranteed on all three straight sections, overtaking in Spielberg, fortunately, has never been hard. The speed delta generated by the use of the DRS system on the straight leading to the braking of Turn-03 is around a value of 16 km / h, 13 Km / h in the straight line leading to Turn 04, while slightly higher at 10 Km / h on the straight of the finish line, the shortest of the three.
2021 Austrian GP Preview: Power Unit
The three straights, with as many challenging braking zones, will put the endothermic engine mounted under the hood of the F1 cars to the test. The lower air density given by the altitude at which the Red Bull Ring is placed, and a full-gas mileage for 77% of the lap could generate excessive stress on the power unit sector. In Austria, therefore, one could return to see some larger openings for heat dissipation. Although they will worsen the efficiency of the car body, they will be essential if you want to avoid excessive overheating in one of the most crucial areas of the car.
Obviously, if it really does rain, all these aspects will also be suitably mitigated by the atmospheric conditions, perhaps adverse for the drivers, but beneficial, in this respect for the engine. The power-to-weight ratio makes us understand how important the contribution of the power unit really is on this track: 10Cv equals a value of 0 “15 per lap. Obviously, the altitude will also directly affect its performance. However, the problem can be solved by increasing the turbo pressure.
As regards energy recovery, this will be entrusted almost exclusively to MGU-H. On the other hand, on such a fast track, it couldn’t be otherwise. 3,149 Kj is the value of energy regenerated by the enthalpy of the exhaust gases, while only 621 Kj are obtained by the MGU-K through braking (it will be possible to understand the reasons for this by reading the section reserved for Brembo). At each lap, the hybrid will be able to provide an overall contribution of 3,770 kj, which in chronometric terms will result in a reduction in lap time of approximately 2.4 seconds with an increase in top speed of 12 km / h. .
2021 Austrian GP Preview: Fuel and transmission
100kg of fuel will be needed to complete the 306,452km spread over the 71 laps planned. A fairly high consumption even if not really critical. 10 kg more or less corresponds to about 0.15 seconds per lap. Wide track accompanied by vast escape routes makes it statistically unlikely that any Safety Car will enter (the previous appointment has perfectly demonstrated this), although still possible.
So in the event that someone decides to take on less fuel than necessary to lighten the overall weight of the car, they may then be forced to use, for example, the ‘lift and coast’ technique to avoid running out of fuel. The transmission, with its 2800 changes (an average of 40 per lap), will not be very busy in the race, but it could receive important stresses from a thermal point of view. Also in this case, the considerations made previously for the PU apply.
2021 Austrian GP Preview: Braking system
According to Brembo technicians, the Red Bull Ring is a medium difficulty circuit for the brakes. On a scale of values from 1 to 5 it deserves a difficulty index of 3 going to equal tracks like Budapest and Zandvoort (track on which F1 will return to racing from 3 to 5 September 2021 after 36 years of absence). The Austrian track is the only one in the World Championship in which a lap lasts less than 64 seconds, although last year, thanks to the rain, pole was taken with a time of over 79 seconds at the Styrian GP. Something that hasn’t happened seen since 1998.
The drivers will not use the brakes on only three occasions: Turns 02, 05 and 08. On average, the braking system will be active for just over 10 seconds per lap. Only in Imola is there a lower value, even though there are eight braking points compared to seven at the Red Bull Ring. The substantial difference can be found in the braking of Turns 03 and 04, which take over two and a half seconds, while on the Italian track even the most demanding braking takes no more than 1.9 seconds. Throughout the course of the race, the drivers will keep their foot resting on the brake pedal for only 11’56 ”, that is, approximately 16% of the total time.
Of the seven braking sections of the Austrian GP, 3 are considered very demanding, while the remaining 4 are classified as light. The most convincing is certainly that of Turn 3. The cars will be subjected to a deceleration of 5.3 g from 331 to 84 km / h in 2.67 seconds and in a braking distance of 130 meters. To do this, the drivers require a force of 176 kg to be placed on the brake pedal.
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