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Motorsport - Blog Posts
Andre lotterer after he crashed in Rome.
Twice.
Rockets, Racecars, and the Physics of Going Fast
When our Space Launch System (SLS) rocket launches the Artemis missions to the Moon, it can have a top speed of more than six miles per second. Rockets and racecars are designed with speed in mind to accomplish their missions—but there’s more to speed than just engines and fuel. Learn more about the physics of going fast:
Take a look under the hood, so to speak, of our SLS mega Moon rocket and you’ll find that each of its four RS-25 engines have high-pressure turbopumps that generate a combined 94,400 horsepower per engine. All that horsepower creates more than 2 million pounds of thrust to help launch our four Artemis astronauts inside the Orion spacecraft beyond Earth orbit and onward to the Moon. How does that horsepower compare to a racecar? World champion racecars can generate more than 1,000 horsepower as they speed around the track.
As these vehicles start their engines, a series of special machinery is moving and grooving inside those engines. Turbo engines in racecars work at up to 15,000 rotations per minute, aka rpm. The turbopumps on the RS-25 engines rotate at a staggering 37,000 rpm. SLS’s RS-25 engines will burn for approximately eight minutes, while racecar engines generally run for 1 ½-3 hours during a race.
To use that power effectively, both rockets and racecars are designed to slice through the air as efficiently as possible.
While rockets want to eliminate as much drag as possible, racecars carefully use the air they’re slicing through to keep them pinned to the track and speed around corners faster. This phenomenon is called downforce.
Steering these mighty machines is a delicate process that involves complex mechanics.
Most racecars use a rack-and-pinion system to convert the turn of a steering wheel to precisely point the front tires in the right direction. While SLS doesn’t have a steering wheel, its powerful engines and solid rocket boosters do have nozzles that gimbal, or move, to better direct the force of the thrust during launch and flight.
Racecar drivers and astronauts are laser focused, keeping their sights set on the destination. Pit crews and launch control teams both analyze data from numerous sensors and computers to guide them to the finish line. In the case of our mighty SLS rocket, its 212-foot-tall core stage has nearly 1,000 sensors to help fly, track, and guide the rocket on the right trajectory and at the right speed. That same data is relayed to launch teams on the ground in real time. Like SLS, world-champion racecars use hundreds of sensors to help drivers and teams manage the race and perform at peak levels.
Knowing how to best use, manage, and battle the physics of going fast, is critical in that final lap. You can learn more about rockets and racecars here.
Make sure to follow us on Tumblr for your regular dose of space!
I really do be multi tasking today. I got three screens on, each with a different sport. One for Aus vs SA rugby, MotoGP and the Italian GP.
I really hate the pictures of Charles they're sharing because they're making it look as if he was jealous of Max when Charles is the real winner here. So unfair. 🤦🏻♀️
Your time will come, and it will be sweeter than Monégasque honey. You'll see, and we’ll be there celebrating with you all of the way.
The Tifosi have your back. I sait it once I repeat it once more. You are it. You are heading to be one of the greatest there has ever been in Ferrari's history. We believe in you.
Next time, Max.
📸 : Florent Gooden / DPPI
I wrote this article on my Formula One Blog. I hope you take it into consideration.
We know who won.
YOur day will come, Charles.
Daghe, Charles.
Avante
This isn't the F1 we love
History in the making, Unfair Rulings, and Big Disappointments
Formula One is a sport that many define as the closest thing to riding a rocket into outer space because of the downforce generated inside the 800 kg car, which is more than the weight of the vehicle itself.
Every time the drivers get behind the wheel, they defy gravity, which is very much compared to being inside a Space Shuttle.
This week, Falcon Heavy carried an extraordinary payload, a rocket full of satellites and between them, a Solar Sail, known as LightSail 2, the size of a loaf of bread which is the first spacecraft for the Scientific Community with nothing, not one engine, but the energy of the sun to propel it and promote space exploration.
Then, NASA on July 27th announced that we are going back to Saturn’s biggest Moon, Titan, to send a helicopter drone named “Dragonfly,” to uncover the fundamental blocks that gave way life to our planet.
That race is no easy feat.
The last time NASA accomplished this was during the Cassini-Huygens Mission, and until this day it remains the farthest aircraft to ever land in the outer Solar System.
Just like Cassini and Huygens, Formula One has a lot of things in common;
A lot of preparation and teams of two, but sometimes not both make it till the end.
This week we saw the youngest podium ever to win in Formula One history at the Austrian Grand Prix.
Amidst back grid positions, penalties for impending drivers and a theatrical ending, and why yes— even a fake document from a pesky fan, because you have to have it all in Formula One, FIA could not taken long to call on their investigation for this year’s winner.
Max Verstappen wheeled banged himself into Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on lap 69 which cost the Monégasque his first win. The Dutchman had earlier overtaken on Bottas from Mercedes right after saying his hybrid engine was losing power and as if a miracle, recovered.
The Finnish and teammate to Lewis Hamilton for Mercedes was having overheating issues, but kept the pace with the 21-year-old, said “made the most out of it. It was a bit more difficult than we expected, especially with the overheating of the engine, so couldn’t race properly – had to manage all those temperatures. That’s why defending was difficult and also attacking. But, yeah, got some good points. It was one of those weekends, but it’s not bad.” he added.
The FIA Regulations clearly state:
Article 27.4. : "At no time may a car be driven unnecessarily slowly, erratically, or in a manner which could be deemed potentially dangerous to another driver or any other person.”
It almost seems as if they were quick enough to deliver a penalty against Sebastian Vettel who had nowhere to go when Lewis Hamilton kicked him out of track in Canada, and it showed. “I had nowhere to go,” Vettel said, as he broadcasted by Sky Sports. “Seriously, I had nowhere to go.”
Sebastian Vettel, superpositioned the FINISH order of the signs once he caught up to the two drivers, Leclerc, and Hamilton in Canada.
Yes, stewards, you can fool yourselves but not a man behind the wheel!
The rules stand clear on this one.
And although this year's rules were changed to allow overtaking to increase by 50%, it caused Vettel the race by 5 seconds which subsequently won Hamilton First Place. That same discrepancy and too much power in the stewards allowed the Monégasque to lose the track not because he could not win it but because of incompetence from the governing body.
A dramatic end indeed which translates it to another week in Formula One, even if Verstappen was able to break the 1-2 Mercedes partnership, FIA, you had one job, just one, and you messed it up.
What does that mean for the greatest single seat racing sport in the world? It means that even if Honda Racing waited nearly 13 years, for their big break by Verstappen, and Congratulations— for it must feel excellent that you got something handed to you unfairly well, the real winners here are the Fédération.
It means there is a big problem going on with Formula One.
Their penalty process or lack thereof has become a substantiated mess.
FIA forwent their own rulebook when it comes to the violations that are followed but happily look away when it pleases their stewards.
No wonder why Fans have taken it upon themselves into forging fake documents. They no longer have the ability to trust them or the credibility they used to have in this organization, and can you blame them?
The whole system is wrong. Do they know how it works? It is their system after all, but it is broken, and it needs a complete overhaul.
Two hundred three thousand attendees today turned up in Spielberg to celebrate legend, Niki Lauda, where they saw a Turn named after him. Were he still with us today would he be proud?
This is a massive sport, with millions of fans visiting the circuits and audiences tuning in tandem online and through cable TV, cheering for their favorite teams, from Ferrari to McLaren, Red Bull, and Mercedes to name a few of the top favorites.
There are currently 20 male drivers in the series.
It isn't an easy feat to get licensed for Formula One; many think that the name helps, that it may be a ticket to get into Ferrari Driver Academy, but that is not true. You have to have talent.
And this year's alumni prove it; it isn't like any other group of drivers in the history of the Federation.
Without a shadow of a doubt, they are the youngest group Formula One has ever put behind the wheel and inside a helmet.
We saw Charles Leclerc, Max Verstappen, and Lando Norris set some impressive records in Austria this week.
Ferrari driver, Charles Leclerc, 21, winning pole position for the Austrian Grand Prix on Saturday, while Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton 5 time World Champion, was given a three-place grid penalty which forced start him in the fifth position on the grid for impending Alfa Romeo's Kimi Raikkonen.
He went as far as saying “We’ve been chipping away at it, but right from the get-go we noticed a bit of a deficit to the Ferraris,” Hamilton said.
“We thought it would be a bit closer than it was, but they eked out some more time in P3 and then going into qualifying.”
“We definitely underestimated how fast they would be, I would say, and I think ultimately on the straights.”
“They really kill us on the straights.” because the Monégasque was leaving him in the dust by a quarter of a second.
Raikkonen gave a middle finger salute at the five-time world champion as Lewis overtook him. About the incident. "He blocked me, simple as that," Raikkonen said.
It is known that Hamilton can get tricky on those laps and get off the hook with penalties, FIA notwithstanding has looked the other way and handed them to other drivers like Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari's teammate to Charles Leclerc, who after the Canadian Grand Prix was given a five-second penalty, which ultimately cost him the race to Lewis Hamilton.
During the Austrian Grand Prix, his luck had not changed.
The air pressure line to the engine was acting up, and the mechanics had to shield his car from view while Leclerc had to leave him behind to go on the circuit. Vettel had to stay on the vehicle for as long as he could.
“The car was obviously broken so we couldn’t fire it up and go,” he said.
“We fairly quickly made the decision to change, but it’s not so easy to take the bodywork off... “We done everything we could be we couldn't get it done in time," he continued.
“There's nothing you can do inside the car. It's nobodies fault, but we need to understand what happened and make sure it doesn't happen again...
“At that time it's nobodies fault, I knew most likely that if we fixed it, there would be one run, so I tried to focus solely on that.
"As much of a pain it is, it's good to see that the other car came through and got pole.
"I'm happy for the team, obviously not happy for my side. We'll have a good day and a good race tomorrow."
Following Vettel’s comments Mattia Binotto, Ferrari F1 team boss said "It is an engine problem, "We had miscombustion on one cylinder, but it's yet to be understood.” which indicates they will be taking Vettel’s engine back to Maranello, Italy ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.
This is Charles Leclerc's second career pole position after qualifying in Bahrain GP back in March but missed out due to a cylinder malfunction where he allowed Mercedes a 1-2 win, to Hamilton-Bottas overtaking in his last ten laps.
The Monégasque, who was repeatedly proving his driving credentials with speed, in Spielberg, started his driving career, karting at a very young age.
This time, however, was a different story, qualifying to leave the Mercedes in the dust by a margin, with Max Verstappen from Red Bull right behind him following his karting days from 2012.
This time It seems almost as if "Chal Lelerc," as he joked on Twitter earlier in the day to the Formula1 page when they jokingly @mentioned his name "Lelerc" on a Tweet, was testing a rocket, because he broke the circuits record by 1.03.003 mins, broken the year prior by Alfa Romeo's Kimi Räikkönnen by 1:06.957 mins.
"The car felt amazing actually," said Leclerc during the FIA conference. "In FP1 I struggled a little bit, but then we did some changes, and from FP2 it was quite good and a big pleasure to drive this car on the limit. It just felt great, and I'm very happy to bring the pole position back home - but tomorrow we need to finish the job."
Not in vain, he calls this his favorite circuit since in 2017 he won his first cup while he raced for Prema Racing in F2. It's safe to assume that after this loss and the stewards unfairly ruling he will continue to push to get that #1 Championship Title he deserves.
No offense to the winner, Max Verstappen but that ruling was uncalled and the stewards got it wrong.
FIA did give an opening for Ferrari to appeal but Mattia Binotto, Ferrari's Team Boss rejected to appeal "to support the sport."
"What's Ferrari's opinion and position - we still believe this is a wrong decision, that's our own opinion, we believe that Charles left the entire space, he had no fault, a collision has happened and he has been pushed and forced off the track," Binotto continued,
"We believe these are clear rules, which we may appreciate or not, and these are exactly the same rules which have been applied in past races.
"Having said that, we respect fully the decision of the stewards, they are the judge and we need to recognize that, and more than that I think that as a Ferrari fan - and I'm an ultimate Ferrari fan - I think it's time for F1 to turn the page and to look ahead.
"As we often said, we should leave the drivers free to battle, so we may not be happy of the decision, we are not supporting the decision, but somehow we understand the fact that we need to move forward, and overall I think that's good for the sport and good for F1."
Binotto may be looking to move forward from this one, but the fans won’t, and if by 2021, FIA has not devolved from how their rulebook has immiserated fans worldwide, then, RIP Formula One.
Verstappen won the race by 2.724 seconds.
Congratulations on your big “win.”
Photo credits:
Reuters, Getty, and AFP
Fiat Turbina. 50s' Italian style.
A beautiful Jagermeister M1, photographed in Italy by Lienhard Racing Photography.
The underrated french gran turismo.
Une petite Renault!
Ferrari F1-75 (2022) vs. Ferrari F92A (1992)
A Repsol Nissan Skyline GT-R from 90s, years before O'Conner drove it
Benetton F1 from 80s
1998 Toyota "Frog Eyes" Corolla
1988 Tyrrel with a very tiny Camel sponsorship on a elegant black livery
A beautiful SD1 wears a Golden Wonder livery.
Golden Wonder is a British chips and snacks producer, I think it's a very curious and funny sponsor!
Amazing 1987 Toyota Supra, damn
A large Opel Omega sedan, wearing its orange Jagermeister dress in 1991
An ugly Opel Corsa in Camel livery ran in Catalunya in 1991
The whole Castrol Toyota team posing before the 1995 Kenya Rally.
It's not a car's livery, pardon, but I'm proud to show you my new customized shopper bag.
The picture is a vintage shoot from a race in my homecity, in 1958, and it represents the winner of the race Gaetano Starrabba on his Ferrari 500 TRC.
An ugly Opel Corsa in Camel livery ran in Catalunya in 1991
Jean-Pierre Jabouille (Renault RS01Turbo) Grand Prix d'Italie - Monza 1977. - source Carros e Pilotos.
Nissan Primera "Repsol", just a lovely sedan!
An odd Audi Coupe Prototype in Baja Aragon, Spain 1991.
Amazing Toyota Celica in Marlboro livery
