When it comes to planning race strategy, a key component is factoring in the probability of a Safety Car deployment. This is dependent on factors such as circuit layout, the ease of clearing an incident and predicted weather conditions. In Singapore, these factors come together to produce something close to a perfect storm: the Safety Car has appeared a total of five times in the three races held there since 2008. That means that the Mercedes SLS AMG is almost certain to make an appearance next weekend…


Which races have the highest probability of Safety Car deployment?
Calculated in historical terms over the past ten years, both Singapore and Korea have a 100% record of Safety Car deployment - although, in the case of Korea, this is calculated on the basis of a single race. Every one of the three Singapore races so far has seen the Safety Car deployed, for a total of 20 laps. Indeed, this total means that only Fernando Alonso (93 laps) and Lewis Hamilton (57 laps) have led more laps than Safety Car driver Bernd Mayländer since the first Singapore Grand Prix in 2008. After Singapore, the races with the highest historical probability of Safety Car deployment, during the past ten races, are Brazil, Monaco and Canada (all at 70%).

How much has the Safety Car been used so far in 2011?
After 13 races in the current season, just four have featured Safety Car deployments - Monaco, Canada, Belgium and Italy. In total, there have been nine deployments, of which five occurred during the Canadian Grand Prix, for a total of 5.5% of the racing laps. By way of comparison, after 13 races in 2010, there had been a total of 12 deployments in seven different races, accounting for 5.1% of the racing laps. The reduction in the number of Safety Car deployments, and the significant reduction in the number of races at which it has been deployed, are perhaps surprising given the increase in wheel-to-wheel racing that has occurred this year. Indeed, the Safety Car wasn’t used at all in the first five races of the 2011 season - the first time this had occurred since 2004, and only the second time in the past ten years. Furthermore, the 2011 season has seen two wet-dry races in which the Safety Car has not appeared at all - Britain and Hungary.

How many laps has the Safety Car led in total this year?
So far, the Safety Car has led a total of 49 laps, equivalent to 218.3 km. Of these, 140 km were accounted for by the Canadian Grand Prix. Indeed, the five Safety Car deployments during this race lasted for 45.7% of the race distance – the longest Safety Car total laps recorded in the past ten years. The next longest deployments were at the 2010 Korean Grand Prix (26 laps, 146 km) and the 2007 Japanese Grand Prix (26 laps, 119 km). The race with the most individual Safety Car deployments was the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix.

Which season saw the most Safety Car use in the past decade?
Since the start of the 2001 season, the Safety Car has led almost 2,500 km - equivalent to approximately eight Grand Prix distances. 75 races have seen the Safety Car deployed a total of 117 times for 510 laps. The season which saw the most Safety Car deployments was 2010, when it appeared 21 times at 12 races, for a total of 7.8% of the racing laps; in total, the Mercedes SLS AMG led a total of 87 laps for 452.3 km, equivalent to one-and-a-half race distances.

Which seasons saw the least Safety Car usage?
The seasons with the fewest deployments were 2001 and 2002, both of which saw just five Safety Car periods. In 2001, Safety Car periods accounted for 2.6% of all racing laps, while in 2002 this figure decreased to 2.3%. Overall, between 2001 and 2010, Safety Car deployments accounted for an average of 4.2% of all racing laps. This means that the 2011 season has seen above-average Safety Car usage; however, if one does not include the Canadian Grand Prix, Safety Car deployments would account for just 2% of racing laps in 2011, well below the ten-year average.

* Official photo and details courtesy of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS *

Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Amid the attention attracted this year by both DRS and the performance characteristics of the Pirelli tyres, the return of KERS has been somewhat swamped in the public eye. Yet there’s a firm case to suggest that it, too, has played its own crucial role in enabling the significant increase in overtaking for 2011, with the system being variously used to boost drivers into the ‘DRS zone’ (i.e. less than one second behind the car in front), during the overtaking manoeuvre itself, or even to defend against a car behind with DRS in operation. While no hard data exists on this point, anecdotal evidence suggests KERS plays a role in nearly every overtaking manoeuvre for cars equipped with the system - as well as providing a valuable area of cutting-edge research into electronics and battery technology; in fact, exactly what the philosophy of Formula One has always been about.


How does the Mercedes-Benz KERS work?
The Mercedes-Benz KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) has been developed by Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines in Brixworth, UK with the support of Mercedes-Benz R&D in Sindelfingen, Germany - a process that also resulted in significant knowledge transfer to series production of hybrid technology. The KERS is made up of the Motor Generator Unit (MGU), the Power Electronics (PE) and a number of batteries that make up the Energy Storage System (ESS). When harvesting power that would otherwise be dissipated as heat through the braking system, the MGU works as a generator, providing three-phase electricity to the PE. This converts the electricity to DC voltage, and stores the energy in the battery. The process works in reverse when the driver requests boost, with the generator unit becoming a motor to supplement the engine power. The processes of harvesting and boosting are both approximately 80% efficient.

How large is the Mercedes-Benz KERS?
The motor in the MGU is approximately ten times smaller than commercial automotive units, while the battery is around eight times smaller than those commercially available. Overall, there are approximately 3,500 parts in a single KERS! It is a true example of cutting-edge engineering.

What is the lap time benefit of KERS at Monza?
The lap time gain from full use of KERS is over 0.4s at Monza. This compares to a lowest value so far this season of approximately 0.3s per lap in Hungary.

Why is Monza such a potent circuit for KERS usage?
The best-case scenario for KERS boosting is relatively slow corners followed by very long straights - exactly what Monza features plenty of. There are four times in the lap (out of Turns 2, 7, 10 and 11) when the car accelerates from relatively low speed to near terminal velocity, and this means that there is a relatively large lap-time benefit from boosting out of any of these four corners. Typical KERS deployment in Monza would see four boosts per lap, which are delivered to the wheels 20ms after the button is pressed.

As well as high speeds, Monza features heavy braking. Does that make it a good circuit for harvesting energy?
The cars spend over 12% of the lap (more than 10 seconds) on the brakes in Monza, with the braking event for Turn 1 seeing them shed around 265kph. However, Monza is actually the most marginal circuit of the year for KERS harvesting, owing to the low number of braking events during the lap: just six in total (Turns 1, 4, 6, 7, 8 and 11).

* Official photo and details courtesy of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS *

Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Stuttgart/Brackley, Germany/United Kingdom, Jun 07, 2011

It may sound counter-intuitive but being quick in Formula One isn’t just about going fast - stopping well is also a major part of the equation. Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve features seven braking events in all, of which six are considered to be ‘heavy’ and four involve braking from over 295 kph. It amounts to one of the toughest circuits of the year for the brakes. Getting the braking system right for Montreal involves fitting revised air ducts to optimise the cooling, and using different materials to ensure consistent performance for each one of the race’s 70 laps. It’s no small challenge…


How severe a test is Montreal for the brakes?
The energy input to the brakes is roughly double that measured in Spa. At both circuits, the drivers spend around 15 seconds of the total lap time braking; in Montreal this accounts for 20% of the lap spent on the brakes, while in Spa it only represents 14%.

Where is the heaviest braking event on the circuit?
The biggest single braking event comes at Turn 10, where the cars must slow from 295 kph to just 60 kph for the corner apex. The cars shed 235 kph in a distance of just 140m. When deceleration is at its greatest, the drivers are subjected to peak forces of some 5.5G.

How hard are the drivers working in the cockpit under braking?
The force the drivers exert on the pedal is approximately 2000 newtons – that’s equivalent to lifting 200 kg. The theoretical stopping distance of a Formula One car from 300 kph to zero is approximately 135 metres in a straight line, but varies according to drag levels and tyre grip.

What temperatures do the brakes reach?
Peak temperatures during a braking event don’t occur when maximum force is applied, but later during the braking phase owing to heat transfer rates. The discs can reach up to 1000°C while caliper temperatures stabilise at around 200°C.

What parts of the braking system are altered for a heavy braking circuit like Montreal?
The thickness and diameter of the brake discs is limited by the regulations to 28mm and 278mm respectively. The brake material – the type of carbon disc and pad – is changed between high and low severity circuits to provide the necessary durability. Large brake ducts are used in order to achieve adequate cooling; these large ducts cost around 0.2s compared to the smallest versions run during the year.

What is a typical brake balance at Montreal?
A typical figure is a front to rear brake force distribution of approximately 55% front/45% rear. However, this changes with KERS, which provides significant torque to the rear axle under braking. This means the drivers must run the brake balance even further forward to prevent the rear tyres from locking.

How will the DRS zones, and the resultant higher straightline speeds, affect the braking demands?
Braking energy inputs will be slightly increased when the DRS is activated. However, this will be highly dependent on how often it is activated during the race, and with what fuel load. Its impact will be greater on higher fuel loads.

* Official photo and report courtesy of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS *

Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

OFFICIAL PRESS RELEASE

Stuttgart/Brackley, Germany/United Kingdom, May 24, 2011

In times past, Formula One drivers negotiated the Circuit de Monaco practically one-handed, their right palms rubbed raw by the thousands of gear changes required during up to 100 laps of the tortuous track in the Principality. Today’s drivers may have a slightly easier time of it, in that they can at least keep both hands on the wheel, but those hands are also significantly busier in 2011. The modern Formula One steering wheel also fulfils the function of dashboard, gear lever and clutch pedal, and the drivers have up to 32 individual controls that can be adjusted. With the increased in-cockpit workload for 2011 generated by KERS and the DRS, Monaco will present an even greater challenge for the drivers aiming to extract every last ounce of performance.


We are used to seeing the drivers’ hands as a blur in Monaco as they make constant corrections to the car. How many steering inputs are made per lap?
The steering wheel is in almost constant motion in Monaco – from major steering inputs for tight corners to the tiny corrections that they are making all the time. At the hairpin, for example, the wheel is turned through more than 180 degrees, and special front suspension is needed to generate the required turning circle. The circuit comprises 19 numbered corners but the drivers make a significant change to the steering angle approximately 130 times per lap.

How much of the lap is spent with no steering input?
The wheel is relatively centred for around ten seconds per lap – which equates to 13.5 per cent of last year’s pole time.

How has the pole position speed evolved over the past decades?
In 1980, Didier Pironi’s pole lap was set at an average speed of 140.582 kph; last year, Mark Webber did so in 162.869 kph. Pironi’s lap was 14 per cent slower than Webber’s, while even Mika Häkkinen’s 2000 pole speed of 152.651 kph was over six per cent slower.

How many controls are there on the steering wheel?
Including the rotary switches, buttons and paddles, there are approximately 32 individual controls on the wheel – although this can vary from driver to driver according to how certain switch positions are configured. The MERCEDES GP PETRONAS drivers control DRS activation with a foot pedal, rather than from the wheel. In terms of the dashboard display, the team has approximately ten options for displays which include parameters such as car speed, KERS boost or split times. The drivers generally display the available KERS boost to precisely time its deployment, and split times relative to their best lap so far.

Which controls are used most frequently?
By far the most frequently used are the gear change paddles. At Monaco, the average number of gear changes per lap is 55 – which equates to over 4,300 changes over the 78-lap race distance. Next most used is the DRS foot pedal, then the KERS button. The rotary wheels to tune the differential are also in frequent use, but not every lap.

How has the workload in the cockpit changed in 2011 compared to 2010?
On their Monaco qualifying laps in 2010, the drivers made approximately 50 control inputs on the steering wheel. The systems for 2011 have added around 20 inputs per lap, between DRS activation (with the foot) and precisely timed KERS boosts. That represents an increase of up to 40 per cent in the driver’s workload. Similarly, on in- and out-laps, the drivers also have up to ten additional operations to perform including setting engine torque and mixture modes, charging the KERS battery and talking to the engineers on the radio.

For 2011, what will a qualifying lap be like in the cockpit for the drivers?
When one calculates the total number of inputs the driver is likely to have to make, the total is impressive. 130 significant changes of steering direction; 55 gear changes; and up to 20 further inputs for DRS, KERS and any other adjustments. That gives the driver a predicted workload of over 200 different inputs per lap – and that’s before we even consider the balletic dance on the throttle and brake pedals.

* Official photo and report courtesy of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS *

Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.