Thread: F1 2021 thread
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Captain Ahab Jr Captain Ahab Jr is online now
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Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: England, Slovenia and USA
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Back in 2010 I spent a year as design lead for the all the Ferrari F1 pit stop stuff, while watching the races on the TV I hid behind the sofa when it came to the pit stops part

From memory it took 1.5 turns or 4 impacts to tighten the nut. Each nut cost well over a $1000, new nuts were used each race, many more worn out with practice pit stops and the team chewed through a lot of nuts but never luckily mine

https://www.auto123.com/en/news/f1-photo-of-ferraris-new-wheel-nut-for-faster-pit-stops/33648/?folder=industry

F1 wheel nuts are a extremely finicky things to get right, clearances are critical, there are no limits and fits tables to refer to, the starting engagement chamfer at the beginning of the wheel nut thread is especially tricky to get right. Then factor in the extreme operating environment ie hot, dusty, being smashed by a socket positioned by a mechanic while the nut is moving in a different position every time

Fast guys have the wheel nut off the axle before the car has come to a stop. Every repeated/wrong movement by a mechanic costs a minimum 0.3 sec just from their reaction time. Game over when a fast pit stop takes less than 2 secs

The wheel guns are monsters, manufactured by only one Italy company, I've used one myself during practice pit stops. After 3 or 4 goes I quickly worked out, pit stops are a young mans game and the wheel gun job is a young strong mans game
https://www.dinopaoli.com/en/wp-content/uploads/PAOLI_PITSTOPSERIES_CATALOGUE2021_LOW2.pdf

F1 guns are built from titanium, carbon fiber and magnesium. The current guns have a max torque up 4300 Nm or 3170 ftlbs, operating at 25 bar or 360 PSI can free rev to 15000 RPM. Basically as seen from the video it's an effective lathe in your hands if used incorrectly

Back when I was involved the guns were so wild to use we were starting to break mechanics. I started to design a carbon fibre wrist exoskeleton for the next season but thankfully the FIA put a limit on the operating pressure

Teams do 1000's of practice pit stops back at the factory and at race weekends as there are always new ways for it to go wrong. Looks like Mercedes found a new way!
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Old 05-24-2021, 03:20 PM
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