Formula 1 is a sport at the fore-front of automotive engineering. Today, it is a sport focusing on making machinery last the longest possible time while also getting the best efficiency out of the creations of the engineers. And recently, all teams in the biggest championship in motorsport has managed to succeed in this. However, in the most recent race in Austria, we had a sudden drop in the number of race finishers compared to previous Grand Prix. So why did so many cars have issues leaving them by the side of the track with their drivers left to watch the race and wallow about what could have been?
In the modern era of F1, the most common reason for a retirement would be driver error through an accident of some sort. However, during the Austrian GP, there were no spins, flips or crashes ruling the usual answer out of the equation and leaving fans perplexed as to how this could have happened. The next thing to consider is the success of pit-stops performed by the pit crews of the different teams. In effect, as the teams are looking for the smallest of margins in order to stay ahead of the pack, the pit-stops are getting faster and faster often brushing the 2 second mark to change all 4 wheels. As we’ve seen in previous races, such as Australia and Bahrain, sometimes this constant fight for time ends catastrophically with wheels not being screwed on properly or team personnel getting badly injured. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case at the Red Bull Ring. The only possible reason therefore for these many issues is mechanical failure despite the series attribute of being one of the most reliable championships in the world. This is even more odd as the two Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas both retired from the race despite their engines being only on their third race. Admittedly, Nico Hulkenberg was driving a car with a dying engine and low and behold, it let go mid-race. Apart from Hulkenberg then, all drivers retiring from the race had relatively fresh engines and it showed as we heard during and after the race from each team that the engines were not at fault. In fact, for both Bottas and the Toro Rosso of Brendon Hartley, an issue with the hydraulic pressure powering the gear box took them out. For Ricciardo, it was apparently a damaged exhaust preventing him from replicating his Monaco success. Finally, Hamilton managed to break his oil pump leaving him stranded between turns 3 and 4. This seems to be a problem as the track – which seems pretty simple at first glance – has killed a quarter of the F1 field in under an hour and a half. How can this be fixed then?
Well if we look back through the practice sessions, many cars were losing bodywork and breaking suspensions on the kerbs on the exit of turns 9 and 10. It could be that the vibrations caused by the rumble strips at speed managed to shatter the internal machinery of the cars causing their demise. Another possibility is that because the track is so fast, the drivers are full throttle for most of the lap, the engines may have gotten too hot leading to a higher chance of parts failing. Though this is less likely, it is possible thanks to the extra downforce of the cars this year compared to last. Focusing on the first issue, I believe it could be fixed if the FIA and the stewards were more aggressive with penalties for cutting the track or going wide. Formula 1 drivers are very good at pushing the limits of the track, but this does come with consequences as seen this weekend. It’s a shame the race came down to a lottery of reliability and kerb usage, but it made for an unexpected result and that is what F1 is…. Unpredictable.
In the modern era of F1, the most common reason for a retirement would be driver error through an accident of some sort. However, during the Austrian GP, there were no spins, flips or crashes ruling the usual answer out of the equation and leaving fans perplexed as to how this could have happened. The next thing to consider is the success of pit-stops performed by the pit crews of the different teams. In effect, as the teams are looking for the smallest of margins in order to stay ahead of the pack, the pit-stops are getting faster and faster often brushing the 2 second mark to change all 4 wheels. As we’ve seen in previous races, such as Australia and Bahrain, sometimes this constant fight for time ends catastrophically with wheels not being screwed on properly or team personnel getting badly injured. Fortunately, this wasn’t the case at the Red Bull Ring. The only possible reason therefore for these many issues is mechanical failure despite the series attribute of being one of the most reliable championships in the world. This is even more odd as the two Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas both retired from the race despite their engines being only on their third race. Admittedly, Nico Hulkenberg was driving a car with a dying engine and low and behold, it let go mid-race. Apart from Hulkenberg then, all drivers retiring from the race had relatively fresh engines and it showed as we heard during and after the race from each team that the engines were not at fault. In fact, for both Bottas and the Toro Rosso of Brendon Hartley, an issue with the hydraulic pressure powering the gear box took them out. For Ricciardo, it was apparently a damaged exhaust preventing him from replicating his Monaco success. Finally, Hamilton managed to break his oil pump leaving him stranded between turns 3 and 4. This seems to be a problem as the track – which seems pretty simple at first glance – has killed a quarter of the F1 field in under an hour and a half. How can this be fixed then?
Well if we look back through the practice sessions, many cars were losing bodywork and breaking suspensions on the kerbs on the exit of turns 9 and 10. It could be that the vibrations caused by the rumble strips at speed managed to shatter the internal machinery of the cars causing their demise. Another possibility is that because the track is so fast, the drivers are full throttle for most of the lap, the engines may have gotten too hot leading to a higher chance of parts failing. Though this is less likely, it is possible thanks to the extra downforce of the cars this year compared to last. Focusing on the first issue, I believe it could be fixed if the FIA and the stewards were more aggressive with penalties for cutting the track or going wide. Formula 1 drivers are very good at pushing the limits of the track, but this does come with consequences as seen this weekend. It’s a shame the race came down to a lottery of reliability and kerb usage, but it made for an unexpected result and that is what F1 is…. Unpredictable.
