#←only eight drivers on track but still surely him setting the fastest lap is an omen

[fafourteen]

pre season testing means nothing (only testing, many teams sandbagging, ect.) except when my fave goes fastest (it means he is 100% winning the championship)

[tkmedia]

Ten things we learned from F1's 2021 British Grand Prix

Formula 1, the British Grand Prix and a sold out Silverstone – it had the feeling of familiarity after the unknown and empty grandstands since the COVID-19 pandemic took hold. But the 2021 British GP was anything but recognisable, starting on the Thursday with the first showing of a full-scale 2022 F1 car model and then a new weekend format which pivoted around the inaugural sprint qualifying race. It all resulted in a dramatic and controversial victory for Lewis Hamilton after his lap one collision with Max Verstappen which sent the F1 world championship leader into a 51G impact with the tyre barriers. Hamilton recovered from a 10-second time penalty for the incident to reel in shock leader Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and overtake him with just two laps to go – maximising his advantage with Verstappen out and cutting the deficit in the standings to eight points. While penalties and sportsmanship became the major post-race talking points, it created a race weekend jammed with action and memorable moments. Here are 10 things we learned from the 2021 British GP. 1. The first major clash of Hamilton vs Verstappen reveals true rivalry (By Alex Kalinauckas)

Lewis Hamilton congratulates Max Verstappen after the Red Bull driver's sprint race victory Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images It's easy to see why the Lewis Hamilton/Max Verstappen collision at Copse, which put the Red Bull driver out in a scary, high-speed accident, is being described as 'inevitable' – because, really, it was. They have already clashed once in 2021 – at Imola. Then there was Verstappen's divebomb in Spain, plus the ultra-on-the-line close racing between them between Abbey and the approach to Copse in both Silverstone races. But the reason why the grand prix clash ended as it did is precisely because of the championship situation Hamilton faces, as well as the fierce nature of both driver's on-track attitude. Hamilton came into the British GP 33 points down on Verstappen. This isn't 2017-2021, when the Mercedes driver could afford to take a 'big picture' championship-points-tally-consideration view in 50-50 moves. He has more to lose now if something goes wrong, vital ground in a title battle where he has a slower package, so simply cannot afford to give an inch. And that's Verstappen's attitude overall – just look at his reaction to Hamilton getting alongside at Abbey and Brooklands on Sunday. In the crash, Hamilton deserved a penalty for causing the incident, but it was still a fine call. Don't expect this to be the last flashpoint of the 2021 title fight. 2. F1's penalty system needs to be explained better (By Jonathan Noble)

Lewis Hamilton had to sit stationary in his pitbox for 10s before his mechanics could service him Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images Red Bull's calls for Lewis Hamilton to be given a race ban for his part in the opening-lap crash with Max Verstappen were always going to fall on deaf ears. But you could fully understand its frustration that the 10-second penalty given to Lewis Hamilton for the clash ultimately cost the world champion nothing. Although it meant he had to fight a bit harder for the victory, he was still able to come home with the full 25 points. While that may seem unfair for Verstappen, who saw his title advantage slashed massively, F1 is quite right not to dish out penalties based on the consequences of offences. For doing it that way could open an even worse scenario where drivers get heavy sanctions for relatively minor rule breaches, but the book thrown at them when a tiny issue has big consequences. What perhaps is most lacking in F1 is actually a definition of driving rules and etiquette – so fans are better able to judge incidents based on the same criteria the stewards use. That would be hugely helpful in preventing the kind of polarised opinions that have engulfed social media in the last 24 hours. 3. A spirited sprint success, but the overall verdict remains to be decided (By James Newbold)

Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB16B, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes W12, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21, and the rest of the field at the start Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images Until the ill-fated clash of the titans at Copse, the weekend's biggest talking point had been F1's inaugural sprint race (let's call it what it was, shall we?) which generated mixed reviews. From "weird" according to Sebastian Vettel) to "I loved it" from Charles Leclerc, just about everybody had their opinion. Many welcomed the added excitement it brought to Fridays and the engineering challenge of getting the set-up nailed in FP1, while others questioned the relevance of FP2 when the cars were in parc ferme conditions which meant evaluating tyres was the only feasible action. The 17-lap distance allowed for variation in tyre strategies which was seized upon by Fernando Alonso, whose star turn on the soft tyres undoubtedly enlivened the proceedings as the race for the top four proved pretty static after the opening lap. F1 now faces a decision over whether to continue its experiment beyond the two further (as yet unconfirmed) sprint events planned for this season and, if so, whether to make further tweaks. Series bosses are encouraged by initial feedback, and have an unspecified "job list" to work through, but can at least be pleased that the format shake-up achieved what it set out to in building anticipation throughout the weekend. 4. Two-day race weekends look realistic option to ease pressure on growing F1 calendar (JNob)

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, waves to fans after securing pole Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images F1's first sprint race trial at the British Grand Prix can be viewed as an overall success. The boost in audience figures on Friday, plus increased interest for the Saturday 17-lap dash that provided a few spills and thrills, were exactly what F1 chiefs wanted. Sure there are some things that need improving – like the issue of Saturday's final free-practice being pretty much of no interest to fans on TV – but this is just a case of tidying up rather than starting from a clean sheet of paper. And, of course, the sooner the FIA goes back to awarding pole position in the history books to the fastest driver in Friday qualifying, rather than the winner of the sprint, the better things will be. But the success of the compressed format has also reopened the debate on whether F1 actually needs to stick at three-day weekends. Hamilton suggested a two-day schedule in the future would be the right way to go. It's something that F1 has baulked at in the past, and circuits would certainly not be happy at losing an extra day's ticket sales. But could it be something that proves preferable for some venues in exchange for holding one of F1's Grand Slam sprint weekends? 5. F1 at its best with packed crowds as Silverstone roars again (AK)

Fans cheer from the grandstands Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images Questions over the merits of letting a capacity crowd – that totalled 365,000 at Silverstone over the entire British GP weekend – gather during an ongoing pandemic should directed to the UK government, with the track itself understandably just trying to stay afloat in these awful times. But the fans in attendance were treated to an exceptional sporting event. Friday night qualifying produced two exceptional displays from British drivers in front their home fans, with the reaction to George Russell's Q3 lap the highlight for this writer given how the Williams racer was cheered from corner-to-corner. Then the sprint race delivered nicely in terms of an interesting race, even if it wasn't the all-out thriller some claimed. But it did set up a grand prix that fizzled spectacularly throughout – capped by the title rivals colliding and Leclerc nearly holding on for a famous against-the-odds victory. But there's an interesting footnote to Hamilton's victory. Motorsport.com was told there were plenty of new, younger fans seen at Silverstone – with an apparent increase in female spectators too. It will be interesting to see if this can be backed up in official data, but even anecdotally it suggests the 'Netflix effect', as well as Hamilton's laudable efforts to help diversify motorsport are having an impact. And what a race they were treated to, hopefully cementing lifelong motorsport fan status. 6. Leclerc demonstrates Ferrari's resurgence (By Jake Boxall-Legge)

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF21, Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W12 Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images Leclerc was unbelievably close to a surprise victory at the British GP, but there wasn't quite enough in the tank to repel Hamilton's late assault for the lead. But Leclerc had been stellar, and his opportunistic move to clear Hamilton moments after the Verstappen incident rewarded him with the upper hand for the restart. His getaway from the pole spot and subsequent managing of the gap to Hamilton were incredibly well-judged and, despite facing engine cut-out issues while in the lead, Leclerc was able to weather the storm and find enough in reserve to keep Hamilton at bay. The seven-time champion's recovery post-penalty, however, was too much for Leclerc to resist and his slight wide moment at Copse was the only blot on the Monegasque's copybook. Meanwhile, Carlos Sainz Jr's recovery in the sprint and continued progress in the race also showed the pace of the Ferrari in the pack, although his ascent was halted by a slow pitstop. That dropped him behind Daniel Ricciardo, whose McLaren proved to be a tough cookie to overtake. Nonetheless, Ferrari has showed greatly improved form after a disastrous Paul Ricard race, and the upcoming Hungarian GP could be a race in which the Scuderia truly shines. 7. Perez suffers like those before him in Red Bull's second seat (By Haydn Cobb)

Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing, and Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing, on the grid, ahead of the 2022 Formula 1 car unveiling Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images Sergio Perez appeared to have the Red Bull support role nailed after picking up the pieces to win in Baku and then claim a deserved podium at the next race at Paul Ricard. But after being in the wars in Austria against McLaren's Lando Norris and Leclerc, Perez's performance in the British GP had shades of the struggles Pierre Gasly and Alex Albon endured before the Mexican came to Red Bull's rescue. It must be said it is down to fine margins, but qualifying behind Leclerc on Friday night set the wheels in motion for Perez's downward spiral. Trapped in the midfield battle at the start of the feisty sprint race, he was caught out by dirty air and spun off, to be condemned to the back of the grid for the main event. Despite Red Bull F1 car tweaks made in a bid to aid his retaliation in the grand prix, but also meaning a pitlane start, Perez was making progress until he got stuck in DRS trains and then got impatient and collided with Kimi Raikkonen. A P10 finish was as good as it was going to get until Red Bull sacrificed that solitary point to pit Perez for softs to take the fastest lap point away from Hamilton – even though finishing outside of the top 10 meant he wouldn't earn the point himself. Perez has slipped back to fifth place in the standings and is set to play 'who can be the best support driver' against Valtteri Bottas for the rest of the year. 8. Old dog Alonso makes the most of new tricks (HC) Fernando Alonso, Alpine A521, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL35M, and Sergio Perez, Red Bull Racing RB16B Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images Alonso demonstrated he's lost none of his racecraft with his stunning start to the sprint. The Alpine driver's charge from 11th to fifth was aided by his soft tyre gamble, but the TV onboard footage was reminiscent of the old Alonso - carving through the pack and finding gaps few others can. As his softs faded and left him seventh for the start of the main event, the double world champion held his nerve against an early attack from Vettel, before his old rival spun off on his inside at Woodcote, and went on to take seventh to extend his points-scoring run to a fifth race. The British GP marks Alonso's last race before his turns 40 and after a steady start to his F1 comeback, slowed by his pre-season training accident and adapting to his Alpine surroundings, he feels fresher and ready – a warning that the old dog has learned new tricks. "After the accident at the beginning of the year, in the first couple of races, there was still a part of the stress of coming back to the sport. I was concerned about the jaw, about the shoulder as well that I had the small injury with," Alonso said after the British GP. "But now, I'm super fit and I am 200%. "Next week is another number. So we'll eat some cake. But apart from that, it's going to be a very normal weekend. I feel 25. So whatever number it says in the passport it's not what I feel." 9. Williams progress clear but Russell is making the difference (JNew)

George Russell, Williams, waves to fans from Parc Ferme after Qualifying Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images Hamilton's qualifying triumph on Friday stole the headlines, but one of the biggest cheers from the crowd was reserved for Russell's lap of honour in his one and only Q3 run. The Williams driver made the final segment of qualifying for the third race in a row with the eighth quickest time, raising questions over whether the FW43B should be considered a Q3 car henceforth. The team's head of vehicle performance Dave Robson reckoned it was "a little too early to say whether that's going to be something that's a regular occurrence", admitting he expected Williams would find it harder than in Austria but the "very calm conditions" on Friday evening played to the car's strengths. Despite the Hungaroring requiring a totally different set-up, Robson predicts "there's a good chance we'll be there or there abouts". But even if it's not, Russell can be counted on to make the difference. While his weekend went downhill after qualifying - a first-lap tangle in the sprint with Sainz resulted in a "harsh" three-place grid penalty for the grand prix that he couldn't recover from against cars that remain quicker in race-trim - Russell is in the form of his life right now. "I think there's an element for him of getting on that upward spiral," explained Robson. The question now is, how high can it go? 10. What the 2022 F1 show car hints at (JBL)

The 2022 Formula 1 car launch event on the Silverstone grid Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images Although F1's vision for 2022 has been long defined after the unveiling of the all-new regulations (initially planned for 2021) back in 2019, the championship's promoters unveiled a full-size model of its interpretation of next year's chargers. Of course, it came with all the bells and whistles expected for next year: the low-slung nose directly attached to the front wing, the simplified bodywork and focus on ground-effect aerodynamics all featured on the car wrapped in a distinctive holographic livery. That being said, there were a few small differences between the physical model and the render, particularly around the front end; the nose tip sat in the middle of the leading front wing element, rather than protruding beyond them, hinting at the variation the teams can employ. Although F1 elected to pick a representation of next year's rules largely based on aesthetics, it can only be expected that the teams will take a more pragmatic view of the rules and might not necessarily stick to the spirit of them. There's a greater focus on prescribed designs and single-spec components to cut costs and develop the aero effect that F1 has studied and earmarked as the way forward for closer on-track racing, but those effects will surely be a little diluted when it comes to the actual range of cars next year. Regardless, it's an exciting new direction for F1; although some have questioned the necessity of the new rules as 2021 continues to intrigue us all, the British GP still showed the difficulties of racing within the current level of dirty air. The new rules should reduce that problem, should everything go to plan. By Alex Kalinauckas, Jonathan Noble, James Newbold, Jake Boxall-Legge and Haydn Cobb Read the full article

[ultrasfcb-blog]

Lewis Hamilton tops US GP practice as Sebastian Vettel given penalty

Lewis Hamilton tops US GP practice as Sebastian Vettel given penalty

Lewis Hamilton tops US GP practice as Sebastian Vettel given penalty

Listen to final practice and qualifying on sports extra and the BBC Sport website from 18:55 BST on Saturday

Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel has been handed a three-place grid penalty at the United States Grand Prix.

The decision, for not slowing sufficiently for a red flag in practice, increases the chances of Lewis Hamilton clinching his fifth world title in the race on Sunday.

Hamilton will be champion if he scores eight more points than Vettel.

Hamilton has won five of the last six races and topped both Friday sessions.

If Sebastian Vettel does not finish in the points then Lewis Hamilton only needs to come sixth to become the world champion

Vettel’s offence came after the first session was stopped because Sauber’s Charles Leclerc, who will be Vettel’s team-mate at Ferrari next year, had strewn gravel on the track at Turn Nine when rejoining after a spin in wet conditions.

Stewards ruled that Vettel had gone faster than the minimum time permitted in that area of the track.

The decision means Vettel cannot start the race higher than fourth, even if he takes pole position on Saturday, when the wet conditions of Friday are expected to continue.

Mercedes have been quicker than Ferrari in the wet so far this season. If Vettel qualifies third, he will start the race sixth, and his chances of finishing second will be small.

Vettel said: “From inside the car, I slowed down enough. They weren’t happy.

They were very specific saying I took 27.7secs to slow down. I saw the red flag, I slowed down, had a look around where the car was potentially stuck in the wall or if there was one around Turns Nine and 10, and then slowed down significantly to comply with the rules. They felt it took too long.

“There should be common sense with the rules we have. Lining out 27.7secs precisely as an act of not complying with the rules is wrong.

“The rules are clear, so we know, but it is the first time we had it in the wet and in the wet the target is a lot slower, so literally I have to stop to 30, 40, 50 km/h to bring down the delta (time in that sector of the lap).

“In my opinion it is not the right thing. If there is a car behind you it might run into you, but it is more important you don’t get a penalty.”

It is the latest in a series of errors committed by either the driver or his team that have badly affected their championship chances this season.

Brendon Hartley was first out to brave the wet conditions during second practice

Title in the bag then, surely

By contrast, Hamilton had a perfect day, despite the inclement conditions.

Hamilton headed Toro Rosso’s Pierre Gasly by 1.012 seconds in the second session after beating Mercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottas by 1.3secs in the first.

Gasly’s time was set on new tyres while those around him were on slower used tyres.

Vettel was only 11th fastest in the second session, 5.6secs off the pace. He was fifth and nearly two seconds behind Hamilton in the first.

Ferrari have brought an aerodynamic upgrade this weekend in the hope of closing the gap to Mercedes, which has opened up dramatically in the last three races.

The conditions made both sessions unrepresentative and Vettel was running on much older intermediate tyres than Hamilton in the second session.

However, Vettel said he believed Ferrari still lacked pace in wet conditions.

“Not many quality laps,” he said, “but I think it’s clear that when it’s wet we were not quick enough today.”

In the second session, Red Bull’s Max Verstappen was third fastest on used tyres, ahead of McLaren’s Fernando Alonso fourth ahead of Renault’s Nico Hulkenberg. Toro Rosso’s Brendon Hartley, using new tyres like his team-mate.

Four drivers did not run at all in the session – Bottas, Red Bull’s Daniel Ricciardo and both Haas cars.

Hamilton will become the joint-second most successful F1 driver of all time if he wins the title on Sunday

Daniel Ricciardo has some paddock fun on Lewis Hamilton’s scooter

From Iceman to Rainman: Kimi Raikkonen knows a cap and hood combo will keep the bad weather out

BBC Sport – Formula 1 ultras_FC_Barcelona

ultras FC Barcelona - https://ultrasfcb.com/formula1/12999/

#Barcelona

[jesusvasser]

Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car

NÜRBURG, Germany — The world’s most notorious racetrack was already 41 years old when, in 1968, Jackie Stewart referred to it as “the green hell” immediately after winning the Formula 1 German Grand Prix. Stewart had to battle not only the track, treacherous in the best conditions, and 19 other drivers, including pole sitter Jacky Ickx, but also severe rain and fog. It was, Stewart said much later, the toughest of his 27 F1 wins. Fittingly, it was also the race where driver Dan Gurney decided it might be a good time to introduce the full-face helmet to F1.

1983: Stefan Bellof

That’s the sort of place the Nürburgring was and is: glorious, miserable, so tough to master. But German racer Stefan Bellof did just that in 1983 when he lapped his Porsche 956 in a record 6 minutes, 11.13 seconds around the Nürburgring’s 12.9-mile Nordschleife circuit. Film of the record-breaking performance proves there was no celebration, no high-fiving; Bellof emerged with his typically bemused smile, but a quick shot of Norbert Singer, Porsche’s chief engineer and the 956’s designer, showed him displaying an ever-so-brief “Take that!” smirk. “We didn’t celebrate,” Singer, now 78, recalls, “because it was simply what was expected of us.”

Bellof’s lap was exceptional, but his record stood for decades in part because there was little subsequent top-level competition on the Nordschleife in cars that might have had a chance to top it.

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

Certainly the ’Ring has seen its share of production car record runs lately, though, as publicity-seeking manufacturers continually top each other. The latest—as of this writing, anyway—was the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, which lapped the track in 6:44.97 in July with factory driver Marco Mapelli. It took the fastest production lap title from the Porsche GT2 RS (see page 46), which had taken it from the Lamborghini Huracán Performante.

The distance Timo Bernhard covered in the Porsche 919 was within 7 feet of the track length when Stefan Bellof set the benchmark.

While there is little doubt Porsche will again seek the production lap record at the track, on June 29 Porsche instead went after Bellof’s overall record with a full-out factory effort, 35 years and one month after Bellof set his time. Earlier this year, the company unveiled the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, which took a 919 Hybrid race car that had competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2017 and—freed from the FIA World Endurance Championship rules—modified it substantially for all-out speed and active aerodynamics for maximum downforce or reduced drag where each was needed.

First stop for the 919 Hybrid Evo was Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps on April 9, where factory driver Neel Jani lapped the 4.35-mile Grand Prix circuit in 1:41.770, beating F1 driver Lewis Hamilton’s pole-winning and lap-record time of 1:42.553 set in a Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 last year.

That was essentially a shakedown for this assault on the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. Automobile was one of only two outlets from the U.S. invited to attend the closed ’Ring session, and it was instructive and impressive to watch the Porsche motorsports team in action—prepared, precise, and taking nothing for granted.

Porsche retired the 919 Hybrid at the end of last season. The company wanted to divert some of its WEC resources to a Formula E program, and with only Toyota to compete against in the WEC, it had little else to prove—the car won 17 of the 33 races it contested, including Le Mans in 2015, 2016, and 2017. This 919 Hybrid Evo project “is a tribute to the team, a farewell tour,” chief engineer Stephen Mitas said. Indeed, a red band that encircled the car’s body contained nearly 250 names of people who worked on the program.

The record lap itself was almost anti-climactic. Michelin brought a special tire for the attempt and had eight sets warming in electric blankets. Timo Bernhard got a new set each time he came in.

Bernhard was a perfect choice to drive. He is close with the Bellof family, having raced in its annual karting event held as a tribute to Stefan. In 2015, on the 30th anniversary of Bellof’s death, Bernhard raced with a helmet painted just like that of his hero.

Before it tackled the ’Ring, the 919 Hybrid Evo took down the lap record at Spa.

The native German has an exceptional record in multiple cars at the Nürburgring, and frankly, few Porsche factory drivers have earned the level of respect Bernhard has, thanks to his will to win, his profes-sionalism, and the fact that he is, above all else, a good guy. At 37, he is arguably at the peak of his career.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to their production cars?

So Bernhard took the Hybrid Evo out for a test run early on this Friday morning, and even taking it easy, he turned a lap in the mid-6-minute range. With now more than 1,100 combined horsepower on tap from the hybrid system and the little 2.0-liter turbocharged V-4 engine, Bernhard ripped past the pits in a muted roar. Second time out, quicker. Third, still quicker. The team, perhaps three dozen Porsche workers, sensed that the fourth run would be it and gathered at the timing sign at the end of pit lane.

The numbers flashed on the screen: 5:19.546, about 51 seconds faster than Bellof. Cheering, flag-waving, and back-patting ensued.

Bernhard emerged from the car with a grin and saying all the right things, especially about the previous record holder. “To me, Stefan Bellof remains a giant,” he told us. “Today my respect for his achievement with the technology available back then increased even more.” Hitting a top speed just short of 230 mph, Bernhard admitted to scaring himself several times, but the in-car video shows just how fast a 919 Hybrid is when freed from the rules. Downforce, Bernhard said, was incredible, allowing him to run full-throttle through corners where he had never considered doing so before.

There was likely more lap time in the car, but that didn’t quell the team’s celebration.

As for chief engineer Mitas, he was happy but not quite delighted. Although the track had been cleaned early in the morning, it was dirtier than expected and warmed up quickly on an unseasonably hot, humid day. No one would say it out loud, but it is a good bet the team was hoping to lower the record by a full 60 seconds.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to the musical chairs being played by their production cars?

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

The post Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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[eddiejpoplar]

Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car

NÜRBURG, Germany — The world’s most notorious racetrack was already 41 years old when, in 1968, Jackie Stewart referred to it as “the green hell” immediately after winning the Formula 1 German Grand Prix. Stewart had to battle not only the track, treacherous in the best conditions, and 19 other drivers, including pole sitter Jacky Ickx, but also severe rain and fog. It was, Stewart said much later, the toughest of his 27 F1 wins. Fittingly, it was also the race where driver Dan Gurney decided it might be a good time to introduce the full-face helmet to F1.

1983: Stefan Bellof

That’s the sort of place the Nürburgring was and is: glorious, miserable, so tough to master. But German racer Stefan Bellof did just that in 1983 when he lapped his Porsche 956 in a record 6 minutes, 11.13 seconds around the Nürburgring’s 12.9-mile Nordschleife circuit. Film of the record-breaking performance proves there was no celebration, no high-fiving; Bellof emerged with his typically bemused smile, but a quick shot of Norbert Singer, Porsche’s chief engineer and the 956’s designer, showed him displaying an ever-so-brief “Take that!” smirk. “We didn’t celebrate,” Singer, now 78, recalls, “because it was simply what was expected of us.”

Bellof’s lap was exceptional, but his record stood for decades in part because there was little subsequent top-level competition on the Nordschleife in cars that might have had a chance to top it.

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

Certainly the ’Ring has seen its share of production car record runs lately, though, as publicity-seeking manufacturers continually top each other. The latest—as of this writing, anyway—was the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, which lapped the track in 6:44.97 in July with factory driver Marco Mapelli. It took the fastest production lap title from the Porsche GT2 RS (see page 46), which had taken it from the Lamborghini Huracán Performante.

The distance Timo Bernhard covered in the Porsche 919 was within 7 feet of the track length when Stefan Bellof set the benchmark.

While there is little doubt Porsche will again seek the production lap record at the track, on June 29 Porsche instead went after Bellof’s overall record with a full-out factory effort, 35 years and one month after Bellof set his time. Earlier this year, the company unveiled the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, which took a 919 Hybrid race car that had competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2017 and—freed from the FIA World Endurance Championship rules—modified it substantially for all-out speed and active aerodynamics for maximum downforce or reduced drag where each was needed.

First stop for the 919 Hybrid Evo was Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps on April 9, where factory driver Neel Jani lapped the 4.35-mile Grand Prix circuit in 1:41.770, beating F1 driver Lewis Hamilton’s pole-winning and lap-record time of 1:42.553 set in a Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 last year.

That was essentially a shakedown for this assault on the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. Automobile was one of only two outlets from the U.S. invited to attend the closed ’Ring session, and it was instructive and impressive to watch the Porsche motorsports team in action—prepared, precise, and taking nothing for granted.

Porsche retired the 919 Hybrid at the end of last season. The company wanted to divert some of its WEC resources to a Formula E program, and with only Toyota to compete against in the WEC, it had little else to prove—the car won 17 of the 33 races it contested, including Le Mans in 2015, 2016, and 2017. This 919 Hybrid Evo project “is a tribute to the team, a farewell tour,” chief engineer Stephen Mitas said. Indeed, a red band that encircled the car’s body contained nearly 250 names of people who worked on the program.

The record lap itself was almost anti-climactic. Michelin brought a special tire for the attempt and had eight sets warming in electric blankets. Timo Bernhard got a new set each time he came in.

Bernhard was a perfect choice to drive. He is close with the Bellof family, having raced in its annual karting event held as a tribute to Stefan. In 2015, on the 30th anniversary of Bellof’s death, Bernhard raced with a helmet painted just like that of his hero.

Before it tackled the ’Ring, the 919 Hybrid Evo took down the lap record at Spa.

The native German has an exceptional record in multiple cars at the Nürburgring, and frankly, few Porsche factory drivers have earned the level of respect Bernhard has, thanks to his will to win, his profes-sionalism, and the fact that he is, above all else, a good guy. At 37, he is arguably at the peak of his career.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to their production cars?

So Bernhard took the Hybrid Evo out for a test run early on this Friday morning, and even taking it easy, he turned a lap in the mid-6-minute range. With now more than 1,100 combined horsepower on tap from the hybrid system and the little 2.0-liter turbocharged V-4 engine, Bernhard ripped past the pits in a muted roar. Second time out, quicker. Third, still quicker. The team, perhaps three dozen Porsche workers, sensed that the fourth run would be it and gathered at the timing sign at the end of pit lane.

The numbers flashed on the screen: 5:19.546, about 51 seconds faster than Bellof. Cheering, flag-waving, and back-patting ensued.

Bernhard emerged from the car with a grin and saying all the right things, especially about the previous record holder. “To me, Stefan Bellof remains a giant,” he told us. “Today my respect for his achievement with the technology available back then increased even more.” Hitting a top speed just short of 230 mph, Bernhard admitted to scaring himself several times, but the in-car video shows just how fast a 919 Hybrid is when freed from the rules. Downforce, Bernhard said, was incredible, allowing him to run full-throttle through corners where he had never considered doing so before.

There was likely more lap time in the car, but that didn’t quell the team’s celebration.

As for chief engineer Mitas, he was happy but not quite delighted. Although the track had been cleaned early in the morning, it was dirtier than expected and warmed up quickly on an unseasonably hot, humid day. No one would say it out loud, but it is a good bet the team was hoping to lower the record by a full 60 seconds.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to the musical chairs being played by their production cars?

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

The post Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car

NÜRBURG, Germany — The world’s most notorious racetrack was already 41 years old when, in 1968, Jackie Stewart referred to it as “the green hell” immediately after winning the Formula 1 German Grand Prix. Stewart had to battle not only the track, treacherous in the best conditions, and 19 other drivers, including pole sitter Jacky Ickx, but also severe rain and fog. It was, Stewart said much later, the toughest of his 27 F1 wins. Fittingly, it was also the race where driver Dan Gurney decided it might be a good time to introduce the full-face helmet to F1.

1983: Stefan Bellof

That’s the sort of place the Nürburgring was and is: glorious, miserable, so tough to master. But German racer Stefan Bellof did just that in 1983 when he lapped his Porsche 956 in a record 6 minutes, 11.13 seconds around the Nürburgring’s 12.9-mile Nordschleife circuit. Film of the record-breaking performance proves there was no celebration, no high-fiving; Bellof emerged with his typically bemused smile, but a quick shot of Norbert Singer, Porsche’s chief engineer and the 956’s designer, showed him displaying an ever-so-brief “Take that!” smirk. “We didn’t celebrate,” Singer, now 78, recalls, “because it was simply what was expected of us.”

Bellof’s lap was exceptional, but his record stood for decades in part because there was little subsequent top-level competition on the Nordschleife in cars that might have had a chance to top it.

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

Certainly the ’Ring has seen its share of production car record runs lately, though, as publicity-seeking manufacturers continually top each other. The latest—as of this writing, anyway—was the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, which lapped the track in 6:44.97 in July with factory driver Marco Mapelli. It took the fastest production lap title from the Porsche GT2 RS (see page 46), which had taken it from the Lamborghini Huracán Performante.

The distance Timo Bernhard covered in the Porsche 919 was within 7 feet of the track length when Stefan Bellof set the benchmark.

While there is little doubt Porsche will again seek the production lap record at the track, on June 29 Porsche instead went after Bellof’s overall record with a full-out factory effort, 35 years and one month after Bellof set his time. Earlier this year, the company unveiled the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, which took a 919 Hybrid race car that had competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2017 and—freed from the FIA World Endurance Championship rules—modified it substantially for all-out speed and active aerodynamics for maximum downforce or reduced drag where each was needed.

First stop for the 919 Hybrid Evo was Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps on April 9, where factory driver Neel Jani lapped the 4.35-mile Grand Prix circuit in 1:41.770, beating F1 driver Lewis Hamilton’s pole-winning and lap-record time of 1:42.553 set in a Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 last year.

That was essentially a shakedown for this assault on the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. Automobile was one of only two outlets from the U.S. invited to attend the closed ’Ring session, and it was instructive and impressive to watch the Porsche motorsports team in action—prepared, precise, and taking nothing for granted.

Porsche retired the 919 Hybrid at the end of last season. The company wanted to divert some of its WEC resources to a Formula E program, and with only Toyota to compete against in the WEC, it had little else to prove—the car won 17 of the 33 races it contested, including Le Mans in 2015, 2016, and 2017. This 919 Hybrid Evo project “is a tribute to the team, a farewell tour,” chief engineer Stephen Mitas said. Indeed, a red band that encircled the car’s body contained nearly 250 names of people who worked on the program.

The record lap itself was almost anti-climactic. Michelin brought a special tire for the attempt and had eight sets warming in electric blankets. Timo Bernhard got a new set each time he came in.

Bernhard was a perfect choice to drive. He is close with the Bellof family, having raced in its annual karting event held as a tribute to Stefan. In 2015, on the 30th anniversary of Bellof’s death, Bernhard raced with a helmet painted just like that of his hero.

Before it tackled the ’Ring, the 919 Hybrid Evo took down the lap record at Spa.

The native German has an exceptional record in multiple cars at the Nürburgring, and frankly, few Porsche factory drivers have earned the level of respect Bernhard has, thanks to his will to win, his profes-sionalism, and the fact that he is, above all else, a good guy. At 37, he is arguably at the peak of his career.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to their production cars?

So Bernhard took the Hybrid Evo out for a test run early on this Friday morning, and even taking it easy, he turned a lap in the mid-6-minute range. With now more than 1,100 combined horsepower on tap from the hybrid system and the little 2.0-liter turbocharged V-4 engine, Bernhard ripped past the pits in a muted roar. Second time out, quicker. Third, still quicker. The team, perhaps three dozen Porsche workers, sensed that the fourth run would be it and gathered at the timing sign at the end of pit lane.

The numbers flashed on the screen: 5:19.546, about 51 seconds faster than Bellof. Cheering, flag-waving, and back-patting ensued.

Bernhard emerged from the car with a grin and saying all the right things, especially about the previous record holder. “To me, Stefan Bellof remains a giant,” he told us. “Today my respect for his achievement with the technology available back then increased even more.” Hitting a top speed just short of 230 mph, Bernhard admitted to scaring himself several times, but the in-car video shows just how fast a 919 Hybrid is when freed from the rules. Downforce, Bernhard said, was incredible, allowing him to run full-throttle through corners where he had never considered doing so before.

There was likely more lap time in the car, but that didn’t quell the team’s celebration.

As for chief engineer Mitas, he was happy but not quite delighted. Although the track had been cleaned early in the morning, it was dirtier than expected and warmed up quickly on an unseasonably hot, humid day. No one would say it out loud, but it is a good bet the team was hoping to lower the record by a full 60 seconds.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to the musical chairs being played by their production cars?

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

The post Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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How will Formula One reckon with electric cars?

New Post has been published on https://nexcraft.co/how-will-formula-one-reckon-with-electric-cars/

How will Formula One reckon with electric cars?

Drivers take turn 11 at Circuit of the Americas pretty slowly. It’s tight, and they’ll only hit about 60 miles per hour, depending on the car. Then they’ll charge down the main straight, a three-quarters-of-a-mile descent that lets the right machine clear 200.

As I stand in the grandstands before turn 12, a black-and-gold racecar quickly fills my field of view. It’s Texas-hot in Austin today, close to 90 and humid, but the car brings a wind with it. The wind is made of noise.

Fans come to Formula One races for this kind of sensory experience. When the series spun up in 1946, following the exhaustive end of World War II, fantastic machines replaced the terrifying cacophony of bombs with the joyful chorus of speed-linked sound. Over the years, millions of fans have swarmed the edges of racetracks to hear F1’s roar.

But you don’t just hear an F1 engine. You feel it. As the car flies by the grandstand, the concussive wave emanating from its eight pounding cylinders hits me in my chest, the back of my neck, and behind my eyes. Is it fair to call this a noise? It feels more like an emotion.

Too bad I’m not technically witnessing Formula One. I’m watching the Masters Historic series, an undercard to the next day’s U.S. Grand Prix. This full-throated racer is an F1 car, yes, but it’s one that hasn’t competed for the championship in nearly 40 years.

The modern cars, whose complex hybrid powerplants are more than twice as powerful as the old-school V-8 that just streaked past me, don’t sound as awesome. You can stand trackside at a present-day Formula One race without even wearing earplugs. This development has fans and teams making a ruckus of their own.

The decibel-depleting transition came four years ago with new league regulations that put hybrid gas-and-electric engines into F1 machines in an effort to appease the increasingly eco-conscious public. And while you might not equate a hybrid—you know, like a Prius—with the planet’s pre-eminent racing series, the new cars are faster and more advanced than anything that’s come before. This is important for competition, but also for the technological trickle-down that’s so key to F1’s place atop the motorsport pantheon. Many Formula One innovations find their way into our personal rides: Disc brakes, carbon fiber, and traction control are just a few examples that have made our own ­automobiles safer, more efficient, and, yeah, faster.

Formula One’s hybrid engines definitely bring the innovation, but they’re a bit short on sensory thrill.

“That’s the slightly embarrassing thing,” Ross Brawn, Formula One’s managing director of motorsports, tells me later that day from a hermetically white hospitality room two buildings and a road removed from the circuit. “Everyone remembers how great the cars used to sound.” Another V-8 screams down the track, its wail piercing our air-conditioned sanctum, and he fights a smile. Brawn, who has been working with F1 cars since the late 1970s, recalls a louder time. “We used to have engines that were ear-piercing,” he says. Then hybrids arrived, and, “suddenly you could have a conversation next to a ­running car,” he says.

This hints at an existential questions for Formula One: In our environmentally friendly future, will the most advanced racing series in the world still drive the innovations that power our road cars, or will it instead become pure sport, with entertainment as its singular goal? Or could an all-electric championship overtake F1 as the fastest R&D lab on planet Earth?

Formula One is among the most cash-infused sports in the world. Race weekends take place on five continents from March through November and draw in excess of 100,000 paying spectators apiece. Team budgets stretch into the hundreds of millions of dollars. Much of that money goes toward developing parts, materials, and systems for their thoroughbred machines. Some of those innovations end up in our driveways.

But as the consumer world trends toward electric ­vehicles, Formula One shows no sign of putting the brakes on its gas-burning engines. To keep from losing fans and their yawning wallets, F1 heavies look to the petrol-fueled sensory assault of a modern Grand Prix to maintain interest. In parallel, to maintain the interest of eco-conscious race fans, the Federation Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA), which governs most of professional racing, recently bankrolled a new electric racing series called Formula E.

You’d think an all-amps competition would be the most sophisticated racing around, but Formula E is not as technologically cutthroat as F1. To attract smaller outfits, the FIA made entering Formula E, which is only three years old, relatively unintimidating: Many major parts are standard, so you don’t need the kind of R&D operation required to develop, for example, a battery from scratch. And to keep the titans of motorsport from trampling newcomers, constructors (teams) can’t spend more than $25 million per year on their rigs. That’s a tenth of an F1 budget. In both Formula One and Formula E, the FIA has a lot of say in how racing squads spend their money. Recently, the FIA has been directing teams to put their cash behind green tech, even in performance-obsessed F1.

Every year, the FIA and Formula One’s management crew hand down technical regulations to F1 teams; every seven years or so, they create a thoroughly rethought set of these specs. The regulations direct every aspect of a car: engine configuration, angle of the driver’s seat, number of joules the car’s battery can discharge in a lap, and so on. The interpretation of these specs, even more than ­jockeying on the track, is F1’s real field of play.

“The teams are fighting a technological war,” says Brawn, a former tech boss with a reputation for ­ruthless competition. As soon as a squad receives the 100-plus-page document, engineers embark on an epic nerd-out, searching for ­technological edges and loopholes to exploit.

“The teams are fighting a technological war.”

Ross Brawn, Formula One Managing Director of Motorsports

In 2014, the spec mandated new hybrid engines that thrust Formula One into the future—or at least the present day. The regs called for small gasoline-electric setups and resulted in a 35 percent reduction in fuel use. These power units, as they’re called, are highly advanced. The gas-powered component displaes just 1.6 liters—that’s smaller-than-a-Toyota-Corolla territory—but its diminutive six cylinders achieve phenomenal efficiency. In concert with an electric motor, they put more than 1,000 horsepower onto the track. These cars and their tiny engines are scary fast, breaking speed records at almost every race.

Fans, however, were not impressed by the hybrids’ debut. “This yr F1 is kinda dull…I miss the…deafening sound of the V8,” wrote one Twitter user. “#F1 in 2014 sucks. Hybrid v6 sound like my Jetta,” another tweeted. The media was brutal too. F1’s “new sound gets thumbs down,” read one Associated Press report.

The cars’ noise level improved over the past three years, but not enough for some. Brawn, who now works for F1 leading the team that writes the all-controlling regulations, had a choice: Steer F1 toward electric power, or push it toward gas. Focusing on electric power would, without a doubt, hugely benefit electric-car R&D; gas would sound amazing.

Brawn’s bringing back the roar.

“The show has to be the number-one priority,” Brawn says, and then starts slapping the table to punctuate the list of factors that, to him, define Formula One: “The racing [slap], the drivers [slap], the history [slap], the noise [slap], the smell [slap], the atmosphere [slap].”

The FIA’s next set of regulations, currently being drafted by Brawn and his crew, could pump up the atmosphere. They go into effect in 2021 and will likely allow higher fuel flow so the V-6 power units—still hybrids—can rev higher and scream louder. They also might do away with a ­device that makes the power units more efficient—and quieter—by harvesting energy from the engine.

The decision to not go greener is all business. F1 is expensive, and Brawn knows companies won’t rush to drop a quarter-billion bucks to fund a team in a sport without fans. “You create the show because you’ve got substantial investment from manufacturers or technological partners who create this magic of Formula One,” he says.

Toto Wolff, team principal of the magic-creating, ­four-time world-champion Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 squad agrees. “Formula One is an audio-visual spectacle,” he says. “We need to be shocked by the sheer speed of the cars, looking at them, and by the sound of the engines.”

As a corporate officer at Mercedes-Benz (official title: Executive Director and Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport), Wolff answers to a publicly traded company that sells upwards of 2 million cars a year. His job is not just to win on the track; he also has to make sure the technological gains he achieves there have practical applications.

He can cross that off his to-do list. Sort of. Late in 2017, Mercedes introduced the Project One, which is essentially a street-legal F1 car. “The rear axle has got exactly the same power unit attached to it,” says Andy Cowell, ­Mercedes’ managing director of high performance powertrains, who oversaw development of that power unit. “The only differences are that it’s got an aftertreatment on the exhaust system to meet emissions regulations, and the tuning is adjusted so it can cope with regular gasoline.” That’s some direct tech transfer! Too bad most of us won’t see a Project One at our local dealers. They run $2.8 million, and Mercedes sold all 275 of them the day they went on sale.

The high-performance hybrid is, at least, the near future of go-fast cars. But hybrids burn gas, and they’ve been on public roads for 20 years. It’s hard to look at something with a tank full of hydrocarbons and see our motive destiny. By most accounts, ­F­ormula E and the wave of electric vehicles rushing toward dealerships will dominate our driveways in the years to come.

Courtesy Mercedes-Benz

Everybody jumps on the hype of electric cars because Tesla is doing it, but no auto manufacturer who is ­going pure electric has ever earned one dollar of profit,” says Wolff, his ­German-accented English just ein bisschen louder than normal.

Maybe he’s just nervous. The next day, his lead driver, Lewis Hamilton, will climb into his 1,000-horsepower hybrid and try to win the U.S. Grand Prix, the race that brought Wolff to Austin this weekend. There’s more than just high-fives at stake: A win could secure the World Championship—and its roughly $150 million purse—for Mercedes. Kind of a high-pressure day.

Still, Wolff continues musing about EVs. “My personal view—and I’m not a road-car expert—is that hybrid is the future,” he says. “I can see full electrification in cities as a first step, and hybrid everywhere else. But I doubt that we will have more than 25 percent electric by 2030.”

Even so, Mercedes has committed to entering ­Formula E in 2019. “The reason for us joining is that our road cars are gonna go electric—that’s a fact,” says Wolff. This sounds like a contradiction, but it’s not. Mercedes recently announced plans to produce a line of urban-aimed ­electric vehicles called EQ, and the racing series is a way for the company to promote it. “The marketing aspect interests us,” he confirms. When I ask him if Formula E tech will have a meaningful impact on Mercedes’ innovation in electric vehicles, Wolff is clear: “Not yet.”

That’s because Formula E’s regulations are pretty locked-down. Engineers can play with the powertrain, the stuff that physically turns the wheels. And that would seem like a big deal, but every team uses the same chassis—the parts that determine how a car handles—and the same battery. Unlike in internal combustion engines, the battery is the most important component of an electric car. It’s what lured Mercedes to the starting line.

Current Formula E battery packs can’t last a ­­50-minute race, and, at about 440 pounds, it’s impractical to swap one out midcompetition. That’s why, about halfway through an ePrix, this happens: The car dips into the pit. The driver unbuckles his five-point harness, removes his steering wheel, climbs out of his car, hops a few steps over to a fully charged car, climbs in, lets the team buckle his safety harness and attach his steering wheel, and zooms off, motor whirring like an angry vacuum cleaner.

A pit stop spans about 40 seconds—40 seconds of seat belts and ­skipping between cars. It’s boring and kind of embarrassing. What company wants racecars that can’t finish a race? “It doesn’t appeal to us to change cars because the batteries don’t make it,” says Wolff.

He’s not alone in that sentiment. “The current configuration ­encourages people to have range anxiety,” says Dick Glover, CTO of McLaren Applied Technologies (MAT). McLaren, a key player in F1 since the 1960s, doesn’t just race: The company’s Applied Technologies division supplies parts to every team in F1.

MAT is developing a battery that will treat Formula E’s anxiety problem. Guess when that new battery will be ready. Yup—2019, which is when Mercedes plans to join Formula E. Porsche recently announced plans to race that year too. And Nissan, which makes the electric Leaf, will start running in 2018. These new teams could change Formula E into the kind of technological warfare that today makes F1 so compelling. And maybe even unseat it as the premiere R&D venue for a new generation.

Maybe.

Formula E’s big challenge, if you ask Brawn, is that of a very fast chicken and its expensive egg: Without the public awareness and ticket sales, teams won’t pour serious money into the sport, even if you let them. But absent those big spenders’ crazy tech, the all-electric series won’t draw the crowds… that attract the serious money. And on and on.

One solution would seem glaringly obvious: Formula One could go electric. Generations of history make it unthinkable for constructors like Ferrari to step away. And legions of fans will buy tickets and TV packages that support the multiple billions of dollars required to create the spectacular machines. Just as those same fans gave up their DVDs for Netflix and landlines for cellphones, they’ll come to appreciate aspects of racing other than the noise. Right?

“I don’t see it in the next five to 10 years,” says Brawn. “I can’t see that.” And he’s just referring to the tech required to run 186 miles at F1’s hammering pace. “We have some tough questions to ask ourselves,” he says.

Here’s one: What if F1 were just a sport, with no real-world analog. Armies don’t fight with spears ­anymore, and yet Olympians still win medals for throwing javelins. Why couldn’t 24 petrol-powered cars racing around a track be part of our all-electric (or nuclear or hydrogen or whatever) future? “Transportation can become a commodity; it doesn’t need to trigger any emotions within you,” says Wolff. “Motor racing—the danger and the technology—that triggers emotions. I can definitely see the two not ­being aligned all the time.”

Or maybe it depends on where you live. “We’re used to a fairly homogeneous world,” says McLaren’s Glover. “In the future, it will be anything but that. Some countries will be very heavy on electrification. In others, it won’t be much different from what you have now.” So the tech on an F1 track might have applications in areas that won’t be suited to electrification until decades after cities and infrastructure-heavy markets adopt it. For a sport that prides itself on its global reach, this makes a lot of sense.

That Sunday in Austin, at the race weekend’s main event, Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton doesn’t make a great start and finds himself in second place behind his Ferrari rival. Five laps later, though, Hamilton charges down that three-quarters-of-a-mile main straight at more than 200 miles per hour, and, right in front of the turn 12 grandstands, passes the Ferrari. He takes the lead. He clinches the championship. The roar of the crowd is all you can hear.

This article was originally published in the January/February 2018 Power issue of Popular Science.

Written By Joe Brown

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Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car

NÜRBURG, Germany — The world’s most notorious racetrack was already 41 years old when, in 1968, Jackie Stewart referred to it as “the green hell” immediately after winning the Formula 1 German Grand Prix. Stewart had to battle not only the track, treacherous in the best conditions, and 19 other drivers, including pole sitter Jacky Ickx, but also severe rain and fog. It was, Stewart said much later, the toughest of his 27 F1 wins. Fittingly, it was also the race where driver Dan Gurney decided it might be a good time to introduce the full-face helmet to F1.

1983: Stefan Bellof

That’s the sort of place the Nürburgring was and is: glorious, miserable, so tough to master. But German racer Stefan Bellof did just that in 1983 when he lapped his Porsche 956 in a record 6 minutes, 11.13 seconds around the Nürburgring’s 12.9-mile Nordschleife circuit. Film of the record-breaking performance proves there was no celebration, no high-fiving; Bellof emerged with his typically bemused smile, but a quick shot of Norbert Singer, Porsche’s chief engineer and the 956’s designer, showed him displaying an ever-so-brief “Take that!” smirk. “We didn’t celebrate,” Singer, now 78, recalls, “because it was simply what was expected of us.”

Bellof’s lap was exceptional, but his record stood for decades in part because there was little subsequent top-level competition on the Nordschleife in cars that might have had a chance to top it.

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

Certainly the ’Ring has seen its share of production car record runs lately, though, as publicity-seeking manufacturers continually top each other. The latest—as of this writing, anyway—was the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, which lapped the track in 6:44.97 in July with factory driver Marco Mapelli. It took the fastest production lap title from the Porsche GT2 RS (see page 46), which had taken it from the Lamborghini Huracán Performante.

The distance Timo Bernhard covered in the Porsche 919 was within 7 feet of the track length when Stefan Bellof set the benchmark.

While there is little doubt Porsche will again seek the production lap record at the track, on June 29 Porsche instead went after Bellof’s overall record with a full-out factory effort, 35 years and one month after Bellof set his time. Earlier this year, the company unveiled the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, which took a 919 Hybrid race car that had competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2017 and—freed from the FIA World Endurance Championship rules—modified it substantially for all-out speed and active aerodynamics for maximum downforce or reduced drag where each was needed.

First stop for the 919 Hybrid Evo was Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps on April 9, where factory driver Neel Jani lapped the 4.35-mile Grand Prix circuit in 1:41.770, beating F1 driver Lewis Hamilton’s pole-winning and lap-record time of 1:42.553 set in a Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 last year.

That was essentially a shakedown for this assault on the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. Automobile was one of only two outlets from the U.S. invited to attend the closed ’Ring session, and it was instructive and impressive to watch the Porsche motorsports team in action—prepared, precise, and taking nothing for granted.

Porsche retired the 919 Hybrid at the end of last season. The company wanted to divert some of its WEC resources to a Formula E program, and with only Toyota to compete against in the WEC, it had little else to prove—the car won 17 of the 33 races it contested, including Le Mans in 2015, 2016, and 2017. This 919 Hybrid Evo project “is a tribute to the team, a farewell tour,” chief engineer Stephen Mitas said. Indeed, a red band that encircled the car’s body contained nearly 250 names of people who worked on the program.

The record lap itself was almost anti-climactic. Michelin brought a special tire for the attempt and had eight sets warming in electric blankets. Timo Bernhard got a new set each time he came in.

Bernhard was a perfect choice to drive. He is close with the Bellof family, having raced in its annual karting event held as a tribute to Stefan. In 2015, on the 30th anniversary of Bellof’s death, Bernhard raced with a helmet painted just like that of his hero.

Before it tackled the ’Ring, the 919 Hybrid Evo took down the lap record at Spa.

The native German has an exceptional record in multiple cars at the Nürburgring, and frankly, few Porsche factory drivers have earned the level of respect Bernhard has, thanks to his will to win, his profes-sionalism, and the fact that he is, above all else, a good guy. At 37, he is arguably at the peak of his career.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to their production cars?

So Bernhard took the Hybrid Evo out for a test run early on this Friday morning, and even taking it easy, he turned a lap in the mid-6-minute range. With now more than 1,100 combined horsepower on tap from the hybrid system and the little 2.0-liter turbocharged V-4 engine, Bernhard ripped past the pits in a muted roar. Second time out, quicker. Third, still quicker. The team, perhaps three dozen Porsche workers, sensed that the fourth run would be it and gathered at the timing sign at the end of pit lane.

The numbers flashed on the screen: 5:19.546, about 51 seconds faster than Bellof. Cheering, flag-waving, and back-patting ensued.

Bernhard emerged from the car with a grin and saying all the right things, especially about the previous record holder. “To me, Stefan Bellof remains a giant,” he told us. “Today my respect for his achievement with the technology available back then increased even more.” Hitting a top speed just short of 230 mph, Bernhard admitted to scaring himself several times, but the in-car video shows just how fast a 919 Hybrid is when freed from the rules. Downforce, Bernhard said, was incredible, allowing him to run full-throttle through corners where he had never considered doing so before.

There was likely more lap time in the car, but that didn’t quell the team’s celebration.

As for chief engineer Mitas, he was happy but not quite delighted. Although the track had been cleaned early in the morning, it was dirtier than expected and warmed up quickly on an unseasonably hot, humid day. No one would say it out loud, but it is a good bet the team was hoping to lower the record by a full 60 seconds.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to the musical chairs being played by their production cars?

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

The post Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car

NÜRBURG, Germany — The world’s most notorious racetrack was already 41 years old when, in 1968, Jackie Stewart referred to it as “the green hell” immediately after winning the Formula 1 German Grand Prix. Stewart had to battle not only the track, treacherous in the best conditions, and 19 other drivers, including pole sitter Jacky Ickx, but also severe rain and fog. It was, Stewart said much later, the toughest of his 27 F1 wins. Fittingly, it was also the race where driver Dan Gurney decided it might be a good time to introduce the full-face helmet to F1.

1983: Stefan Bellof

That’s the sort of place the Nürburgring was and is: glorious, miserable, so tough to master. But German racer Stefan Bellof did just that in 1983 when he lapped his Porsche 956 in a record 6 minutes, 11.13 seconds around the Nürburgring’s 12.9-mile Nordschleife circuit. Film of the record-breaking performance proves there was no celebration, no high-fiving; Bellof emerged with his typically bemused smile, but a quick shot of Norbert Singer, Porsche’s chief engineer and the 956’s designer, showed him displaying an ever-so-brief “Take that!” smirk. “We didn’t celebrate,” Singer, now 78, recalls, “because it was simply what was expected of us.”

Bellof’s lap was exceptional, but his record stood for decades in part because there was little subsequent top-level competition on the Nordschleife in cars that might have had a chance to top it.

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

Certainly the ’Ring has seen its share of production car record runs lately, though, as publicity-seeking manufacturers continually top each other. The latest—as of this writing, anyway—was the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, which lapped the track in 6:44.97 in July with factory driver Marco Mapelli. It took the fastest production lap title from the Porsche GT2 RS (see page 46), which had taken it from the Lamborghini Huracán Performante.

The distance Timo Bernhard covered in the Porsche 919 was within 7 feet of the track length when Stefan Bellof set the benchmark.

While there is little doubt Porsche will again seek the production lap record at the track, on June 29 Porsche instead went after Bellof’s overall record with a full-out factory effort, 35 years and one month after Bellof set his time. Earlier this year, the company unveiled the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, which took a 919 Hybrid race car that had competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2017 and—freed from the FIA World Endurance Championship rules—modified it substantially for all-out speed and active aerodynamics for maximum downforce or reduced drag where each was needed.

First stop for the 919 Hybrid Evo was Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps on April 9, where factory driver Neel Jani lapped the 4.35-mile Grand Prix circuit in 1:41.770, beating F1 driver Lewis Hamilton’s pole-winning and lap-record time of 1:42.553 set in a Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 last year.

That was essentially a shakedown for this assault on the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. Automobile was one of only two outlets from the U.S. invited to attend the closed ’Ring session, and it was instructive and impressive to watch the Porsche motorsports team in action—prepared, precise, and taking nothing for granted.

Porsche retired the 919 Hybrid at the end of last season. The company wanted to divert some of its WEC resources to a Formula E program, and with only Toyota to compete against in the WEC, it had little else to prove—the car won 17 of the 33 races it contested, including Le Mans in 2015, 2016, and 2017. This 919 Hybrid Evo project “is a tribute to the team, a farewell tour,” chief engineer Stephen Mitas said. Indeed, a red band that encircled the car’s body contained nearly 250 names of people who worked on the program.

The record lap itself was almost anti-climactic. Michelin brought a special tire for the attempt and had eight sets warming in electric blankets. Timo Bernhard got a new set each time he came in.

Bernhard was a perfect choice to drive. He is close with the Bellof family, having raced in its annual karting event held as a tribute to Stefan. In 2015, on the 30th anniversary of Bellof’s death, Bernhard raced with a helmet painted just like that of his hero.

Before it tackled the ’Ring, the 919 Hybrid Evo took down the lap record at Spa.

The native German has an exceptional record in multiple cars at the Nürburgring, and frankly, few Porsche factory drivers have earned the level of respect Bernhard has, thanks to his will to win, his profes-sionalism, and the fact that he is, above all else, a good guy. At 37, he is arguably at the peak of his career.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to their production cars?

So Bernhard took the Hybrid Evo out for a test run early on this Friday morning, and even taking it easy, he turned a lap in the mid-6-minute range. With now more than 1,100 combined horsepower on tap from the hybrid system and the little 2.0-liter turbocharged V-4 engine, Bernhard ripped past the pits in a muted roar. Second time out, quicker. Third, still quicker. The team, perhaps three dozen Porsche workers, sensed that the fourth run would be it and gathered at the timing sign at the end of pit lane.

The numbers flashed on the screen: 5:19.546, about 51 seconds faster than Bellof. Cheering, flag-waving, and back-patting ensued.

Bernhard emerged from the car with a grin and saying all the right things, especially about the previous record holder. “To me, Stefan Bellof remains a giant,” he told us. “Today my respect for his achievement with the technology available back then increased even more.” Hitting a top speed just short of 230 mph, Bernhard admitted to scaring himself several times, but the in-car video shows just how fast a 919 Hybrid is when freed from the rules. Downforce, Bernhard said, was incredible, allowing him to run full-throttle through corners where he had never considered doing so before.

There was likely more lap time in the car, but that didn’t quell the team’s celebration.

As for chief engineer Mitas, he was happy but not quite delighted. Although the track had been cleaned early in the morning, it was dirtier than expected and warmed up quickly on an unseasonably hot, humid day. No one would say it out loud, but it is a good bet the team was hoping to lower the record by a full 60 seconds.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to the musical chairs being played by their production cars?

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

The post Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car

NÜRBURG, Germany — The world’s most notorious racetrack was already 41 years old when, in 1968, Jackie Stewart referred to it as “the green hell” immediately after winning the Formula 1 German Grand Prix. Stewart had to battle not only the track, treacherous in the best conditions, and 19 other drivers, including pole sitter Jacky Ickx, but also severe rain and fog. It was, Stewart said much later, the toughest of his 27 F1 wins. Fittingly, it was also the race where driver Dan Gurney decided it might be a good time to introduce the full-face helmet to F1.

1983: Stefan Bellof

That’s the sort of place the Nürburgring was and is: glorious, miserable, so tough to master. But German racer Stefan Bellof did just that in 1983 when he lapped his Porsche 956 in a record 6 minutes, 11.13 seconds around the Nürburgring’s 12.9-mile Nordschleife circuit. Film of the record-breaking performance proves there was no celebration, no high-fiving; Bellof emerged with his typically bemused smile, but a quick shot of Norbert Singer, Porsche’s chief engineer and the 956’s designer, showed him displaying an ever-so-brief “Take that!” smirk. “We didn’t celebrate,” Singer, now 78, recalls, “because it was simply what was expected of us.”

Bellof’s lap was exceptional, but his record stood for decades in part because there was little subsequent top-level competition on the Nordschleife in cars that might have had a chance to top it.

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

Certainly the ’Ring has seen its share of production car record runs lately, though, as publicity-seeking manufacturers continually top each other. The latest—as of this writing, anyway—was the Lamborghini Aventador SVJ, which lapped the track in 6:44.97 in July with factory driver Marco Mapelli. It took the fastest production lap title from the Porsche GT2 RS (see page 46), which had taken it from the Lamborghini Huracán Performante.

The distance Timo Bernhard covered in the Porsche 919 was within 7 feet of the track length when Stefan Bellof set the benchmark.

While there is little doubt Porsche will again seek the production lap record at the track, on June 29 Porsche instead went after Bellof’s overall record with a full-out factory effort, 35 years and one month after Bellof set his time. Earlier this year, the company unveiled the Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo, which took a 919 Hybrid race car that had competed at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2017 and—freed from the FIA World Endurance Championship rules—modified it substantially for all-out speed and active aerodynamics for maximum downforce or reduced drag where each was needed.

First stop for the 919 Hybrid Evo was Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps on April 9, where factory driver Neel Jani lapped the 4.35-mile Grand Prix circuit in 1:41.770, beating F1 driver Lewis Hamilton’s pole-winning and lap-record time of 1:42.553 set in a Mercedes-AMG F1 W08 last year.

That was essentially a shakedown for this assault on the Nürburgring Nordschleife circuit. Automobile was one of only two outlets from the U.S. invited to attend the closed ’Ring session, and it was instructive and impressive to watch the Porsche motorsports team in action—prepared, precise, and taking nothing for granted.

Porsche retired the 919 Hybrid at the end of last season. The company wanted to divert some of its WEC resources to a Formula E program, and with only Toyota to compete against in the WEC, it had little else to prove—the car won 17 of the 33 races it contested, including Le Mans in 2015, 2016, and 2017. This 919 Hybrid Evo project “is a tribute to the team, a farewell tour,” chief engineer Stephen Mitas said. Indeed, a red band that encircled the car’s body contained nearly 250 names of people who worked on the program.

The record lap itself was almost anti-climactic. Michelin brought a special tire for the attempt and had eight sets warming in electric blankets. Timo Bernhard got a new set each time he came in.

Bernhard was a perfect choice to drive. He is close with the Bellof family, having raced in its annual karting event held as a tribute to Stefan. In 2015, on the 30th anniversary of Bellof’s death, Bernhard raced with a helmet painted just like that of his hero.

Before it tackled the ’Ring, the 919 Hybrid Evo took down the lap record at Spa.

The native German has an exceptional record in multiple cars at the Nürburgring, and frankly, few Porsche factory drivers have earned the level of respect Bernhard has, thanks to his will to win, his profes-sionalism, and the fact that he is, above all else, a good guy. At 37, he is arguably at the peak of his career.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to their production cars?

So Bernhard took the Hybrid Evo out for a test run early on this Friday morning, and even taking it easy, he turned a lap in the mid-6-minute range. With now more than 1,100 combined horsepower on tap from the hybrid system and the little 2.0-liter turbocharged V-4 engine, Bernhard ripped past the pits in a muted roar. Second time out, quicker. Third, still quicker. The team, perhaps three dozen Porsche workers, sensed that the fourth run would be it and gathered at the timing sign at the end of pit lane.

The numbers flashed on the screen: 5:19.546, about 51 seconds faster than Bellof. Cheering, flag-waving, and back-patting ensued.

Bernhard emerged from the car with a grin and saying all the right things, especially about the previous record holder. “To me, Stefan Bellof remains a giant,” he told us. “Today my respect for his achievement with the technology available back then increased even more.” Hitting a top speed just short of 230 mph, Bernhard admitted to scaring himself several times, but the in-car video shows just how fast a 919 Hybrid is when freed from the rules. Downforce, Bernhard said, was incredible, allowing him to run full-throttle through corners where he had never considered doing so before.

There was likely more lap time in the car, but that didn’t quell the team’s celebration.

As for chief engineer Mitas, he was happy but not quite delighted. Although the track had been cleaned early in the morning, it was dirtier than expected and warmed up quickly on an unseasonably hot, humid day. No one would say it out loud, but it is a good bet the team was hoping to lower the record by a full 60 seconds.

Might this trigger an assault on the overall record from other manufacturers, similar to the musical chairs being played by their production cars?

“I guess we’ll see,” Mitas said. But the smirk he wore, so similar to the one on Singer’s face 35 years before, seemed to say, “Sure, let ’em try.”

The post Ringing in a Record: Porsche 919 Hybrid Evo Race Car appeared first on Automobile Magazine.

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