F1 Primer: The teams and cars - MotorSportsTalk

The F1 rules have been largely stable since 2009. The current generation of cars use 2.4-liter V8 engines which produce around 750bhp.

This is enhanced by the addition of a Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS). This is basically a hybrid engine which gives drivers an extra 80bhp for up to 6.6 seconds per lap.

Another acronym which comes up often in F1 is DRS. The Drag Reduction System was introduced in 2011 to increase overtaking. It allows a driver to lower his rear wing and increase his top speed, but only on designated parts of the circuit and only when they’re within a second of the car in front.

F1’s engine specification has been ‘frozen’ for several years. That has led teams to focus on the aerodynamics of their cars as the best way of improving performance. And the undoubted masters of that at the moment are Red Bull.

Technical director Adrian Newey has been a key part of the team’s dominance of the past three seasons. His unending quest for performance has brought Red Bull in conflict with the sport’s rule makers on several occasions.

A team with the passion and heritage of Ferrari needs no introduction. They are the only outfit who’ve participated in every season of the world championship since its inauguration in 1950.

They wield immense political clout within the sport and their impatience at going four years without any championship silverware is clearly growing.

McLaren’s status as one of the sport’s top teams is belied by the fact that they haven’t won the constructors’ championship for 15 years. Their relationship with engine supplier Mercedes, which began in 1995, appears to be in its twilight phase.

Mercedes returned to F1 as a full factory team in 2010 but have only won one race since. The hiring of Lewis Hamilton from McLaren this year is a clear signal of their intentions.

The Lotus name appears in F1 but it is no longer connected to the sports car maker. The team which was known as Renault until last year have won championships before and are dark horse contenders for success this year.

Sauber mark the 20th anniversary of their arrival in F1 this year. The independent team owned by Peter Sauber is now run by F1’s first female team principal, Monisha Kaltenborn. Fellow independents Williams have multiple championships to their name and ended an eight-year winless streak last season.

Force India has two home races per year: the Indian Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix, the latter held at Silverstone circuit outside their factory gates.

The role of Toro Rosso in F1 is as a junior team for Red Bull who use it to evaluate potential drivers of the future.

There is room for 26 cars in Formula One at present, but only 22 of the spaces are filled. Three new teams entered F1 in 2010 but one of those, HRT, collapsed during the winter. Only Caterham and Marussia remain, and they are yet to score a point in three years.

DETROIT – There’s no rest for the weary as an Indy 500 winner, but Josef Newgarden discovered there are plenty of extra laps.

The reigning Indy 500 champion added an extra trip Wednesday night back to Concord, N.C., for one last session on the GM Racing simulator before Sunday’s Chevrolet Detroit Grand Prix.

After a 30-year run on the Belle Isle course, the race has been moved to a nine-turn, 1.7-mile layout downtown, so two extra hours on the simulator were worth it for Newgarden.

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“I really wanted to do it,” he told NBC Sports at a Thursday media luncheon. “If there’s any time that the sim is most useful, it’s in this situation when no one has ever been on a track, and we’re able to simulate it as best as we can. We want to get some seat time.

“It’s extra important coming off the Indy 500 because you’ve been out of rhythm for a road or street course-type environment, so I really wanted some laps. I was really appreciative to Chevy. There was a few guys that just came in and stayed late for me so I could get those laps before coming up here. I don’t know if it’s going to make a difference, but I feel like it’s going to help for me.”

After a whirlwind tour of New York for two days, Newgarden arrived at the simulator (which is at the GM Racing Technical Center adjacent to Hendrick Motorsports) in time for a two hour session that started at 6 p.m. Wednesday. He stayed overnight in Charlotte and then was up for an early commercial flight to Detroit, where he had more media obligations.

Newgarden joked that if he had a jet, he would have made a quick stop in Nashville, Tennessee, but a few more days away from home (where he has yet to return in weeks) is a worthy tradeoff for winning the Greatest Spectacle in Racing – though the nonstop interviews can take a toll.

“It’s the hardest part of the gig for me is all this fanfare and celebration,” Newgarden said. “I love doing it because I’m so passionate about the Indy 500 and that racetrack and what that race represents. I feel honored to be able to speak about it. It’s been really natural and easy for me to enjoy it because I’ve been there for so many years.

“Speaking about this win has been almost the easiest job I’ve ever had for postrace celebrations. But it’s still for me a lot of work. I get worn out pretty easily. I’m very introverted. So to do this for three days straight, it’s been a lot.”

Though he is terrified of heights, touring the top of the Empire State Building for the first time was a major highlight (and produced the tour’s most viral moment).

New texts alert sound just dropped.@josefnewgarden| @EmpireStateBldg pic.twitter.com/YWLpS9UWrN

— INDYCAR on NBC (@IndyCaronNBC) May 31, 2023

“I was scared to get to the very top level,” Newgarden said. “That thing was swaying. No one else thought it was swaying. I’m pretty sure it was. I really impressed by the facility. I’d never seen it before. It’s one of those bucket list things. If you go to New York, it’s really special to do that. So to be there with the wreath and the whole setup, it just felt like an honor to be in that moment.”

Now the attention shifts to Detroit and an inaugural circuit that’s expected to be challenging. Along with a Jefferson Avenue straightaway that’s 0.9 miles long, the track has several low-speed corners and a “split” pit lane (teams will stop on both sides of a rectangular area) with a narrow exit that blends just before a 90-degree lefthand turn into Turn 1.

Newgarden thinks the track is most similar to the Music City Grand Prix in Nashville.

“It’s really hard to predict with this stuff until we actually run,” he said. “Maybe we go super smooth and have no issues. Typically when you have a new event, you’re going to have some teething issues. That’s understandable. We’ve always got to massage the event to get it where we want it, but this team has worked pretty hard. They’ve tried to get feedback constantly on what are we doing right, what do we need to look out for. They’ve done a ton of grinding to make sure this surface is in as good of shape as possible.

“There’s been no expense spared, but you can’t foresee everything. I have no idea how it’s going to race. I think typically when you look at a circuit that seems simple on paper, people tend to think it’s not going to be an exciting race, or challenging. I find the opposite always happens when we think that way. Watch it be the most exciting, chaotic, entertaining race.

Newgarden won the last two pole positions at Belle Isle’s 2.35-mile layout and hopes to continue the momentum while avoiding any post-Brickyard letdown.

“I love this is an opportunity for us to get something right quicker than anyone else,” he said. “A new track is always exciting from that standpoint. I feel I’m in a different spot. I’m pretty run down. I’m really trying to refocus and gain some energy back for tomorrow. Which I’ll have time to today, which is great.

“I don’t want that Indy 500 hangover. People always talk about it. They’ve always observed it. That doesn’t mean we have to win this weekend, but I’d like to leave here feeling like we had a really complete event, did a good job and had a solid finish leading into the summer. I want to win everywhere I go, but if we come out of here with a solid result and no mistakes, then probably everyone will be happy with it.”