Archive-name: sports/formula-one-faq/part1              
Posting-Frequency: monthly
Last-modified: April 15, 1996



3.20 Michael Schumacher
     Nationality:        German
     Age - DOB:          27 - January 3rd, 1969
     Born:               Hurth-Hermuhlhein, Germany
     Resident:           Monte Carlo
     Current team:       Ferrari
     Former team(s):     Jordan, Benetton

Michael Schumacher began racing karts with some success from
1984 to 1987. In '88 he won the German Formula Konig
championship, finished 4th and 2nd in the German and European
FF1600 championships respectively. 1989 was an interesting year
competing in the German F3 championship - he finished 3rd behind
Wendlinger and Frentzen. He continued in F3 the next year and
won the championship with 5 wins.

1991 marked his F1 debut with Jordan and then with Benetton for
the rest of the season from Italy onwards. (There is still a
pending lawsuit filed by Eddie Jordan regarding Schumacher's
move to Benetton). He finished the year with 4 points.
Schumacher began to show his potential in 92 winning his first
GP and coming 3rd in the driver's championship. The next year
again produced one win and he finished 4th in the championship.

1994 of course marked Schumacher's first world championship
amidst much controversy and last year he easily repeated this
feat helping Benetton to the constructors title in the process.

Michael is married with no children.



3.21 Ayrton Senna
     Nationality:        Brazilian
     Age - DOB:          Died 1994, aged 34
     Born:               Sao Paolo, Brazil
     Resident:
     Current team:
     Former team(s):     Toleman, Lotus, McLaren, Williams




3.22 Jos Verstappen                          
     Nationality:        Dutch
     Age - DOB:          24 - March 4th, 1972
     Born:               Montfort (Lb), The Netherlands
     Resident:           Maaseik, Belgium
     Current team:       Arrows
     Former team(s):     Benetton, Simtek (5 races)





3.23 Jacques Villeneuve
     Nationality:        Canadian
     Age - DOB:          24 - April 9th, 1971
     Born:               St. Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec, Canada
     Resident:           Monaco
     Current team:       Williams
     Former team(s):     Indycar - Team Green

Jacques Villeneuve, son of legendary F1 driver Gilles
Villeneuve, is the talk of the F1 world this year as he attempts
to become the first successful Indycar transplant since Mario
Andretti. His meteoric rise through motor racing's ranks
culminated last year when he became the youngest ever, and first
Canadian, PPG Indycar champion.

His career began in Italian Group N Saloons in 1988. He quickly
moved on to F3 in Italy in 1989 where he stayed for three
seasons. In 1992 he moved to Japanese F3 and finished the season
in 2nd place. In '93 he moved to the American Toyota Atlantic
Championship and had a very impressive season being named Rookie
of the Year. In 15 races he had seven poles and five wins and
finished third in the championship. Villeneuve moved with Team
Green to Indycar in '94. He finished the season with a win, 2nd
at the Indianapolis 500 and 6th place in the championship
earning him Rookie of the Year honors. He fulfilled his
potential in 95 winning the championship with four wins
including
the Indianapolis 500.  

On August 10th he signed with Williams for the 96 season and has
done a considerable amount of testing with the team between that
time and the start of the season. He is generally expected to
win some races in his first season and possibly have a shot at
the championship. 

Jacques is single.


4. THE RULES


4.1 How many points are scored for a win? [MJ]

Currently points are awarded for the first six finishers as
follows: 10 - 6 - 4 - 3 - 2 - 1. This applies to both the
driver's and constructor's championships. Each team is allowed
to enter two cars and both cars scores are counted towards the
constructor's championship. 

If a race is stopped, due to accident or weather, before
completion of 75% of the race distance, only half the points
will be awarded for that race.


4.2 Is that a brake light on the back of the cars?

No. The red light you will occasionally see on the back of the
cars is not a brake light and is required by the rules for
visibility in wet races. The light is required to be on whenever
the car is on treaded tyres.


4.3 The start 

The starting procedure has been changed for 1996. The countdown
begins 17 minutes before the parade lap with a series of lights
and horns. The parade lap is started with a green light. The
cars proceed in grid order returning to their spots on the
starting grid. Transponders in the car signal to the officials
when all the cars are in position and the actual start procedure
begins. There are now five red lights and NO green light. The
five red lights will come on one at a time at one second
intervals. When the fifth light comes on the jump start system
is activated. At a pre-set, but unpublished interval, all five
red lights will go out and that is the signal to start. NB There
is no green light. This system eliminates the potential problem
of the red light going out but the green light failing to come
on. Such a situation has happened in the past and causes
enormous confusion and is potentially very dangerous. Also,
disabling the jump start system until immediately before the
start should eliminate some of the bogus penalties we saw last
year when the system was activated when the car stopped.
 

4.4 The finish [CS] & [HG]

When the leader crosses the line and the chequered flag is waved
at him, all drivers finish the lap which they are currently
driving. The top positions go to the drivers on the same lap as
the winner, in the order in which they crossed the line. The
next positions go to those drivers who completed one fewer lap
than the leader, in the order in which they crossed the line,
and so on. Should a driver fail to cross the line (due to an
accident, for example), his (or her) finishing position is based
on the race position the last time (s)he crossed the
start/finish line.

An example may help: It's the 50-lap US GP and the first 4
drivers at the end of lap 49 are Diniz, Hill, Schumacher and
Inoue. Fifth is Katayama, one lap down. Diniz crosses the line
at the end of lap 50 first to take the chequered flag and win
the race. Katayama is the next driver to cross the finish line
(albeit after only 49 laps) and is awarded 5th place, since
there were 4 drivers on the lead lap (who all completed 49 laps
before him). On lap 50, however, Hill and Schumacher collide and
both retire. Inoue is the only other driver to finish 50 laps
and is awarded 2nd place. Since Hill completed 49 laps ahead of
Schumacher, he gets 3rd place and Schumacher is awarded 4th.

All drivers who have completed at least 90% of the distance
driven by the winner are classified as finishers. 

All finishers must get themselves weighed, put the car in the
'parc ferme' for scrutiny and submit to any other tests
required. Top three must attend the podium ceremony and give a
press conference afterwards, or get fined. Press conferences
take place in a variety of languages - all the top drivers speak
English fluently enough for an interview. Naturally none of the
English drivers speak anything else! (It is noticeable how much
improved Schumacher's English has become in the last two years -
he sounds more American than German now; Berger also is fluent
enough to tell jokes thanks to his long spell at McLaren)


4.5 What is the safety car for? [HG]

Once this is deployed, the 'SC' board is shown and drivers must
slow down and circulate in their current order. The car waves
past each driver in turn, until the race leader is behind him.
Then all circulate until the race is deemed safe to continue,
with the safety car displaying flashing amber lights. Switching
off these lights indicates that the safety car will pull off
next time it reaches the pit entrance; once it does, the race
continues. 

It should be noted that, unlike Indy, safety cars are rarely
used in F1. In fact, in the semi-permanent "What's the
difference between F1 and Indy" thread, the excessive use of the
safety car to close up the field is the major criticism of Indy
racing by F1 fans.


4.6 What is a stop-go penalty? 

Jump starts and pit lane speeding incur a 10 second 'stop-go'
penalty. It has been mentioned that this year penalties will be
served in the team's pit instead of at the end of pit-lane. To
date there have been no stop-go penalties imposed this year (due
in large part no doubt to the improved starting procedure) and
the details of exactly how these penalties will be administered
are therefore a little sketchy.

Other offenses can incur fines, loss of points,
disqualifications
or race bans. Decisions can be appealed but historically the FIA
has a propensity for increasing a penalty on appeal.


4.7 What do the different colored flags mean? [HG]

Yellow - caution; no overtaking/safety car out.
Yellow with red stripes - track is slippery (usually oil).
Blue - car behind is attempting to pass you. A common
misconception is that the blue flag is shown to cars being
lapped as an indication that they should give way to the passing
car. In fact, it is waved at all cars being passed, regardless
of track position, as a warning that another car is attempting
to pass. A stationary blue flag shown to the driver indicates
that another car is close behind.
Red - race stopped, slow down and return to pit lane.
Chequered - race finished.
Black, with a car number  - car must return to pit lane within 3
laps and not restart race (this may mean a terminal rule
infringement, but it can also mean that there is something
dangerously wrong with the car that the driver does not know
about - hence it is grossly negligent to ignore this flag)


4.8 Is mid-race re-fueling allowed?

After being banned for 10 years for safety reasons, mid-race re-
fueling was inexplicably reintroduced for the 1994 season. The
re-fueling equipment used by all the teams is identical as the
FIA mandates that the equipment be bought from Intertechnique
and may not be modified by the teams. Fuel is pumped at a rate
of 12 liters (3.3 gallons) per second.

Apart from the FIA, almost everybody associated with F1, fans,
drivers and teams, believe that re-fueling is inherently
dangerous and that, if not before, it will finally be banned
when somebody is killed or seriously injured in a re-fueling
accident. Since its reintroduction in '94 there have already
been three pit-lane fires caused by re-fueling: Verstappen
(Benetton) in '94, Irvine (Jordan) and Gachot (Pacific) in '95. 


5. THE CARS


5.1 Why V10 engines?     [PF]

The V10 is a nice compromise, from two points of view --
performance and packaging.

Twelves are good for high-revving, top-endy stuff (this is why
Ferraris are usually quick at the likes of Monza and
Hockenheim). Eights are torquey and good throughout the range.
So a ten is a good compromise there. You get more piston area in
a 10 than an 8 -- which means more power, but can run a rather
longer stroke than a 12 -- which tends to mean more
tractability.

Similarly, the reciprocating components are a nice compromise
between the relative simplicity of an eight and the difficulty
of a 12.

Twelves are generally long and narrow -- the 'classical'
60-degree angle doesn't give much space within the vee to put
ancillaries in. Eights are short, but relatively chubby, with a
classical vee angle of 90 degrees. (Ok, Ferrari are about
65-degrees these days and Ford are down to about 75, but
the generalization remains roughly valid). V10s have length
advantages over the 12 and width advantages over the 8 --
they're typically between 67 and 72 degrees.

It's perhaps significant that next year there'll only be
customer Fords and Harts left as V8s in F1 -- everyone else will
be running 10s, including Sauber-Ford and Ferrari. It looks like
the 8 and the 12 are, for the time being, dead ducks. (it's a
pity Hart didn't persevere with a 3l version of his excellent
V10...)


5.2 How big are the engines?

Although subject to change periodically, engines are currently
limited to 3 liter, reciprocating, normally aspirated with no
more than 12 cylinders. These engines produce approximately 750
bhp down from a high of about 1,200 bhp that could be produced
by the now banned V6, 1.5l turbo-charged engines.


5.3 How much does a car weigh?

The minimum weight for an F1 car is 585 kg (1,287 lbs) including
the driver and 5kg (11 lbs) for either an on board camera or
mandatory ballast for those cars not carrying cameras.
Regulations define minimum weights to ensure that safety is not
compromised by the engineer's efforts to improve performance by
making the car lighter.


5.4 What is the tub made of?

The tub, the part that the driver sits in, is made of a
composite material consisting of an aluminum honeycomb
sandwiched between two sheets of carbon. The result is an
extremely strong, lightweight material. Smaller sections, such
as the nose-cone and engine cover, use a nomex honeycomb instead
of aluminum to allow greater flexibility. 


5.5  How many gears do the cars have?

The regulations state that the cars must have at least 4 and no
more than 7 forward gears as well as a reverse gear. Most cars
have 6 forward gears, Jordan and Benetton being the only cars
with 7 speed gearboxes. 


5.6  Interesting engine facts. (Based on a Ford Zetec-R).

     *In an F1 engine revving at 14,500 rpm, one revolution     
      takes 4 thousandths of a second.
     *Maximum piston acceleration is approximately 8,000g which 
      puts a load of over 3 tons on each connecting rod.
     *Maximum piston speed is 47.2 meters per second - the      
      piston in a Ford Zetec-R accelerates from rest to that    
      speed in 1 thousandth of a second.
     *If a connecting rod let go of its piston at maximum engine
      speed, the released piston would have enough energy to    
      travel vertically over 100 meters.
     *If a water hose were to blow off, the complete cooling    
      system would empty in just over a second.


6. MISCELLANEOUS


6.1  What happens during a pit-stop?  [HG]

Cars must not exceed the pit lane speed limit, which is
different at each track. As driver comes in, one of the pit crew
indicates the location of the pit (it isn't easy to find in the
heat of the moment). The car stops on the marks and is lifted by
front and back jacks. Three mechanics are required for each
wheel; one to operate the tool to remove/replace the wheel, one
to take the old wheel off and one to put the new one on. In
addition, two are required to handle the fuel hose, and a couple
of spares wipe the drivers' visor etc.  The operation is
controlled by the chap at the front who holds the 'brakes on'
sign, and he looks out for all the mechanics to raise their
hands as a signal that they are finished and out of the way.
Then he signals for the car to be dropped off the jacks and the
driver can leave. Due to the restrictions on the equipment,
re-fueling actually takes longer than the tyre change.

Generally McLaren are the speediest pit crew, although Benetton
are much improved recently. Crews rehearse before every Grand
Prix to keep in practice. As there is now fuel being thrown
around in the pitlane, all mechanics wear fireproof overalls,
and sometimes helmets too. A few near-disasters have stressed
that the pit lane is a dangerous place, and personnel there
should be kept to a minimum.(i.e. groupies, relatives, under-age
royals etc should be somewhere else!) The driver should keep his
visor closed during a pit stop in case of fire. IMHO there WILL
be a disastrous fire unless refuelling is banned.  


6.2 Sponsorship [HG]

F1 teams could not continue to spend at current levels without
sponsors, among which the cigarette companies are major players.
Advertising regulations in Britain, France and Germany mean that
Williams appear there with 'Racing' rather than 'Rothmans'
written on them, and for McLaren it is 'McLaren' rather than
'Marlboro'. Sponsors can also rent out space on drivers as well
as cars, and all spaces are available right down to the back of
the mirrors. A six-inch wide patch on the front wing of a
Williams will cost you about 2 million dollars for the season.
Oh, and you won't be able to see it on the telly, but they'll do
you a nice package of sponsored events for the price. (!)


The best advert I saw was in 1993 when Sega sponsored Williams.
The Sega character, Sonic the Hedgehog, appeared at most of the
races, and the side of the car was painted so it appeared as a
cutout showing Sonic's legs doing the driving. McLaren responded
by sticking a squashed hedgehog logo to the side of their car
each time they won a race at the expense of a Williams. Senna's
incredible victory in the wet Donington GP of Europe was
headlined in Autosport as 'Senna's mega-drive'.


6.3 What's the difference between F1 and Indy?

Quite possibly THE most frequently asked question and the
subject of much debate in rasf1 which generally, after some
technical discussion, deteriorates into a slanging match between
European F1 fans and American Indy fans. Generally speaking,
Indy cars are bigger, faster and more durable whereas F1 cars
are more agile and accelerate faster. As to which is better and
which would win a head to head race? F1 cars are better under F1
regs at F1 circuits and Indy cars are better under Indy regs at
Indy circuits.

Tracks. Indy uses ovals as well as road and street courses - F1
does not. This, along with the use of the safety car, is the
most significant difference between the two series. Whilst
making for interesting discussion, the technical differences do
not have much of an impact from the spectators point of view.
However, Indy's detractors would say that the uniform ovals with
the resulting left turns only, produce a sterile racing
environment which allows no exciting passing. Furthermore, most
accidents will result in the safety car making an appearance
which will close up the field. Again, Indy's detractors would
argue that this produces an artificial racing environment
reducing the race to a series of short sprints which are merely
used to establish the grid order for the final sprint to the
finish.

On the other hand, F1 detractors would argue that because of the
wide difference in performance levels, and the fact that safety
cars are rarely used, there is very little close racing or
competitive passing in F1 and of course as a spectator you
cannot see the entire circuit at an F1 race. 

(I must apologize if my cultural bias has become apparent in
this section but as a Brit living in the U.S., I am living proof
that F1/Indy preference is determined by genes not environment).

Weight. F1 cars minimum weight is 585 kg (1,287 lbs). Indy car
minimum weight is 1,550 lbs (704.5 kg).

Brakes. F1 cars use carbon fibre brakes which are lighter and
more durable than the steel brakes used by Indy cars. (Indy cars
are allowed to use carbon brakes on the 2.5 mile superspeedways
at Indianapolis and Michigan. Steel brakes are mandatory at all
the other races). 

Ground effect. [AS] It is generally said that ground effect cars
are no longer allowed in F1 but this is not strictly true. All
cars generate ground effect, you cannot 'ban' it, only try to
design the rules to limit the downforce that can be obtained
from it. In F1 this is done by requiring flat bottoms between
the wheels (now with 50mm step). In Indycar they still allow
shaped ground effect tunnels, but with strictly controlled
dimensions and at a minimum height above the bottom of the
chassis. 

Turbo charging. Banned in F1 but still allowed in Indy -
although at a much lower boost pressure than was used by F1 cars
in the 80's.

Semi-automatic gearboxes. Allowed in F1 but not in Indy.

Nationality. Indy is basically a domestic U.S. series as far as
teams, venues and drivers are concerned. However, there are 3
venues outside of the U.S. (Surfer's Paradise, Brazil, Toronto
and Vancouver) and an increasing number of foreign drivers. F1
is truly international in teams, engines, venues and drivers
although there is a strong European influence, particularly
British and Italian.

And according to Jacques Villeneuve (Electronic Telegraph
3/4/96): "In the last few months I've done over 5,000 miles of
testing with Williams and I've learned a lot about the
differences between Formula One and Indycars. An F1 car is
slower on the straights but much quicker in the corners. The
engine has less horsepower but the power comes on quicker and
because a Formula One car is lighter and more responsive it
reacts faster to the driver's input and the braking is much
better. Because of its extra weight an IndyCar is a bit more
physical to drive, it slides more easily and it's harder
work to hold it. A Formula One car is more twitchy and when it
slides you have to react faster to catch it. It has higher
limits but I find this really enjoyable.


6.4  How many teams are there?

There are currently 11 teams, Simtek having filed bankruptcy in
1995 and Pacific pulling out at the end of the season, down from
an all time high of 20 in 1989.

6.5  What is the connection between Ford and Cosworth?

Ford and Cosworth first co-operated in 1959 when Cosworth
developed a lightweight iron crankcase engine for the new Ford
Anglia. Cosworth founders, Keith Duckworth and Mike Costin, then
tuned the new engine, code-named MAE (Modified Anglia Engine)
and it soon became the power unit of choice for drivers in
Formula Junior and later Formula 3.

Next came the Cosworth FVA racing engine and, impressed by the
potential of the new power unit, Ford commissioned the
Northamptonshire-based company to produce a roadgoing version to
suit its new high-performance Escort, the RS1600. The result was
the BDA (Belt-Driven A-series) which employed many of the
lessons learned in motor racing to achieve excellent levels of
performance and efficiency at relatively low cost.

The most successful Ford-Cosworth collaboration to date has been
the DFV (Double Four Valve) F1 engine.The 90 degree V8 stunned
the racing world when it appeared for the first time at the 1967
Dutch GP in the bank of Colin Chapman's highly effective Lotus
49 chassis and promptly powered Jim Clark to an historic win.

The Ford DFV went on to win 154 more GPs and 12 World
Championships in a career that spanned 15 years. During that
time, the DFV's power output climbed from 405 bhp to 520 bhp at
11,000 rpm.

The most recent development to issue from Cosworth is the Ford
Zetec-R F1 engine. Carrying the same "Zetec" name as the range
of double overhead camshaft, four-valve-per-cylinder engines
used in the current Fiesta, Escort and Mondeo model ranges, the
new 3.5 liter power unit was the highest-revving racing V8 ever
produced when it was unveiled prior to the start of the 1994
season at up to 14,500 rpm.

The new 3.0 liter Zetec-R is very similar to the larger 1994
engine with small differences to allow for the new stepped
floors and races at engine speeds up to 15,000 rpm. The Zetec-R
V10 is provided exclusively to Ford's chosen factory team -
Sauber - while customer teams will be supplied with last year's
V8 or the ED.

6.6 What frequencies do the teams use?

Unfortunately, F1 teams change frequencies regularly AND they
scramble the signal so unlike Indy and NASCAR you cannot listen
in on conversations between drivers and their pits.


7. NETIQUETTE [HG]

7.1 Read 'welcome to rec.autos.sport hierarchy', posted monthly
or so. This covers most of the points made below, which are
standard netiquette. Please read it.

7.2 Don't post jpegs,gifs or any other big files. Many people
download all messages in the newsgroup to be read off-line. If
you pay for connect time it is very annoying to find that you
have spent 10 minutes downloading a 7000 line binary. Post
pictures to alt.binaries.pictures.vehicles and then you can just
post a short message on r.a.s.f1 telling people what you posted
and where you posted it.

7.3 Please don't get offensive - a driver can't help his
appearance or that of his wife, but their behaviour on or off
track is fair game. Also; ANYONE CAN MAKE A MISTAKE!!! Posts on
the lines of 'xxx is a complete yyyy' just get tedious.
Reasonable analysis please, we can buy junk newspapers if we
want rantings. Remember also that F1 is really easy from your
armchair, rather less so from the driving seat.

7.4 Great drivers and world champions come from all countries,
please keep down the nationalistic bias.

7.5 Not everyone on this group is male; chauvinist pig behaviour
will be spotted and rebuked! (By me and others!) Drivers are
good or bad on their own merits, not those of their chromosomes.
I'll let you get away with sexism, so long as it is in a
humorous vein; I too think that the swimsuit clad girlies on the
grid are unlikely to be filling in time between rocket-science
engagements.

7.6 Not everyone on this group has English as a first language -
don't slag off someone for poor grammar or spelling. However
English is the language of the group, please try to post in it.

7.7 Spoilers; if you are posting within two days of a Grand
Prix, don't put the result in the header, just something like
'Hungarian GP - SPOILERS'; not 'Schumacher wins in Germany' as
this upsets people. On the other hand, it is almost certain that
somebody will violate the spoiler rule so read the group at your
peril - I have never seen the result of a race NOT given away in
at least one subject line!! 

7.8 Don't ask people to post results, practice times, starting
grids etc. All of these will be posted at least half a dozen
times so it is not necessary to ask - you will even see Friday's
practice times still being posted on Tuesday afternoon. If you
haven't seen the results within a few hours, then you have a
slow newsfeed and we can't help you with that.

7.9 Don't post test messages. There are many news groups set up
specifically for test messages - use them. (If you post to
alt.test you will even get automatic responses from a couple of
sites around the world telling you how long it took your post to
get to their site).

7.10 If you're responding to a long post, please use the delete
key liberally to edit the original message. People don't want to
page through a three page message to see your "I agree" reply.

7.11 Please ensure that your software restricts your post to 72
character per line. Most people will not read messages which
spill off the edge of their screen.



8. F1 WEB SITES
http://callan/cs.may.ie:8000/David_Byrne/David_S_Byrne.html
Jordan Home Page

http://homepage.interaccess.com/~tensai/
The Racing Line: auto racing news, commentary and web links

http://www.helsinki.fi/~mpaavila
The Anastasia Utendorf F1 Page - multi-media F1 program.

http://www.mclaren.co.uk/mclaren
McLaren Home Page

http://www.u-net.com/enigma/formula1
News,Reviews,Results,Drivers,Teams,History.If its F1,its
there.

http://www.motorsport.com
Comprehensive coverage of F1 and other motorsports worldwide


9. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The contribution of the following individuals is very gratefully
acknowledged. This FAQ would not have been possible without
them.


David Byrne        [DB]      yr39401@cs.may.ie
Josje Cobben       [JC]      joco@cuci.nl
Tim Downie         [TD]      trd@fisher.stats.bris.ac.uk
Darryl Ellson      [DE]      darryl@trigger.ch.umist.ac.uk
Pete Fenelon       [PF]      pete@cs.york.ac.uk
Helen Gerald       [HG]      geraldh@logica.com
Andrew Henry       [AH]      rasfaq@bath.ac.uk
Chuck Ingene       [CI]      caingene@u.washington.edu
Mark Jackson       [MJ]      mjackson@wc.eso.mc.xerox.com
Kim Meijs          [KM]      kh.meijs@via.nl
Wyman Pattee       [WP]      usfmc389@ibmmail.com
AJ Samuels         [AS]      ajsamuels@dolomite.win-uk.net 
Chris 'Bart'Simpson[CS]      simpson@stsci.edu
Ulrich Teichert    [UT]      krypton@netzservice.de


A big thank you also to McLaren, Jordan, Tyrrell, Sauber,
Benetton, Ferrari and Minardi for their assistance.


Copyright (c) 1996 by Mitchell McCann




--
     The F1 FAQ on the Web
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