The old A1-Ring in

Austria, scene of an

unlikely story

RICHARD JAMES PARTRIDGE CHARTS THE PACE OF CHANGE IN THE FORMULA ONE INDUSTRY.

It was supposed to be a normal Formula One weekend.

So how did I find myself crouching in the undergrowth and breathing heavily after sprinting for cover?

I stared up through the thick

coniferous canopy at the strange luminescent lights that seemed to be hovering above me.

No, this wasn’t a dream or some drink-fuelled fantasy. I really was being stalked by an alien space ship at

THIS IS A TRUE STORY

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the A1-Ring in Austria.I’d spotted the mysterious lights

moving silently in the sky as I walked back to my hotel up the hill from the local Bierkeller. I had become increasingly nervous as one explanation after another failed to make sense of the unfolding phenomenon .

I eventually reach the obvious conclusion that - as a font of pit lane

knowledge - I was about to be abducted by the envious aliens. I panicked and dived for cover in the adjacent forest. To this day I have no explanation of the events of that night, other than aliens were clearly in the area and beaming up the latest Formula One technologies for closer examination.

And why wouldn’t they?For Formula One is now blessed

with some of the world’s brightest minds working in research and development for the teams and suppliers.

Gone are the days when gentlemen chased each other round the Nurburgring with one hand on the steering wheel, cravat blowing in the wind and a cigarette hanging from the bottom lip whilst their loyal

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mechanic waited in the pit lane with a big spanner and a can of oil .

These days no expense is spared in the search for that extra technological edge over the opponent; the drivers must be in peak physical condition and the sponsors activate every angle to maximise returns.

For a sport that originated from these humble origins it is quite extraordinary that it has progressed to being in the vanguard of technical achievements on a par with those developed at governmental level and NASA. Its reach and impact is both global and immense.

Things really moved forward during the Max Mosley reign as FIA president from 1993 to 2009 when there was a focus on developing Formula One technology for use in standard road cars. The likes of Toyota, Honda and BMW used their involvement partly for promotion and partly for the opportunities the sport allowed for research and development.

Many advancements have come directly from Formula One. The sequential gearbox, active suspension units, KERS and aerodynamic designs all have their origins in Formula One.

Many of these features are now standard in road cars. In the related Formula E series, the massive

investments in battery technology are already beginning to filter into the global electric car market .

Richard Branson, whose DS Virgin Racing team competes in Formula E, believes the innovation culture associated with Formula One could potentially turn around and swallow the traditional Formula One format whole.

Speaking at last summer’s London Formula E event in Battersea Park, he said: “There’s still going to be room for Formula One for a few more years but I would say there will come a time when Formula E will overtake it.

“With Formula E, you can still hear the roar of the cars from the tarmac

as they come through a corner, but at least you can have a conversation and a drink when you’re watching which you can’t do with Formula One.”

Clearly an investor in new technologies like Branson would say that. However, he may have a point in that the advances in technology in Formula E may actually drive manufactures and sponsors from Formula One to the electric version in the not too distant future .

Other innovations born out of Formula One have had far reaching consequences across industry with McLaren Applied Technologies leading new applications for energy, health, transport, financial services and solutions for The National Air Traffic Control Service (NATS) at Heathrow - maybe this is what the aliens were after.

With many of the world’s biggest airports running close to capacity, McLaren’s Decision Insight platform developed a system which helps controllers to optimise the flow of air and ground traffic thus reducing emissions through greater efficiency.

In short the planes spend less time taxiing on the ground and less time in a holding patterns which reduces wear and tear on the planes, lowers pollution and also means passengers have shorter journey times.

Driver safety in Formula One is of paramount importance in the modern era, which is in stark contrast with the post-war years when

Richard Branson

believes the

innovation culture

in Formula E

could swallow the

traditional Formula

One format whole

FOM chief executive

Bernie Ecclestone

with former FIA

president Max

Mosley

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Formula One drivers were seen in the same light as WWII pilots.

Historically there was little protection for the drivers or the spectators in a sport where life was often way too cheap. Between 1952 and 1994 36 drivers were killed in Formula One Grand Prix races.

New technology in those sepia-tinted days included innovations such as the 1968 recommendations on driver safety harnesses. In 1972 the best they could come up with was to put a 15W red light on the back of the car – hardly NASA level innovation. Driver deaths became so commonplace that the sport was forced to reform further and, with the FIA’s backing, teams developed cars that could protect the drivers and stand up to high speed impacts.

The Monocoque, the principal component of the car’s chassis including the driver’s survival cell and cockpit, was originally conceived by Colin Chapman’s Lotus Team in 1962 as a lightweight metal casing for the driver to sit in.

McLaren then became the first team to send their cars onto the starting grid with a carbon fibre safety cell in 1981.

Today’s carbon fibre survival cells are twice as strong as steel can absorb incredible amounts of energy during a crash. Take Kimi Raikkonen’s 150 mile an hour Silverstone crash at the British Grand Prix in 2014: incredibly he walked away with just bruises .

Formula One fans have also never had a wider choice of tracks to choose from. But what’s new or special about the modern circuits ?

How can they possibly compare with the more traditional circuits like Monza, Silverstone, Suzuka and Monaco where the history of Formula racing lives and breathes through the very asphalt?

In a recent interview, three-time world champion Lewis Hamilton explained that he liked the variety of the tracks on the current 21-date calendar, but wondered why we only have one designer of tracks -namely Hermann Tilke. He said he felt that quite often the new generation of tracks don’t grasp the true essence of Formula One and that the circuits are too calculated.

The track in Sochi is very flat, and a massive contrast to Suzuka which is a real racing circuit, with

elevation change, sweeping corners and so on. According to Hamilton, too many of the new tracks have too little character - with the notable exceptions of Abu Dhabi, and Austin.

Richard Cregan, an organiser of both the Sochi and Abu Dhabi races, told the Black Book that, “the circuits now have to be designed to be year-round venues for driving circuits, car launches, conferences, tyre testing and other events. The hospitality suites are now designed to be flexible with moveable walls. Sochi is especially popular in the winter when corporations in Moscow and St Petersburg hold events there.”

So what next for Formula One? Will it morph into Formula E or develop further in its current format? Can the manufacturers and sponsors continue to support and finance the sport if the pace of the technological evolution slows down?

Since the A1-Ring incident I have not been troubled by the aliens which perhaps indicates that they are now seeking their inspiration elsewhere - or maybe they’ve learnt all they need to know. Or could it just be that I’m now drinking weaker beer?

The Yas Marina

Circuit in Abu Dhabi,

one of the favoured

modern tracks on

the Formula One

calendar

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