Allianz F1 Safety Focus - A Heavy Matter

To be as versatile as possible in distributing the extra weight the engineers have to systematically slim down the car. If this is applied to the correct places, then the ruling whereby a minimum weight of 600 kilograms is prescribed (including oil, brake and coolant, as well as the driver with his helmet and race overalls) can be undercut by roughly 100 kilograms. This underweight can then be compensated to precisely match the driver's needs, and usually tungsten plates are used as ballast. A set of these extremely solid heavy-metal plates will cost approximately 40,000 euros. Each season a team will use about 10 of these sets. The number of plates and how they are arranged is top secret. The car's centre of gravity generally lies just behind the driver - in other words, approximately 20 centimetres above the asphalt.

Engineers can gain space for weight distribution by using lighter and lighter materials. Titanium, carbon and magnesium are the most important representatives of modern light-weight design. For example, this slimming cure enabled the weight of the clutch to be reduced within a period of 10 years by almost two-thirds to only 900 grams. Weight control is reduced to the basics - all that need be done is to add up the individual components. The heaviest parts of a Formula 1 car are the engine (roughly 90kg), monocoque (roughly 50kg), gearbox (roughly 40kg) and the four wheels with 10kg each. Larger figures are also attained in the list of approximately 5000 individual parts - for example, the rear wing with roughly 11kg, the front end with roughly 7.5kg and the engine compartment covering with roughly 5.5kg. Of course, we must not forget the driver, weighing in at around 70kg.

In the early days of Formula 1, when state-of-the-art lightweight design was still as far re-moved from reality as the moon is from the earth, racing cars were genuine heavyweights. For example, the Mercedes W196, with which Juan Manuel Fangio won the 1954 World Championship, weighed in - with no fuel on board - at 758kg. Over the course of the years, designers have laid down a strict diet. And with success: the Williams, with which Nigel Mansell took the 1992 World Championship, had slimmed down to only 510kg kerb weight. This had a positive effect on performance: whereas the Mercedes had no more than 0.34hp per kilogram weight at its disposal, the Williams could chalk up1.33hp.

While Formula 1 can be said to have slimmed down and indeed even fasted, passenger cars have put on a lot of weight. At least, that is the way it looks at first glance. True, a BMW 315 in 1981 still weighed 1003kg, whereas the basic version of the 316i today weighs 1385kg, but this comparison is not quite fair. In reality, progress in lightweight design means that pass-enger cars have also undergone a systematic slimming down process throughout the years; a design diet for enhanced safety and comfort. Designers were thus able to create some space for the installation of safety-related special equipment, such as ABS, ASR and power steering. On top of this, heavy parts, as in Formula 1, are also built into passenger cars without im-pairing the centre of gravity. The compact V engine, for example, is installed behind the front axle and the battery at the rear.

A normal car driver benefits from the weight distribution of their passenger car. However, one thing is frequently forgotten. "A payload changes the position of the centre of gravity," cautions Dr Christoph Lauterwasser from the Allianz Centre for Technology. "In particular, a heavy load on the roof will significantly alter the road handling of a car when cornering. Therefore, heavy luggage should not be in the roof box, but rather in the boot."

Distributing the pounds correctly is also vital in Formula 1. Performance in motorsport's top formula proves that increasingly lighter hi-tech materials open up more options for the de-velopers when it comes to achieving both uncompromising speed and safety aspects at the same time.