This bike is quick handling, lightweight and rides wonderfully. Bravery and quick reactions still count for a lot, but now these men (only a handful of women have competed, the last qualifying some 25 years ago) perform like high-speed processors, poring over reams of telemetry data in the pits to see where they might shave a millisecond around a curve or brake an instant later. That said, it’s easy to see why McLaren HQ is also a breeding ground for various F1 techno-upticks of such impact that they’ll provide important time gains on the track. I’ve watched plenty of Formula One on TV, but not in person, so it’s time to see what all the fuss is about. To the thrill of the tifosi, Hakkinen is uncharacteristically giving up time to Schumacher on nearly every stretch of track. Kollmeier, giving the cold machine a gentle stroke. Under a 71-inch-wide, carbon-fiber roof lies a monster machine that has been designed, stressed, and even test-driven by computer. Even so, some people complain that all the technology has turned a once-swashbuckling sport into little more than an information age arms race. Technology is such a big factor in F1 – more so than in any other sport – that there’s a constant push-pull between what the engineers can do and what they’re allowed to do.
But for the engineers it’s confirmation of their ever-present influence on the sport. F1 competition is like perpetual D day for vehicle engineers. Nearly a century ago, when the first spoke-wheeled race cars were steered down Europe’s public dirt roads by men in floppy hats, organizers tried to get a handle on the wide variety of engines and vehicle sizes by establishing particular “formulas,” or rules and restrictions on design and engineering. By 1934, for example, with the cars reaching dangerous speeds of 150 miles per hour, it was proposed that a weight limit of 750 kilograms (1,653 pounds) would decrease engine size and capability. Today the car has 33,900 miles on the chassis and the new motor has only 350 miles on it. About the time Formula One came into its own, Ron Dennis was born in Woking, 27 miles southwest of London. With race time drawing near, he gets up and walks toward the top of a spiral staircase. But these figures are only estimates: Nobody knows for certain what the profit margins are, because F1’s finances, like everything else about it, are top secret. After the sport languished for decades with a reputation for unsafe cars and poor organization, F1’s innovations and TV coverage blossomed simultaneously in the ’80s.
Part of the power plant’s magic was that it incorporated sophisticated fuel-controlling electronics that helped trigger a digital takeover of the sport. The Porsche turbos helped him win three world championships in the ’80s. As a rookie boss for McLaren in 1981, Dennis helped revolutionize F1 when he and designer John Barnard rolled out the McLaren MP4, a car featuring the first carbon-fiber chassis. He pulls to the inside of the track and quickly pushes himself out of the car. It seems bizarre that the track is nestled inside the Parco di Monza – think Nascar among the California redwoods. 19, Walnut Creek, California 94596. They offer lugged steel bicycle frames and complete bicycles, as well as bicycle parts (some of their own design) and MUSA (Made in America) clothing. Teams constantly work to pare down parts and then add the saved weight to the bottom of the chassis, with the goal of lowering a vehicle’s center of gravity. Weight standards are now aimed at keeping cars from being too light – the minimum is 600 kilograms (1,323 pounds), including the driver and a full fuel tank. This makes for a light weight steel frame that is still, responsive and lively.
Rivendell Roadeo steel club racer. Snaking around the chassis, nearly a mile of wiring serves as the circulatory system for the chips, sensors, dashboard, and telemetry transmitter. Last year Ecclestone cashed in some chips, selling half his F1-related assets to a German media company for about $1 billion. Meanwhile, the sport’s coffers have swelled to $400 million in annual television revenues, with nearly a $3 billion bottom line. Formula One’s global popularity translates into a $3 billion bottom line. In the late ’40s the sport’s governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile, or imprinted srixon golf balls the FIA, formally recognized the need to distinguish the most powerful and technologically advanced cars from the rest of the field, and the designation “Formula One” was established. After sending out feelers to its clients, American Ferrari collector James Glickenhaus eventually agreed to back the project by commissioning his car as a modern homage to great Ferrari sports racing cars such as the 330 P3/4, 512 S, 312 P, and 333 SP on the last unregistered U.S.-spec Enzo chassis. The Enzo’s F140 B V12 engine was also the first of a new generation for Ferrari.