2014 Gear ratios and Final Drives

[autogyro]

The only criteria IMO is a set of 8 ratios because that is the number the FIA calculated to be the minimum needed for the teams to balance the required kinetic energy recovery during braking without losing control of the cars.
It doesn't look like some of them have achieved this yet.
Other than that the range of 8 ratios will not achieve anything much.
In fact the drivers will have even less control over the cars and will be almost completely reliant on the electronics.
Teach my granny which buttons to press and I am sure she could do a couple of laps.

[wuzak]

I'm sure that the choice of 8 gears was simply looking at the previous situation of having 7 gears and applying the logic that an extra gear would allow the one set of gears to cover requirements across all circuits. After all, 6th gear in Monza was probably very close to 7th gear in Monaco anyway.

As for controllability, I would think that having no gear shifts during braking would be the best for stability and recovery via the MGU-K. A gearbox that wasn't required to sequentially shift the gears would probably be the better option - such as Ferrari's original automated gearbox in 1989.

[Tommy Cookers]

the benefit of downshifting in the braking zone to keep rpm high is greater recovery
the higher the mgu-k rpm the higher is its output voltage at any given (generator) load torque
and the higher is the generated power and energy

recovery power cannot be maintained by increasing load and current generated to compensate if rpm/voltage have fallen
the current is limited by design issues (heat/efficiency) and by the rules on mgu-k torque

[autogyro]

I'm sure that the choice of 8 gears was simply looking at the previous situation of having 7 gears and applying the logic that an extra gear would allow the one set of gears to cover requirements across all circuits. After all, 6th gear in Monza was probably very close to 7th gear in Monaco anyway.

As for controllability, I would think that having no gear shifts during braking would be the best for stability and recovery via the MGU-K. A gearbox that wasn't required to sequentially shift the gears would probably be the better option - such as Ferrari's original automated gearbox in 1989.

Yes Wuzak, I consulted on the 1989 automatic transmission system at Maranello.
The automatic gearbox Ferrari developed for Mansel that year was not limited to sequential shifting and could if used today with the right electronic control, select better balanced ratios for Kinetic energy recovery under braking.
Of course later developments and FIA regulations were in favour of benefiting the sequential barrel operated shift mechanisms so that the current trick shift systems could be developed.
The regulations remained biased in favour of the trick shift systems and the lay shaft stepped ratio gear sets and prevented development of superior gear trains.
Now the technology is stuck with sequential stepped lay shaft there has to be a sufficient number of ratios to allow a smooth and balanced use of KER braking with the rear wheel braking.
The Porsche 918 and 919 both use front axle electric drive and recovery (a far better approach), which is why there is no control balance problem and also why the Porsche 918 is faster slightly than the McLaren P1 which is rear wheel drive in both ICE drive and Hybrid including energy recovery, both having been partly concept mules for FI power trains.
Braking including engine braking made up IMO at least half of an F1 drivers car handling skills during most of F1's history.
FIA contrived regulations in favour of trick shift boxes and tightly defined restrictions on the hybrid application has turned F1 into a formula of arcade game style electronic control with the driver very soon only along for the ride.

[tomazy]

So now, the firs GP is over, and I have to much time on my hands waiting for the next race we can analise some data. I know that the televised data is not 100% reliable, but it is all we got, so here I go:

I used the folowing logic, I devidet 15000RPM with the RPM on the screen and than multiplied that number by the speed on the screen to get teoretical top speed for each gear.

Using this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fIRM-Z8rdtA

I got the following numbers for Williams:

3th gear max speed is 184km/h
4th gear max speed is 238km/h
5th gear max speed is 281km/h
6th gear max speed is 327km/h
7th gear max speed is 377km/h
8th gear max speed is 423km/h

Using this video (2min 25s onward): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tW2m0fm9W_w

I got the folowing numbers for Red Bull:

3th gear max speed is 180km/h
4th gear max speed is 249km/h
5th gear max speed is 286km/h
6th gear max speed is 341km/h
7th gear max speed is 380km/h

Note, that those numbers I got by rendomly pausing the video and using the numbers on the screen and can probably vary a lot using difirent frames of the video. Note also, that Williams is actualy using 8th gear, but the graphics does not support 8th gear it seems.

[seinfeld]

they seem much taller compared to RBR. its so they sit in the low end of the rev range, and use more available torque. Sepang will be interesting especially if someone gets a DRS + Tow as long as its not raining
that video was cool. the tv crew forgot to add 8th gear to their graphic haha

[Harsha]

We saw in Australia that Williams is using the 8th gear but in Bahrain i heard in commentary that except RBR no team is going for 8th gear how is this possible, Is that teams can change the Final drive according to track and only gear ratios are locked ?

[hollus]

They are using 8th gear in occassion, but most teams do not need to until 330Km/h if they don't want to. Williams is geared a bit shorter and has a bit less drag, so they have to get there more often. Expect to see lots of 8th gears in China.
As they are the gears are overlappig enough that no one of them is too critical, so many teams chose a veeeery long 8th and live with one less gear in most tracks.
http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... =4&t=18700

[autogyro]

Pathetic appeasement of the obsolete 19th century lay shaft gearbox concept.
The gear shifts would completely upset the stability of the rear braking/energy recovery if they had not forced the use of eight gears to soften the jerks from a wider spaced set of fixed ratios using the trick shift systems.
So far away from original F1 driver's skill in control of gear shifting as to be positively neaderthal.

[strad]

What they showed here was them using 8th and commentary that said it was an overdrive.