Ballast
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Lead weights in the floor of the cars bring
them up to the minimum weight and help
improve the balance of the car in corners
depending on where they are placed. |
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Bargeboard
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Sitting in front of the side pods, the
bargeboards smooth the airflow from the
front wing and tire as it approaches the
body of the car.
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Blistering
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When a tire gets too hot and too worn, the
rubber begins to degrade and break away in
large pieces, creating the appearance of
blisters.
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Bodywork
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The exterior of a car. |
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Boots
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Racing speak for tires. |
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Bottoming
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Formula One cars run so low to the ground,
their undersides can often touch the floor
or ‘bottom out’. |
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Brake Balance
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Drivers can alter the percentage of brake
force begin applied to the front and rear
from inside the cockpit. Generally, more
brake force is pushed to the front of the
car, although this has to be evened out in
the wet. |
Camber
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Look closely at the wheels of a Formula One
car and you will see that they are not
exactly vertical. The angle at which they
sit is the ‘camber’ and can be adjusted to
suit the weather, the circuit and the
driver. |
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Carbon Fiber
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It revolutionized Formula One when it
arrived in the early 1990’s. Lighter and
stronger than steel, almost all of the
Formula One car is made of carbon fiber. |
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Chassis
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The main part of a Formula One car is the
chassis. It is onto the chassis that the
engine, suspension and wings are attached. |
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Chicane
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A tight corner or sequence of alternating
corners often designed to slow the cars
down. |
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Clean air
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This is still air that has not been
disturbed by a recently passing car. |
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Constructor
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Often referred to as a ‘manufacturer’, this
is another word for the team. |
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Cockpit
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The part of the car in which the driver
sits. (see ‘survival cell’). |
Ferrari
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Italy’s most famous racing team. Formed in
the 1940’s the Scuderia Ferrari has become
one of the world’s most famous marques and
is the most successful Formula One team of
all time. |
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F.I.A.
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F�d�ration Internationale De L’Automobile –
Formula One’s governing body. |
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Flags
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Flags are used to communicate the track
status to the drivers. They can show danger,
end of the session and no overtaking amongst
other things.
Blue: - Held:
Warning - competitor close behind -
Waved: Warning – competitor trying
to overtake
Yellow: -
Held: Danger ahead, no overtaking -
Waved: Danger directly ahead, no
overtaking - Double Waved: Be
prepared to stop, danger ahead, track
may be blocked
Green Flag: Track
clear / open
Red and Yellow Striped Flag:
Slippery track ahead (this may be rain
or oil on the track ahead)
Red Flag: Race,
qualifying or practice stopped
immediately. Return to pits slowly
White Flag: Slow
moving vehicle ahead (this may be a car
returning to the pits or a safety car or
ambulance)
Black and White Flag
(divided diagonally - held up with
competitors number): Caution for
unsportsmanlike behavior
Black Flag (held up with
competitors number): Disqualification of
driver. Return immediately to the pits
Black Flag with Orange Spot
(held up with competitors number):
Dangerous fault with your car. Return
immediately to the pits
Checkered Flag: End
of race, qualifying or practice
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Flat spot
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When a driver brakes hard and locks his
wheels up, the tires are worn flat as the
tire is locked. This makes the car vibrate
as the wheel turns. |
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Flier
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A flier is racing-talk for a very quick lap,
often in qualifying. |
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FOM
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Formula One Management – Bernie Ecclestone’s
company that manages Formula One. |
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Formation lap
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After forming the grid, the drivers complete
one formation lap of the circuit to warm up
their cars before arriving on the grid for
the start proper. |
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Free practice
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Free practice is the first session of a
Grand Prix weekend, the teams use the time
to set up the cars to suit the circuit. |
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Fuel
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The F2007 could run on Shell V-Power as the
rules state that the fuel must be 99% the
same as commercially available fuel. The
shell scientists and chemical engineers work
to develop the fuel within the parameters of
the rules to give the Ferrari engine more
power or efficiency. |
G-force
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This is most noticeable as a driver goes
round a fast corner, his head can be seen
tilting away from the direction of the
corner. This is the centrifugal effect,
G-force, pulling the drivers body away from
the corner. |
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Gas Chromatography
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The method used to analyze a fuel’s
composition. It breaks down the fuel into
its individual components - of which there
are over 200 in a Formula One fuel. The
results are displayed on a graph known as a
‘fingerprint’ (owing to its individuality)
which must be identical to the ‘fingerprint’
of the pre-approved fuel held by the FIA.
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Gearbox
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A Formula One car now has a semi-automatic
gearbox. This is not a gearbox as in a
normal road car. There is no clutch pedal
and gears are changed using paddles on the
steering wheel. |
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Gravel trap
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In the event of a car leaving the track, a
gravel trap slows the car down to limit the
damage to both car and driver should the car
strike a wall. |
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Grooved tires
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Formerly known as ‘slicks’, the grooves were
introduced to these dry weather tires in an
effort to slow the cars down. |
Paddles
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Formula One drivers today use paddles on the
back of his steering wheel to change gear. |
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Paddock
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The area behind the pit lane, where the
drivers relax and talk to the media during
the Grand Prix.
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Parc Ferm�
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This is where the cars are held between
qualifying and race day to prevent the teams
making any changes against regulations. Once
the race is over the cars return here for
official inspection. |
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Pit board
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A driver communicates with the pits using a
radio, however the team also keeps the
driver informed of his competitors’ progress
by holding a pit board with simple
information over the pit wall. |
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Pit lane
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This is where the teams work on the cars
during the race weekend. It is also where
pit stops take place. |
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Pit wall
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The teams house much of their communication
equipment on the pit wall so as they can
talk to the driver and monitor his
performance over the Grand Prix weekend.
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Pit Garages
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The team will work on the car throughout the
weekend from the pit garages, this is where
the cars ‘disappear’ whenever mechanical, or
set up changes are required. |
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Plank
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Formula One regulations state that all cars
must have a wooden plank under the car to
prevent the ride height being set too low,
this plank must be a specified depth at the
end of the race. |
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Pole position
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This is the most advantageous place from
which to start the race, awarded after
winning the qualifying round. |
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Practice
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Un-timed sessions early in the weekend to
allow the teams a chance to learn the
circuit and make basic set up changes and
refinements to the car. |
Safety car
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In the event of an accident or blockage on
the race circuit, the safety car will be
deployed in front of the lead car to slow
down and control the cars still on track
until it is safe to proceed. |
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Scrutineering
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The process that determines that the cars
are safe to race and adhere to the technical
regulations. |
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Scuderia
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Scuderia is the Italian word used by Ferrari
to describe a racing team. |
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Shakedown
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Teams complete these ‘shakedown’ runs to
make sure all the components on the car are
ready and working to their full potential. |
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Shell
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Ferrari’s technical partner for fuels and
oils. The two first worked together in the
1930’s and Ferrari’s first ever Formula One
win was powered by Shell in 1951. After a
brief period apart, Ferrari and Shell
re-signed their partnership in 1996. |
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Shell Helix
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Shell’s premium engine oil. Developed with
the Ferrari team, the Shell Helix range
offers drivers a comprehensive selection of
engine oils with which to protect their
engine. The Ferrari Formula One car uses an
advanced version of Shell Helix Ultra. |
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Shell V-Power
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A premium unleaded fuel from Shell
specialising in protection. As with all
Shell fuels, Shell V-Power was developed
thanks to Shell’s work with the Ferrari
Formula One team. |
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Sidepod
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The sidepods on modern Formula One car are
very complex as they house the radiators and
also play an integral part in the
aerodynamics of the car. They are the large
air scoops on the side of each car. |
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Slick tire
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In recent seasons the Formula One cars have
been using ‘grooved’ tires, however for most
of the modern era of Formula One the slick
tire was used for optimum grip in dry
conditions. A slick is made using very soft
rubber and has no tread on its surface to
promote maximum possible grip. |
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Slipstreaming
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Every car creates a hole in the air, this
hole gets longer the faster the car is
travelling. Any car that travels in this
hole will benefit from reduced air
resistance and will therefore be able to
travel faster using less engine power. A
skilled Formula One driver can use this hole
to ‘slipstream’ to set up an overtaking
manoeuvre at the end of a straight. |
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Spectrometry
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The X-ray method used by Shell to analyse
the quantity and type of wear metal present
in Ferrari gearbox and engine oil samples.
Using a database of information built up
since 1996, this enables Shell to inform
Ferrari as to the condition of the engine or
gearbox. |
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Splash and dash
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With the return of pit stops teams need to
be accurate with fuel measurement and
economy is very important. In the event of a
miscalculation a car may need to stop near
the end of a race for a small amount of
fuel, this is known as a ‘splash and dash’.
Literally splashing a drop of fuel in the
tank before dashing off to finish the race.
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Survival cell
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Safety is paramount in Formula One, one
feature of a modern Formula One car is the
survival cell. Every component attached to
the cell is designed to break off an absorb
some of the energy of the accident. However,
the survival cell is designed to cocoon the
driver and prevent serious injury by never
breaking up. |
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Suspension
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The purpose of suspension is to ride over
imperfections on the race circuit to provide
the best possible grip and traction, as well
as cushion the driver from the bumps which
can become very pronounced at top speed.
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Steward
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The stewards run the race weekend at a Grand
Prix. They make all decisions with regard to
rules, penalties and incidents. |
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Stop and go penalty
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This is a penalty which requires the driver
to enter the pit lane and stop for 10
seconds before rejoining the race. |
Tear-off strips
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Because a Formula One driver does not have a
windscreen, his crash helmet visor can get
very dirty during the race. Instead of
windscreen wipers the driver has a number of
tear-off strips on his visor, these thin
clear strips cover the visor and are removed
to give the driver a clear view. |
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Telemetry
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Telemetry data from the hundreds of sensors
on the car that provides the team with
real-time information such as throttle
position, speed, braking forces,
temperatures, etc. |
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Traction control
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With all the power a Formula One engine
produce the car can never generate enough
traction (grip). To prevent wheel spin the
teams use an electronic system called
traction control to regulate the engines
power whenever it detects the rear wheels
spinning. |
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Turbulence
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Turbulence is experienced in the area
directly behind a car. This turbulence makes
it very difficult to drive behind a car, and
in turn this is what makes slipstreaming so
challenging and rewarding for a driver. |
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Turn in
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The turn in point at a corner is the point
at which the driver will begin to turn the
steering wheel to drive round the curve. |
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tires
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With Bridgestone becoming Formula One
racing's sole supplier from 2007, each team
will receive only two specifications of tire
per event – hard and soft. However, they
will get more sets than in previous years -
four per driver on the Friday and ten for
the remainder of the weekend. Each driver
must use both specifications during the race
and a large white dot on the sidewall of the
softer compound will allow spectators to
easily distinguish which tire a driver is
using at any time. |
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tire warmer
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tires operate best a certain temperature -
in the case of Formula One tires, it is
around 90�C. Before the car is sent out on
the track the tires are heated up by
specially shaped electric blankets known as
tire warmers. |
