F1 Launch Control Ban

[Denny Trimble]

I've been following the controversy with Renault's great starts in Melbourne, but I can't seem to find any wording in the F1 rules about traction control or launch control. I've been looking at:
http://www.fia.com/sport/Regulations/f1regs.html
and
http://www.fia.com/mediacentre/FIA_Feature/2003/feature_01.html

Are there more rules somewhere else? I'd like to see the wording to see how Renault is making everyone else look silly http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[Denny Trimble]

I've been following the controversy with Renault's great starts in Melbourne, but I can't seem to find any wording in the F1 rules about traction control or launch control. I've been looking at:
http://www.fia.com/sport/Regulations/f1regs.html
and
http://www.fia.com/mediacentre/FIA_Feature/2003/feature_01.html

Are there more rules somewhere else? I'd like to see the wording to see how Renault is making everyone else look silly http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif

[MercerFSAE C. Burch]

I've read one thing about Renault - that they might be cutting the fuel supply at the start - and heard another. During the Speedtv broadcast they thought that Renault was using some sort of a clutch system that was set up to deliver just the right amount of torque to the wheels. Not in response to wheel-slipping though, just a pre-set torque amount that the clutch was to deliver from the engine. (imagine a diode that is limiting voltage... the clutch is the diode, the actuating circuit is the engine, the receiving circuit is the tires.) This is not forbidden in the rules, apparently.

Anyway, I can't get under the hood of the car and I'm sure Renault won't be speaking about it for a few races!

-Chris

[Denny Trimble]

Yeah, I've read those comments too, but I'd like to see what the rules are to investigate all the possibilities.
I have a hunch they're doing something more sophisticated than open-loop torque limiting though. Imagine how difficult it would be difficult to dial it in perfectly; if the tires go over the peak in the force vs. slip ratio curve, it's all up in smoke. But I guess that's the same tuning that goes into top fuel drag clutches, and they perform "pretty well" http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif Maybe (relatively) low-tech can work in F1.

Do F1 teams practice race starts during the race week?

[MercerFSAE C. Burch]

They can practice anytime they like... usually when leaving the pit lane. I imagine with the loads of tire data the teams would have and the intimite knowledge that the engineers have regarding the coefficient of friction of their clutch and whatever else, that a torque-limiting clutch would be relatively easy for them to design.

Nice images of your car, btw. You must have spent two lifetimes on them in one year!

-Chris

[Denny Trimble]

I was thinking more of the variations in track surface, temperature, cleanliness of your grid position, etc.

I know they already have the clutch technology, I read last year about a finger-paddle-controlled, hydraulically-actuated, wear-monitoring-and-self-adjusting-during-the-race system.

Thanks for the compliment, I think between the 20 people working on modeling, we did spend two lifetimes in 6 months http://fsae.com/groupee_common/emoticons/icon_smile.gif