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F1 ON A BUDGET TECH SPEC


Engine: Cosworth CA2012 2.4-litre V8 Max rpm: 18,000 Engine weight: 95kg (minimum FIA regulation weight)


Chassis: carbon fibre and honeycomb composite monocoque


Suspension: carbon fibre double wishbone with pushrod operating torsion springs and anti-roll bar via rocker (front) and pullrod operating torsion springs and anti-roll bar via rocker (rear)


Dampers: Penske lineal hydraulic Fuel tank: Kevlar reinforced rubber


Wheel: carbon fibre with integrated electronics and instrumentation


The real cost of running a competitive F1 team is in development, and HRT has to choose very carefully which areas of the cars to develop, balancing potential gain against cost at every point


safe on cooling. We are leaning them at 20-25 degrees and they are very long. You can see the influence of this from outside the car. The undercut is massive compared to last year and the intakes are much smaller as well.’ A pair of curious NACA ducts also appeared on the car next to the driver’s headrest, though it turns out these are simply to cool some onboard electronics, as the team feel that at some of the hotter races they were too marginal on cooling.


QUICK SHIFTS Mechanically, the car retains the Cosworth CA engine, and uses the same Williams gearbox found in the race-winning FW34. ‘When you get to that certain level, the gearbox is not a performance differentiator between the cars. Everybody’s got quick shifts so, from the best to the worst, is probably only a couple of tenths a lap. Williams give us a good product and it is reliable.’ One of the most notable things about the Williams ’box is its very low upper surface, which opens up a range of aerodynamic possibilities. ‘In terms of volume, it is no smaller than a normal gearbox, but the top is much lower, though we are not yet taking advantage of that performance potential. ‘With the engines there are


simply not many options out there, but we don’t have anything signed for next year.’


Using a bought-in gearbox


gives some design restrictions at the rear of the car, notably around the rear wing mounting and suspension pick-ups, so the rear of the F112 is likely to be similar to the rear of the Williams. ‘We don’t use the Williams suspension geometry because


right away was to drop KERS. In our case, we can spend more effectively in other areas, like aerodynamics. If you’re in the midfield, you need KERS to give you that extra bit but, in our position, we simply need more aero budget. We are so under developed that putting that


“One of the decisions I


made almost right away was to drop KERS”


that is not allowed according to the Concorde Agreement,’ says Cuquerella. ‘All of the components are our own, like the torsion bars, pullrods, wishbones and Penske dampers. We are limited by the inboard mounting points on the casing, but everything else is ours. We are probably not very far from what they have at the rear but, in reality, we don’t know.’ Notably, the F112 is longer than the F111, for a number of reasons, but it’s likely the HRT engineers found that a longer car gave more stability and gave the aero team bigger surfaces to work with. ‘This car was designed to be able to accept KERS, the previous two cars were not. And that requires more space inside the car. But the car does not actually have KERS. When I started to make decisions in this project it was very late, but one of the decisions I made almost


22 www.racecar-engineering.com • July 2012


money in other areas just makes more impact.’ That is, of course, the real


reason HRT finds itself at the back of the grid – it is very restricted on its budget. ‘That’s an understatement, it is a huge restriction!’ exclaims Cuquerella. ‘We are counterbalancing R and D against the benefit of what comes out. As engineers, we like tables, coefficients and factors like that. So we put on the table how much it costs to do a particular area of development and what we predict the lap time gain to be. Then the one at the top of the list gets done. We cannot do everything we want to do because we don’t have the money for it. Sometimes we have to wait to manufacture the new parts until the differences are big enough to make it worthwhile. When you bring something new in, you have to scrap everything


Steering system: HRT hydraulic, servo-assisted system


Gearbox: Williams seven speed with ‘Quick-Shift’ sequential semi- automatic shift


Clutch: carbon multi-plate Brake material: carbon discs and pads Brake calipers: six-piston all round


Cooling system: aluminium oil, water and gearbox cooler Seat belt: six-point OMP


Cockpit: removable seat made of anatomically-formed carbon composite and HANS system


ECU and logging system: FIA standard ECU and FIA homologated electronic and electrical system


Battery: 12V Wheels: magnesium alloy Tyres: Pirelli P Zero


Dimensions: Width: 1800mm Height: 950mm Front track: 1445mm Rear track: 1420mm


Weight: 640kg (FIA minimum)


you had before, and that is expensive. It is not a problem for top teams to throw away brand new front wings, but it is for us.’ Despite what appears to be


an incredibly tight budget – in F1 terms at least (HRT would not be drawn on numbers) – the team is still able to qualify for races and, with Formula 1 moving back towards some kind of budget restriction, in future HRT could start to move forward.


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