Phoenix
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http://www.wired.com/autopia/2013/10/red-bull-f1-traction-control/
Hmmm. Seems Red Bull may be using a form of traction control...
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Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel is quick. Too quick. The three-time Formula 1 champion dominated the Singapore Grand Prix, leaving his closest competitor 32.6 seconds behind as he took his eighth win of the season.
In F1, where teams battle it out for tenths of a second, that’s a massive margin. And the secret to his speed is turning into one of the greatest conspiracy theories in modern racing.
Ever since the Montreal Grand Prix in June, rumors began to circulate that the Red Bull team was using some form of traction control. The system allows drivers to get off the line quicker and get on the power earlier out of corners as the computer optimizes the engine’s output based on the amount of grip at the tires. But traction control has been banned in F1 since 2008, and every race car uses the same engine control unit (ECU), all of which are inspected by F1 management at every race. It would be impossible for Red Bull to slip some kind of traction control system under the nose of the FIA, the governing body of F1.
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The use of traction control and the points penalty theory are both pure speculation at this point. But Vettel, speaking after his dominant performance in Singapore, tilted his hand when asked whether the accusations of traction control use bothered him.
“We were playing around quite a lot with it in practice, but the first time it worked was in the race,” Vettel said. “I was quite confident other people would never figure out how we did it. We are pretty proud of the system we have because other people will never figure out how we’ve done it.”
Hmmm. Seems Red Bull may be using a form of traction control...
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Red Bull Racing driver Sebastian Vettel is quick. Too quick. The three-time Formula 1 champion dominated the Singapore Grand Prix, leaving his closest competitor 32.6 seconds behind as he took his eighth win of the season.
In F1, where teams battle it out for tenths of a second, that’s a massive margin. And the secret to his speed is turning into one of the greatest conspiracy theories in modern racing.
Ever since the Montreal Grand Prix in June, rumors began to circulate that the Red Bull team was using some form of traction control. The system allows drivers to get off the line quicker and get on the power earlier out of corners as the computer optimizes the engine’s output based on the amount of grip at the tires. But traction control has been banned in F1 since 2008, and every race car uses the same engine control unit (ECU), all of which are inspected by F1 management at every race. It would be impossible for Red Bull to slip some kind of traction control system under the nose of the FIA, the governing body of F1.
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The use of traction control and the points penalty theory are both pure speculation at this point. But Vettel, speaking after his dominant performance in Singapore, tilted his hand when asked whether the accusations of traction control use bothered him.
“We were playing around quite a lot with it in practice, but the first time it worked was in the race,” Vettel said. “I was quite confident other people would never figure out how we did it. We are pretty proud of the system we have because other people will never figure out how we’ve done it.”
