The main problem is the increase of the weight of the fuel inside the race has an exponential influence on lap times. In other words, putting 20 litres in an empty tank does not have the same consequences as putting 20 litres in a tank that is already almost full.
"I remember when we were testing a Formula 3000 at Suzuka," Rouelle added. "Adding 20 litres of fuel (from 20 to 40 litres) slowed down the car by three tenths of a second. But adding 20 litres from 100 to 120 litres slowed down the car by a full second! The influence of weight is exponential and not linear. This means that the 210 litres of fuel that the car will carry early in the race will make the car a handful to drive and will be very hard on the tires and the brakes". Rouelle believes that some clever engineers will be tempted to modify the location of fuel along the duration of the race…
"The rubber bladder located inside the fuel tank is fitted with 9 check valves designed to restrain fuel sloshing when the car is circulating on the race track," Rouelle indicated. "However, these valves can easily be run by electric pumps that would transfer fuel towards the rear or the front of the fuel tank to dynamically modify weight distribution and change the handling characteristics, the way airline pilots do during flights". The President of OptimumG said Formula 1 car are sensitive to variations of just 0.5mm in ride height, especially at the front. "Depending of the vertical stiffness of the tires, the ride height will increase slowly during the race because of the decrease of fuel load. The mechanics will undoubtedly need to adjust the aero balance of the car during the pit stops". Rouelle, who still work as a consultant in the F1 world believes that the teams that will be the most successful will be those whose engineers fully understand the variations in mechanical grip linked to the changes in the mass of the car, to weight distribution and the moment of inertia. "In order to be successful, engineers must fully understand how a race tire works. In this area, teams that do the best job are in order McLaren, Brawn (Mercedes) and Red Bull. But these are my own, personal predictions that are based on what I hear from F1 and the information I have. I may be wrong… but I may also be right!" Rouelle concluded. Photos: WRI2
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