Motor Sports Page
STUART'S MOTOR SPORT PAGE
Do you know what it costs to run a Formula One team? I knew it was expensive but I saw some figures in "The
Australian" newspaper the other day that totally amazed me.
Just to get a car onto the circuit, a team needs more than $30,000,000.00 in the bank. That's a lot of zeros!!!!!
A single lap around Silverstone circuit costs about $4,500.00, assuming you don't wedge it under the armco. Tyres for
the seasoncost about $2.2 million, $1.25 million for fuel & oil, $11 million for spare parts, $9 million to service and rebuild
the 20 or so engines and another $3.5 million travelling to each circuit on the calendar. Back in the workshop, the
designers are lightening your wallet by another $2.5 million designing and developing a new car.
On top of this, each team employs their own staff, comprising mechanics, secretaries, engineers, truck drivers, publicity agents, aerodynamics
experts and designers. The chief designer for the Williams team has reportedly been offered $4.5 million to move to
McLaren!!! Believe it or not, the drivers aren't cheap either :). Michael Schumacher is apparently being paid $33 million
for this year, although Ukyo Katayama is a relative bargain at $700,000.00. I think they're worth every cent........
The engine manufacturers expect their names to be displayed in prominent positions, such as the rear wing, because
they may spend up to $70 million developing and supplying the engines to the team. A position on the car that may
only be seen briefly on television could be worth upwards of $2 million on a car from one of the top teams !!!
To make it possible for some of the less talented drivers to get their chance, they can buy themselves a drive. Before you
go reaching for the Visa card, Pedro Diniz, who is Damon Hill's team mate at Arrows this year, apparently forked out
nearly $20 million for his drive this year. Rubens Barrichello has brought his $10 million contribution to the Stewart Ford
team this year.
This year, the engines are limited to 3000cc with a maximum of 12 cylinders. They cannot use more than 5 valves per
cylinder. The engines are mostly V10 configuration, putting out around 800 horsepower at up to 18,000 rpm. Total weight,
including the driver, must not be less than 600 kgs. That's not a bad power to weight ratio. The Williams cars accelerate
from 0-100 km/h in less than 2 seconds and they have a top speed of 330 km/h, depending on gearing. Performance has
a price, though. Fuel consumption is awful at approximately 2 km/litre or 3.5 mpg.
Tyre pressures are crucial to the handling characteristics of the car. They are usually set somewhere around
22 psi at the front and 18 psi at the rear.A change in pressure of only 0.5 psi can create an oversteer or understeer
problem. One of the designers described oversteer and understeer as follows:
Understeer is where you hit the wall with the front of the car.
Oversteer is where you hit the wall with the rear of the car.
TRIVIA
At Silverstone, drivers average 40 gear changes per lap, meaning that by the end of the race, they have changed gear
more than 2000 times!!!
The designers say that once the cars reach more than 100 km/h, it would be possible to drive them upside down
across the ceiling because of the aerodynamic forces achieved with the wings....
Click here to hear the Formula One car again.......
Back to Stuart's Page
You are Visitor Number 
Since 7thMarch, 1997.
THANKS!!!!