F1 2008 and we?re off to a flyer

Daily Mail UK

Grand prix drivers get to go skiing over the winter.

No such luck for the 430 staff back at the factory, who have been working flat-out to prepare their drivers' new machines for the Australian Grand Prix, which took place in the early hours of this morning.

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The winglets of the car aid air-flow over the car

Whatever the race result, one thing is certain ? as usual, this year's cars are significantly faster than their predecessors, even with new regulations that outlaw traction control and require a standard "black box" for electronics. How do the engineers do it?

First, they start early.

Development of the BMW Sauber F1.08, driven by Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld this year, began last May at the factory in Hinwil, Switzerland.

Before they are made, all the designs are tested on a computer ? and BMW Sauber have a behemoth.

Named Albert2, it weighs 21 tons and can process a staggering 12 trillion calculations per second.

It enables engineers to find out how tyre deformation through a particular corner will affect the car's acutely sensitive aerodynamics, or how a fractional change to the diffuser underneath the monocoque will translate into lap times.

Every variation, modification, material and detail is considered.

The results are turned into a 60 per cent scale model, which is then tested in BMW Sauber's £30 million wind tunnel (pictured).

Engineers work round the clock at the tunnel, seven days a week.

The car itself is built almost exclusively of carbon fibre.

The only metal elements are the engine ? a 2.4-litre V8 that revs to 19,000rpm and produces more than 800bhp ? and the gearbox, one of the most sophisticated components on the car.

Think your Porsche 911 Turbo can rattle through the gears? Each change on the F1.08 takes 0.004 seconds ? that's 50 times faster than the blink of an eye.

Once built, the engines and cars are tested first on factory rigs and then on the track. Ten months ? and several million pounds ? later, they are ready to be raced. Let's hope the drivers had a good break.

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