By Graham Duxbury
Formula One from the Inside
Emerging talent
in F1’s new era
Graham Duxbury is a former
racing driver, champion and TV
commentator. He is featured in
the Hall of Fame at the Daytona
Motor Speedway in the USA.
Here, in 1984, he made history
by winning the famous 24-hour
sports car race in an all-South
African team, partnered by Sarel
van der Merwe and Tony Martin.
New regulations, with the most technical changes in more than two
decades, have brought a slew of new challenges to the Formula
One paddock - and some criticism from the sidelines.
Y
es, the cars sound noticeably
different thanks to their more muted
exhaust note. Some approve,
others miss the scream of the previous
generation race engines. But, as former
champion and now Mercedes-Benz team
boss Niki Lauda says; “take out your ear
plugs and it’s the same...”
If F1’s new era is characterised by one
word, it’s ‘complexity’. The complexity of
the new hybrid power plants caused initial
unreliability problems but, surprisingly, the
rate of attrition in the first two races of the
season has been significantly better than
expected as designers and technicians
rapidly gained the upper hand.
The complexity of the new control systems
has demanded a change in driving style to
master them. We hear of ‘short shifting’ to
maximise the torque of the electric motors
which boost the power of the turbocharged
1.6 litre V6 petrol engines.
And we learn of ‘lift-off bleeps’ the
automated audio notification to drivers to
ease off the throttle and coast briefly before
applying the brakes at the end of a straight
in order to save fuel – a requirement to
ensure that the 100 kilogram allocation
(about 130 litres) is sufficient for the race’s
duration.
It seems as if the intricacy of these systems
in what team owner Frank Williams is
happy to call an ‘engineers’ formula’ has
played into the hands of the younger
drivers who have taken to F1 like ducks to
water. They’re unflustered by new ‘fly-bywire’ braking systems and the vagaries of
mandated, homologated, electronic, realtime fuel-flow sensors....
Kevin Magnussen is one such ‘find’ of
the 2014 season. The 20-year-old Dane
has been described as the ‘real deal’ by
McLaren’s sporting director Sam Michael.
It’s a sentiment supported by his second
place finish in his first F1 race in Australia.
Magnussen had his first experience in a F1
car at the Abu Dhabi ‘young driver’ test in
November 2012 where he set the fastest
time. He then proceeded to win the Formula
Renault 3.5 championship at his first
attempt and now emerges as a fully-fledged
and respected member of the F1 fraternity.
Another youngster to join the ranks of the
F1 elit R