F1Zone

Mumbai Mirror:
Out of Michael Schumacher’s 91 Grand Prix wins, 88 have been with cars designed by me.” As a Formula One enthusiast, nothing could be more attention grabbing than these few words. And they came from Rory Byrne, currently the Design and Development Consultant for Scuderia Ferrari. But Byrne is better known as the guy who designed the Ferrari cars which brought the ‘Prancing Horse’ back to the top in F1 during their celebrated period between 1999 and 2002. On the whole Bryne has 99 GP wins.

Byrne was in Mumbai for an interactive session with the IIT-Mumbai students, as part of the institute’s series of lectures for Techfest, their annual science and technology festival. After the lecture, Byrne held a brief session with the media where he spoke about the ‘single engine’ policy and the importance of smaller teams in F1. Excerpts:

The importance of smaller teams like Force India in F1

A full F1 grid is important. If you took off the smaller teams it would be less of a spectacle. You did have a small team winning a race this year (Sebastian Vettel — Red Bull). This year has proved that a small team can win. There is definitely a place for them in F1. Even though they are small teams, they have a budget today which is ten times than what we had in 1981.When framing rules in the future you need to consider the small teams and allow them to compete.

On the controversial single engine policy

The difficulty is in balancing the economic aspect with the technical one. If a standard engine is introduced, it removes the incentive of the major manufacturers. Their input is largely on the engine side. People like Honda use F1 as a training ground for their engines. Putting a manufacturer’s name on the cam covers is not the way to go. The bigger players are not going to be in favour of a standard engine. But the small teams will be for it. For them this translates into cheaper engines and same power.

Schumacher the ‘team player’

The biggest attribute apart from Schumacher’s racing skills is the fact that he was a team driver. Whether at Benetton or Ferrari, when the going was tough, Schumacher would always be there with his inputs. Even if he couldn’t influence anything, he’d always want to be involved. In 2006, during the Japan GP when his engine blew up, ending his World Championship chances, instead of venting his anger, he actually came back into the pits and consoled his mechanics.

The importance of a driver in F1

The driver element is changing. With such powerful data acquisition systems, you don’t rely on the driver inputs that much. But though you’ve got a lot more technically advanced systems operating, they are still dependent on driver feedback.

On the changes being thought about in F1

Regulations are being put in place with respect to the engine development, the usage of the wind tunnel and so on. There is the need to reduce cost. There is the need to be more green. There would be an approximate 20-30 percent cut in fuel consumption by 2011 and a target of a 50% cut by 2015. The cars of the future will have far more aerodynamic efficiency. We need to make racing closer and more competitive. But nothing specific has been written down so far. Because of conflicting requirements there is no consensus. But we could get some information by the end of this year.

The best driver currently

Lewis Hamilton is a star. There is no doubt about that. He’s not one of the drivers coming through. He’s already there and to add to that he’s very young. Alonso is also incredible. But he has been around at the top for a couple of years now. Amongst the rest, Sebastian Vetter is definitely a driver to watch out for.

Byrne said that the kind of dominance that Ferrari has had over the past decade would be difficult in the future and the competition would be far closer. The signs are already showing.

DNA:
According to Rory Byrne, former chief designer of Ferrari, big manufacturers will lose incentive because of the introduction of standard engines

With an aim to reduce the operational costs in Formula One, a number of changes are likely to be introduced to the sport. One of the most contentious among them is that of standard engines, a move that would see all cars using the same engines. However, a majority of the top teams have expressed apprehension about this particular proposal. Rory Byrne, former chief designer at Ferrari, reasoned why the top manufacturers are against introducing standard engines.

Byrne, who was in Mumbai on Monday, told DNA that the issue was complex as well as tricky. "The difficulty lays in balancing the economic aspects with the technical ones. If you go to standard engines for everyone, you remove the incentive for lot of major manufacturers for wanting to participate in F1 because most of the manufacturer's input is largely on the engine side. A team like Honda, for example, uses F1 as a training ground for their engineers. With a standard engine, you have removed this possibility for them. Quite understandably top teams are going to be against it," he remarked.

Byrne said that it was not a question of merely putting a name tag of the engine maker on the cam cover. "I don't think it's fundamentally about public's perception. The manufacturer's involvement is largely on the engine side. They are not going to support the introduction of standard engine."

Byrne however said that the smaller teams were for standard engines as they were are easy to purchase and run.
Rory Byrne, who is one of the most successful designers in Formula One, believes the existence of small teams is crucial for Formula One and that rules should be made that allow these teams to compete.

Byrne dismissed suggestions that small teams are inconsequential. "First of all, if you take out small teams from the grid, it would be less of a spectacle. Also, it isn't that small teams have not performed. This year, one such team won a race from pole position," Byrne remarked. He was referring to the brilliant performance of Scuderia Toro Rosso this year.

However, Byrne believes it is not only the car's performance that matters. Having worked with the likes of Ayrton Senna and Michael Schumacher, he knows the amount of difference a driver can make. "The increased sophistication has meant that the driver's element is changing. With such powerful data acquisition techniques, you don't have to rely on drivers for their inputs. And yet, a driver's ability becomes more important since he needs to be aware of how the car works and what he should be done in order to optimise the performance."

Byrne said that in the next few years F1 cars would be undergoing drastic changes as far as its design and operation is concerned. "Environmental concerns and cost reduction would mean that by 2011, there will be a 20 to 30 per cent in fuel consumption while by 2015, the reduction will be by 50 per cent," he said.

Byrne, who was a part of FIA appointed committee to suggest design changes in order to facilitate overtaking, said that he had recommended an increase in mechanical grip and reduction of aerodynamic grip. "When these changes come in to effect, the cars will look completely different," he said.