Fresh impetus for racing cars

Hybrid drives replace roaring eight-cylin­ders, effi­ciency rather than refu­elling – Formula one has changed direc­tion: Following a complete over­haul of the regu­la­tions, this year’s World cham­pi­onship will no longer be a plat­form for powerful internal combus­tion engines. instead, Formula one will be demon­strating how modern drive tech­nology can combine high perfor­mance with maximum effi­ciency. “Formula one repre­sents the pinnacle of auto­mo­tive inno­va­tion. And that means an oblig­a­tion to explore the tech­no­log­ical bound­aries,” says MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS team boss Toto Wolff in praise of this devel­op­ment. “The new rules will not only promote this type of inno­va­tion but will also help the sport to develop along the same lines as the auto­mo­tive industry”. A sophis­ti­cated hybrid energy recovery System (ERS), is a signif­i­cant new devel­op­ment, with up to seven different energy recovery paths within the car achieving 750 horse­power with a third less fuel than was used previ­ously.

And for the racing team, sustain­ability means more than just the car. There­fore, it was a logical deci­sion to turn to ebm-papst for fresh ideas: engi­neers from the two compa­nies are working
together to develop cooling concepts for the racing cars with the explicit aim of then incor­po­rating the bene­fi­cial effects into series produc­tion. “We are delighted that MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS
is showing so much interest in our sustain­able tech­nology and that we are able to play a part in the Formula one re-orien­ta­tion process,” explains rainer Hunds­dörfer, chairman of the Board of direc­tors of the ebm-papst Group. “From our point of view this part­ner­ship repre­sents an invest­ment for the future, as MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS is currently setting new stan­dards in the field of aero­dy­namic effi­ciency.”

A boost to effi­ciency

Initial results are very encour­aging. ebm-papst solu­tions are now being used to main­tain stable temper­a­tures within the race cars between runs (read more on the next page). There are plans to intro­duce addi­tional specific cooling and heat extrac­tion solu­tions over the course of the season. But this is only part of the long-term team part­ner­ship agree­ment. Aero­dy­namics and energy effi­ciency are key elements within the devel­op­ment teams of MercedeS AMG PeTronAS and ebm-papst so it is natural that both teams are starting to exchange ideas and explore oppor­tu­ni­ties for perfor­mance gains in these areas.

And the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS factory in Brackley, England will soon be reducing their energy consump­tion through the use of energy-effi­cient venti­lation systems from ebmpapst. “I am convinced that this part­ner­ship will be to our mutual benefit,” sums up rainer Hunds­dörfer. Being a true motoring enthu­siast himself, he will be supporting the team more keenly than ever in the future.