With A Cool Head To Victory

2023 Author: Hannah Pearcy | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-11-26 11:39

With 15 wins in 17 races so far and a total of 593 points, the team led by Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton has an advantage that cannot be overtaken in the last four races of the season. Team partner EBM-Papst is also pleased, and has been supporting the team with cooling solutions since the 2014 season. The ventilation manufacturer's latest solution is to cool the command station.

Keep a cool head at the command post

In the tricky situations during a Formula 1 race, the engineers at the command station have to make the right decisions within seconds. Those responsible for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team have been able to keep a cool head since the start of the 2016 season, as they use an air conditioning system with fans from EBM-Papst.

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At the command station of the Formula 1 team, the five engineers monitor the performance of the two cars during every race - down to the smallest detail. They analyze over 150,000 possible scenarios in real time to determine the plan for the further course of the race. Since the beginning of the 2016 season, the air conditioning system, which supplies the team members and the electronics at the command post on the pit wall with cool air, has been improved. Previously, this task was performed by simple ventilation with uncooled air. "Switching to real air conditioning makes our work directly on the racetrack much more pleasant," explains Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical) of the team. “Even in races in hot places like In Asia, for example, we can now keep a cool head and the electronics are also optimally air-conditioned."

How much cool air the engineers get is controlled by a total of ten air outlets that are installed between the table top and the monitors in the command station. Two air conditioning units on the sides of the strategy center generate the cool air before they lead single-sided radial fans with forward-curved blades to the outlets and electronics. It was easy for the team to choose the supplier of the fans for the system. "We have already worked successfully with our team partner EBM-Pope on a number of projects, such as air conditioning in the pits or cooling the cars in the pits," explains Paddy Lowe. "It was therefore only natural that we should turn to the company."

Reduce air conditioning energy consumption

The cooling of the Formula 1 car is an important task that the manufacturer has taken on since 2014. The racing car generates an enormous amount of power. Due to the high speed of the vehicle, the air stream cools on the route. As soon as the car comes to a standstill in the box, a cooling concept regulates the heat build-up via the side box and rollover protection openings. Some of the 850 employees at the headquarters in Brackley, England also use the fans and have recently started working in well-tempered rooms with low noise levels. The Formula 1 team was also able to reduce air conditioning energy consumption by 64% using Green Tech EC technology.

Thomas Borst, Managing Director Sales and Marketing of the EBM-Papst Group, says: “Formula 1 and fan technology have more in common than you might think at first glance. We are united by the striving to achieve higher efficiency through high-tech. B. in aerodynamics, to reduce turbulent flows as much as possible - both in the car and in the fan.

The winglet on the hyblade wing of the ventilation manufacturer's axial fans reduces energy consumption and therefore increases efficiency. The flexible carbon composite material is used in cars to save weight and thus accelerate faster. EBM-Papst uses glass-fiber reinforced plastic for its axial fans, because here too the following applies: the lower the mass of a fan, the lower the mechanical load. Another example of weight reduction is the hollow profile blade on the Radipac radial fan. “Efficiency and quality through high-tech simply pay off. We are proud to be a partner in such a successful team,”continues Borst. (kj)

* Subject to the official confirmation by the FIA of the results of the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship