Mercedes won, Redbull was second And McLaren was third.
    Many cars dropped out with engine trouble as the new turbo V6's
    are very complicated indeed. They don't call it turbo compound
    but "energy recovery". That is because a large percentage of time
    a road racing car is under braking and one want's to recover
    that energy as well as waste exhaust energy.

    That braking energy recovery does not help at all  on the freeway or autobahn.
    It just adds a lot of unnecessary weight.

    The exhaust energy is recovered by a shaft coming out the turbo charger
    compressor driving a generator. This charges a battery.  Similar
    to the attached 3D.

    This is not an efficient way  of doing it in a passenger car.
    Say  the generator is 90% efficient and the motor is 90%
    efficient over all energy recovery is then only 81%.

    Again the battery is just more dead weight. Typically the electronc
    controller could also be 90% efficient so over all recovery efficiency could
    drop to 73%. All this waste heat heats up the engine compartment.

    There is no beating a gear box between the exhaust turbine
    and the crankshaft. That would be 95% efficient or higher.

    The battery is also charged from the retarding force on the rear wheels under
    braking in a road racing car. These generators also serve as motors that provide
    extra torque under acceleration and in the case the turbo charger generator it is
    also used in electric motor mode to accelerate the compressor. This reduces
    the notorious turbo charger throttle lag.

    One can imagine this is a programmers worse nightmare.
    Not only is the competition among the drivers and  engineers but
    now programmers are competing  to see who can write the
    best control program. I wonder what chip they are using?
    I would not be a bit surprised if it was an ARM variation of some sort.

    That is like using your cell phone to control 800 HP :)

    The generator connected to the compressor shaft is interesting
    as it must be geared down as the turbo is turning at 125,000 RPM.
    An electric motor would probably blow up due to centrifugal loads
    on the copper windings if it were to run at 125,000 RPM.

    http://www.rotaryeng.net/Oxford-640-4802.wmv <http://www.rotaryeng.net/Oxford-640-4802.wmv>

    Paul Lamar



    Hi Paul,


    The way I read it the MCU or "power unit" controller is "controlled" and supplied by McLaren Applied Technologies (MAT) of Woking, UK for all teams.

    "The identical electronic control units in F1 cars are made under FIA rules by McLaren Applied Technologies (MAT) of Woking, UK – a company kept strictly separate from the firm's McLaren F1 racing team, for the sake of fairness. The control units choreograph everything from throttle control down to changing the gears. Their software has been completely rewritten for the new energy-recovering turbos, says MAT vice-president Peter van Manen."

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129604.400-7-tricks-to-keep-f1-cars-fast-and-fuelefficient.html#.UyVwEPmSx8E <http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129604.400-7-tricks-to-keep-f1-cars-fast-and-fuelefficient.html#.UyVwEPmSx8E> <http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129604.400-7-tricks-to-keep-f1-cars-fast-and-fuelefficient.html#.UyVwEPmSx8E <http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg22129604.400-7-tricks-to-keep-f1-cars-fast-and-fuelefficient.html#.UyVwEPmSx8E>>


    I suspect that Vettle may have had a dodgy one of these as he had "software" problems thru qualifying too.


    Phill Hinds
    George Town TAS


    Where  is the fun in that? :)

    That cuts my interest. Without software competition no possible advances in
    the technology. That destroys innovation.

    That is the main problem with Indy, Nascar and Rolex. They are all boring.

    Did you take the vomit comet over to the race? :)

    As I recall there was a hovercraft as well. I think Robin
    and I rode it 10 or so years ago. Maybe that was in England Southsea to
    Isle of Wight. It is all a blur :) I also took the really BIG Hovercraft across the channel
    way back in the early 80's.


    Paul Lamar

    The motor/generator between the compressor and turbine is a switched reluctance design. These motors can spin up to very high rpm since they have low rotational inertia; [no windings on the rotor] no gearbox necessary.  All motor control is electronic.  The SRM design and modern electronics make this concept feasible for energy recovery applications.  There is a hit on system efficiency going through several layers of power conversion but there are advantages:
    1-flexible location within engine compartment
    2-elimination of variable vane within turbo
    3-elimination of alternator
    4-no compromise between spool up speed and turbine efficiency regarding blade design

    The turbo energy recovery system would make a great drop in replacement for my Ford diesel turbo.  All I would have to do is add a battery bank and connect an electric motor to my front differential, I could the use the 35% wasted energy going out the exhaust to help propel me down the road...

    Dan Tyler
    Turbo energy recovery fan

    "The switched reluctance motor (SRM) is a type of reluctance motor, an electric motor  that runs by reluctance  torque. Unlike common DC motor  types, power is delivered to windings in the stator (case) rather than the rotor. This greatly simplifies mechanical design as power does not have to be delivered to a moving part, but it complicates the electrical design as some sort of switching system needs to be used to deliver power to the different windings. With modern electronic devices this is not a problem, and the SRM is a popular design for modern motors. Its main drawback is torque ripple."

    I suspect since the DD15 mechanical turbo compound is only 5% more efficient you might
    gain only 2 to 3%. However your diesel might accelerate better. Caterpillar tried it
    but did not implement production.

    Diesels don't benefit as much from turbo compound as gas engines do.

    The turbo compound rotary would be extraordinary as there are no exhaust
    valves to get in the way.


    Paul Lamar



Hi Paul

I don't know about all the techy stuff but here's a pic of the F1 ECU specs?

From Mclaren's link here http://www.mclarenelectronics.com/Systems/CaseStudy/Formula%20One

Anyway the race was at least entertaining.

Laughed like a drain when I read the FIA's explanation of  Red Bulls exclusion from the results.

Clive Clapham

(Reuters) - Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo was stripped of his first Formula One  podium finish at his home Australian Grand Prix on Sunday after his car was found to have broken fuel regulations, the governing FIA said.

The decision meant McLaren's Danish rookie Kevin Magnussen moved up from third to second, with team mate Jenson Button taking third place.

Red Bull said they had notified the governing body immediately of their intention to appeal.

"Inconsistencies with the FIA fuel flow meter have been prevalent all weekend up and down the pit lane," the team said. "The Team and Renault are confident the fuel supplied to the engine is in full compliance with the regulations."


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