F1 fans: Some amazing figures from the new Williams-BMW FW27

[pk500]

Some of this sh*t is mind-boggling:

Facts and Figures: The Williams BMW FW27

•1.3 terabytes of aero data were processed in computational fluid dynamics (1 terabyte is a thousand million bytes), equivalent to 69,333 volumes of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

•250,000 man-hours of design time have been spent on the FW27, with a further 250,000 man-hours required in fabrication and building.

•4,500 drawings have been produced in the design of the FW27 chassis. End-on-end, these drawings would stretch for 3,322 miles (5,350 km) with a further 4,000 expected to be produced to support the FW27’s lifecycle. By the end of the season, drawings would reach from London to Buenos Aires, Argentina.

•The FW27 will accelerate from standing to 125 mph (200 kph) in five seconds, and deceleration forces onboard will reach 5 g’s. One g equates to driving into a brick wall at 19 mph (30 kph.) Brake temperatures to generate the deceleration will reach 10,832 degrees (6,000 degrees Centigrade) in one second.

•On board the FW27, exhaust temperatures reach 17,132 degrees (9,500 degrees Centigrade), and even the air temperature in the pneumatic valve system reaches temperatures of 4,532 degrees (2,500 degrees Centigrade.)

•The BMW P84/5 V10 contains 5,000 individual components, and takes 100 man-hours to build. BMW has historically produced approximately 200 engines per season, but this figure will reduce in 2005.

•BMW produces 1,000 drawings in the design of each engine.

•The BMW engine weighs less than 198 pounds (90 kilograms).

•At 19,000 rpm, 316.7 revolutions and 1,583.3 ignitions take place each second in the BMW F1 engine. 9,500 engine speed measurements are made, the pistons cover a distance of 27.35 yards (25 meters), and (145 gallons) 550 liters of air are drawn in.

•Peak piston speed is 43.76 yards (40 meters) per second.

Take care,
PK

[pk500]

Z:

Mark my words: If the car is there, Webber and Heidfeld will outscore Button and Sato this season.

I'm convinced that Webber is the real deal due to his hard slog up the racing ladder and his ability to carry a team like Schumacher. Webber single-handedly brought Jag to midfield respectability through his leadership and driving skill after Irvine's horrid leadership and Ford's emphasis on flamboyant marketing instead of technical prowess nearly ruined the team right off the bat.

I'm still not convinced by Button. Ten podiums with no victories last season shows me that the car flattered him quite well. Yeah, Ferrari kicked ass last year, but Renault was able to win with Trulli, and I think the BAR was a better car last year than the Renault.

I think Button still has had too much handed to him and benefits from an excessive amount of worship from the English motorsports media, which is among the most influential in F1. When times were tough for Button at Benetton/Renault with a bad car, he turtled. When times were good for him at Williams and BAR with good cars, he was solid.

The jury is still out in my mind on one Jenson Button. Webber, on the other hand, has made two mediocre-to-bad cars from Minardi and Jaguar look decent.

I think Webber will be the real deal, and Heidfeld made an AWFUL Jordan look driveable last year, as you know. This will be a very solid pairing for Williams.

Take care,
PK

[GB_Simo]

Three words sum up Quick Nick's arrival in a top seat - it's about time.

PK, have you read any of what John Surtees said about Button last month? Not sure if it was in Autosport or F1 Racing, but he gave an interview which gives the impression that you and he hold broadly the same opinion of him. The problem with such an article, especially in magazines that have recently displayed an occasional tendency to go all tabloid on their readership, is knowing how much credibility to place upon the speaker and the comments, and the presence of John 'Rent-a-mouth' Watson later in the same piece makes me wonder...

None of which conveys my own opinion of the man, which is this - he's quick, but so far there's nothing that would give any reason to rank Button above Fisichella, Raikkonen et al. There's no doubting that Jenson can hold his own at the sharp end of things, but equally there's no proof at this moment in time that he can do any more than hold his own, nor will there be until good performances are backed up with visits to the atop step. Yes, he's good. Yes, the Press have done him a lot of favours. Be sure they'll drag him down again just as quickly should the need arise.

Heidfeld and Webber looks a useful combination. My only reservation with Webber is that he's yet to be seen against a team-mate that might be considered quick, with the exception of Anthony Davidson who was only his partner for two races. Yoong, Pizzonia, Wilson and Klein have been decisively dealt with but that needn't be a pointer to long-term success. Saying that, the guy had the Jag on the front row in Malaysia now 12 months ago so his talent is not in doubt - it'll just be nice to see him against a competitive yardstick. I've no reason to think Nick will be anything less than competitive.

Speaking of the evil Jordan as you were, PK - I notice the new Midland regime have already ousted Mark Smith within weeks of his taking up office at the team again and targeted Gary Anderson as their technical chief. Are they bold, insightful or just silly?

Cheers,
Adam

Edit - shall I say something about the thread topic? The numbers involved are just scary, and it's difficult to appreciate the work that goes into designing these things, harder still to appreciate how hard it must be to have a Ferrari destroy your hard graft every other Sunday. With figures like these, might FW32 be able to catch up with itself?