Photo by mario James
Formula One comes to New Kingston today starting at 10 a.m.

Mario James, Gleaner Writer

Warning! We get a little technical here. Many would not have believed it possible. But it has come to pass. A Formula One (F1) vehicle has finally graced the shores of the jewel of the Caribbean. And it is the man in the street who is responsible, because only four countries worldwide have a higher per capita consumption rate of a certain globally marketed energy drink.

Red Bull racing, in association with Stewart Motors, has created history by bringing its F1 team to this 'Little Rock'. The car was brought in from Singapore in myriad bits and boxes, and was assembled at Stewart Motors hours before the scheduled 6 p.m. media launch of the Red Bull Formula 1 Urban Run on Thursday.

The car came as a rolling chassis, cloaked in tarpaulin and devoid of tail feathers, nose cone and fluids. DHL is responsible for logistics for F1, and getting these machines ready for race day is no small feat. Sources say moving Red Bull F1 requires sixty tractor trailers, and this is to an event that is close to home (Europe). When they move outside of Europe, they prepare for every eventuality, doubling the quantity of stuff moved. They brought a spare engine, and two nose cones among other parts. It is a logistical nightmare.

Work of art

But the car is here. Chassis RB2 is the tub driven by David Coulthard in 2006 to the team's first podium finish at Monaco. It is a work of art.

From nose to tail, the vehicle is a no-nonsense testament to clean-sheet engineering and the creativity of the human mind, of thought processes carried to an extreme application. Take for instance, the position of such mundane pieces as brake callipers. Manufactured by Brembo, they each house six pistons. But instead of occupying a topmost position on the oh-my-gosh-one-inch-thick-carbon-fibre- rotor, the calliper is under-slung. Yes, on the rotor bottom. Why? So that the centre of gravity is kept low. Carbon fibre is the material of choice throughout the vehicle, as it is light, yet very strong. Even the engine plenum is made of it, as are suspension pieces (which are beautifully shaped to offer the least amount of aerodynamic drag), nose cone and other ancillaries. Only the gearbox and engine are made of aluminium.

In a tribute to Colin Chapman's original 1960 design, the engine and gearbox/transaxle are stressed components, that is part of the monocoque. The rear suspension is bolted on to the transmission, which has seven semi-automatically operated forward cogs and reverse. The suspension is infinitely adjustable, with one main centre damper being flanked by several satellite shocks.

Satellite 'shocks'

Three elements make up one side of the geometry; two seemingly equal length wishbones locating each wheel with a spar transmitting the load to the damper, and probably the length can be changed to affect ride height. The satellite 'shocks' on either side of the main damper are connected by a bell-crank, which is mounted on one end to the main damper, the other end of this is attached securely to the gearbox.

The bell-crank acts as a sway bar, loading each rear wheel against the other. Simple in theory, but the person thought of this linkage probably solves Liebniz equations as a mental exercise. It is sheer genius. The front suspension has similar elements, but is probably configured differently as the front wheels steer camber and camber gain needs to be controlled, and precise wheel location at speeds approaching 220 mph has to be assured.

Speaking of speed, the engine is so filled to gills with technology that there isn't enough space to chart it all.

Featherweight

This alluring piece of metallurgic madness screams to 19,000 rpm, and is designed to last 1000km, or just two races! After that, only the crank and rods probably have any service life left; because everything in a F1 car must be made featherweight, the pistons, block and heads all crack progressively under the stress of battle, and even if they might look sound after the second race will show cracks if analysed. It develops 730hp from 3,000cc, or a whopping 243hp per litre! It has a four-valve per cylinder layout, and is anything but conventional. In lieu of springs, the valve is attached to a mechanism filled with air that is inflated to about 300psi, or 20 bar.

Says Engineer David Lamb, "It is absolutely critical at the engine speeds we run in F1 that the valves are doing what we think they're doing. With the air 'springs', valve bounce is kept to an absolute minimum. At elevated engine revs, torsional stress causes the camshaft to twist, which in turn throws the valve opening closing events out of kilter. So the camshaft lobes are indexed with this twist in mind, which eliminates the imbalance caused by this unwanted variable."

The power of a press pass has enabled mere mortals as I am to be privy to technology that cost millions of dollars to develop! We thank the Red Bull team and Stewart for the opportunity to participate in this watershed moment, and look forward with bated breath for the staging of Sunday's Red Bull Formula One Urban Run!