You're right of course.Brian Coat wrote:Godlameroso wrote:" ... you're not allowed to use any exotic materials either ..."
That is not what the rulebook says. It does not say "any".
For example, if we were considering a piston crown / top land insert material, we could choose from a multitude of Nickel Superalloys ... they are not prohibited.
The current rule book is daft on some things. You can't have the Ti fasteners you'd find on Johhny-go-faster's road bike but you can use exotic alloy fasteners which are "n" times more expensive!
5.16 Materials and construction – General :
5.16.1 Unless explicitly permitted for a specific application, the following materials may not be used anywhere on the power unit :
a) Magnesium based alloys.
b) Metal Matrix Composites (MMC’s).
c) Intermetallic materials.
d) Alloys containing more than 5% by weight of Iridium or Rhenium.
e) Copper based alloys containing more than 2.75% Beryllium.
f) Any other alloy class containing more than 0.25% Beryllium.
g) Tungsten base alloys.
h) Ceramics and ceramic matrix composites.
5.16.2 The restrictions in Article 5.16.1 do not apply to coatings provided the total coating thickness does not exceed 25% of the section thickness of the underlying base material in all axes. In all cases, other than under Article 5.16.3(b), the relevant coating must not exceed 0.8mm.
2016 F1 Technical Regulations 28/90 27 February 2016
© 2016 Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile
5.16.3 The restrictions in Article 5.16.1(h) do not apply to the following applications :
a) Any component whose primary purpose is for electrical or thermal insulation.
b) Any coating whose primary purpose is for thermal insulation of the outside of the exhaust system.
5.16.2 and 5.16.3 gives you HUUUGE leeway because you can Brian Coat everything you want or need.
The main objective of the regulations is to force the manufacturers to make aluminum based blocks like they have in road cars. So even though the manufacturing and materials used in these blocks are wildly different than road car engines. What they learn can be transferred to making new engines.
Just having engines that can run at hotter temperatures reliably is worth it, improving efficiency reduces production costs. Passenger car engines waste ~30% of the fuel energy through cooling.
