,
Behind the front suspension is the aero on the side of the chassis itself. These cars are super expensive as we know, but if you can get a sponsorship on just this portion of the side of the tub, that can bring around an extra $17 million to your budget.
Looking farther back we see the rear double-wishbone suspension.
Looking from the right rear of the car, we get a glimpse of the intricacies of the aerodynamics, and why performance is significantly impacted when these cars rub each other and lose just a small portion of a wing. By the way, a sponsorship on the outside of this wing is…wait for it…another $17 million.
This was one of the few cars that was using AP Racing brakes during the 2013 season; half of the field uses Brembo. What many don’t know is that Brembo actually owns AP Racing. However, it was told to me during my tour of Brembo last year at Bergamo, Italy, that the two firms are still in total competition with each other and don’t share trade secrets. In fact, with how competitive F1 is, each of its seven F1 departments that represent the F1 team they make brakes for don’t share secrets between themselves either.
Something else people don’t realize is what it takes to produce an F1 braking system, since the rules for the following year usually aren’t released until around October! That means that Brembo, for instance, has to produce two braking systems per car (a front and a rear system).
Take that number, and multiply that by seven teams, and you’ve now got fourteen new systems that have to be ready by pre-season testing in the winter. The only way to do this is around-the-clock research and development. That’s right, the Motorsports division of Brembo operates 24/7, and we can only imagine the amount of work they’re doing now with the new tires rules for 2017. You’d figure the FIA would do something get the rules out sooner to alleviate this a little bit for the manufacturers, but we’re talking the same group of folks that slapped a $100 million dollar fine to McLaren on top of championship points reduction for espionage against Ferrari in 2007.
One last shot of F1 carbon fiber greatness.
This concludes our normal coverage of PRI 2016. If you’ve flipped through every page of our PRI 2016 coverage, let us know what you thought below, and we thank you! If you can’t get enough of this PRI stuff, check out our PRI 2015 as well, as the majority of those parts are still pretty new releases today!
Stay tuned for our “PRI 2016: Street Outlaws edition” articles coming very soon!
AiM Sportline
Alcon Brakes
AST Suspension
BBS Wheels
JDC Motorsports
KW Suspensions
Melanie Salemi Motorsports
Michael Shank Racing
Moton Suspension
Racecraft Inc
ST Suspensions
Wagler Competition Products
CLICK ON THE NEXT PAGE FOR A COMPANY INDEX OF ALL 5 PARTS!
