The costly materials and the high amount of labour that are needed to build it, make the suspension one of the most expensive elements of an F1 car. While a suspension might seem like a relatively trivial object, the manufacturing process is quite complex. The outboard parts of the suspension are all made from metal however, they sit inside the brake ducts which are made out of carbon fibre. The parts of the suspension that are hidden inside the chassis are primarily metallic, whereas the elements that are in the airflow are mostly made from carbon fibre, only their joints or flexures are usually metallic. That way, we can ensure the high build quality that is needed and react relatively quickly to changes in design. We build our entire suspension system in-house. Where is the suspension of the W10 built? Those elements connect to the outboard suspension, which is hidden away behind the wheels - the uprights, axles and bearings. The inboard suspension links to the elements that are in the airflow: wishbones, pull rods, push rods and track rods. On the Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ the springing is largely done pneumatically, so the car uses gas springs. Hidden away underneath the bodywork of an F1 car are the inboard elements of the suspension - springs, dampers, rockers and the anti-roll bars. On a Formula One car, the suspension elements can be grouped into three sections - the inboard suspension, the outboard suspension and the elements that are in the airflow. The suspension elements on an F1 car are similar in concept to those on a road car, so all four corners of the car are sprung independently. What are the different elements of a suspension? This is what platform control is all about. Therefore the suspension has to deal with tonnes of extra load when the car is going fast.įor the aerodynamic concept to work, the position of the car relative to the track is extremely important - raise or lower the car a few millimetres and the airflow changes dramatically, making important aerodynamic parts like the floor and the diffuser less effective.Īn F1 suspension therefore must ensure that the pitch and ride height of the car are well controlled so that the aerodynamic concept can work to its full potential, despite the changes in downforce at different speeds. When it's travelling at high speeds it can generate an amount of downforce that is several times its body weight. The faster an F1 car goes, the more downforce it generates. It's something which engineers refer to as platform control. While ride and handling are functions of suspension systems on both F1 cars and road cars, there is a third purpose that's unique to Formula One cars - or, more precisely, to racing cars that rely heavily on aerodynamics to generate downforce. Comfort, for example, is an important aspect of the ride quality in road cars however, comfort is not exactly the main objective when designing and setting up an F1 car's suspension.Īre there any functional differences between the suspension of F1 cars and road cars? Handling on the other hand refers to the suspension's role when it comes to vehicle dynamics and describes how the car reacts to the input of the driver - so, for example, how it behaves under braking or how it changes direction.į1 suspension has the same two functions, albeit that the parameters are different. The suspension makes sure the car can handle uneven surfaces it dissipates the energy that is generated when traveling over undulations and ensures that the grip is spread correctly between the four tyres. Ride refers to the way the vehicle deals with changes in the surface of the road, how it copes with undulations, bumps, kerbs, potholes, changes in camber and the like. On a road car, the suspension has two main functions - ride and handling. This may sound relatively trivial however, it does need a complex system of different components because moving a heavy object like a car at high speeds creates several challenges. The main purpose of the suspension is to connect a car to its wheels.
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