Heidfeld Fire - Ammo for FIA?

[TenEightyOne]

Why exactly do Renault seem to be telling porkies about the exact nature of Heidfeld's fire?

Eric Boullier explained that a cracked exhaust lit 'some resin' in the bodywork. EJ didn't believe him and nor, frankly, did I.

As Heidfeld braked the fire showed all the hallmarks of a fluid fire as it gushed forward from the sidepods - and that could be bad news for F1 teams in general.

Drivers like Niki Lauda and Gerhard Berger will tell you why any in-car fire is bad but this fire could be critical to F1 for other reasons.

Teams are fighting to stop the FIA from banning the practice of running exhausts near the sidepods. The FIA want a ban for two reasons; firstly because they claim that throttle-actuated airflow constitutes a 'moveable aerodynamic device' and secondly because they feel that cracked exhausts might be in a position to quickly burn through oil pipes in sidepod cooling systems.

Is that what happened today? If so it would explain why Renault might be a little reticent with the truth... they could have just proved one of the FIA's concerns to be correct.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

Well, until such time as you catch them out in a lie, you're never going to know. If Renault are playing fast and loose with the truth, it probably has more to do with keeping information from the other teams than it does with trying to beat the FIA down. After all, Renault's frontal exhaust is the big technical development this year, but we haven't seen anyone produce their own version of it. Why, exactly, remains unknown, but one of the big factors in it is probably going to be heat management. So I don't see why Renault should be obligated to disclose everything and give all the other teams the information they need to build their own FEE system.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Well, until such time as you catch them out in a lie, you're never going to know. If Renault are playing fast and loose with the truth, it probably has more to do with keeping information from the other teams than it does with trying to beat the FIA down.

I'm sure that's mostly true, but it's still interesting that the hypothetical example quoted by the FIA may have manifested itself in reality.

You're right about Renault (and any team) wishing to hide details of their build. Unusually for a sidepod fire there was no steam which makes one consider the possibility that Renault are only cooling oil on the right side of the car (a practice started by Ferrari under RB).

I think the FIA will be successful in their attempts to ban cleverly routed exhaust anyway, but it will be interesting to see if they quote this case. Does anyone know if the FIA re-scrutineered the car on its return (in the way that they would with collapsed wings etc.)?

 

[Ardius]

Unusually for a sidepod fire there was no steam which makes one consider the possibility that Renault are only cooling oil on the right side of the car (a practice started by Ferrari under RB).

It wasn't a sidepod fire - if you actually watch the footage the fire starts at the rear, where presumably the exhaust is bent forwards behind the bodywork.

I can imagine a flame could move forwards like that quite easily if it was a resin-based flame, perhaps coincidence that it moved forwards the same time as he braked?

I'm not really suspicious, and I'm confident the FIA will investigate with Renault.

Also - ban running exhausts near the sidepods? Where else are they meant to put them? Exhausts have always run around the sidepod area, be it through the top like in previous years to now with teams running diffuser blown solutions or with Renault running it forwards.
I think you really mean ban Renault's forward facing exhausts? I'll leave that up to the FIA or Renault to decide whether that is the cause of the problem.

 

[TenEightyOne]

Well, when the sidepod was on fire it was a sidepod fire. The fact that fire first appeared just behind the sidepod in a car doing 100mph suggests that the origin was forward of that.

We may well never know the exact mechanics of this fire, but if it IS related to a revised exhaust layout lighting the oil cooling system then it falls exactly within the boundaries of one of the FIA's two concerns about how far forward some teams have moved their exhaust outlets (and therefore the outlet supply).

 

[NFSCARBON1]

I think it may originally have been a cracked exhuast/resin fire but don't F1 cars send unburnt fuel into the exhaust to provide extra downforce when they come of the throttle? Looked to me that when he broke, the fuel was lit by the resin fire and shot along the exhaust out of the front.

I really wish the FIA would stop messing with the rules though. It seems that any new technology that appears on the cars is quickly banned. The apparent reason for the ban on the off throttle exaust systems is that it's a waste of fuel. If they want to be eco friendly just let the cars run on Biofuel. It's kinder to the environment and gives the cars more power.

 

[TenEightyOne]

If they want to be eco friendly just let the cars run on Biofuel. It's kinder to the environment and gives the cars more power.

The trouble is sourcing the bio-base in a way that's eco-friendly, that's something that needs work too.

 

[Ardius]

I really wish the FIA would stop messing with the rules though. It seems that any new technology that appears on the cars is quickly banned. The apparent reason for the ban on the off throttle exaust systems is that it's a waste of fuel. If they want to be eco friendly just let the cars run on Biofuel. It's kinder to the environment and gives the cars more power.

According to Whiting, its more to do with it being a "moveable aerodynamic device", I doubt its about fuel.

 

[Pezzarinho17]

I thought it was purely a fuel issue, with Renault stating the new exhaust system uses 10% more fuel than before. Other teams are rumoured to be using far more, with Red Bulls Qualifying pace also believed to be the result of a very aggressive exhaust setting....

What heidfeld's incident highlighted to me though was the added danger the fire caused to the driver (compared to previous engine bay fires). The team were heard to be telling him immediately to get out of the car quickly, with flames engulfing the car up to the cockpit VERY quickly. As NFSCARBON1 states, the fuel was lit within the exhausts and then thrown out of the front of the car too, which helped the fire move towards the cockpit even quicker.