It was mid to high 30's when they did that I think. Its a dry heat though so thats normally 'easier' to cope with than humid heat.
Average Tempretures for F1 Calendar (Monthly Averages) March: Bahrain (Manama) 70F 21C Austrailia (Melbourne) 65F 18C April: Malaysia (Kuala Lumpur) 83F 28C - HOTTEST China (Shanghai) 59F 15C South Korea (Daejeon) 53F 11C - COLDEST May: Turkey (Istanbul) 62F 17C Spain (Barcelona) 61F 16C Monaco (Monte Carlo) 68F 20C June: Canada (Montreal) 65F 18C USA (Austin) 82F 28C July: Europe (Valencia) 76F 24C UK (Northampton) 71F 22C Germany (Hockenheim) 75F 24C August: Hungary (Budapest) 69F 21C September: Belgium (Spa-Francorchamps) 56F 13C Italy (Monza) 77F 25C Singapore (Singapore City) 82F 28C October: Japan (Suzuka) 63F 17C India (New Delhi) 79F 26C November: UAE (Abu Dhabi) 76F 24C Brazil (Sau Paulo) 71F 22C
I know?! Same average as Bahrain! It was hot last year. I saw so many guys with white sunglases burnt onto thier faces
38˚C air temperature in the shade (phew!) is very hot for racing. However, whilst high humidity is good for engines, it ain't so good for people. 38˚C with low humidity puts a huge strain on engines by virtue of becoming 'breathless' (literally not enough oxygen), thereby compromising both performance and longevity. 38˚C with high humidity is a massive test of fitness for an F1 driver who will experience in-cockpit temperatures in the region of 57˚C, perhaps even higher in some cases - which is enough to cook some things in a slow oven! Enduring those temperatures under an F1 workload (I'm not sure of the maximum G forces of F1's new venue) is an enormous test of endurance for a driver; and not something to be under-estimated. Dehydration is a serious possibility and can lead to sudden exhaustion. All drivers would do well to take liquids throughout the race. I'm not sure where you got the idea of 38˚C Genji, but unless the weather is kinder on the day, this could invoke some teams to compromise their aero packages to ventilate the cockpit and driver, as well as perhaps detuning their engines.
I was under the impression that humid air is lense dense because of the addition of water vapour to the atmosphere, thereby 'pushing out' the oxygen molecules (and nitrogen etc) for a given volume of air. Warmer air can hold more moisture which makes the problem worse as more moisture can be added to the atmosphere before it becomes fully saturated. So at low humidity levels, the atmosphere might be able to hold 1000 particles of oxygen per 1 cubic metre of air, therefore at higher humidity levels, because of the addition of water vapour, it might only be able to 250 particles of oxygen per 1 cubic metre of air, that's why un-acclimatised humans struggle to breathe in humid environments. The sums are simplified to aid explanation, and other factors can affect the atmosphere such as altitude and pressure. As I'm not John Kettley, don't plan a BBQ on the information provided.
Ha! You're funny Smoggy! Thanks for your post. I'm sure others might like to add their opinion on the matter. All I know for certain is that high ambient temperatures impinge upon engine performance. I've experienced it too many times to mention. I've also noticed a real performance boost with cooler, more humid conditions - particularly fog! But I agree that meteorologically speaking, low pressure tends to be associated with wetter conditions. I am not a scientist, so I do not know the specifics so much as the practicalities. ERNIEBECCLESTONE is a member here and someone who might help us: he's an engineer (and by all accounts, a rather good one!). He will no doubt correct me, but my rudimentary understanding on the implications for racing is thus: Cooler air helps prevent spontaneous combustion of end-gas - unburned fuel/air mixture which remains in the combustion chamber - which occurs after the normal combustion initiated by the spark plug. This unburned end-gas, which is under increasing pressure and heat from the normal progressive burning process and hot metals inside the combustion chamber, spontaneously combusts; ignited solely by the intense heat and pressure. The remaining fuel in the end-gas lacks sufficient octane rating to withstand this combination of heat and pressure. And the latent detonation burn further compounds overheating itself, over and above any pre-existing high ambient temperature. Now, although low performance road car engines may have some tolerance to this and occasionally may be deliberately designed to run with a certain degree of latent detonation; with very high performance engines - particularly high revving engines (especially F1), this type of 'detonation' can be extremely destructive. Therefore there is an engineering requirement to de-tune from optimum performance by various methods; usually a combination of the following: advancing ignition timing; using a richer fuel/air mixture; artificially reducing maximum revs with a rev-limiter; higher gearing etc. With cooler air, the burn is easier to control at the optimum moment - just before top-dead-centre of the piston's motion up the cylinder; hence giving more power because their is no latent burn to compete with the piston's motion (as well as wasting fuel). As I've said, this becomes ever more important at higher revs, particularly F1 engines. Ernie! Where are you?!
It was mentioned in the story I linked to - 17 June 2009 was 38ºC. I just wonder what the FIA's new race meeting working group were doing when the date for Austin was being considered.
Cheers, tomcat. Valencia. Valencia. Valencia. Can a friendly mod please tack a question mark onto the end of this thread title? Ta.
I think most people would vote Valencia, although I wouldn't complain if Abu Dhabi was dropped, unlikely as it is.
Turkey and China are always on the edge off being dropped but I actually like those tracks. The governments just need to get thier arses in gear and promote the **** out of it. Suzuka is one of my old time fav's and that seems to be on edge too =( Valencia and hungary are probably the 2 I would least want (well bahrain but its unrealistic)
I'd love to drop Bahrain, but I wouldn't mind Valencia going. I think Hungary's quite a nice track, it should stay.
I agree entirely. The Hungaroring is underestimated and presents a very particular type of challenge to the driver: it is the most 'technical' of all circuits, where the fastest lap comes from precision: very difficult to do inch perfect over and over again, and a circuit where it is easy to 'over drive'. With a bit of luck there will be at least two DRS zones: start finish straight and between turns 3 & 4. And if they can manage a third by that time, it will be between 10 & 11. Unfortunately, Bahrain is just about the least likely to be dropped, assuming the country becomes properly stable again. Turkey would be a bit of a shame: it's one of Tilke's better efforts but simply not appreciated by the population and Valencia is just plain dull, although it may give some interesting racing this time around.
