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Packers or Bump Rubbers

 

Packers or bump rubbers
Packers or bump rubbers

 

Packers or bump rubbers can be used to prevent the springs or torsion bars compressing too far. This allows the suspension to be soft, but it means the bottom of car can only get a certain distance towards the ground until the springs hit the bump rubbers.
Cars often run on these bump rubbers under the influence of high speed aerodynamic load, but they must not come into play around a corner. If the suspension is soft enough for the car to ride the bump rubbers around a corner (not just a flat out curve) the movement in the suspension cannot give the wheel the desired grip, so the car's handling in the corner is compromised.
They are useful on modern F1 cars to preserve the wooden plank under the car.The rules stating that no more than 1 mm can be worn during the race.
Hence Schumacher's exclusion from Spa 1994 happened because wooden plank on his car was worn to much.

The most famous part of the SPA circuit is the Eau Rouge / Raidillon combination. Having negotiated the La Source hairpin , drivers race down a straight to the point where the track crosses the Eau Rouge stream for the first time, before being launched steeply uphill into a sweeping left-right-left combination of corners with a blind summit. The Eau Rouge corner requires a large amount of skill from the driver to negotiate well and the long straight ahead often produces good overtaking opportunities for the best drivers at the Les Combes corner. It is a crucial corner for the timed lap, and also in the race, because you have a long uphill straight afterwards where you can lose a lot of time if you make a mistake. It makes a special impression every lap, because there is also a huge compression of few g-s on driver's body and car as you go through the bottom of the corner. During this compression, car suspension give up, and without packers, underbody of the car can start to slide over the track. And that mean worn plank and less aerodynamical grip because diffuser can lose air to feed him.
The challenge for drivers has always been to take Eau Rouge-Raidillon flat out. Regular racing touring cars can take the corner at 160–180 km/h, prototipe racing cars at 250 km/h and Formula One at over 300 km/h.

 

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Some useful links:

Technical
- f1technical.net, a great site with a lot of technical information’s and explanations. Site is updated daily with news from F1 word.

Autosport
 - autosport.com, This site is a legend. A bible for racing lovers. News from all around the word. Unfortunately, to get access to all news, interviews and to open the site completely you should be subscribed to Autosport magazine. Anyway, great read.

Formula 1 Results
- Check the latest Formula 1 race results here. Follow Formula 1 live results, final race results, practice, warm-up and qualifying times on Flashscore!

Joe Saward blog
- joesaward is the Joe Saward official blog about Formula 1 world. Joe is an journalist, who write primarily about politics in and around motorsport, specifically on the FIA Formula 1 World Championship

Planet F1
 - planetf1, another site with many different articles, news and statistics. Biased toward British teams, but anyway good read.

Gurney flap
 - gurneyflap.com, Great history site. You can learn a lot from this site. Pictures, cars and many many more. Great.

4mula1
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4ormula1 is a database of Formula 1 history and statistics of drivers, teams, grand prix, and all results since 1950.

Missed Apex Podcast
Enjoy range of Podcasts and Articles on Motorsport. Every week a Formula one chat on Missed Apex F1 Podcast with F1 journalist Joe Saward and tech Analyst Matthew Somerfield as guests. Also the exciting all electric racing series formula E on eRadio Show and Bike Show Lean Angle Podcast.

Racecar engineering
-Racecar Engineering, an online magazine with a lot to learn from, a lot of technical information’s and explanations

FIA
 - fia.com, La Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, representing the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users. Head organisation and ruler in auto sport.

Wikipedia
 - wikipedia.org, I don’t believe that I have to tell you anything about this site. It’s not about Formula 1 technology, but you can learn a lot about that too.

Sutton Images

grandprix photo

Vehicle freak
Another site for us normal people. Lots of tips, tricks and "What Happens if" related to the maintenance of all types of vehicles and its components. It's worth a visit.

Dare To Be Different
- Daretobedifferent.org Susie Wolff and UK governing body of UK motorsport have joined forces to launch Dare To Be Different, a high-profile new initiative which is about increasing female participation, not just on the track but in all aspects of the sport.

Giorgio Piola web site