Accelerating Performance

Ultimately in our sport, the performance is measured through the stopwatch and that is what counts. So aerodynamics are a very big part of a Formula One car and its performance. So the more low, the more aerodynamic downforce you can generate, the more likely you are to be competitive.

The front wing is a crucial component for a Formula One car. Is the first part, the first component of the car, that hits the airflow. So it is very important in shaping the aerodynamics of the whole car.

Design process is the one by which, let's say a pure aerodynamic shape is turned into a real world component of the car. Front and rear wing are very peculiar parts of the car. We have to address the design, such to extract the most of the performance in terms of the weight and also characteristics of the part and also be compliant to the regulations.

What is very complicated is its shape. Indeed, there are so many small components which are designed to be less than a millimeter from the limits that are imposed by the regulations. Therefore, this is very difficult and complex to accomplish.

Usually during the design stage of a component, like the front wing, we are in constant touch with the machine shop department, for example. We usually have feedback from this department. Generally speaking, introducing some characteristics to make the part easier and quicker to be produced compared to the stage before.

In general, the supply chain process is that our design office released the drawings for the new items and our planning based on our internal production capacity chooses which items we need to buy. The buyers find these items on the purchase order suggestion on Epicor and define a pool of suppliers to ask the for a quotation. Once we have received all quotations, we analyze the proposal, choosing the best that balances, quality, lead times and price, and after a negotiation, usually, we make a purchase order on Epicor.

Epicor is an important tool because as a designer we have to collect data in order to improve the parts we are designing. For example, the usage in terms of kilometers on track is an important parameter to try to improve the life of the parts. So for us it is an important tool in order to collect data, communicate with other departments and try to have the same target in improving the front wing.

The regulation imposes the maximum scale of the car that can be tested in a wind tunnel to be up to 60% is very difficult to actually represent very precisely the real car in real life. What we use in the tunnel is a continuous motion system and we acquire data through samples which are average over time. And that would give us pretty good information on how the car will be performing on track.

After the race, we talk about what we can improve for the next one as a balance and where we can improve. Most of the time I feel we do get good improvements from the engineers, and that actually always impresses me, when I say there’s a limitation, they fix it. We just share each other opinions and the most exciting race we get a better car for the race weekend. So yeah, it’s very nice.

Data gathering throughout the season is very important to improve the correlation between the tools that we have at our disposal.

And other data that it is important to gather for us as designers, for example, to know the manufacturing time, which is fundamental to understand if a part can be made easier to produce. And as I was saying before, at the end of the story, save money for the company.

Time Efficiency is really important in Formula 1 is a key actually because of the amount of sessions we got every race week is really limited. You cannot just test every single item, so this efficiency in the paddock is really important. During the season we produce many development packages. The collaboration with the designers is essential to plan in time the resources necessary to produce the new components in the shortest possible time.

The production process starts from the plotter area, where the machine cuts the ply of the carbon fiber. The operator put together all the ply and creates a kit. This kit is brought to the lamination department where there is a clean room. In this area with a temperature under control, we put the ply over the mold. After this step we bring the mold and the ply to the autoclave where we produce a vacuum bag, we check the leaks and then the component goes to the autoclave.

During this step the carbon fiber will become a solid component. Then there is a department where the components are extracted from the molding and then after that, there is trimming and bonding department where all the components are glued together and fixed together where the finished component it's created.

The quality process is a process really that covers the entire company. We will receive parts from production and our target is to make sure that those parts meet the wishes of the designer. So it's not just checking the finished part, it's checking all of the parts and stages before that part is actually completed. One of the things that Epicor helps us immensely with, in terms of time particularly, is being able to check the history of the part. So, we will track a part using Epicor to understand when it was manufactured. “Did it have any defects during production?”. 

During the work of quality and the various processes, Epicor supports us in making sure that we understand the history of a part: When the part is going to arrive, when a part has to be serviced. And this becomes particularly important when we're reacting to an incident on track. We manage the part with Epicor tell us: “Has it been involved in an incident before?” which may potentially compromise it in the event of a second incident, and also “Have we seen any particular manufacturing issues with the part that we are managing and monitoring?“ And that helps us in real time to understand: “Do we leave the part on the car?” “Do we need to take it off?” “Do we need to do specific checks?”. Some parts are very easy to look at and visually say: “That part is broken and has to come off the car.”

But other parts may be not so obvious, so we use a technique called ”NDT” which allows us to check the internal structure of the part. NDT means “Non Destructive Test” These are structural checks that allow us to evaluate the integrity and the uniformity of the component. We have different techniques: with the dye penetrant, we can check the surface of the components for a crack. For the internal inspection, we can use ultrasound that allows us to evaluate the internal of the material.

The last step is the painting. During this face is necessary to follow some pre-established steps: for a carbon look component such as the font wing endplate, we start with the surface finishing, continuing with polishing, and then at the end the stickers are applied.

We use NDT not only in the factory but also on track, because sometimes the events are close back-to-back in one week. So in this case it is the NDT operator who moves on track to complete the inspection of all the parts that are shipped directly to the next event. The rate of development is very impressive, I think in many industries it takes more time to run through different layers and processes to approve things and here, because the urgency is so high, and the performance is so crucial, we just push things through and we get developed just so much quicker in order to ultimately be competitive.

Travelling for 23 races is not an easy thing. A lot of back to back, jetlag. But I think just we have to cope with it and accept that. It is part of the racing Formula 1 racing world. To go from GP to another is always a rush, I would say. The biggest challenge in logistics for Scuderia AlphaTauri is the amount of stuff we send for each race. 

Normally, for every race we send more than 1,000 pieces. The warehouse is divided in four parts: one is dedicated to receiving materials and shipping materials. One to serve the composite department of the factory. One for building the assembly parts. One for the shipping components to the track. Planning for the season in logistics starts immediately as soon as the calendar is being released by F1. 

Normally, we collect everything based on a list made by the engineers, focusing special attention on extra-European races because the equipment need to shipped by sea freight. So we plan how to move stuff from race to race, where are we going to ship for next one, or if it is back home (Faenza), or, you know, we play chess with the various kits depending on the races.

European races are easier for us to tackle because we can use our vehicles, trucks and vans, so we can daily deliver to the race track.

In terms of logistics cost, I think that what influences the spending limits of the company the most is the F1 budget cap.  Because the F1 budget cap deeply influences all the choice of the team. The hardest parts to monitor are, of course, the production, maintenance, and development of the car. 

Our actual challenge, is to be as more precise as possible about the forecasst of the car parts cost. First of all, we had to implement a monitoring system to detect all the expenditures within the budget cap. To support our decision process, we developed a specific dashboard in Epicor within which budget owners can review at any time the situation with their budget. 

This allow us to always a clear picture of the company situation both in terms of company budget and cost cap. 

Due to budget cap, we have also to decide if it is necessary to take components back to Faenza to be checked, to be serviced, or it is an expensive and useless operation to do.

Epicor supports us and the whole process making a special mask for every operation. 

Everybody needs to know how many available components do we have, if they are on track or in Faenza and in real time I can check when and where they are going to be ready. I always feel the support from every team members. Without them, obviously, I cannot drive and I always appreciate them because I know how hard they work. 

This is not only about car development, you know, media staff, marketing and the mechanics, every team member works really hard in his job. Of course, I feel a little bit responsible to perform well on the track,  but in the end that's my job. And it's good to work together, facing  the same direction for 23 races. And, you know, it feels like we are kind of family. It's a nice feeling to have more than 500 people, pushing my back to perform well.