I am sorry for my 3rd consecutive post on sports...but this one has a bit of math in it. I am a very keen fan of Formula One and i was watching this Bahrain Grand Prix this past weekend and i was just wondering the amount of fuel that is being spent by the sport and for the sport.
When Raikkonen made his pit stop..the Ferrari team added 76 litres of fuel which was supposed to be sufficient for 20 laps.
Now,putting thoughts to paper.
For the Bahrain Gp,1 lap = 5.4 kms and a total of 57 laps makes the race distance 308kms approximately.For 5.4 kms(1 lap) a Ferrari needs 3.8 litres approx.
Therefore,for 308 kms it needs 217 lts(approx)of fuel.
Let us make a generous assumption that every car is as good as Ferrari.A total of 22 cars run the race and 20 cars finished the race.To uncomplicate things a bit...let us assume that 20 cars run the entire length of every race.
(We are forgetting the small distance the other 2 cars would have made and also considering all the 20 others finish the race.)
Hence 217*20 = 4340 lts.
A Formula One race takes place over an entire weekend, with two free practice sessions on Friday, a practice session and a qualifying session on Saturday, and the race on Sunday.
Assuming 1 practice session for a team (2 cars) is 10 laps i.e 54 kms or 38lts. So 418 lts for 11 cars(minimum case) for 1 practise session and its 418*2 = 836lts.(for 2 sessions) on Friday and another 418lts. on Saturday.
The Qualifying session is a bit complicated since it is split into 4 phases.
During the first session, all 22 cars run laps at any time(that makes 22 laps). The six slowest cars are assigned grid places 17 through 22. Lap times are reset for the second session, which sees the remaining 16 cars on track together. Again, the six slowest of those cars are assigned grid places 11 through 16.(another 16 laps) The final qualifying session is a shootout among the final ten competitors to determine the final 10 grid places. To add an additional strategic challenge to the race engineers, the top-ten drivers must begin the final 15-minute session with the fuel load on which they plan to start the race. They will be weighed before they leave the pits, and whatever fuel they use in the 15 minutes may be replaced at the end of the session. The number of laps run during any session is uncontrolled. In 2008 season the format is changed to a 20-15-10 minute run for the three sessions, and fuel is not replenished after the third session.Lets assume that the 10 cars make at least 2 laps each..so that's another 20 laps and that means 22+16+20..58 laps i.e. 220lts approx for the Qualifying session. 
Total fuel for the weekend = 4340 + 836 + 418 + 220 = 5814 lts.
We are also gonna assume that the average race distance for all the tracks is that of the Bahrain circuit.
Its 18 races in this 2008 calendar and so its 5814*18 =1,04,652 lts. .
The world spends 104652 lts of Petrol a year in Formula One.
Hmmm...no wonder oil prices are rising and Iraq is being pwned!
and...i am a genius:)
I did all this because...i was bored!
Friday, April 11, 2008
Fuel for thought
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3 comments:
=)) common ... common this is too much to mock something .... hahaha!!! lol ayways .... no one thought of this concept ... u r A GENIUS.... keep up the great work mate...
haha..i'd done a similar thing on how ppl spend billions on stupid sms votes [:P]
its funny , but its also a serious issue. the petrol prices are at an all time high, and its time we found ways to reduce consumption of this precious resource.
Brilliant! I do love F1, but there's always the global warming advocating voice in my head making me feel guilty of supporting a sport with such a humongous carbon footprint.
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