Now that Melbourne is back to normal after the frenzy of the Formula 1 circus, what can we glean from F1’s first race of the season? Based on qualifying and the results of the race, it seems that McLaren have made a huge leap forward, while Red Bull, champions for two consecutive seasons, have their work cut out for them. Compared to the qualifying times from last year, only Ferrari and Red Bull have not improved as expected. One of the most improved, in fact, is the Caterham (Lotus last year) team, which is using the 2011 Red Bull drivetrain.

For this year, the most obvious departure in terms of looks comes from the cars’ stepped noses, which is the result of regulations that prioritized driver safety in this area. The previous design innovations resulted in high nose cone heights that presented a possible danger to drivers in the event of a crash. As a result, a certain area of these carbon fibre pieces are now restricted to a particular height to remove this potential danger.

This weekend, the second round of the Formula 1 series will be held in Sepang, Malaysia. It’s a frantic opening salvo for the teams because it follows only a week after the season’s inaugural race. For the teams that did well in Australia, there is less pressure, if only a little, to come up with a good result from these carbon fiber wonders. For Red Bull, it will be seen whether the team’s performance in Australia was a set-up failure or a more fundamental lack of performance, compared to the other teams. It’s even more difficult for Ferrari, as it has been seen that they have had pre-season difficulties with their car and for the past few seasons at least, their performance in Malaysia has been less than stellar.

This third weekend of March finds us in Melbourne for the opening race of the 2012 F1 season, and it promises to be a roaring experience for most motorsport enthusiasts. But like many of the top-level forms of sport nowadays, the average enthusiast is far from the action. If you want to be cynical about it, watching an F1 race can actually be a better experience on a big-screen TV. There, you get to see a lot of the race, not just from your point of view where you’re seated on the grandstands. You also get some running commentary which at time can be inane but is also interspersed with genuine nuggets of information. Then again, the atmosphere can never be replicated even with an IMAX screen and the best surround audio.

But for a very lucky few enthusiasts, getting into an F1 car is a very real possibility and by all accounts, it is a visceral experience that one will not soon forget. This experience comes courtesy of the owner of the defunct Minardi F1 team, who built six or so 2-seat race cars. There are a couple on permanent duty at the Yas Marina circuit in Dubai, available to anyone who passes a basic medical and is able to fork over a few thousand euros. In Melbourne for the race weekend is such a car, and it has been giving rides of a lifetime for a few journos and celebrities lucky enough to get on the list. And while this 2-seater may not have the technologies of the current crop of F1 cars, don’t think for a moment that this detracts from the experience. This carbon-fibre bodied 2-seater hits more than 300 kilometers per hour, takes sweeping curves at 250 km/h and brakes from triple digit speeds in 50 metres (where you discover what the padding at the back of the driver's headrest is for). And in a nod to the almost lethal G-forces that your body is subjected to, the passenger is given a dead man’s switch to hold on to while on the track. You’re supposed to keep it pressed for the entire one or two laps that you’re in the car. Releasing the switch kills the engine, which will only show track bystanders what a wuss you are.

Enthusiasts who have delved into the history of carbon fibre would know that apart from aerospace applications, it was military use that helped prompt the development of the lightweight composite material. Now, a new use has been found for carbon fibre, and that is in using it as a component in a structural battery. A material that both carries weight and provides power. Far from being the stuff of science fiction, these structural batteries have been developed by long-time defense contractor BAE systems, with the aim of storing electrical energy within the physical structure of equipment, say a radio, instead of having separately packaged traditional batteries power an electronic device.

Having demonstrated its practical use in powering a flashlight and micro-UAV, BAE then looked around for a larger platform where the technology could be tested in a larger scale and prove its reliability. Enter the Lola-Drayson B12/69EV. This car has been made to demonstrate the feasibility of an electric car competing in an endurance race. Based on a Lola LMP1 chassis, the car features a Drayson-developed electric drivetrain, regenerative damping, moveable aerodynamics and inductive charging. Using its four electric motors to develop the equivalent of 850 horsepower, top speed is estimated at 200 miles per hour. As a technology demonstrator for electric racing cars, Lola-Drayson readily accepted BAE’s proposal to install a carbon fiber structural energy panel into the B12/69EV. At this point, the structural battery in the Lola-Drayson car is only being used for low-power requirements.

At present, only 60 per cent at most of a conventional battery’s mass is used to store power. The rest of it is used for the safety casing and cooling the battery. By using a structural battery, a total weight saving of up to 50 percent could be realized. Imagine a battery that adds to vehicle strength, provides power and at the same time reduces weight. Sounds too good to be true but as BAE and Lola-Drayson are demonstrating, it is already a reality. For now, the technology is obviously in its early stages. Part of the difficulty is using the right combination of resins, carbon fibre and metallic elements to get the best weight to strength ratios and storage capacity. Audi and Volvo are reportedly hard at work in developing structural energy applications for production cars, so it won’t be too long before we see this sci-fi technology on the road.

A recent news item revealed that Chrysler has been asked to fork out $12 million if it intends to enter the V8 Supercars arena. Although this budget is just a third or a quarter of what Formula 1 teams officially spend for a season of racing, the American manufacturer has been quoted as saying that the entry price is steep. In entering the world of V8 Supercars, Chrysler knows that there should at least be a medium-term commitment to provide enough resources for a shot at the championship title. And this cannot be done in a couple of years, in light of the fact that the car and drivetrain package are an unknown quality at this point. In contrast, the well-established teams from Ford and Holden have reportedly spent up to $20 million a year to contest the championship. So $12 million is actually very reasonable.

But what exactly will the millions from Chrysler do if it does enter V8 Supercars? First of all, you have to put a team together to run a couple of cars in the course of a season. If Chrysler has been talking to an existing team, then part of the outlay will be a premium for abandoning the team’s current platform in favor of a Chrysler V8 Supercar racer. Then there is the developmental effort involving building up a car based on what the team designer feels is the best set of race car components and settings that fall within the regs. There is engine development, suspension development, wind tunnel testing and computer design and analysis. Then there is the actual track testing, adjustments, testing, tweaking and testing, again. The team also has to lock in contracts with reliable suppliers such as carbon fiber fabricators or specialty component manufacturers.

All these things happen before a set of specs are locked in to produce the first set of race cars. At this point, a huge of chunk of the budget will already have been eaten up even before the first race weekend. And then, in the course of a season, you have to continue with development work, transport the cars, pay, feed and house the crew, repair crash damage and sometimes even perform radical changes in the hope of making the car a race winner as soon as possible. V8 Supercar organizers have opened up several slots in the hope of attracting more manufacturers to the series. But as we have seen, even big manufacturers need to weigh the material benefits of entering a championship series. As followers of V8 Supercars, we applaud Nissan’s decision to enter the fray and hope that Chrysler commits to take the plunge soon.