In your last position you worked in top level endurance motorsport. What are the technical differences between endurance and Formula 1 cars?
Jörg Zander: “In professional endurance motorsport, different types of sports cars with various powertrain technologies are used. These are open and closed prototypes with hybrid technology as well as similar to street-legal GT sports cars – a mixed field. In the WEC, LMP1-H is operated by car manufacturers. On the basis of Equivalence-of-Technology (EoT) different powertrain concepts are possible. That means that different combustion engine concepts (diesel or petrol-driven car) and hybrid systems with energy transmissions up to 8 MJ (Megajoule) per lap are permitted in Le Mans. This is comparable with Formula One on an average GP track with 4MJ. The hybrid energy content is approximately comparable in Formula 1 with the 4 MJ regained energy per lap. The MGU-K of an LMP1-H sports car is fitted at the front axle. With the “boost mode” these cars accelerate with all-wheel drive, which is not possible with a Formula 1 car.
In Formula One the performance is limited by the maximization of the volume flow rate. The LMP1-H cars are also performance limited; they are about 100 kg heavier and have only a defined amount of energy (fuel) available per lap. The development of the WEC vehicles is mainly focused on the race at Le Mans so the cars are especially aerodynamically designed for that race and reach higher efficiency numbers than a Formula One car. The downforce of a Formula One car is significantly higher. Both vehicles only differ slightly in the overall make-up – they are both trimmed on lightweight construction. In WEC and Formula One carbon fibre chassis are used, as well as double A-arms vehicle systems with complex spring and damper elements and high performance carbon brakes. With up to 1000 PS and all-wheel drive the WEC cars are, despite their high weight, quite fast but around 10 seconds slower on GP tracks compared to Formula One.”
