F1 teams are set to introduce a new pit-stop safety feature for the 2012 season. Torque sensors, recently permitted by governing body the FIA, will allow a set of bright lights to inform pit crews when wheels are not properly attached.
Such safety mechanisms are being introduced following a number of pit lane incidents in recent years; not least for Toro Rosso at the 2011 Chinese and Japanese Grands Prix as well as Jenson Button at his home event of Silverstone. In Budapest two seasons ago, Nico Rosberg was released before his wheel dangerously bounced down the Hungaroring pit lane and into the path of fellow teams’ mechanics.
The system and its LED lights have been enhanced by Italian company Paoli, which provides wheel guns to all Formula 1 teams; all are expected to use torque sensors in 2012, although the system is not yet compulsory.
“The system works with a magnetised non-contact sensor mounted on the wheel gun,” Federico Galloni, Managing Director of Paoli, explained to F1WEB.it. “The operator can set the desired torque to be applied to the nut.”
Previously, the amount of torque going through a wheel gun was recorded but only viewable through a computer on the pit wall. With the latest technology, software recording the torque values can send messages back to the wheel gun. This means, in the event of a wheel not being correctly fastened, the pit crew will be automatically warned and this should prevent cars from leaving the pits with loose wheels.
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