Benetton B199
 Fisichella at the race in Canada |
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| Constructor: |
 Benetton
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| Designer: |
Pat Symonds (technical director) Nick Wirth (designer) Jean-Claude Migeot , James Allison (aerodynamics) |
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| Predecessor: | Benetton B198 | ||||||||
| Successor: | Benetton B200 | ||||||||
| Technical specifications | |||||||||
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| Chassis: | Pressed honeycomb sandwich composite monocoque made of CFRP | ||||||||
| Engine: | Playlife ( Supertec ) FB01 2,997 cm³, 71 ° V10 naturally aspirated engine | ||||||||
| Front suspension: | Double wishbone axle with internal springs and shock absorbers , operated via push rods | ||||||||
| Rear suspension: | Double wishbone axle with internal springs and shock absorbers , operated via push rods | ||||||||
| Width: | 1800 mm | ||||||||
| Height: | 950 mm | ||||||||
| Weight: | 600 kg | ||||||||
| Tires: | Bridgestone | ||||||||
| Petrol: | Agip | ||||||||
| statistics | |||||||||
| Driver: |
9. Giancarlo Fisichella 10. Alexander Wurz 
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| First start: | 1999 Australian Grand Prix | ||||||||
| Last start: | 1999 Japanese Grand Prix | ||||||||
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| World Cup points: | 16 | ||||||||
| Podiums: | 1 | ||||||||
| Leadership laps: | 4 over 18.224 km | ||||||||
| Status: end of season 1999 | |||||||||
The Benetton B199 was the Formula 1 racing cars of Benetton Formula for the 1999 season , took part in all 16 races of the season.
Technology and development
Technical management
The technical director for development was Pat Symonds . He oversaw Nick Wirth for the construction and Jean-Claude Migeot and James Allison for the aerodynamic shape of the car. Other designers for the car were Martin Tolliday , Andy Moss and Andy Whymer and the responsible transmission engineer was Dace Wass .
Engine, transmission and chassis
Technological advances have been made in many areas. Engine was the FB01 V10 naturally aspirated engine of Play Life with a displacement of 2,997 cc and a cylinder bank angle of 71 °. This was practically the Renault RS9 from 1997, which was further developed and maintained by Supertec at the time . In race mode at 16,800 rpm it developed around 559 kW (750 hp) and in qualifying mode at 17,000 rpm 582 kW (780 hp). This enabled the car to reach speeds of up to 340 km / h.
The semi-automatic transmission developed in cooperation with Xtrac had six gears and a new dual clutch transmission was developed for this purpose, which however turned out to be error-prone during the season. Further problems were the further developed aerodynamic parts, as they added weight. The changed center of gravity had a negative impact on road grip and the car lost every hoped-for increase in performance. A double wishbone axle with internal springs and shock absorbers operated by push rods was used for the front and rear suspension .
Front torque transfer system
Revolutionary this season was a new system called the Front-Torque Transfer System . This new technology, designed together with Xtrac and GKN , was located in the nose of the car and connected both front wheels by means of a drive shaft and a liquid-operated limited slip differential . This enabled the driver to optimally balance the braking forces during the race and thus brake before bends and stabilize the car better in bends. The technical engineers came up with the idea because the cars oversteered excessively. The tire on the inside of the curve tended to lock up very quickly, and due to the reduced friction, the driver missed the apex of the curve and lost valuable time. By means of the drive shaft, torque was distributed to the tire on the inside of the curve, thereby causing it to continue rotating. However, this process also has its pitfalls, as the whole system was relatively heavy and bulky.
This technology was originally intended to be used as early as 1998, but due to the short time it took to install it in the already developed nose construction, the car would not have passed the crash test regulations. For the 1999 season, the system was included in the nose from the start of construction. During the season, some teams wanted to have this system banned because it acts like an anti-lock braking system and this is not allowed. Williams, however, admitted that they already had plans for a similar technique themselves.
This system, meanwhile perfected by BAR in 2004 , was initially allowed by the FIA , but was finally declared illegal in 2004. Today, such systems are known under the name Active Yaw or Torque Vectoring .
Racing history
Four years after the departure of Michael Schumacher and Ross Brawn, Benetton was still trying to reconnect with the 1994 and 1995 seasons . The car was finished very late because the last aerodynamic components were to be tested in the new wind tunnel. On January 16, 1999 , the B199 was presented to the world in Enstone , Benetton's headquarters. The chief designer Nick Wirth said in an interview that the basic concept of the new car can be seen as "brave" and that he was much more aggressive in development than with the B198 .
At the start of the season in Australia , Benetton was able to get the first points with fourth place through Fisichella . Wurz retired with a suspension defect. In the first third of the season, points could still be collected consistently and even a second place was achieved in Canada , but then the performance went downhill. Only Wurz achieved world championship points with fifth place in his home race in Austria . The negative low point of the season were the double losses in Italy and Europe in a row.
Finally, the team finished sixth in the team ranking with 16 points. One reason for the lack of points was the unreliability of the car; The team was eliminated eight times due to technical defects and six more times due to accidents. The poor results contributed to the fact that the designer of the car, Nick Wirth , was laid off at the end of the season and replaced by Tim Densham the following year .
Painting and sponsorship
The car was kept in the typical Benetton light blue with white side boxes and wings. Like the last six years, the main sponsor was Mild Seven , which advertised on the wings, nose and airbox. A sub-brand of Benetton, Playlife, was advertised in red on the side pods . The Benetton Group itself advertised the side under the air baffles, where individual elements were kept in darker green, and on the engine cover with red, yellow and green horizontal stripes. Other sponsors were A1 , Akai , D2 Mannesmann , HP and Korean Air .
The races in France , Great Britain and Belgium had to do without tobacco advertising. Instead, the team name Benetton was placed on the positions of the logos .
driver
Regular drivers were again Giancarlo Fisichella and Alexander Wurz , while the 1998 Minardi test driver Laurent Rédon was signed up as test and replacement driver .
Further use of the chassis
A total of seven chassis were produced in the course of the season, all of which were numbered with the sequence B199 / 01 to B199 / 07 .
Results
| driver | No. | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4th | 5 | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14th | 15th | 16 | Points | rank |
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| Formula 1 World Championship 1999 |
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16 | 6th | |
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G. Fisichella
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9 | 4th | DNF | 5 | 5 | 9 | 2 | DNF | 7th | 12 | DNF | DNF | 11 | DNF | DNF | 11 | 14th | ||
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A. Wurz
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10 | DNF | 7th | DNF | 6th | 10 | DNF | DNF | 10 | 5 | 7th | 7th | 14th | DNF | DNF | 8th | 10 | ||
| Legend | ||
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| colour | abbreviation | meaning |
| gold | - | victory |
| silver | - | 2nd place |
| bronze | - | 3rd place |
| green | - | Placement in the points |
| blue | - | Classified outside the point ranks |
| violet | DNF | Race not finished (did not finish) |
| NC | not classified | |
| red | DNQ | did not qualify |
| DNPQ | failed in pre-qualification (did not pre-qualify) | |
| black | DSQ | disqualified |
| White | DNS | not at the start (did not start) |
| WD | withdrawn | |
| Light Blue | PO | only participated in the training (practiced only) |
| TD | Friday test driver | |
| without | DNP | did not participate in the training (did not practice) |
| INJ | injured or sick | |
| EX | excluded | |
| DNA | did not arrive | |
| C. | Race canceled | |
| no participation in the World Cup | ||
| other | P / bold | Pole position |
| SR / italic | Fastest race lap | |
| * | not at the finish, but counted due to the distance covered |
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| () | Streak results | |
| underlined | Leader in the overall standings | |
Web links
- Vehicle profile at chicanef1.com
- Vehicle profile at fedef1.com
- Vehicle profile at StatsF1.com
- Vehicle profile at traumautoarchiv.de
- motorsport-total.com Database information on Benetton B199
Individual evidence
- ↑ statsf1.com: Benetton B199. Stats F1, January 1, 2000, accessed March 28, 2020 .
- ↑ a b c yumpu.com: Benetton B199. Yumpu, January 1, 2000, accessed March 28, 2020 .
- ↑ a b racecar-engineering.com: F1 Secrets: Front torque transfer. Racecar Engineering, December 31, 2004, accessed March 28, 2020 .
- ↑ grandprix.com: Is the Benetton B199 legal? Grand Prix, February 1, 1999, accessed March 28, 2020 .
- ↑ crash.net: Call To Ban Benetton Brakes. Crash, February 10, 1999, accessed March 28, 2020 .
- ↑ motorsport.com: Benetton unveils new car. Motorsport.com, January 18, 1999, accessed March 28, 2020 .
- ↑ atlasf1.com: Benetton B199 Launch on Saturday. Atlas F1, January 18, 1999, accessed March 28, 2020 .
Racing car of the Formula 1 World Championship 1999
