Coventry Climax FPF
The Coventry Climax FPF was a racing engine from the British engine manufacturer Coventry Climax , which was originally designed for Formula 2 . Until 1960 it was the dominant Formula 2 engine. From 1957 to 1966 , the FPF was also used in different displacement versions in the Formula 1 World Championship . With the 2.5-liter version of the FPF, Jack Brabham and the Cooper factory team won the Formula 1 World Championships in 1959 and 1960 . From 1958 to 1961, the FPF was the most frequently used engine in Formula 1.
History of origin
The Coventry Climax FPF was developed in the course of 1956 for Formula 2, the regulations of which from 1957 required the use of engines with a maximum displacement of 1.5 liters. The responsible designers were Walter Hassan and Harry Mundy.
In 1957, parallel to the original Formula 2 version, the first copies of the FPF appeared in Formula 1. While the 1.5-liter version was successful in Formula 2 until 1960, Coventry Climax initially developed two on 2 for Formula 1 , 0 or 2.2 liter enlarged versions. At the request of the designers Lotus and Cooper , a 2.5-liter variant was finally created for 1958, which dominated the Formula 1 World Championships in 1959 and 1960. The use of the large versions ended after the FIA decided to advertise the Formula 1 World Championship from 1961 according to the regulations of the previous Formula 2. The British manufacturers initially rejected this change and tried to establish an alternative to the 1.5-liter Formula 1 with the Intercontinental Formula , but were ultimately unsuccessful. The resistance of the British chassis and engine manufacturers meant that at the beginning of the 1961 season there were hardly any Formula 1 chassis and engines available that complied with the new regulations. Coventry Climax also did not have an original Formula 1 engine with a displacement of 1.5 liters at the start of the season. The company filled the gap for a transitional period with the FPF in its 1.5-liter version originally intended for Formula 2, which had only been revised in detail. This version, known as the FPF Mark II, was replaced in 1962 by the newly designed eight-cylinder FWMV engine. Until 1965 the FPF appeared occasionally with smaller teams. At the beginning of the 3-liter era from 1966 , the FPF, enlarged to 2.8 liters, served some teams as a gap filler until engines specially designed according to these regulations were available on the market.
From 1957 to 1965 Coventry Climax produced a total of 273 copies of the FPF.
construction
1.5 liters
The FPF was an in-line four-cylinder engine, the displacement of which in its first version was 1475 cm³ (81.2 × 71.1 mm). The design was based on the eight-cylinder FPE engine from 1954 and was often referred to in the press as "half FPE". The FPF had two overhead camshafts and two valves per cylinder. The valves were operated via tappets . The combustion chambers were designed hemispherical. The factory specified the maximum engine output as 141 bhp (105 kW).
For use in the 1.5-liter Formula 1, Coventry Climax revised the FPF in some details, with the factory taking over some of the design features of the 2.5-liter version created in 1958. This included the lower part of the engine block. The bore increased by 0.9 mm, so that the displacement increased by 23 cm³ to 1498 cm³ while the stroke was unchanged. The cylinder head was redesigned; the positioning of the valves and the shape of the tappets also changed. Mixture preparation was done by two Weber carburettors . The engine output rose to 151 bhp (112 kW), which was over 30 bhp below the output of the Ferrari Dino 156.
2.0 liters
In 1957 a version with a displacement of 2.0 liters appeared. A change in bore and stroke to 86.4 or 83.8 mm resulted in a total volume of 1960 cm³. The power increased to 176 bhp.
2.5 liters
After Cooper and Lotus had already used some versions of the FPF enlarged to 2.0 liters, Coventry Climax developed a 2.5-liter variant in 1958. The engineers in charge were Walter Hassan and Peter Windsor-Smith. They designed a new engine block. The cubic capacity was 2495 cm³ (94.0 × 89.9 mm). The power of the engine was given as 240 bhp.
Races
Formula 2 (1957–1960)
The 1.5 liter version of the FPF engine first appeared in Formula 2 races in 1957. This year 12 of 16 races took place in Great Britain; almost exclusively British teams took part in them. The FPF was the most widely used Formula 2 engine. The Cooper and Lotus factory teams used it from the start; most of the smaller teams that had initially used older Climax designs followed them over the course of the season. Drivers with FPF engines won nine out of 16 Formula 2 races in 1957 and 15 out of 20 the following year. In 1959, 18 victories in a total of 25 races went to FPF pilots. This year only the BRP team's Borgward engine was able to win several races. Finally, in 1960, the last year of the 1.5-liter Formula 2, another 15 victories went to drivers who fielded cars with FPF engines. When Formula 2 was reintroduced in 1964 after a three-year break, Coventry Climax was no longer represented with its own engines.
formula 1
2.5 liter era (1958-1960)
The version of the FPF, enlarged to 2.5 liters, appeared regularly in the Formula 1 World Championship in 1959 with the works teams of Cooper and Lotus as well as with the financially well-funded private team Rob Walker Racing , which competed with a Cooper chassis. In addition, several customer teams reported the engine for individual races. Jack Brabham won two races in the factory Cooper T51 , finished second once and third twice. Stirling Moss also won two races in Rob Walker's Cooper, Bruce McLaren won one in the factory Cooper. With five wins in nine world championship races, the FPF was the most successful engine of the 1959 season. Brabham won his first championship title with it that year.
In 1960, Cooper, Lotus and Rob Walker started again with the 2.5-liter FPF. Except for the Grand Prix of Italy won Cooper and Lotus all World Cup races of the season, including Jack Brabham in the works Cooper all races from the Dutch Grand Prix until the Grand Prix of Portugal . Brabham was world champion again in 1960.
1.5-liter era (1961-1965)
In the 1.5-liter version, the Climax FPF was the most popular engine of the 1961 season. At the beginning of the year, Coventry Climax equipped all British Formula 1 teams with it. Cooper, Lotus, Rob Walker Racing , UDT Laystall, and Yeoman Credit Racing were regular Climax teams; In addition, the BRM team, which usually manufactured its own motors, was initially one of Climax customers due to the lack of a ready-to-use in-house design. In the 1961 season there were 113 starts with an FPF engine, which ended in 59 crossings. There were three wins ( Stirling Moss in Monaco and Germany and Innes Ireland in the USA ) and four third places, one pole position and three fastest laps.
In the 1962 season , the FPF was no longer competitive. Coventry's own eight-cylinder FWMV engine and the BRM P56 engine were significantly more powerful with 185 and 200 bhp respectively. The works teams no longer used the FPF, but in 1962 there were still numerous private drivers with the four-cylinder engine. In 1962 there were still 25 starts with the FPF. The best result was Tony Maggs ' fifth place in the factory Cooper at the season opener in the Netherlands . From 1963 the FPF were only used by South African designers in the South African Formula 1 championship . On the occasion of the South African Grand Prix in 1963 and 1965 , three FPF vehicles appeared again in Formula 1 world championship races.
3.0 liter era
With the 1966 season, the FIA again introduced changed regulations. As at the beginning of the 1.5-liter era, the engine manufacturers - with the exception of BRM and Ferrari - often had no suitable engines on offer at the start of the season, so that most teams had to start the World Championship again with temporary solutions. At first there were considerations to equip the FPF engine in its 1.5 liter version with a mechanical supercharger or a turbocharger; but that failed due to suitable accessories. Instead, some FPF blocks were enlarged so that they achieved a displacement of 2.8 liters. In this form, the FPF appeared in the Brabham factory team at the beginning of the 1966 season , where they served as a gap filler until the appearance of the Australian Repco engine. Dan Gurney's Team Anglo American Racers used a similar version in 1966.
Race results Formula 1 World Championship
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literature
- Des Hammill: Coventry Climax Racing Engines: The Definitive Development History. Veloce Publishing 2005, ISBN 1-903706-83-1 .
- Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965. Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1-899870-39-3 .
- Mark Whitelock: 1½ liter Grand Prix Racing 1961–1965 - Low Power, High Tech. Veloce Publishing, 2006, ISBN 1-84584-016-X .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Mark Whitelock: 1½.litre Grand Prix Racing 1961-1965 - Low Power, High Tech. Veloce Publishing, 2006, ISBN 1-84584-016-X , p. 295.
- ↑ a b c Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1-899870-39-3 , p. 101.
- ^ David Hodges: Racing cars from A – Z after 1945. Motorbuch-Verlag, Stuttgart 1994, ISBN 3-613-01477-7 , p. 272.
- ↑ a b c d e Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1-899870-39-3 , p. 102.
- ↑ Mark Whitelock: 1½.litre Grand Prix Racing 1961-1965 - Low Power, High Tech. Veloce Publishing, 2006, ISBN 1-84584-016-X , p. 299.
- ↑ Mike Lawrence: Grand Prix Cars 1945-1965 , Motor Racing Publications 1998, ISBN 1-899870-39-3 , p. 103.
- ↑ a b Jack Brabham retired from the race on the fifth lap after an accident. Halfway through the race, he took over MacDowel's car and came home with it in seventh place.
- ↑ a b Stirling Moss took over the car from Trintignant after a technical defect in his car during the race. Both drivers were classified as third, but neither of them received world championship points.
- ↑ a b Stirling Moss started the race with a Lotus 18/21 Climax, Fairman started the race with the Ferguson P99. After Moss retired shortly before the end of the race, he took over the Ferguson from Fairman. Since he had been pushed by his mechanics at the start of the Ferguson, he and Fairman were disqualified after the end of the race.