Photo: Youtube capture
Gian Luca Falleti and Gabriele Tredozi are two of the biggest names in Nanoprom, a company specialized in nanomaterials. By themselves, these names perhaps don't tell you anything, but after they've been spotted in the Suzuki garage last weekend at Mugello, some interesting questions must be asked, and the possible answers are most likely even more interesting.
Nanoprom is famous for Polysil, a nanoparticle compound that made its debut in Formula 1 years ago and which improved the tire behavior significantly, while reducing the weight of the cars.
Polysil is a nanomaterial that is sprayed on an F1 car's rims and acts as a thermal barrier. This allows more heat to be transferred to the tires, including that of the braking discs.
Heat is stored better within the rim, allowing the tires to get to the optimum temperature faster and cool down slower. Needless to say, warmer tires provide better traction, and that is why cars whose rims are treated with Polysil adhere better to the track.
Making things even more spectacular, the surfaces treated with Polysil have better abrasion resistance and will also prevent pieces of rubber that fly from the tires during a race from sticking to the rims.
Tests showed that during a race, up to one kilogram (2.2 lb) of such debris can add to the weight of the F1 car. In this sport, one kilo is a huge mass; to understand better how important weight saving is in Formula 1, we'll just add that traditional rim coating for an F1 car needs around 65 grams (2.3 ounces), whereas the same surface only needs 5 grams (0.2 ounces) of Polysil, and with all the added benefits.
Nanoprom's Gabriele Tredozi is no stranger to racing, after being the former Technical Director of Minardi and HRT, and seeing him talk to Suzuki's Davide Brivio makes us pretty sure that Hamamatsu is up to no good, in a figurative way, of course.
It's nice to see Suzuki taking firm steps in the high-tech world, even though they will lose their team's star, Maverick Vinales, who becomes Valentino Rossi's teammate at Yamaha. Vinales will be replaced by the future ex-rider at Ducati, Andrea Iannone, third at Mugello last Sunday.
Polysil is a nanomaterial that is sprayed on an F1 car's rims and acts as a thermal barrier. This allows more heat to be transferred to the tires, including that of the braking discs.
Heat is stored better within the rim, allowing the tires to get to the optimum temperature faster and cool down slower. Needless to say, warmer tires provide better traction, and that is why cars whose rims are treated with Polysil adhere better to the track.
Making things even more spectacular, the surfaces treated with Polysil have better abrasion resistance and will also prevent pieces of rubber that fly from the tires during a race from sticking to the rims.
Tests showed that during a race, up to one kilogram (2.2 lb) of such debris can add to the weight of the F1 car. In this sport, one kilo is a huge mass; to understand better how important weight saving is in Formula 1, we'll just add that traditional rim coating for an F1 car needs around 65 grams (2.3 ounces), whereas the same surface only needs 5 grams (0.2 ounces) of Polysil, and with all the added benefits.
Nanoprom's Gabriele Tredozi is no stranger to racing, after being the former Technical Director of Minardi and HRT, and seeing him talk to Suzuki's Davide Brivio makes us pretty sure that Hamamatsu is up to no good, in a figurative way, of course.
It's nice to see Suzuki taking firm steps in the high-tech world, even though they will lose their team's star, Maverick Vinales, who becomes Valentino Rossi's teammate at Yamaha. Vinales will be replaced by the future ex-rider at Ducati, Andrea Iannone, third at Mugello last Sunday.
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