On the relationship: Our partnership with SKF is very important. We’re looking at improvements in every aspect of technology, and we are searching for improvements measured in 100ths of a second per lap. If we reduce the friction on a seal a bit, if we reduce the weight of a bearing a bit, that brings us those few 100ths, and each time we move forward. We have to have technical partnerships of the type we have with SKF or we can’t succeed. The relationship is totally open but confidential. SKF engineers work here, and we spend time with SKF. We trust SKF, and by doing that I think we get much more out of the relationship.

Reliability and performance: Every element of the car is crucial – nothing is overlooked. Our search for performance is absolute. Reliability and performance are what we look for in our partnerships. If we are doing our job well, we might be a 10th of a second faster in the race. Where does that come from? It comes from these partnerships, and SKF is a vital part of that. There are four or five partnerships that we have – SKF, Shell, Bridgestone and so on. We have had a great record of reliability, touch wood, and SKF have directly contributed to that.

Secret technology: SKF is working on technology right now that we hope will take us forward again. We are starting to run bearings and systems on the existing car for next year’s car. It’s intriguing because you do the best job you can with a car and you think, well, I can’t go any further and within 12 months a better solution emerges.

The test for SKF: There was a recognition in SKF a few years ago that we were a good medium to see how responsive they could be – how innovative and timely. Our demands are such that we need those qualities. I think companies that become involved in Formula One challenge and test themselves on whether they can meet those demands, and meeting them helps with all their other markets.

Responsiveness: Recently we had a little problem on the gearbox [the cause was unclear] that needed a solution. We had a problem at test and by the next race, a week later, we had a solution, a new bearing. That’s exceptional. I suspect that a few years ago they couldn’t have done it. When you talk to a bearing manufacturer, you expect to be talking months of lead time, not days of lead time.

Computer simulation: One of the great areas of progress with SKF in the past year has been computer simulation of the installation of bearings in the car. It means that with SKF we now have tools to look at all the bearing solutions and see what their effects on the dynamics of the car and the performance of the car might be. So we start by looking at a wheel bearing, and the weight or the stiffness of the wheel bearing, and we can work with a bearing model on a vehicle model and see how that bearing is going to perform. It’s predictive analysis. And that means we can consider lots of alternatives, lots of different solutions, before we settle on the final solution. And when we settle on the final solution, then it goes on a test car and we do the empirical analysis. It’s certainly a very powerful and useful tool for us.

David Passey
Appelberg journalist and co-editor of Evolution magazine
photos Antonello Nusca, lat and Ferrari