Four of the top six F1 constructors of the 2012 season, including three-time champion Red Bull Racing, are using ANSYS solutions.The unrivalled reliability of ANSYS simulations provides the few points that make all the difference in the rankings.
As the 2012 Formula 1 racing season draws to a close, it's time for ANSYS to take stock. Once again, ANSYS can congratulate itself on having contributed to the success of the overall winner of the F1 Constructors' Championship, as it has done every year since 2007. Four of the top six constructors in 2012, including champion Red Bull Racing, used ANSYS solutions. Red Bull Racing thus won the championship for the third year running, a feat previously achieved by only two teams.
When first and second place in the overall standings are decided by a few points, it's crucial for teams to make the most of all the resources at their disposal to gain in competitiveness. That's why engineers at teams such as Red Bull Racing rely on ANSYS' numerical simulation technologies, enabling them to rapidly develop exceptional racing cars.
Red Bull Racing uses ANSYS' High-Performance Computing (HPC) and Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) software for its aerodynamic testing. These tools harness the computational power of thousands of computers to help engineers rapidly evaluate numerous design iterations and make the necessary changes before physical testing.
"ANSYS is part of our team, so to speak, as it has contributed so much to our victories in recent years," comments Nathan Sykes, head of CFD and finite element analysis tools at Red Bull Racing. "If speed is decisive on the track, it is equally so during the vehicle design phase. The relevance, reliability and accuracy of the results we get from ANSYS means we can spend more time and money on simulation than on physical testing. These simulations enable us to base our design choices on solid observations, which translates into performance gains on the track."
"We've been working with Red Bull Racing and other automotive leaders for several years now. This experience has enabled us to pinpoint their needs and develop simulation practices that set the industry standard," explains Sandeep Sovani, Head of Automotive Strategy at ANSYS. "Knowing that the world's leading carmakers, whether racing or touring cars, manage to design exceptional products using our technologies is the best reward of all."
Numerical simulation is gaining ground among F1 constructors, and this trend is set to continue. Since 1999, teams using ANSYS solutions have won almost twice as many cumulative points in the constructors' world championship than those using competing suppliers' technologies.
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