Analysing the way that this driver aid works serves to confirm this theory. Traction control is designed to prevent the driven wheels from slipping when the car is accelerating. This is achieved by controlling engine power, regardless of the position of the accelerator pedal. Over 200 sensors that measure the speed of the front and rear wheels independently collate the data used to measure the amount of wheel ‘slip’. Most Formula 1 cars will be set up with a degree of oversteer (this helps the driver turn into the corner), but if the amount of ‘slip’ falls outside this pre-determined window, then the computer will cut the fuel supply to individual cylinders and reduce the power.

“Extensive tests are used to program the software precisely for the traction control. Only a perfectly functioning program ensures that the desired advantage can be achieved for the driver,” says Sam Michael, chief operations engineer at WilliamsF1: “But at the end of the day the driver is the measure of all things. He has to coax the best out of the car using all the electronic aids at hand. Thus, a driver’s skill will always be more important than the technology factor.”

Drivers will have to do without two further electronic driving aids after the Japanese Grand Prix: launch control and the fully automatic gearbox. Launch control is activated via a button on the steering wheel: after the driver presses the accelerator, the ideal engine speed is set. When the lights go out at the start of the race, the driver releases the button and the electronics then control clutch engagement and the car races off at maximum thrust.

The automatic gearbox ensures that the driver does not stall the engine at the start or in the pitlane. In addition to this, some teams also deploy an electronic gearshift, which means that the driver no longer has to press a gearshift rocker switch. Otherwise gears are shifted using steering wheel-mounted ‘paddles’. Here, too, electronics play a decisive role and the technology is so sophisticated, each of the 10,000 sequential shifts per race takes only 20 milliseconds.

State-of-the-art passenger cars are no longer conceivable without electronic systems as part of the safety package. All the major car manufacturers offer their own systems, which serve to provide better grip. For example at BMW, they offer such packages as ESP (Electronic Stability Program), DRC (Dynamic Ride Control) or DSC (Dynamic Stability Control). In these systems, the electronics recognise the degree of slip in the longitudinal and traverse directions so that any lateral sliding of the vehicle is prevented.

“These driving aids can correct driver errors and safely intervene with
danger situations that surprisingly arise,” said Dr. Christoph Lauterwasser from the Allianz Centre for Technology (AZT) in Munich: “Surveys have shown that in passenger cars equipped with such systems, the frequency and severity of accidents decreases.” Take stability control, where the laws of physics allow, it helps to keep the car on the road: when a corner is entered too quickly or when the road surface suddenly becomes greasy due to rain or mud.

The stability control represents only a small portion of the electronic driving aids that are used to enhance safety in modern cars. The range stretches from ‘park assist’ to diagnosis and information systems, which enable faults like lost tyre pressure to be found quickly and reliably. In the BMW 7-Series, wheel sensors scan the area in front of the car to determine the distance to the car in front. The driver can enter a safety zone, which the system adheres to by automatically braking or regulating engine output.

Despite these new advances the possibilities are endless. Safety expert Lauterwasser adds: “Be it warnings when changing lane on a motorway, or automatic avoidance of obstacles – car manufacturer development departments will constantly expand the areas in which electronics are used- and this is a step in the right direction for more safety on the roads.”