Italian company Dino Paoli is studying a cordless electric screwdriver that could dispense with the complex equipment needed to change wheels, which will be more complicated with the 18-inch wheels that will debut in 2022 .
It’s called e-Gun and it will be the great novelty that we will see in the Formula 1 paddock in 2022. The Reggio Emilia specialist is the one who will have the merit of revolutionizing pit stops during grand prix starting in the next championship.
Mercedes did the first tests at the last round in Abu Dhabi with an experimental cordless gun that was seen at Yas Marina , but the innovation that is about to arrive will have a very important effect not only on the efficiency of tire changes, but overall it will offer a big advantage for the teams that incorporate the electric system, because it could wipe out the flashy equipment in the pit lane needed to handle the four multi-cylinder pneumatic screwdrivers and the carbon-titanium “castle”.
For the sustainability that F1 seeks, it would be a huge leap forward, reducing the amount of material that will have to be moved from one circuit to another around the world. The advantages will also come at the performance level, because the mechanics in charge of the pistol will have greater autonomy of movement and, therefore, greater precision when aiming the wheel nut.
The e-Gun will have to match the performance of the Hurricane , the gun in use to date, which each team has customized in its electronic management of the ‘release’ of the car once the four wheel nuts are closed.
With the new system there will be a great simplification because an inverter will not be necessary: the electrical control will allow the immediate inversion of the rotation (unscrew and tighten) and will be able to stop the screwdriver when the tightening torque is reached, avoiding excess power that Sometimes it causes stripping of the nut threads.
The main photo, by Giorgio Piola, also shows how the pistol has been redesigned to access the 18-inch rim nut, which has a very different offset and, above all, features a carbon fairing that certainly complicates the pit stop, requiring the mechanic in charge of the screwdriver even greater precision than this year.
So it should come as no surprise that there are experiments in customizing the e-Gun as each team develops its own system. Each pistol will have enough charge to cover a GP without recharging the battery, but it’s clear that this is a system that will need to be developed with experience. In 2022, we will no longer see the pneumatic structure for changing wheels.
