How Much Can CNN Get Wrong About F1 Engines, Physics In One Article? (2025 Update)

Question

I think CNN must be hiring Amish kids on Rumspringa for its motorsports writers. That's really the only way you could explain the rich, lavish ignorance of how cars work as demonstrated in this article about turbo engines returning to F1.The basic facts are there — F1 regulations are calling for a return to turbocharged engines, which will be returning to F1 after 26 years, and that first Renault RS01 back in '77 certainly did have its share of teething issues, and would often dramatically blow its engine, like many of the other early turbocharged cars. the CNN article gets into trouble is when the writer attempts to explain how the turbo engines are different: While a standard engine is powered by a belt connected to the  crankshaft, a turbo engine runs on its own exhaust steam,  making it more energy efficient.Oh boy. Is it possible for one little sentence to get so much wrong, so efficiently? It's impressive, in its way. And, sure, it's CNN, not a dedicated automotive site, but in an article about F1 cars and racing tech, you'd think there'd be at least some attempt to get this right. It'd be like writing an article about an election that said "While a standard election is decided by court decisions from individual citizen legislatures, a runoff election leverages polling data from the most recent census." Sure, those are real words, but they make zero sense.P's break it down: "a standard engine is powered by a belt connected to the crankshaft," is a great start if the goal is to establish that reality and physics have no place in this article. "Powered by?" what's driving that belt that drives the crank? Probably raw horsepower, contained in a pressurized vessel, extracted from the finest Arabian horses, liquified, and kept at 50 PSI. Of course, turbo engines are much more efficient, since they "run on their own exhaust steam." That would make them basically like, I don't know, perpetual motion locomotives? That is very efficient. This person clearly has no...

dave · Accepted Answer

I can supply an even greater example of newser ignorance. I worked at the Kennedy Space Center for about 4 years, so I know its layout. When the newsers were covering a lunar or space shuttle launch, they would usually refer to the launch site as "Cape Canaveral". This is wrong. The specific launch site is Merritt Island. The Cape was used only for launching satellites.

Anyone with any knowledge of KSC would know this, especially Walter Cronkite, so-called spokesman for America's space program. A space shuttle could no more be launched from the cape than Walter Cronkite could give birth to a healthy baby.

Mason Barge · Answer

That's pretty much beyond belief. At least NBC or whoever it was put Buffalo in the right state. And country.

geoff · Answer

Now there's an idea for 2015 - turbojet cars ! geoff

T0m $herman · Answer

0:58 to 1:07 in this video shows how power gets into engines:  .

Geoff Welsh · Answer

sadly, that writer will make a great customer at a dishonest repair shop  someday. GW

Bigbird · Answer

Doing her nails...

trotsky · Answer

At my house the correct spelling is Bull$hit.

JR · Answer

Buffalo are not Bison and Bison are not Buffalo, there is a huge difference there. There are African Buffalo and there are Asian Buffalo. I saw Asian Buffalo when I was in Vietnam in 1964.

Scott Dorsey · Answer

If you had a steak in any NCO club, you probably ate some too. --scott

T0m $herman · Answer

There are also European bison (Bison bonasus).

WrongWayWade · Answer

The other thing they completely missed (and which is much more interesting) about the new F1 racecars is the ERS-K system (basically a hybrid-type electric motor boost) that uses the heat from the exhaust to generate electricity to charge the electric motor. This is much more powerful than just using the wheels to recharge during braking. 161 bhp is more than what many economy cars generate.

The ERS unit captures waste heat as it is dispelled from the exhaust turbocharger, using an electrical device known as a Heat Motor Generator Unit. This waste heat is stored as an electrical charge until it is utilised by a complementary system called the Kinetic Motor Generator Unit. This device is connected directly to the drive train to deliver the additional power in the most direct and efficient way.[59][60] In combination with the ERS-K it will give drivers an additional 161 bhp (120 kW) for thirty-three seconds per lap, compared to the ERS-K units used prior to 2014, which gave drivers 80 bhp (60 kW) for six seconds per lap.[57]

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How Much Can CNN Get Wrong About F1 Engines, Physics In One Article? (2025 Update)

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