The Batteryless Hybrid that Never Made it to F1

How Williams nearly turned hybrid F1 upside down with a revolutionary electric flywheel hybrid power unit.

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Writing / Illustration / Animation / Editing / Narration:
Stuart Taylor

sharecode: chainbearsharef1

[tahaahsan]

When he said "Hybrid units have been a part of F1 for 11 years", my mind went to early 2000s. Seeing 2009 on the screen hit me

[Raprada]

Damn, can you imagine if Williams went through with this design? The Audi R18 used flywheel hybrid before 2016 and it sounds godly

[amp]

A "revolutionary" flywheel hybrid. I see what you did there.

[ifq]

The London Underground used a kinetic energy recovery system 150 years ago, they raised the stations up from the natural track level, breaking effort was reduced as the incoming train climbed the incline into the station, and acceleration effort was reduced as the down hill exit from the station reduced acceleration power.

[lelouchvibritannia]

This is why I love Williams. Being a private team and still innovating a lot throughout their history.

[sebastianh]

Do you plan on making a video about McLaren's hydraulic KERS used in 1998's MP4-13?
Though it was only used in one race, it was arguably a marvel of engineering and would have been highly influential were it not banned by the FIA after protests from, whom else, Ferrari. And as a pioneering piece of technology, it almost demands more recognition.

[themightydash]

Lets just hope Williams have some more amazing ideas like this soon and get their way back to the front.

[geoffdougley]

Bear, you messed up at 4:01. You doubled the kW but not the bhp.

[DeadlyCatcher]

I really like the attention you give to the details. @2:40 The variation in PE is linear while it is quadratic for KE.

[marcoslukaz]

Willams can design a flywheel-combustion engine hybrid, but can't design a car with working aerodynamic flow.

[wasd]

So the first F1 game by codemasters is already 11 years old?!

[ieuanhunt]

I don't care much about racing but I am really into physics and engineering. And a friendly ernest voice speaking calmly.

[mscbijles]

Ahh, a good old classic Chain Bear explains, great! I still love these vids that give a technical explanation of something many of us have probably never heard of, or didn't know the details about.
Keep making them Stuart, they're what sets you apart (together with F1 trivia, I love those as well!)

[appu]

your videos are really a treat to watch... the animations are top notch

[TOTV]

I understand the FIA safety team had some safety concerns, in the event of a crash if the flywheel and its casing is broken you'd potentially have thousands of fly wheel, high velocity bullets spraying in every direction.

[simonlee]

I wonder what the precession of a spinning flywheel will do to a racing car, or alternatively, how the g forces will affect the flywheel's max capabilities and efficiency

[firdausmohd]

Williams: *I lead others to a treasure I cannot possess*

[FormulaTurismo]

I never knew about this. Well done Chain Bear another Brilliant video.

[mkwhitewide]

Good one. I remember seeing pictures of the flywheel unit placed where the passenger seat would be on gt3r. Thanks for explaining the principle of it.

[matsimmo]

Ahh yes the famous “flybrid” system Audi used to great effect