88 F1 RACING AUGUST 2019
Madeat shortnotic e afterthe Brabham and
Alfa Romeorelationshiptook a turn for the
worse, theBT49 featured a fairchunkof the
BT48, including thesuspension components.
To facilitatethat, Brabham retrofitted the
samegearbox casingto the Ford Cosworth
DFV to retainthe mounting pointsfor the
rear wishbones.
With the narrower DFVengine, the
BT49’s sidepods and underside were more
conducive toa groundeffect-producingpair
of venturitunnels, which were incredibly
effective when perfectedby Gordon Murray’s
designteam. The floorgeometry produced
massesof suction,meaningBrabham could
disregard running a front wingat most races.
As with many innovationsthe slew of
groundeffect entering F1 was popularisedby
Lotus – bu t it wasthen leapfroggedby teams
that electedto perfect the concept rather
than move onto the next big idea.CONCEPT EVOLUTION
For 1982 another rules change reshuffled
the ground effectformula – theground
clearancerule was deleted, meaning the
hydropneumatics couldbe decommissioned.
The BT50 was also producedto take BMW’s
new four-pot turbo engine, but it was
unreliable at the start of its life.
There was also a 580kgweight limitto
adhereto, an d Brabham soughtto take
advantageby adding a water tankto the
BT49 underthe claimthat it was usedto cool
the brakes.In tru th, the waterwas drained
out, then topped up after the raceto pass
scrutineering. Piquet won theBrazilian GP on
track, but was disqualified - and water tanks
usedas ballast were banned.
The BT49 still managed one more win- RiccardoPatrese was victorious in the
madcap 1982 race at Monaco, and two races
later the car was put outto pasture as the
difficulties with theBMW engine were sorted.
INNOVATION
BRABHAM BT49 TECHNICAL ANALYSIS
WORDS JAKE
BOXALL-LEGGEILLUSTRATIONS
GIORGIO PIOLAThe initial specification of theBT49 wasn’t
massively innovative, but servedto move
Brabham onfrom its problematic 1979
package. The car’sversatility gave the team
plenty of latitudeto work withfor whatwas
an adaptableand reliable package.
Hydropneumaticsuspension for 1981
proved controversial on both sides. FISA had
clarified the ruleover ride heights,but many
teams employed simple drop-downswitches
to circumvent the regulations. Although the
air springs were not without theirfoibles,
Brabham put great effort into makinga
working system, while otherteams could
manually raise thecar b efore scrutineering.
Carbon brakes were theBT49’s other
big innovation, as they promised increased
stopping power without the fade sufferedby
steel brakes. Althoughthe use of composite
materials was in its infancy, carbon brakes
quickly becamethe norm.