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Renault Formula 1 mass damper explained

Recently, there was all this fuss about Renault “mass damper” being banned in Formula 1. So what is it actually? How does it work? What advantages does it give? First of all, the mass damper have absolutely nothing to do with the cars suspension. So what are mass damper?

Mass damper were not invented in Formula 1. “A tuned mass damper is a device mounted in structures to prevent discomfort, damage or outright structural failure by vibration. Typically, the damper are huge concrete blocks mounted in skyscrapers or other structures, and moved in opposition to the resonant frequency oscillations of the structure by means of springs, fluid or pendulums. - wikipedia”

So basically, a mass damper reduces vibrations and helps stabilise the front end of the Renault, especially when the car goes over a kerb at high speeds and most effectively around a bend. This will maintain front end grip, by pulling the nose down everytime it passes over a kerb or a bump in a corner. I made some illustrations below for a better visual explanation.

	The Renault mass damper is not a part of the cars suspension. It consists of a mass, usually around 9kg in weight which is suspended in between two springs. It sits inside the nose of the car, out of plain sight.
The above is for illustration purposes only. It is not an accurate description of the mass damper used by Renault or any other Formula one teams.

How it works to improve performance

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