Backing a Winner

As an official technical partner of the Brawn GP Formula One racing team, PerkinElmer is proud to congratulate Brawn on its well-earned double victory in the 2009 FIA Formula One Constructors’ and Drivers’ World Championships.

Advanced PerkinElmer instrumentation was used by Brawn GP this season to enhance the performance and reliability of the team’s race cars and to improve troubleshooting analysis, including the analysis of debris in engine and gearbox lubricants and detection of degradation of worn seals.

Since 2001, PerkinElmer has provided scientific expertise and instrumentation for the Brawn GP Formula One team’s car performance testing program. To accurately measure and monitor engine and gearbox degradation, Brawn GP maintains a PerkinElmer Materials Testing Laboratory at its headquarters in Brackley, UK, where a diverse range of technologies are employed. PerkinElmer has provided Brawn with exclusive access to its Seer Green (UK) demonstration laboratory, as well as support by Product Specialists for troubleshooting as needed.

PerkinElmer’s SpectrumTM 100 Series FT-IR spectrometer is used by Brawn GP to monitor degradation of worn seals and analyse organic debris from engine and gearbox lubricants. The universal attenuated total reflectance (ATR) accessory discovers unknown factors that may impact performance. Lubricants are tested using PerkinElmer’s OptimaTM 5300V Inductively Coupled Plasma (ICP) instrument to accurately detect metal content and help determine engine or gearbox wear. To help ensure the cars’ integrity, PerkinElmer’s Jade Differential Scanning Calorimeter (DSC) and Dynamic Mechanical Analyser (DMA) carry out important quality control checks to ensure that adhesives used to bond carbon fibre components have been cured correctly.