Petrov for the fatherland!

Mark is probably pissed off at the fact he had no usable KERS to overtake Alonso during those crucial laps after his pit stop. He also made that awful mistake going on the grass after the stop. Not a good weekend for him.

Vettel on the other hand... was scary fast.

Quote from NotAnIllusion :

It's actually quite surprising that the most obvious difference between RB and other cars, the low, flexible front wing has still not been replicated by others despite it having being around for quite a while now. It's a strange sight to see the McLaren front wing being comparatively sky high.

The Red Bull wing is low, but I can't see it flexing any more than the McLaren or Ferrari. The entire wing assembly itself is lower. Look at the centre of the wing - it's lower than the McLaren, and the tips of the wing appear to be low by the same or similar amount.

Quote from tinvek :

whilst it's possible vettel didn't feel the ned to use it, does anyone know if webber used his KERS ? there's no logical reason why he wouldn't have assuming it was working OK

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90224

According to the article, neither driver used KERS.

Even Horner seems surprised. Vettel is the real-life F1 "alien" this season.

Anyone noticed di Resta's performance? It reminds me of Hamilton's rookie season, albeit further down the grid.

Go Kobi! I hope he gets a podium tomorrow, even if only as a token cause for smiles in Japan.

1. Kobi
2. Webber
3. Vettel

I would have put Kubica in at #3, but he's not "current" at the moment.

Two laps? What's the point?

The WTCC should take a leaf out of the V8SC's playbook, and do an enduro race there. 1000km at the Ring.

Sorry for not replying to the PM, Hyperactive. I haven't been on here for a few months, busy with other things.

Joined! LF1

Let the season roll!

It would make a bit more sense to divide the northern and southern hemispheres as well, to account for seasonal weather.

Something like this:

March: Middle East (Bahrain and Abu Dhabi)
April: Singapore, Australia, Brazil
May to September: Europe
October and November: USA, China, Japan.

This is a very major rule-change.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/h ... t/formula_one/9255871.stm

In summary:

• 4 cylinders
  
• 1.6L displacement
  
• Single turbo-charger
  
• Compound turbo to be phased in later
  
• 600BHP nominal power output without KERS
  
• KERS to provide 120KW (163BHP) nominal extra power.
  
• Fuel-flow restriction
  
• RPM limited to 10,000
  
• Power equalisation scheme
  

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UXV3sEH7PU0

Ari Vatanen in the Manx Rally of 1983.

He's come a long way... from champion rally driver to EU politician.

Quote from Intrepid :

I do however see state-backed drivers as a serious change in F1. Prices for seats are going to go through the roof.

Bring back the A1GP!

Meanwhile, Max Mosley speaks again:
http://www.motorsport.com/news/article.asp?ID=396016

Quote :

A 20-race calendar is too long for Formula One, according to former FIA president Max Mosley.

2010's tally of 19 races was the equal-biggest in the history of the sport, and next year the rally is growing to twenty rounds.

The USA and Russia are set to join possibly more additional grands prix in the near future, moving Sir Frank Williams to recently muse that he can envisage a 22-race schedule before long.

"For me personally, it's too much," Mosley told the German newspaper Welt.

"In my opinion that's too many Sunday afternoons to expect people to dedicate to Formula One. At some point, it starts to become tiresome.

"And then if you start skipping a race here and there it can quickly become a habit and it can snowball in terms of the TV ratings," he added.

Mosley, whose successor as FIA president is the former Ferrari boss Jean Todt, is also worried that F1 team budgets are still far too high.

"In January 2008 I warned that without cost reduction it won't be only the small teams having problems," said the 70-year-old Briton.

"It has arrived: Honda, BMW, Toyota and Renault have gone because the budgets are out of proportion.

"This continues to be true and it worries me," admitted Mosley.

"There is the risk of a crisis in the short term," he insisted. "Currently, a great season is being celebrated but the future looks bleak.

"For 2011 you need $100 million, with 30 or 40 from Bernie Ecclestone, perhaps 20 to 25 from sponsors or the drivers. I'd say six teams are wondering where the rest is coming from.

"It's quite possible we'll lose two or three teams," warned Mosley.

His final act as FIA president was to entice new privateers onto the grid with very small budgets, but Lotus, Virgin and HRT have been criticised for lacking competitiveness.

"I don't agree," said Mosley. "They need to be given time to improve.

"Virgin's development has been downright revolutionary. Their car was built entirely without a wind tunnel and that's a warning for the likes of McLaren because their wind tunnels are like running a small town.

"On the other hand Virgin developed a car only with computer simulation and it's only two or three seconds slower.

"No one can argue that the huge cost of the wind tunnels is justified."

Mosley said a quick fix to the looming crisis would be a budget cap for 2012 and 2013, requiring teams to tighten their belts immediately.

Quote from Mustafur :

Half a season more?

Full season more, actually.

Here are some stats, for comparison. Alguersuari, while he scored less points (but 8 points versus 5 is hardly decisive), appears to have driven a more consistent season.

Alguersuari:
% finished in points = 15.8%
% finished 11th or better = 42.1%
% finished 12th or better = 57.9%
% finished 13th or worse = 42.1%

Buem:
% finished in points = 21.1%
% finished 11th or better = 31.6%
% finished 12th or better = 47.4%
% finished 13th or worse = 52.6%

Quote from Racer X NZ :

In addition, the two South Koreans killed were marines, not civilians, stationed in a military town.

If you're going to use people's deaths as your soapbox, at least do your research properly.

Four people were killed, of which two were Marines, and two were civilian construction workers.

As for allegations by the North that the South fired into North Korean waters, it would be true if you considered North Korea's border as the legitimate one. But North Korea's claim is bollocks, because the only legitimate maritime border there is the Northern Limit Line, drawn in 1953. Now, it is possible that South Korean artillery may have landed in [real] North Korean waters, but that is extremely unlikely for three reasons: the South Korean firing is part of a monthly drill and is always directed away from the border, the South Korean government has nothing to gain from provoking the North so overtly, and the military base on the island faces the south-west, making shots to the west and south-west the most logical choice for training.

The North Korean government has been pissing about the NLL on and off since 1973. Strangely enough, it made no issue of the NLL for 20 years between 1953 to 1973. They actually recognised and agreed on the validity of the NLL in 1991, in the Inter-Korean Basic Agreement. Now, they're challenging it again for no legitimate reason.

Quote from RiseAgainstMe! :

If you are 80, you shouldn't be carrying that much valuables with you without protection. easy target.

You shouldn't be carrying that much valuables on person, no matter your age. He's a pretty recognisable fellow, and if old rumours are correct, he's probably got some big enemies and friends in the not-so-legal portions of London society.

No-one deserves to be beaten for goods, though. Especially at that age.

Quote from JJ72 :

looks like a pitot tube?

Or a series of them.

Looks definitely like an air-flow monitoring device.

[EDIT: Beaten by Tristan. I forgot to read page 2. ]

Best driver Overall: Vettel (he won, end of story)

Fastest driver: Vettel (10 poles, end of story)

Most Consistent: Webber (most number of finishes in points)

Most Improved: Alonso (during season), Kovalainen or Kubica (between seasons)

Most Impressive: Kobayashi

Most Overrated: Schumacher

Most Underrated: Karun Chandhok

Best rookie: Kobayashi (semi-rookie), Hulkenberg (new rookie)

Worst driver: de la Rosa

Most exciting: Kobayashi

Best old timer(35 and older): Barrichello

I guess it would depend on...

Load transfer caused by the momentum of the vehicle as a whole, which would place greater load on the outside wheels.

VS

Load transfer caused by the momentum of the sprung mass as it exerts torque along the longitudinal axis of the vehicle, which would transfer load to the inside wheels.

I think for all practical vehicles, the load will still be greater on the outside wheels.

Quote from three_jump :

Btw: Are Trulli and Liuzzi confirmed yet?

Neither have been confirmed. For Lotus, they'll announce their driver decision soon.

For Force India, Liuzzi has a contract for 2011, but Sutil does not. Liuzzi's contract can be rescinded by agreement from both parties, of course.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, the season is over. We didn't achieve the same success as in the previous two seasons, but I'm sure everyone pitched in with their best guesses and analysis.

Our subleague was 4th out of 10. Interestingly, the folks over at Autosport.com was 2nd, so we didn't do too badly.

Congratulation to Hyperdrive, Mafia, and Rets, who took the top three places in our subleague! No hats this time around, unfortunately.

Here's looking forward to the next season!

Possibility of rain?
http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/ ... ome-parts-of-uae-1.711699

Quote from aoun :

I picture a situation.

Vettle followed by Webber then Alonso. Vettel moves over for Webber (fair move, its between the drivers, not the team). After that, Alonso retires. What would happen next?

Probably won't happen. If Vettel moves over for Webber, it will probably be in the very last lap. It would be interesting to see if he leaves it right to the end of the final lap, and then a photo-finish with the Mark's car only slightly ahead (ala Le Mans style), and the fan/media reaction to the obvious set-up.

It doesn't look like an F1 car to me. It's not GP2 or FR3.5 either. Weird.

Nevertheless, this must be done...




"Before you press the blue button, make sure the car is at 90 degrees to the target. The missiles will do their job well."





"Leave no evidence."





"Mr Putin, you must drive the car under this arch at exactly 180mph before detonating the bomb! Do you understand?"

"Do you think this is the first time I've done this?"

Last edited by samjh, Mon, 8 Nov 2010 06:29.

Quote from Rappa Z :

My bet is that Webber qualifies P1 (possible by team orders, who knows?) at the UAE and ends up leading the whole race while Vettel is P2 and Alonso is P3.

It would be extremely hard to implement team orders for qualifying. The best RBR can do is tell its drivers to get P1 and P2 slots, in whatever order, no-holds-barred. Then they can see where Alonso ends up and decide their game plan from there.

The bottom line:

If Webber is P1 and Alonso is P2, Alonso wins.
If Webber is P1 and Alonso is P3 or worse, Webber wins.
If Vettel is P1, Webber is P2, and Alonso is P3/4/5, Alonso wins.

The only fail-safe strategy is a Red Bull 1-2 in qualifying. They simply can't afford anything else. Fortunately both of their drivers are qualifying kings!

Last edited by samjh, Mon, 8 Nov 2010 06:06.

Quote from GreyBull [CHA] :

It seems that Williams has decided to sacrifice Barrichello rather than Hulkenberg if necessary, not because of Hulk's results but because Barrichello has very expensive wages(8 M$/year or similar IIRC, which is about 8 times as much as Hulk). Barrichello has dominated his team-mate for most of the season but that shouldn't be enough.

If it's a choice between bankruptcy and bad race results, there is only one logical choice: bad race results. It's no use having a great driver in your team, if you run out of money to even run the team.

Good:
Very rich financial base for F1.

Bad:
Lack of transparency; over-involvement of personal agenda and interests.

Quote from Storm_Cloud :

Renault have a GP2 team too I think?

They don't quite "have" a team, but Renault F1's current test drivers both drive in DAMS in the GP2 series.

Renault is the engine supplier to GP2.

Red Bull's Christian Horner owns Arden, so I'm sure he'll leech data from his GP2 team.

Quote from NSX_FReeDoM :

"There were various people able to offer solutions, but with a 2010 gearbox layout, which would not have been able to accommodate the suspension layout that we are looking at. Red Bull Racing was able to offer us that, with very up-to-date technology, a very lightweight package - and with the rear suspension layout we wanted - plus integrated with the engine direction we are going."

Hinting a pull-rod rear suspension? with a tighter rear-end packaging?

Sounds like you're on the mark.

Last edited by samjh, Wed, 20 Oct 2010 11:00.