don't they usually mix wind tunnel testing with pencil and paper design? Heard Adrian Newey still resorts to drawing the project, unless it was a figure of speech.
No, it isn't. It's better than it looks, I'll hazard a guess and say they have closed some of the gap to Lotus/Virgin. Especially Virgin. Only time will tell.
It's true. That's why he makes the best cars. Cos he has a good brain and he uses it. Unlike people like Nick Wirth who want a computer to help them do it.
My point is that your original statement used "pencil and paper" as the part that's left out of their design process when they say "entirely CFD/CAD" when actually what's left out is the wind tunnel usage. I have no idea if they use pencil and paper for sketches, but I'd be surprised if it was used much at all when CAD is much more advanced/easy to send around and modify/send to the molding machines.
Well that's good because it looks like nothing so far. I don't see how they could have closed the gap when they've done no track testing outside of the first qualifying session and a few shakedown laps. Besides, they showed up with a front wing that couldn't pass the safety test, that doesn't seem like "closing the gap" to me.
Are you being serious or joking? Have you ever built an F1 car? You really think HRT just rocked up at Melbourne to have a laugh? Do you know how much effort it takes to send a car halfway across the planet let alone actually assembling a car that complies with the regulations. I guess they could have done a shakedown on the freight ship. If you aint got the cash, you aint got the cash but you do WHAT you can to get on the track. testing or no testing.
And let's get one thing straight here - for years Honda were an embarrassment. Amateur hour! And in 2008 they decided to leave the game for the same reason you sight against HRT. Then 2009 happened.
Neither do I, but there are hints that they have, the fact Liuzzi was only 2seconds behind the 107% rule. With basically no running of the car up until THAT day. And if kartikeyan was only 4seconds off the 107% rule, it must be a better car than percieved.
It may be that they screwed up and the old wing is faster than the front, what ever screw up they've had doesn't mean they won't be fast. If all the team tripped over their shoelaces at once, does that mean that the car won't be able to close the gap?
Using the old front wing will have only helped them, because they can compare and use data that they already have. If anything it benefits them because they've done no testing at all.
Just open your mind a little, they have done no testing, there have been cars known in the past to be brutally quick out of the box. The Red Bull for example, so it doesn't mean much, after the first race given the way they entered (or tried to enter) the weekend I'd say their pace is still unknown even after the race. Look at it this way, with the little track time they had, their gap from the 107% can't get any worse can it? It can only get better for them, unless they go bankrupt of course :P
Well to be honest, when you are there at the track already, there's no ammount of money stopping you from running, after all that's what you came to the track to do, if they don't have the money they should give up, that's the cold truth instead of embarassing themselves, and everyone involved with them..
Also, Colin Kolles annoys me with his love affair for Kartikeyan..
Actually It can get worse. Red Bull could add KERS and get even faster, therefor making the 107% time harder to reach. The teams at the front have much more money than HRT and even though HRT are in a position where they can make big gains easily (because there is much to gain) they are openly talking about money issues and it's only the first round.
Saying 2 seconds or 4 seconds off 107% makes it sound much nicer since it's a shorter track. Malaysia is a bit longer so I wouldn't be surprised to see them 3-6 seconds off pace.
The RedBull won't get faster with KERS, it has been aerodynamically created to not support it.
And with regards to Malaysia of course they will still be slow, most teams have done over a GP's worth of testing. HRT don't even have 10laps under their belt on ONE car, let alone two. The gap of mileage from testing between Ferrari (I think were teh top in testing miles) is something like 16GPs worth of mileage. So only 2seconds of the 107% isn't that bad to be honest.
They should 'give up'. GREAT attitude. If everyone gave up in the face of adversity then life would be pointless! If F1 was easy everyone would be doing it. If HRT weren't struggling then F1 would be valueless.
Every F1 car is a prototype, one-off. The lower budget teams will always suffer with reliability, especially at the start. HRT have done a remarkable job getting on the grid.
I say well done to HRT. They weren't all that far off qualifying for the race with Luizzi, considering he had only turned several laps in that car that was a remarkable achievement.
I can only (and yes I know it's cliché and corny) give the example of Lewis Hamilton's brother Nicolas. He hasCerebral Palsy, and despite being told his best hope as an adult is being able to just about 'walk with a stick', (and I used to see him regularly at the track in a wheelchair as a child. His story is for real) he's out racing this weekend in Clios supporting btcc. Should he have just given up as a child?
What HRT are doing is incredible. Not many people on this earth take a gigantic risk to enter something like F1. It takes INSANE levels of dedication. Fair play to them!
which actually gave them a slight advantage at some tracks due to it's power charectoristics. it was one of the few times that the rules makers used some common sense to help a "small" team cope with a change in the rules
If the championship was decided in engine sounds, Toro Rosso would have taken the 2006 title by a long shot.
But they ran 3.0L V10s, right? the only clear difference was that they revved less than the 2005 engines, but surely there was something that had to make them equal in performance with the 2.4L V8s.