I'm starting to be in favour of 2 sprint races during weekend, rather than 1 boring long race. That is if they're not spoiled by shittons of stupid restrictive rules.
Vettle out qualifies Rosberg.
Hamilton in a league of his own still.
Hamilton in a league of his own still.
In other news... Manor qualify in front of Button! :P
Some say that Manor will finish in front of Mclaren in the foreseeable future!
Some say that Manor will finish in front of Mclaren in the foreseeable future!
Red Bull livery looks like zany biscuit packaging
The maldonado incident was again one of those wtf moments for me. It is your team mate and he still squeezed him there harder than bernie would grab toto's ass in the backroom. For no reason. He already had the outside line, he was ahead of grosjean and had the inside line into the next corner and would have been able to hold on the outside and get better exit out of that corner.
Yet maldonado was able to make that into an incident which effectively ended his race. Grosjean had imho all the right for the space there...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaxmj4xtTCw
Yet maldonado was able to make that into an incident which effectively ended his race. Grosjean had imho all the right for the space there...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qaxmj4xtTCw
Speed
I'm not so sure I agree with the track argument. Yes, of course its true that eventually as speed increases the tracks will run out of run-offs. Tracks can be modified, re-design, built differently to suit new safety requirements. I would like to see faster straight line speeds, but not much faster cornering speeds, I guess (see: physical challenge).
Tyres
Imo they need to be a looot harder. Max one change per race, maybe even none. Small flatspots would be less costly, drivers could push for longer. Bring back refuelling to keep pit stops and strategy, come up with some way of minimising danger of fire. Deadman's handles, bottles instead of massive, high-pressure rigs.
Physical challenge
Tbh, tying in with the speed and aero sections, I suspect that we'll reach the limits of human endurance before track safety. Tracks and cars can be design to be safer, humans cannot. At some point with tyres made of superglue, ground effect, over-body aero and ridiculous speeds, the Gs will become too much to handle. Also, I have no problem with F1 not requiring the most fit people on earth. Aero could be increased if harder tyres were to be used, as a way of balancing things out.
Aerodynamics
DRS should be free to use at any time by any driver, if there isn't a specific reason that makes its use excessively dangerous. I.e., disabled during safety car periods, in yellow zones and in the rain. Otherwise it's game on. The time difference based rule is a disgustingly artificial way of hiding more fundamental issues with F1 aero. Bring back ground effect but dictate rules in such a way that they can't cause complete bottoming out and loss of control. Consider Indycar style aero elements around (read:in front of) tyres, makes a significant difference. Look into possibility of reducing turbulent air caused by the rear aero elements so that cars can find it easier to follow closer. Similarly, if there are ways to direct the airflow downwards to reduce water spray in the rain, that would be something to work on.
Aesthetics
Improvements are a bonus, not a big one for me although wider rear wings and slightly narrower front wings I'd not mind at all.
I'm not so sure I agree with the track argument. Yes, of course its true that eventually as speed increases the tracks will run out of run-offs. Tracks can be modified, re-design, built differently to suit new safety requirements. I would like to see faster straight line speeds, but not much faster cornering speeds, I guess (see: physical challenge).
Tyres
Imo they need to be a looot harder. Max one change per race, maybe even none. Small flatspots would be less costly, drivers could push for longer. Bring back refuelling to keep pit stops and strategy, come up with some way of minimising danger of fire. Deadman's handles, bottles instead of massive, high-pressure rigs.
Physical challenge
Tbh, tying in with the speed and aero sections, I suspect that we'll reach the limits of human endurance before track safety. Tracks and cars can be design to be safer, humans cannot. At some point with tyres made of superglue, ground effect, over-body aero and ridiculous speeds, the Gs will become too much to handle. Also, I have no problem with F1 not requiring the most fit people on earth. Aero could be increased if harder tyres were to be used, as a way of balancing things out.
Aerodynamics
DRS should be free to use at any time by any driver, if there isn't a specific reason that makes its use excessively dangerous. I.e., disabled during safety car periods, in yellow zones and in the rain. Otherwise it's game on. The time difference based rule is a disgustingly artificial way of hiding more fundamental issues with F1 aero. Bring back ground effect but dictate rules in such a way that they can't cause complete bottoming out and loss of control. Consider Indycar style aero elements around (read:in front of) tyres, makes a significant difference. Look into possibility of reducing turbulent air caused by the rear aero elements so that cars can find it easier to follow closer. Similarly, if there are ways to direct the airflow downwards to reduce water spray in the rain, that would be something to work on.
Aesthetics
Improvements are a bonus, not a big one for me although wider rear wings and slightly narrower front wings I'd not mind at all.
I know DRS is controversial, and I questioned the apparently arbitrary 1 second gap thing when it came along, but if you allow it everywhere you should just remove it, far safer than risking it malfunctioning.
There is definitely still a fundamental issue with "dirty air" in F1. Adding more aero to off-set the use of lower performance tyres would only exacerbate that. It's funny that everyone applauded Pirelli for making "bad tyres" that would reward teams and drivers that could make them work, but now people aren't so happy with them.
FWIW I think technically F1 is far better now than it was ten years ago, even though I loathe the engines. Back then you REALLY had the dirty air problems, but usually nobody really had to overtake because of the refuelling pit-stops anyway. Totally dull.
Do I like DRS? Not really, but it's a necessary evil which I would absolutely not get rid of unless a very convincing alternative approach to the problem was proposed.
However, the biggest problem in F1 at the moment is the disparity, it grows tiresome. F1 fans do not know what they want. They all think F1 is this exciting arena of technical wonders and competitiveness where magically the cars which are fast in a straight-line are slower in the corners, and the cars that qualify the best wear the tyres out the most and the drivers count.
F1 fans think they want technical variations, cars to look different and have different engines (people even want different tyre brands back!).
F1 fans want 22 cars on the grid and the minnow teams to be given helping hands to become slightly less shit.
And then they complain about one team dominating.
This is what you wanted!
What's the point of a 20 car grid when the front 6 are the only ones anyone really cares about, and the front 2 or sometimes 4 the only ones that might actually win the race. You allow engineers to do what they do, and teams to spend what they spend, and this is what you get!
When we demand technical development, team versus team, do we really want "what makes f1 f1", or do we just want the illusion of that?
We have some of the best drivers in professional motor-sport (Ricciardo, Alonso etc) wasting their time fighting for non-scoring places in cars that are a waste of time and money, hoping that their teams will somehow find a way to make their cars like the fast cars. We don't even accept that this is the way the sport is.
I don't mind it as a "technical showcase" even though the limitations remove much of that appeal anyway, but the more the regulations get changed the less likely we are to see close competition between more than just team-mates.
There is definitely still a fundamental issue with "dirty air" in F1. Adding more aero to off-set the use of lower performance tyres would only exacerbate that. It's funny that everyone applauded Pirelli for making "bad tyres" that would reward teams and drivers that could make them work, but now people aren't so happy with them.
FWIW I think technically F1 is far better now than it was ten years ago, even though I loathe the engines. Back then you REALLY had the dirty air problems, but usually nobody really had to overtake because of the refuelling pit-stops anyway. Totally dull.
Do I like DRS? Not really, but it's a necessary evil which I would absolutely not get rid of unless a very convincing alternative approach to the problem was proposed.
However, the biggest problem in F1 at the moment is the disparity, it grows tiresome. F1 fans do not know what they want. They all think F1 is this exciting arena of technical wonders and competitiveness where magically the cars which are fast in a straight-line are slower in the corners, and the cars that qualify the best wear the tyres out the most and the drivers count.
F1 fans think they want technical variations, cars to look different and have different engines (people even want different tyre brands back!).
F1 fans want 22 cars on the grid and the minnow teams to be given helping hands to become slightly less shit.
And then they complain about one team dominating.
This is what you wanted!
What's the point of a 20 car grid when the front 6 are the only ones anyone really cares about, and the front 2 or sometimes 4 the only ones that might actually win the race. You allow engineers to do what they do, and teams to spend what they spend, and this is what you get!
When we demand technical development, team versus team, do we really want "what makes f1 f1", or do we just want the illusion of that?
We have some of the best drivers in professional motor-sport (Ricciardo, Alonso etc) wasting their time fighting for non-scoring places in cars that are a waste of time and money, hoping that their teams will somehow find a way to make their cars like the fast cars. We don't even accept that this is the way the sport is.
I don't mind it as a "technical showcase" even though the limitations remove much of that appeal anyway, but the more the regulations get changed the less likely we are to see close competition between more than just team-mates.
The biggest problem with drs is that it is effectively press a button and get ahead of the driver in front. In spain after most of the drs passes the passing driver could return back to the driving line before the next turn. If drs really needs to stay then at least make it so that it automatically turns off once you are side by side with other driver. So isntead of creating effortless and boring automatic position switching the drs gives the driver behind just enough speed to counter the dirty air effect after the last corner.
As far as tech rules go I think the "bad in everyway" hybrids are the worst thing to happen to f1 and racing in the last 100 years. I don't even know what is it that forces tech teams to use those heavy hybrid systems in the cars (probably rules...)? They don't even give enough power to offset their own weight penalty. They are not even worth their own weight in a racing car.
Not to mention hybrid as technology is more boring than the knitting world finals dubbed in sign language. I've actually started looking forward to fully electric racing cars. No longer is the hybird energy just some button you press after exiting a corner to get more straightline speed. There is no deceiving trickery with the power numbers. What it says on the tin is what you get on the driven wheels. Not some momentary peak power number that the car can only do for some 5 seconds per lap while the rest of the time it has some 600hp and not 750hp. Not to mention the lift and coasting to recharge the boredom filled batteries...
With full electric engines the full power is at least available all the time. Driving out from the corners and getting on full power actually means getting on full power. Not using lawnmowers to drive the car out of corners and then pressing a button to turn on the electric motor on the straightaway.
How too fix f1:
- get rid of hybrids (expensive, boring, bad for racing, too much speed of the car is the hands of the engine makers and not the teams. Rbr is totally useless with the renault while merc teams dominate)
- have engines that make f1 worthwhile power (use biofuels, mcdonalds fats or measure the co2 from the exhausts.
- more downforce from the under side of the car, less from the wings
- something needs to be done to lenghten the braking distances
- make the driver's safety cell standardized. Standard cog, standard inertias, standard size so that driver size becomes totally meaningless. For example driver+cell should weigh 110kg
- before each racing weekend all cars must be shown to the public without any bodywork so the people can see different things of the cars
As far as tech rules go I think the "bad in everyway" hybrids are the worst thing to happen to f1 and racing in the last 100 years. I don't even know what is it that forces tech teams to use those heavy hybrid systems in the cars (probably rules...)? They don't even give enough power to offset their own weight penalty. They are not even worth their own weight in a racing car.
Not to mention hybrid as technology is more boring than the knitting world finals dubbed in sign language. I've actually started looking forward to fully electric racing cars. No longer is the hybird energy just some button you press after exiting a corner to get more straightline speed. There is no deceiving trickery with the power numbers. What it says on the tin is what you get on the driven wheels. Not some momentary peak power number that the car can only do for some 5 seconds per lap while the rest of the time it has some 600hp and not 750hp. Not to mention the lift and coasting to recharge the boredom filled batteries...
With full electric engines the full power is at least available all the time. Driving out from the corners and getting on full power actually means getting on full power. Not using lawnmowers to drive the car out of corners and then pressing a button to turn on the electric motor on the straightaway.
How too fix f1:
- get rid of hybrids (expensive, boring, bad for racing, too much speed of the car is the hands of the engine makers and not the teams. Rbr is totally useless with the renault while merc teams dominate)
- have engines that make f1 worthwhile power (use biofuels, mcdonalds fats or measure the co2 from the exhausts.
- more downforce from the under side of the car, less from the wings
- something needs to be done to lenghten the braking distances
- make the driver's safety cell standardized. Standard cog, standard inertias, standard size so that driver size becomes totally meaningless. For example driver+cell should weigh 110kg
- before each racing weekend all cars must be shown to the public without any bodywork so the people can see different things of the cars
Lift and coast is for fuel saving too, of course. No matter how free you made the regulations governing fuel levels they will run the very lowest fuel load possible. So you'll never get max attack for an entire race as long as there's a combustion engine burning large amounts of fuel throughout the seventy-odd laps. Although saying that, if you let the teams control the mass of the battery of cells in an all-electric car, they would approach it in exactly the same way.
Formulae, which doesn't use combustion engines is centered entirely around energy conservation in races. The hybrid technology used by the current crop of LMP1s is very cool, however.
Energy conservation has always been a part of motor racing. Doesn't really matter if it is battery charge or fuel that is being saved as the best method for saving energy is the same for both (coast at the end of straights). What hybrids do however is that they divide the power into effectively two phases. One is just the internal combustion engine which is used to drive the car out of corners when the car is grip limited. After the tire grip exceeds the engine power the electric power is turned on which only adds straightline speed. That's the 2nd phase. The car is only able to use full power when it is already traction limited.
When the cars only have electric motors (no hybrids) all that electric power is available on corner exit which means managing the engine power and wheelspin out of corners will be a thing once again.
Apart from the techniques of saving energy/fuel, I agree with pretty much none of that 
So, refuelling back for 2017. More power, more noise and different aero regs. Lighter cars too - that'll be nice and cheap.
Not a lot of detail, but plenty to opine about. Also, free choice of compounds - any two from the four.
Not a lot of detail, but plenty to opine about. Also, free choice of compounds - any two from the four.
Wonder how they are going to make the cars lighter if they are going to keep the hybrid powertrain and not penalize heavier taller drivers...
I guess if you can't get the regs right, and give the teams time to catch up to the inevitable early leaders when they do change (Brawn in 09, Merc in 14), then at least rolling the dice is of some interest.
"5 to 6 seconds per lap faster". I imagine this is some silly comparison of lap one times with the full fuel loads vs lap one times with the new regs.
Anyway Faster is better right? Oh wait....
Still, at least the cars will have sharks drawn on the noses and red LED eyes. Grrr aggression.
Refuelling sucked in F1 before, and it will suck again. We'll probably have the same b.s "qualify with the race fuel" crap too. Pitstops are shite in general imo. Whooo another race decided with the car at 0mph, how exciting.
"5 to 6 seconds per lap faster". I imagine this is some silly comparison of lap one times with the full fuel loads vs lap one times with the new regs.
Anyway Faster is better right? Oh wait....
Still, at least the cars will have sharks drawn on the noses and red LED eyes. Grrr aggression.
Refuelling sucked in F1 before, and it will suck again. We'll probably have the same b.s "qualify with the race fuel" crap too. Pitstops are shite in general imo. Whooo another race decided with the car at 0mph, how exciting.
Super hard tyres only, ones that last the race. No refuelling, mandate a fuel flow restriction to govern the maximum amount of fuel used per race. Then mandate the minimum amount of fuel at the start of a GP to be way more than it takes to complete the race at the restricted rate of fuel consumption. Standardised ECUs etc. to prevent intentionally burning off the excess fuel in a flash. Boom. No more saving tyres, no more saving fuel, no more boring pit stops. Perfect formula (pun intended).
Maybe make the cars more road relevant by making them all fwd and mandate that each driver needs to drive the quali with a bucket of water in his lap... Any spilled litre=10 seconds added to lap time.
The problem is they need a thousand things to be right to make it into a series with consistently good car-to-car on track racing among drivers from different teams at the front. You can complain about the lack noise, but in the end what frustrates people and puts them off is the lack of on-track battling. A great race makes the news, a great championship battle does too, but then people get annoyed if they're team-mates for some reason.
The only way they'll ever get anywhere near that is to kill the series as a "tech driven" flagship series. Frequent rule changes just exacerbates things.
The only way they'll ever get anywhere near that is to kill the series as a "tech driven" flagship series. Frequent rule changes just exacerbates things.
So, anyway, it's Monaco weekend!
Grosjean you dirty bastard, early braking to make Verstappen go out of the race...
And Rosberg, you lucky bastard... Really wanted Hamilton to win but that was a stupid mistake to make from Mercedes. Ridiculous.
And Rosberg, you lucky bastard... Really wanted Hamilton to win but that was a stupid mistake to make from Mercedes. Ridiculous.
Not quite how I would put it...but yes, I agree.
Max was looking very racey..shame.
Roman apparently braked 5 metres later than the previous lap. All good experience for the boy.
Formula 1 Season 2015
(131 posts, started )
FGED GREDG RDFGDR GSFDG