True, but you really can't compare these 3 teams with the others. They are driving a different race, driving against each other. We should only be comparing Lotus, Virgin and HRT and forget all the rest. Lotus and Virgin are of course extremely slow, but what I meant is that HRT will have problems getting their car to the grid. I wouldn't be surprised if they'd only get one car to the race. Virgin was really difficult to the drive, you could see it from the cockpit view and for now, I haven't seen any major issues with Lotus, except that they're slow.

I'm not so sure about Rosberg, at Williams last season he kept topping practice times but never showed the same pace during a race. Also Mercedes set their best times as other teams switched their focus to longer runs. I'm expecting Mclaren to win, even if they don't qualify well they have enough of a straight line advantage to do well in the race.

Mclaren vs Mercedes I think, the way its going F1 will become formula Mercedes before long.

Quote from Reik :

Looks like Mercedes will dominate in Bahrain! I mean the engine, not the team itself. It's hard to say what will happen in the qualify but I think McLaren and Mercedes GP will take the first two rows. Red Bull had some problems at least in the practice session and I think Ferrari wasn't that aggressive as they could've. There's was just something that didn't work well with them.

Seriously, I don't understand what's going on with HRT. Chandhok hasn't driven a single lap and I think Senna broke his car in the end of the second practice session, I wonder if they have any spare parts yet. I know "bla-bla-bla it's a new team", but they have some major problems anyway when comparing to f.e. Lotus. Virgin is also struggling a little bit.

Anyway, I'm rooting for Rosberg. He has driven brilliantly.

My predictions for qualify:

1. Hamilton
2. Rosberg
3. Button
4. Schumacher

They only have ONE car ready for today, and I bet they're doing an all-nighter tonight to get the 2nd car ready for Karun for tomorrow...

and then they'll just cruise around slowly for the rest of the weekend, because they most probably don't have much (if any) spares...

Typical of most to slag off the new commers. I think we forget sometimes how tight the F1 grid had become, when you think about it, 11seconds over a almost 2minute lap, it's not really THAT much, any amount of time you lose on a lap like this will be multiplied, ok given, most of the F1 tracks are quite big laps, but maybe not Monaco or Canada or even Silverstone (maybe not anymore with the new layout).

HRT : They've literally done not even 20laps and they are 11seconds off the pace, I'd say that was a pretty damn good achievement, I don't think some of you are really viewing it, in the full perspective of things. Remember, I say it yet again, the Lotus team and Virgin team have already run their cars at various test events. HRT haven't!!! That's why there is a difference. As for the Virgin and Lotus team, they will inevitably struggle with a new car, especially on a track that is effectively renewed, and also dusty until the track gets rubbered in and the dust gets washed out.


PS : Not to mention HRT will need to aquire setup data ontop of the data needed to modify and tweak the car for race day.

I think it's quite ignorant to just sit there and say "11 seconds off the pace, well thats shit why are they even here." How do any of you know that Bruno S was even pushing the car to the limit? You don't , it didn't look like he was pushing it TOO hard (to me).

Still if HRT cant improve their pace untill Monaco, its going to be tereble

Quote from BlueFlame :

Typical of most to slag off the new commers. I think we forget sometimes how tight the F1 grid had become, when you think about it, 11seconds over a almost 2minute lap, it's not really THAT much, any amount of time you lose on a lap like this will be multiplied, ok given, most of the F1 tracks are quite big laps, but maybe not Monaco or Canada or even Silverstone (maybe not anymore with the new layout).

HRT : They've literally done not even 20laps and they are 11seconds off the pace, I'd say that was a pretty damn good achievement, I don't think some of you are really viewing it, in the full perspective of things. Remember, I say it yet again, the Lotus team and Virgin team have already run their cars at various test events. HRT haven't!!! That's why there is a difference. As for the Virgin and Lotus team, they will inevitably struggle with a new car, especially on a track that is effectively renewed, and also dusty until the track gets rubbered in and the dust gets washed out.


PS : Not to mention HRT will need to aquire setup data ontop of the data needed to modify and tweak the car for race day.

I think it's quite ignorant to just sit there and say "11 seconds off the pace, well thats shit why are they even here." How do any of you know that Bruno S was even pushing the car to the limit? You don't , it didn't look like he was pushing it TOO hard (to me).

I doubt Senna would be allowed to push, as I'd expect them to be very short on spares...

and probably because of that, both wouldn't be pushing much tomorrow nor in the race also, they need to gather as much data as possible when the car is running (before it'll eventually have a problem and breakdown or get pulled to the pit)

Quote from JCTK :

I doubt Senna would be allowed to push, as I'd expect them to be very short on spares...

and probably because of that, both wouldn't be pushing much tomorrow nor in the race also, they need to gather as much data as possible when the car is running (before it'll eventually have a problem and breakdown or get pulled to the pit)

Yea, I never thought much about spare parts but you could very well be right. I just think as F1 fans we should support the new teams and I think as humans, we should respect hard work.

A return to the 107% rule would sort it. As it stands they are not even within 110% of the fastest time in the session.

No testing/not pushing/just crap...who cares, not fast enough = not racing.

Was it mentioned that something fell off Senna's car after his final (fastest) lap, and he parked it at T1 ?

Yes. Yes it has.

i thnk Ken Block is going to have an AWESOME year!! i know, wrong thread, but this is how random the season is going to be.

Funny to see that they use the longer layout in Bahrain this year instead of the old one!

I also kind of like the yellow Renault car on track; RE: car paintjobs.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/82051
Good sense of humor.

How slow are the cars compared to 2009? I mean lap record is 1 30, is there a track modification or something?...


oh and the BMW looks very very large

Yes. This year they are using the longer configuration.

I don't understand this F-duct system. How exactly does it improve aerodynamics? As I've understood it, it routes airflow through the cockpit, out the back of the car. Does this get put over the rear wing? Where does this airflow go, and how does covering the hole in the cockpit prevent stalling in the wing?

I take it the airflow goes primarily into the cockpit, and when the hole is covered, it gets directed towards the high-pressure zone on the wing, revitalising airflow? Without having time to dig deeper into the story (only just heard about this a few minutes ago) that is the best explanation I am able to formulate.

Does anyone have any pictures pertaining to this? (Aside from the small snorkel vent on the nose)

The air flows into the cockpit. By blocking a hole, the driver diverts the air down a series of 'tubes', over the engine, and down the 'shark fin', which is connected to the rear wing. The air flows INTO the rear wing element, and fills it with air, which escapes out of a thin slot, causing the wing to stall (massive reduction in drag and downforce).

Hugely clever interpretation of the rules. Should win a Chapman Award (if such a thing existed).

Quote from tristancliffe :

The air flows into the cockpit. By blocking a hole, the driver diverts the air down a series of 'tubes', over the engine, and down the 'shark fin', which is connected to the rear wing. The air flows INTO the rear wing element, and fills it with air, which escapes out of a thin slot, causing the wing to stall (massive reduction in drag and downforce).

Hugely clever interpretation of the rules. Should win a Chapman Award (if such a thing existed).

This is the first time I read a comprehensible explanation for this.

Quote from tristancliffe :

The air flows into the cockpit. By blocking a hole, the driver diverts the air down a series of 'tubes', over the engine, and down the 'shark fin', which is connected to the rear wing. The air flows INTO the rear wing element, and fills it with air, which escapes out of a thin slot, causing the wing to stall (massive reduction in drag and downforce).

Hugely clever interpretation of the rules. Should win a Chapman Award (if such a thing existed).

I'm still not exactly sure how this reduces drag... It sounds to me that it would increase drag as a result of putting more air on the wing, increasing pressure. I'm obviously missing a piece of the puzzle here. I bet if I looked at some good pics it might make some more sense

Quote from MAGGOT :

I'm still not exactly sure how this reduces drag... It sounds to me that it would increase drag as a result of putting more air on the wing, increasing pressure. I'm obviously missing a piece of the puzzle here. I bet if I looked at some good pics it might make some more sense

I posted a video a few pages back, check it, it might help ya out.

Quote from tristancliffe :

Hugely clever interpretation of the rules. Should win a Chapman Award (if such a thing existed).

Mclaren always seem to come up with these clever interpretations, but they usually end up being banned, along with all the other clever ideas that give teams an advantage. Let me just throw this out there, if Ferrari had come up with this everyone would be calling the FIA biased for declaring it legal.

Not sure about any other huge F1 communities QS, but the Lithuanian one is filled up with the crap you said, just the name Ferrari is replaced with Mclaren.

It is just how F1 fans are. If something happens that favors the other teams, they start accusing FIA of being biased.

Ferarri wouldnt've though, traditionally Ferrari like to stick to what they know. Apart from semi automatic gearboxes of course, although they were introduced by Ferrari at a time when most of the F1 car was being designed in England.

Quote from MAGGOT :

I'm still not exactly sure how this reduces drag... It sounds to me that it would increase drag as a result of putting more air on the wing, increasing pressure. I'm obviously missing a piece of the puzzle here. I bet if I looked at some good pics it might make some more sense

Something to do with being able to stall the wing. I am led to believe if a wing stalls it loses drag and this enables higher top speeds. Here's a good explanation http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2010/03/11/235/

and McLaren aren't the only ones with a snorkel. Can you spot it?