The Formula One Thread

Also, Grosjean did NOT pass Palmer. Or maybe he did? I didnt see where the cars came to rest.

 

Oh, don't get me wrong. I sure as hell didn't watch live and with the amount of fast-forwarding I had to do I finished things up in about 30 minutes. Watched the first 5-10 laps, triple-clicked the entire middle, then watched the closing 10.

It's the only way to tolerate these races, and works out pretty well for avoiding falling asleep.

 

I like how they get all excited about the DRS Zone being enabled and how it's going to make a difference and let the second place car pass the first place car...

 

I believe Massa played a role there. not that it defined the finishing order but Vettel was giving it all to get within drs distance from Bottas and firstly Bottas gets drs from Massa then Massa did not make it easy for Vettel.

 

Four races in and I still don't think these cars can run close once the first lap or two are done. Look again how fast everyone got spread out. If the car does not clearly get out of the way, the trailing car does not have enough clean air to even get close. I don't think Vettel could have gotten close enough to pass. Even his one or two laps of DRS really didn't help much. Once they got in the twisties, you saw him struggle with the front and lose time with the gap going from 0.9 back up to 1.2 in sectors 1 and 2, especially around turn three. The AMG was on rails in that corner and the Ferrari lost a few lengths.

 

I wish lapped traffic didn't count for DRS.

 

I agree with you whole heatedly. Also throw in the fact that the cars are overheating (engine, batteries, brakes) due to the lack of cooling air available in the wake of the leading car which is growing due to the increased aero. There have been more than one occasion where team radio is reporting that cars are overheating even though they're 1.5 - 2 seconds behind the car in front.

 

I just wish there was no DRS

 

less aerodynamically generated grip would help. cars dependent primarily on mechanical grip would give more chances for wheel to wheel battles but they would be significantly slower.

 

They have tried since the 80s, when they banned the skirts. The engineers always find ways to make up for what they lose when the regulations are changed.

 

Just make them race in these. The trailing car would definitely have an advantage. Then when they passed they'd be at an aero disadvantage. You'd have a freight train of cars with passing practically every turn. Added benfit, no stupid halo needed and I think it looks sexy. Also, you could ride as a passenger during the race.

 

They already have a race series like that.

 

Every time someone leaps ahead there's a banning. Most recent example: Brawn GP and the double diffuser . Another one that comes to mind ,the crazy car with the floor fans somewhere in the 80s .

The cars must be fast (the king of motorsports has to) but there's a fine balance for producing great racing too. Don't get silly.*

*not for you hppt

 

Sochi's pole speed was 2 seconds faster this year.

 

The cars looked A LOT faster through the turns at Sochi this year. Just imagine if they were actually 5 seconds a lap quicker, as intended.

 

I watched Fernando do his Indy Rookie test and laps today. Looked very solid. Very keen eyes and those who know their history would have seen that Fernando's name on the side of his car was written in classic 60's McLaren script.

 

I watched it, too, and I think the Indy team did a great job covering it all. Lots of cool history/commentary in the booth.

PS Hail Robin Miller!

 

The Brabham BT46B
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brabham_BT46



However, Chapparal was the first to attempt this sort of concept 8 years earlier with the 2J Can-Am car.

 

I was there! Did you see it live or on the feed? He did 110 laps, best was 220.5. Mario and Michael had quite a few good things to say about his time on the track. Michael said "he's already moving the car around searching for different lines, not many people try that their first day"

I liked some of the comments from European watchers saying you wouldn't think 1 car on a track would be interesting to watch but it was.

 

2 million world wide watched Fernando turn left on the net.

Watching the Euro comments, you could tell many did not understand the rookie testing process where they are speed limited but have to hold that speed for x number of laps with gradual increases in speed. When he first went out, a bunch were posting "too slow, he'll never make the field at 208 mph!!"

Razr, I saw the feed, but who has two thumbs and is heading down in two weeks to watch Alonso et al in practice for a couple days for a paid work function at a suite at the track??

This guy.