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Official Formula 1 Thread (Part 8)


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Old 19-02-2014, 13:44
gds1972
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Some good news is that half way through day one and the lap times are already ahead last year's fastest race lap so the fears of the 2014 cars being significantly slower seem unfounded.
It would be interesting to see how the individual sector times are comparing against last years race sector times as I wonder if the two straights are offsetting the downforce loss.
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Old 19-02-2014, 15:26
Assa2
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I'm sure there'll be some shift in the sector times. Also the cooler weather and the new tyres might have some effect. It's also possible that the new power units are allowing the cars to brake and accelerate harder so although they're slower through the corners they're faster into and out of each one, compensating for the lack of downforce. Basically... I dunno!
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Old 19-02-2014, 15:50
Assa2
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Day 1 of testing in Bahrain draws to a close. Another good session for Mercedes & Mclaren with FI & Sauber also showing good pace and reliability. Although Ferrari showed pace and did a lot of laps it was stop-start without them doing any long runs which has got a few chins waging in the paddock.

1. Hulkenberg, Force India, 1:36.880, 78 laps;
2. Alonso, Ferrari, 1:37.879, 64 laps;
3. Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:37.908, 74 laps;
4. Magnussen, McLaren, 1:38.295, 81 laps;
5. Vettel, Red Bull, 1:40.224, 14 laps;
6. Sutil, Sauber, 1:40.443, 82 laps;
7. Frijns, Caterham, 1:42.534, 68 laps;
8. Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:44.346, 5 laps;
9. Grosjean, Lotus, 1:44.832, 8 laps;
10. Massa, Williams, No time, 5 laps.
11. Bianchi, Marussia, No time, 3 laps;

The big news though, as it was in Jerez, was the problems all the Ranualt teams are having and in particular Red Bull. Vettel managed to pop one decent lap in before breaking down with reported scorching to the rear (ouch) and a distinct smell of burning. Renault clearly have not solved their issues. If they couldn't fix it over the last 2 weeks the chances of getting it fixed in the next 3 days is remote so the likelyhood is this will be another wasted testing opportunity for all the Renault teams. It's going to take a minor miracle for Red Bull to arrive in Melbourne with a remotely competitive car. Caterham must be getting quite excited at the possibility of having a car that might be ahead of 2 or 3 other teams.
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Old 19-02-2014, 15:52
snoweyowl
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It's still looking really bad for the Renault engined cars. They're not doing many laps and they're not fast either. If they can't handle a test then they'll certainly fail dismally in a race scenario.

It's looking bad for F1 overall. The grids are thin enough as it is but if four more teams are no hopers what does that say for the show?

I don't dislike the new engine regulation concept because it introduces more variables into the mix but Grand Prix racing needs a major overhaul to encourage many teams to compete for places on an extended grid.
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Old 19-02-2014, 22:40
gulliverfoyle
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not looking good for RBR, they must be getting worried now,i would say if by the end of this test they havent done a race sim run
it could be a fundamental issue in the renault engine package??
they may have to right off the first flyaway races
but they have a lot of clever people and a unlimited budget so it all fixable
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Old 20-02-2014, 01:05
Si_Crewe
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not looking good for RBR, they must be getting worried now,i would say if by the end of this test they havent done a race sim run
it could be a fundamental issue in the renault engine package??
they may have to right off the first flyaway races
but they have a lot of clever people and a unlimited budget so it all fixable
Are we starting to see why the double-points system is a bit unfair now?

Effectively, it means that Hamilton, Button, Alonso and co. are going to have to score points at two races early in the season to offset points that Vettel can score in one race at the end.

So, say, a win at Melbourne and a 3rd at Sepang isn't as useful as a win at Marina Bay alone.
How on Earth is that fair?

If anything you'd think they'd be awarding double points at the first race of the season, as a reward for best engineering.
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Old 20-02-2014, 10:08
soulboy77
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not looking good for RBR, they must be getting worried now,i would say if by the end of this test they havent done a race sim run
it could be a fundamental issue in the renault engine package??...
I think it more a case that Newey's design has packaged everything too tightly round the engine at the back of the RBR car.
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Old 20-02-2014, 13:47
Assa2
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I think it more a case that Newey's design has packaged everything too tightly round the engine at the back of the RBR car.
It's clearly both - all the Renault teams have had problems, not just RB.

Much better day for RB and Renault today, though. A fair few laps after a shaky start so the issues they had yesterday, which they said were car related not engine related, seem to have been fixed.

However they still aren't putting the same mileage as Mercedes or Ferrari (Mclaren have lost a bit of time today) and aren't anywhere near doing performance testing.

The fastest times today have dipped below 1:35 which is less than 2 seconds behind FP1 times from last year and none of the teams are running at 100% engine output yet (or at least no-one is admitting it).
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Old 20-02-2014, 19:13
Si_Crewe
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Much better day for RB and Renault today, though. A fair few laps after a shaky start so the issues they had yesterday, which they said were car related not engine related, seem to have been fixed.
I guess that's a textbook definition of a "knock-on effect".

I mean, if the engine can't keep the car moving for 2 hours then they can't find out what else is likely to fail under those conditions.

In other news, I see Bernie has won one of his court cases and is still pushing for double-points at the last 3 races. /
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Old 21-02-2014, 06:05
Big Boy Barry
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Bernie Ecclestone is an odious little toad. His comments on Russia's anti-gay laws were disgraceful. The sooner he's gone, the better.
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Old 21-02-2014, 09:34
Assa2
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The judge's appraisal of Ecclestone was interesting. He labelled Ecclestone as 'unreliable' and also said that he clearly was involved in bribery but that Constantin Medien did not lose out financially. They are going to appeal. Pretty damning stuff from the judge despite ruling for Ecclestone.
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Old 21-02-2014, 09:41
Assa2
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Day 3 of testing well underway and LH setting the pace. He's already dipped under the 1:35 mark but is on the medium tyre is is effectively 1 second faster than the best time from yesterday.

Interesting analysis of the Merc and Ferrari race simulations from yesterday. The average lap times were 0.2 seconds apart (Merc quicker) but Rossberg posted his fastest time of the day (1:36) during the simulation while Alonso didn't get his fastest time until much later during a shorter run. Suggests the Merc is near a finished product in terms of reliability and performance while the Ferrari can do both but not at the same time. Plenty of time to put that right.

Also Kobayashi became the first Renault powered driver to admit just how far behind they are in terms of raw performance. He said yesterday that they were 20-30kmph behind the Mercs on the straights at the moment! Ouch.
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Old 22-02-2014, 14:13
dee_eff
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With only 19 days to the start of the new season, I have looked (again) for the 2014 Soft Pauer F1 Timing App. No sign of it on their website. Does anyone have any definitive info. on the status of the app. or indeed of Soft Pauer? On their site there is only mention of the 2013 season!
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Old 22-02-2014, 17:15
Si_Crewe
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With only 19 days to the start of the new season, I have looked (again) for the 2014 Soft Pauer F1 Timing App. No sign of it on their website. Does anyone have any definitive info. on the status of the app. or indeed of Soft Pauer? On their site there is only mention of the 2013 season!
In my experience, it tends to only get released a couple of days before the start of the season.

Course, since they stopped doing the free version, I've given up with it and just rely on the live timing info' from the F1.com website.
Trouble is, of course, cos it's a bloody Java program, it won't work on a phone or tablet so you need a PC to view it all.
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Old 22-02-2014, 18:55
dee_eff
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In my experience, it tends to only get released a couple of days before the start of the season.

Course, since they stopped doing the free version, I've given up with it and just rely on the live timing info' from the F1.com website.
Trouble is, of course, cos it's a bloody Java program, it won't work on a phone or tablet so you need a PC to view it all.
Thanks for the reaction Si, but sit up straight and pay attention, or I'll bring you down to the front of the class where I can keep an eye on you.

In earlier years it was available, with a discount if bought before (if I remember correctly) 1 Dec. and I use it on my iPad.


Earlier you posted on the subject of double points "If anything you'd think they'd be awarding double points at the first race of the season, as a reward for best engineering". If they absolutely must have double points for any race, this idea of yours has merit. Got me thinking.

Cheers!
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Old 22-02-2014, 20:19
Si_Crewe
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Thanks for the reaction Si, but sit up straight and pay attention, or I'll bring you down to the front of the class where I can keep an eye on you.

In earlier years it was available, with a discount if bought before (if I remember correctly) 1 Dec. and I use it on my iPad.
Hmmm, must admit, I wasn't a regular user of it but I'm sure there's been a couple of years, during the "Vettel Era" where I've been looking for it and it hasn't been available until right before the start of the season.

Either last year, or the year before, I'm sure it only showed up a couple of days before the first race cos I recall considering posting to ask about it myself.
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Old 23-02-2014, 02:00
dee_eff
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Hmmm, must admit, I wasn't a regular user of it but I'm sure there's been a couple of years, during the "Vettel Era" where I've been looking for it and it hasn't been available until right before the start of the season.

Either last year, or the year before, I'm sure it only showed up a couple of days before the first race cos I recall considering posting to ask about it myself.
I've used for the last 4 seasons, almost exclusively for the driver tracker and last season I had the tyres on it as well. The iPad sits on a little stand in front of a 24" full HD set on my desk next to my PC monitor on which I have the three F1.com timing tabs and when BBC carry a race I also have two small TV windows with a 15 sec. delayed copy of the main TV screen for those "what was that" moments and the rather miserable pits screen. On the non-BBC races I am reduced to having the race from RTL and commentary from BBC radio. All in all I'm happy with my set-up but if I've no SoftPauer then my pleasure will be a little bit diminished.
If, however you are "sure", then I'll have to be a patient old duffer and wait.
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Old 23-02-2014, 06:42
Rocketpop
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It's looking like we are going to see a tier system based on the 3 engines.

Merc > Fer >>>>>>>> Ren.

I'm not sure how I feel about this, or course the engine should be a factor on the performance of the car - but should it be the defining factor, to the point it defines the grid/race order? If the Merc cars are 1 - 2 seconds per lap faster than Ferrari and a further 3 seconds quicker than the Renualt cars it's going to be almost impossible to close that gap on aero.

Of course this is only based on two test sessions, but if the Merc supplied cars are 4 seconds faster at Australia that the Renualt powered cars I don't think we will see a very competitive season.
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Old 23-02-2014, 10:27
Mystical123
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but if the Merc supplied cars are 4 seconds faster at Australia that the Renualt powered cars I don't think we will see a very competitive season.
Well at least it's not the same team stifling competition as it has been for the past few seasons, and there's more than one Mercedes powered team as opposed to one Red Bull, so along with Ferrari at least half of the grid should be semi-competitive, which is more than we've had the last few years.
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Old 23-02-2014, 21:20
Rocketpop
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Well at least it's not the same team stifling competition as it has been for the past few seasons, and there's more than one Mercedes powered team as opposed to one Red Bull, so along with Ferrari at least half of the grid should be semi-competitive, which is more than we've had the last few years.
Two of the past 4 years have gone down to the final race - and I'd argue in 2011 Mclaren had a faster car than Red Bull. Apart from the second half of last year the past few years have been pretty competitive.
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Old 24-02-2014, 11:08
Assa2
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Reports from the paddock last week was that the Renault power unit is currently 100-150 bhp down on the Mercedes! Whilst they will surely be able to make some of that up over time it's pretty clear right now that none of the Renault teams will be competative come the start of the season. They face the double-wammy of being under-powered and less reliable.

Personally I've got high hopes of the Mercedes and Mclaren being very evenly matched and you have to take into account that even if the Mercs have a performance advantage they won't get to use it in the race totally as the major tactical variable this season will be fuel consumption. I don't think it'll be quite as bad as having an effective sub 'Renault' formula on the grid.
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Old 24-02-2014, 13:53
zieler
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Susie Wolff is to do more testing for Williams this year including a couple of practice sessions...
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Old 24-02-2014, 14:05
Assa2
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I particularly like this comment:

Wolff feels her performance at Silverstone last summer changed attitudes towards her within F1.

"Yes, massively," she said. "There was definitely a stereotype of 'blonde girl walking around the paddock dreaming of being a Formula 1 driver' and there were a lot of people in the paddock who thought it was just a marketing ploy from Williams.

"But I said from the outset that there was no way Frank and Claire [Williams] were going to let me near an F1 car if a) they didn't think I was ready and b) they didn't think I could bring performance to the team."
No. Williams would never put money ahead of performance coughMaldonadocough.
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Old 25-02-2014, 00:02
Si_Crewe
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I particularly like this comment:



No. Williams would never put money ahead of performance coughMaldonadocough.
cougheverybodywho'ssatinoneoftheircarssincejaquesvilleneuvecough.

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Old 25-02-2014, 10:09
Assa2
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cougheverybodywho'ssatinoneoftheircarssincejaquesvilleneuvecough.

A tad unfair on:
Ralph Schumacher
Zanardi
Montoya
Button
Webber
Rosberg

It's really only in the last few years that they've obviously sold seats. I'm sure a few of the drivers above brought some money with them but they largely deserved their seats.
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