F1 2014

Testing is all over and what is this? Raikkonen is faster than Alonso? Oh no!! Yeah, I know it doesn't mean a whole lot right now, but it's fun to get the Alonso fans stirred up a bit. How do you let the new guy come in to your team and show you up?

It's Kimi. No surprise here.

Anyone else see this?

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/03/us-formulaone-offer-idUSBREA121ND20140203

That would be cool!

oldeskewltoy wrote: Hmmmmmm, the nose of the Red Bull is a bit like Ferrari... but upon close inspection is rather unique....

F1 website said: one of the most interesting aspects of Red Bull's 2014 car is its nose, which encompasses lessons learned previously on the RB7, 8 and 9. To reduce drag, the keel section at the front features two vertical vents, with the airflow passing out of the top of chassis as on last year's RB9. Further back on the nose, as well as the familiar 'S-duct' channeling air up through the chassis, the bottom section has another two ducts on each side. The outer one feeds airflow to the two turning vanes, while the inner one is more likely to be for cooling the car's electronics, as on the RB7 of three seasons back.

Williams may be getting sponsorship from Martini, we could see the return of the famous red/blue/blue stripes

http://en.espnf1.com/williams/motorsport/story/145189.html

In reply to Adrian_Thompson:

Those cars need something with a proof to make them look decent.

Simona de Silvestro to Sauber as an "affiliate driver" for 2014 - intensive testing in the year-old car, along with simulator time, to qualify for the super license, then maybe some Friday practices later in the season, with maybe a shot at a race seat in 2015 if it all works out. No decent seats in Indycar this year, and she apparently impressed the Sauber folks working with them at the USGP last year, so this is way better than an also-ran drive in Indycar. She's good, who knows if she can make it to F1, but at least she's got a shot. Will be interesting to watch.

This is really cool. Simona DeSilvestro is a Sauber test/reserve driver whith an eye to a seat in 2015.

http://en.espnf1.com/sauber/motorsport/story/145233.html

I don't know if this means she's not going to to Indy this year, I hope so.

In reply to ncjay:

leave him alone. he knows what he's doing.

Adrian_Thompson wrote: Example transmission. One huge advantage of turbo engines, especially with the electric assist due to KERS or ERS is that you have a very very flat torque curve. Severely limit what the teams can do with transmission. Limit them to however many gears you want either 6, 7 or even 8. But those ratios can’t change, they are what they are, heck you can mandate them if you want. Then allow three final drive ratios for slow, medium and fast circuits. That’s it; they have to be nominated at the start of the season and can’t change. Make the diff’s mechanical or at least self-contained. No active diffs, no on track changes. Once you’re on track what you have is what you have and it’s effectively an open loop system.

For what it's worth, WRC have essentially done exactly this. There is a spec 6 gear transmission that must be mechanically (not electronically) shifted. Further, there is no center differential, just a rear-axle disconnect to allow handbraking, and the front differential must be a mechanical unit (no viscous allowed) that may not be adjustable from the cockpit. They're supposed to be able to be adjusted from outside the trans (with tools) though, and that is something I want to see.

Less than two weeks to go

We finally have pics of the Williams Martini livery, look sspectacular.

So from testing it looks like all the Mercedes teams are putting down good times, with Williams even topping the time sheets at some points. Ferrari seem close on reliability, but a few tenths off the pace. The other Ferrari runners also have resonable reliablity. Renault are in a world of hurt, Red Bull especially. I could even see the possibility of MArussia scoring points in Adelaide if they keep running.

It looks like this is going to really be a season of stratagy and the long game. Gone are crappy tires, but there isn't going to be the gas to run a whole race balls to the wall, I see the thinking drivers having the upper hand. I still believe that Hammy and Alonso are the fastest guys in the world over a single lap, but more than ever this isn't going to be a single lap event. I see (in no particular order) Alonso, Button, Kimi and Rosberg all having a real good shot at the WDC plus Seb once the reliability comes up to par and Newey sorts out the cooling. It will be ironic if the double points bull E36 M3 that was specificaly designed as an anti Seb move ends up giving him the title. Much as a I want HAmmy to do well, I think he will shoot himself in the foot. I'm rooting Button, Kimi and Holywood, I have to on principle keep rooting against 'AnyonebutAlonso'

Helmet Marko has said Australia is coming 2 months to early for Red Bull Racing.

It looks like this is going to really be a season of stratagy and the long game. Gone are crappy tires, but there isn't going to be the gas to run a whole race balls to the wall, I see the thinking drivers having the upper hand.

I'm still not convinced it's not just going to turn into a fuel efficiency parade where nobody can race because if they do then they don't have enough fuel to finish. We'll see what happens.

I just had a horrible "wait, the double points thing wasn't a bad dream?" moment...

That is excellent livery. Well done Williams.

Ransom wrote: I just had a horrible "wait, the double points thing wasn't a bad dream?" moment...

I had the same thought until I realized the double-points finish would mostly benefit the usual players. A team like RBR might be slow at the start of the season but their resources and ability to continue development over the year could make them biggest benefactor with the new points structure.

In other words, the more things change the more they stay the same.

The word is Mercedes????

F1 opens this coming weekend, and the first practice begins in about 100 min (its now 4:50pm pacific time)

Redbull, or more correctly Renault powerplants are not even expected to last the race!

So... assuming Mercedes power is the driveline of choice/desire... is it Mercedes cars who win, or a Mercedes customer (Williams maybe???

Pre-season predictions:

Mercedes takes the Constructor's and Hammy gets title #2. Rosberg, Kimi, and Alonso all win multiple rounds. Ferrari 2nd in Constructor's RBR comes on strong at the end of the year, but too little, too late. Williams podiums a few times. Lotus crashes out of more race than it finishes. Kobyashi gets points in his new car.

the new cars look....well....slow. the visual excitment of the cars is lacking right now. hopefully they'll get faster and that will improve...and the sound needs to grow on me. i'm not overly thrilled with the cars yet, except the look ok despite the penis front ends.

racerdave600 wrote: the new cars look....well....slow. the visual excitment of the cars is lacking right now. hopefully they'll get faster and that will improve...and the sound needs to grow on me. i'm not overly thrilled with the cars yet, except the look ok despite the penis front ends.

I only watched P1, and noticed that the times in P2 are significantly faster than P1. But I do like seeing the car slide around the track- particularly that the driver now has control over how much oversteer there is more than in the past. With the big loss in downforce, the higher torque from the 1.6 turbo, and the torque from the electric motor- it was pretty clear that many of the drivers were still coming to grips that more of the driving is in their hands. In spite of all of the newly added technology.

The actual race will be interesting.

edit- looking at last years results... ignoring Q1, which was wet (very), and Q2 which was damp (the next day), Q3's fasted time was 1:27.4, and the fastest lap of the race was 1:29.2. In P2 in the new cars, the two Mercedes did 1:29.change. So even with lower downforce, harder tires, less power, and more weight, the cars are pretty close in time to last year. Not bad.

P2 was much faster overall than p1. There are a lot of suggestions that very few will risk the cars for P3 and save the cars for qualifying on Saturday.

Love the formatting options here

2nd Free Practice Session from the Formula One Australian Grand Prix at Albert Park on Friday 1. Lewis Hamilton (Britain) Mercedes 1:29.625 2. Nico Rosberg (Germany) Mercedes 1:29.782 3. Fernando Alonso (Spain) Ferrari 1:30.132 4. Sebastian Vettel (Germany) RedBull - Renault 1:30.381 5. Jenson Button (Britain) McLaren 1:30.510 6. Daniel Ricciardo (Australia) RedBull - Renault 1:30.538 7. Kimi Raikkonen (Finland) Ferrari 1:30.898 8. Valtteri Bottas (Finland) Williams-Mercedes 1:30.920 9. Kevin Magnussen (Denmark) McLaren 1:31.031 10. Nico Huelkenberg (Germany) Force India - Mercedes 1:31.054 11. Jean-Eric Vergne (France) Toro Rosso - Renault 1:31.060 12. Felipe Massa (Brazil) Williams-Mercedes 1:31.119 13. Sergio Perez (Mexico) Force India - Mercedes 1:31.283 14. Adrian Sutil (Germany) Sauber - Ferrari 1:32.355 15. Esteban Gutierrez (Mexico) Sauber - Ferrari 1:32.468 16. Danill Kvyat (Russia) Toro Rosso - Renault 1:32.495 17. Jules Bianchi (France) Marussia - Ferrari 1:33.486 18. Romain Grosjean (France) Lotus - Renault 1:33.646 19. Max Chilton (Britain) Marussia - Ferrari 1:34.757 20. Marcus Ericsson (Sweden) Caterham - Renault 21. Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) Caterham - Renault 22. Pastor Maldonado (Venezuela) Lotus - Renault

The Red Bull team appear to at least be in the game... but I suspect the Renault powertrain will not last

Here are a few predictions (premonitions?) I had about the upcoming season...

We'll see how it goes...

alfadriver wrote:

racerdave600 wrote: the new cars look....well....slow. the visual excitment of the cars is lacking right now. hopefully they'll get faster and that will improve...and the sound needs to grow on me. i'm not overly thrilled with the cars yet, except the look ok despite the penis front ends.

I only watched P1, and noticed that the times in P2 are significantly faster than P1. But I do like seeing the car slide around the track- particularly that the driver now has control over how much oversteer there is more than in the past. With the big loss in downforce, the higher torque from the 1.6 turbo, and the torque from the electric motor- it was pretty clear that many of the drivers were still coming to grips that more of the driving is in their hands. In spite of all of the newly added technology. The actual race will be interesting. edit- looking at last years results... ignoring Q1, which was wet (very), and Q2 which was damp (the next day), Q3's fasted time was 1:27.4, and the fastest lap of the race was 1:29.2. In P2 in the new cars, the two Mercedes did 1:29.change. So even with lower downforce, harder tires, less power, and more weight, the cars are pretty close in time to last year. Not bad. P2 was much faster overall than p1. There are a lot of suggestions that very few will risk the cars for P3 and save the cars for qualifying on Saturday.

Yeah, at the time I wrote this I had only watched P1. P2 was significantly faster. For some reason, they still "appeared" slow. I did a quick look at a clip from last year and the cars seemed to turn in faster and were more "darty". It's mostly an illusion I think as they are still very quick. The extra weight probably has a lot to do with that.

I'm sure they will grow on me, even the sound. I think the cars look better this year though, and I really like the new Ferrari and Williams paint schemes.

RICCIARDO, seems that somebody knew what they were doing when RBR chose this gun.

His run up to the race at Melbourne has been outstanding

Also, it seems the Aussie crowd have not forgiven Vettel for his failure to comply with team rules and taking Webber's deserved win, huge applause for his failure.

I wonder if he can adapt to driving a torque car?