Sport The Formula 1 Thread

[Meers]

What's that big fin on the t-cam for?

[RFT]

Big-fin on the T-Cam? I;m going high-bandwith real-time telemetry (possibly two-way) which they can run in testing but not the race.

It's in Finnish so you also get to see interviews with Raikkonen & Kovalainen using their native tongue.

Kimi really comes out of his shell when talking in finnish, doesn;t he?

(joke)

[Sidewaysbob]

I believe the big fins are for air pressure and flow analysis to try to corralete the data between the wind tunnel, CFD and real world

[kiroquai]

Only testing, granted, but this comment...

10:17 Another 1m19s from Webber - this time a 1m19.769s. The Red Bull is looking nailed to the circuit.

... is rather ominous, isn't it?

[Valver]

[MrPogo]

Only testing, granted, but this comment...

... is rather ominous, isn't it?

Especially as they don't usually reveal their true pace until the first Q3 of the season.

[Sidewaysbob]

In the good old days, McLaren would have been banned for being so far ahead

[thebigbadwolf]

Especially as they don't usually reveal their true pace until the first Q3 of the season.

I don't think it's anything special, both Raikkonen and di Resta got 1.19's yesterday.

Schumi has just done a 1.18 too.

[kiroquai]

Schumi's running a 2011-spec fully blown diffuser, though .

[thebigbadwolf]

Oh yeah. I don't get why Mercedes have turned up to testing in Jerez with their old car, what's the point?

[Sidewaysbob]

some ones trying to drum up a bit of sponsorship

"look at us, we're miles faster than Redbull and for only $40,000,000,000,000 you can have your name on the front wing endplate in really really small print"

[kiroquai]

The official line is that they wanted an extra few weeks to get the 2012 car ready for the second test - last season they kind of hurried the 02 along a little bit and spent the entire first test putting bits back together when they melted and cutting holes in the thing to cool it properly.

They're running tyre data runs really; seeing how the new Pirellis react under different conditions with a blown diffuser so they can compare data with the new 2012-spec diffuser car in a fortnight .

[Dudley]

Yeah, they know the 2011 car, so any change in this test is the tyres. For everyone else they're changing more than one thing. Frankly I'm surprised more don't take the Mercedes approach and at least run a day with old car/new tyres.

Also I loves me some unbranded F1 car.

[Sidewaysbob]

I think it has more to do with Mercedes umming and arring about signing off another season of failure. I think they want to go to DTM and do a Renault and become an engine supplier only.

Certainly this will be mickey last year. If he hasn't won by silverstone I think he'll announce his second retirement. If he can't beat Kimi in the first race I think he'll quit there and then !!

[dayte]

HRT (?): That's what I mean with the sloping, it looks pretty nice there, compared to the ugly nose approach used by the rest.

[MrPogo]

I don't think it's anything special, both Raikkonen and di Resta got 1.19's yesterday.

Schumi has just done a 1.18 too.

Oh. I haven't actually seen any times. Just assumed the re-quoted quote must have been justified in how impressed both parties sounded!

[Dudley]

HRT (?): That's what I mean with the sloping, it looks pretty nice there, compared to the ugly nose approach used by the rest.

It's an HRT yes but like Mercedes they're running the 2011 car.

[Dandy_Sephy]

if anyone is interested, DC is now on twitter @therealdcf1

[John0]

I know there really isn't much info to be gleaned from all this testing, but couple of tit-bits from the beeb that might be of interest...

There has been a lot of discussion this week about whether McLaren have missed a trick by choosing a lower nose for their new car compared to their rivals, following a rule change this season that demands a lower nose tip. Their technical director Paddy Lowe has been talking about this and says it is nothing to worry about - it's purely a function of different philosophies of aerodynamic design. He told Autosport: 'My model of it is, it is not that we have missed some trick. It is not a trick or a loophole that we did not spot. We have always known that you can lift your chassis there, but have chosen to not do it now. We did not do it before either, when there was not nearly the same constraint that you have now. That is the philosophy we have gone with.

Looking through the lap times from Jerez last night, one thing jumped out - Kimi Raikkonen's consistency. It was stunning, as it always used to be. Lap after lap was within a 10th of a second of the one before - and there were three separate occasions when he did three consecutive laps, all no more than 0.06secs apart [...] Whether Raikkonen is consistently achieving the level he was in his first F1 career yet remains to be seen, but the signs are good.

[kiroquai]

Yeah, Raikkonen looked pretty tidy. That Lotus isn't looking half bad as Grosjean's set the quickest time of the week so far on a pretty long run, so seems they have a handy car under them potentially.

Word is that Ferrari are struggling a bit...

[JohnC]

Some quick rule "clarifications" on the way then.

[John0]

Yeah Massa wasn't full of optimism was he?

It is a lot of work, for sure. As I said, we tried so many things different in the car and so many runs – we go out with not everything in the car. We go out to collect data.

"It is different than in the past. The programme is much more different and more complicated, also for us because we try so many things just looking for the performance of the things in the car that we are trying.

So they're losing valuable time today with whatever's wrong with the hydraulics...

[kiroquai]

I think initially they're going to be trying to get their heads around their funky front suspension. The real issue for them is if they suddenly find that they know in theory how it should work, but in reality the car doesn't do it. Time will tell!

[marsh]

That ferrari is as ugly as sin. It'll never be quick looking like that, I expect as has been suggested a 'clarification' of the rules shortly.

[Dudley]

Ok it worked for Kiro, so here's a mini nerd's F1 team/car quiz that Kiro will immediately answer all of.

1 - What F1 car has the best win/start ratio?

2 - Who was the first F1 champion to die of natural causes?

3 - Two F1 engine manufacturers won precisely 1 race, name then,

4 - One engine manufacturer has a 100% win record in world championship grand prix. Who are they?

5 - Ignoring any Red Bull/Toro Rosso debates, what was the last genuine customer car entry in F1 and when?

6 - And after naming them, name at least one other team who never built their own car.

7 - Name all 3 team names used by the company Frank Williams Racing Cars.

8 - Other than anything already named or anyone still racing, name 2 teams that ran under more than 1 name (eg Jordan/Force India)

9 - Name a team that only ever entered 1 F1 race.

10 - And an easy one, name all of the current teams that have never changed constructor name.

[sandman]

In order to watch the sky tv races will I need to a sky sports sub to get them or just a hd sub?

[Dudley]

In order to watch the sky tv races will I need to a sky sports sub to get them or just a hd sub?

Either will be good enough.

[marsh]

It's way too late to change the regs now, development is too far along, surely?

Yes and no. To iron out that hump is pretty straight forward, to replace it is just as easy. Making a shape that works with the rest of the car will be hopelessly difficult. I still don't understand how the current shape of broken noses is even mildly aerodynamic. I'd be alarmed if most of the teams including mclaren don't have a plan b in terms of front aero that goes back or towards the ugly bastard cars of today.

[Dudley]

It's not aerodynamic. But they feel making it so would cost them more under the car than they'd get back.

[thebigbadwolf]

In order to watch the sky tv races will I need to a sky sports sub to get them or just a hd sub?

Some of you will may dislike me saying this but I'm just going to stream the races via "certain sites". If you can get live streams of Sky Sports 1, 2, 3, 4 & News I have no doubt someone will do one for Sky Sports F1 HD. Just google "stream sky sports f1" in March time and you'll no doubt be sorted, with no unneccersary Sky subscription.