F1 2010

Thanks Tony truly amazing control.
How about 24 of them for the F1 guys?

24 of them, and a Big Prize for the winner only. That should change their attitudes. I think there are only three or four WRC drivers that are paid by the works' teams. The rest bring cash. This has been the case for a few years now, and makes me glad I was a sad rally spectator in the heady days of Group B with seemingly limitless supplies of money. Some of it was legal!

F1 definitely needs something, and I'm still not convinced about the up coming turbo engines and ground effects......

Tony

quote:

F1 definitely needs something, and I'm still not convinced about the up coming turbo engines and ground effects......

Me either.

Still it was a close run thing this year and quite exciting.

Well, it was Ferrari's to lose. And they followed form.

Luca should have stayed well away for the entire weekend, not just on race day...

Nice to see SB take it out. Shame MW chocked.

2010 was a good season.

I think the Fiesta driver should lay off the Monster drinks.

I've seen quite a few around LA which does my heart good being recently released. Dad worked for Ford and I have a Focus. Great car, but my sports model isn't kitted out that way.

Well, here goes my cynical concerns about this year's title.
Red Bull wanted Herr Vettel to win.
Webber expressed his frustrations to the wider world with his "not bad for a Nr.2" declaration.
Last couple of races and Webber's car is comparatively rubbish in qualifying - were his nerves getting to him or was there something else going on?
Safety car comes out near the beginning of the last race and Red Bull's super computers hang Webber out to dry.
They then get the crew out into the pit lane prompting Ferrari to get ready to cover the move by Alonso. By pulling in Webber and by Alonso following him in, the stats were suddenly flipped in favour of Vettel.
Of course I could have been imagining all this.
But I seriously doubt if we'll be seeing Webber behind a Red Bull steering wheel next or any other season.
The big man from Austria pulled the strings and got his way.
On a brighter note, massive thumbs up for Adrian Newey - the man is an F1 genius.
Mild rant over!
Peter

quote:

I think the Fiesta driver should lay off the Monster drinks.

I think it's Focus WRC modded.


Peter as a conspiracy theory it has a lot of good points.

Adrian is indeed a genius, not for the first time has he designed a superior F1 car.

Definitely a Fiesta. And no WRC has 650bhp!
Conspiracies and politics. Only in F1 do I enjoy them. Funny how RB giving Vettel the better front wing would be regarded as an offence worthy of being kicked out of the championship if Ferrari did it!

Tony

Thing is. If you were Alonso wouldn't you have tried to pass Petrov?

quote:

Definitely a Fiesta. And no WRC has 650bhp!

Yeah he is now using a Fiesta, but being a WRC doesn't stop it having 650 BHP!
I did say it was modded though! I don't think they are allowing that much for next years WRC!

Ever seen Rallycross? Talking of modded rallycars.

I used to spectate at rallycross in the 80s, and even worked with a very successful team at Scotch Corner between leaving the RAF and joining BAe. Incredible cars, a great social scene, and huge sums of money thrown around. Sadly, a mere shadow now. Crossing the Irish border at Newry to travel between meetings at Nutts Corner and Naas while still officially in the RAF was one of the few things to properly scare me. Horrible experience.

Tony.

If it goes as well as it looks...

They pettily have chosen the colour scheme Lotus proposed to use.

Yep, two 'Lotus' teams in black & Golf, neither from Norfolk...

Lotus Racing ,or Team Lotus next year are headquartered in Hingham Norfolk.

Perhaps they could go with red and white with a horizontal gold stripe?

Really? Didn't know that, is there much Norfolk input?

They've probably robbed a few local garages, as well as the Lotus factory, for a few mechanic employees. The guys that stare at screens all day will be from all over the planet, as with all teams.
When I had my interview with Super Aguri, Mick Ainsley-Cowlishaw was quite proud of the fact that he managed to recruit so many mechanics locally by offering them at least £10k more than they were on. Two years later they were all going back, tails between legs, after a huge rollercoaster ride. Wish I had.......

Tony

As expected, team orders have now been made legal in F1 from next season. At last, some common sense. Also, the FIA has confirmed that in 2013, the engines will be 1.6 litre turbocharged units, max rpm 12,000. Lots of energy recovery too.

Tony

Tony

We have different definitions of common sense I think. The new rules include a variable wing control system that is only activated from race control by an sensor that detects when the car is within 1 second of the car in front. This is to facilitate overtaking.

What a contrivance! You really could not have made that one up.

Might be a wee bit entertaining to have reduced downforce just as you get within overtaking distance around a long fast curve. Will they have a little light that comes on so we know the system has activated? Just as they scoot past does thir wing kick back to full effect whilst the 'passed' car suddenly gets reduced drag and yo-yo's past?

Why don't they stop this external manipulation and deal with the fundamental reasons for so little overtaking-badly designed tracks, over reliance on downforce vs mechanical grip and brake performance.

F1 could perhaps be congratulated for recognising that many lost fans (like me) want to see more competitive racing but they have missed the point if they just put in place more bizarre manipulation like this.

Bruce

Well said Bruce. A contrivance indeed. I love it when people say I don't watch NASCAR/Indy because of the way they contrive the rules to make for passing and "spectacular" racing. Well they have it now in spades in the so called top rung of motor sport.
They are talking effort overload for F1 drivers (like fighter pilots)as being a real problem now (Mark's flying experience in Spain?) let alone with god knows how many new toys to play with.

My son just pointed out if Mark Webber was racing under these new rules , his big one could have been even worse, low drag wing setting and he just used the KERS button, maybe then he could have cleared the fence?

Gilles Villeneuve had the answer maybe a 1000bhp, narrow(ish) tyres and no/very little wings. No TC, active diffs etc etc.Of course there were no CF brakes then , so they would be steel, or at least a hybrid to allow for greater braking distances.

F1 does it self no favours , when it shows stuff like the MaClaren mission control centre, I mean WTF 30+ guys locked in dark room processing every aspect of the race cars.

Just as well the FIA is adamant about cost cutting eh?

Interestingly the less the teams are allowed to do physically to the cars over a race weekend the more reliable they have become.

It'll never be perfect. Never has been, and never will be. Ok, it has had its problems over the past few years, but highlight to me just one season that had none! I think the rear wing rule might attract some driver resistance, so is that just another publicity grabber?
1,000bhp? Naa. For my viewing 450-500 is enough. Common front and rear wings with little adjustment. Steel brakes? I'd bet my right arm F1 would make those work too!
I'm looking forward to 2013 more than next year. Let's hope some more good ideas are accepted before then.

Tony

PS. And please, a return to the old 9,6,4,3,2,1 points system!!

quote:

PS. And please, a return to the old 9,6,4,3,2,1 points system!!

+1
... and old school qualifying too. 1 hour on both Fri & Sat. Do as many laps as you like on as little fuel as you like so long as you do at least one banzai lap every quarter hour period.

Scott

Yep, that was the only change I'd have made to the old qualy system. The only complaint about the old system was that at some meetings few cars would go on track til 15-20 minutes before the end. Oh, and while we're at it, bring back hand grenade engines for qualifying. I know it's expensive, but I loved em! Would take a few hundred off unemployment benefits too!

Tony

quote:

Originally posted by Tony Lockhart:
PS. And please, a return to the old 9,6,4,3,2,1 points system!!

Why?

Why 9,6,4,3,2,1?

Well for starters my little brain could work things out more easily. Also, it already had the built in differential between first and second. And why should a tenth place give a point? That's like giving every school leaver a certificate! At least they still resist the temptation to award a point for gaining pole position, as if pole position isn't a reward in itself.

That's just me though.

Tony