2014 F1 Season.

WinkyIC,

Modern F1 cars are actually using smaller brakes especially on the rear, so with bigger wheels the tyre warm up will be even worse that it is now.

Originally Posted by GraemeH:

       

It was nice to see these elegant cars running at the weekend. G

       


Yep. And that's why I go to the Brands' Masters Historic meeting, and watch them racing flat out. Great stuff. Not enough room for company logos though

Nothing quite like seeing Jim Clark effortlessly racing THE Lotus 25 .  ATB Peter

Howard, don't forget that one of the ideas to increase the spectacle of F1 is to unshroud the brakes so we can see the brake discs glowing. With 18-20" wheels, that'll be even better.

The images I saw yesterday from Pirelli looked very good indeed.

Mazda MX5s are driven by old women with arthritis in their right feet.

I prefer to drive most cars with ultra low profile tyres. I don't mind the trade off at all, and neither does my wife! One major exception recently has been the S Class courtesy car I had for a weekend. Bliss on a magic carpet

F1 must keep moving on, otherwise it'll be as dead in the water as IndyCars.

Two thoughts

If F1 thinks glowing brake discs is spectacle it is seriously deluded. Spectacle = racing.

On the same theme. Constantly 'moving on' has to have a purpose; generally better racing. Tweaks for the sake of change are not good, and they increase costs as teams are forced to change everything again. Big changes can result oin the large disparity we have seen this year whilst some rule stability allows catch up; and more competitive racing.

Smaller than what? I thought the brakes (front, at least) looked about as big the tiny wheels would allow.

For F1, better racing is of course, better. But the the spectacle of F1 comes as much from the technology and high level of execution. The sport is about development of the technology. Anachronistic restrictions such as the odd wheel size and high profile tyres need to be updated.

If you only want to see close racing, go watch Formula Ford.

Remember when Lewis' brakes failed and he DNF'd and Nico was beaten? That was because their rear brakes failed. As part of the energy generation for the power unit the brakes are smaller this year which gives challenges at some circuits.

I think they look very good

They look great.

Originally Posted by Tony Lockhart:

I think they look very good

They look great.

They'll take some getting used to, but they're OK. New aesthetics are always a little confronting. Remember how dumb the narrow rear wings looked when they first brought in that restriction? They look just fine, now (even though they are now narrower again, I think?). Truly ugly interpretations like step noses and anteater extensions will be gone as the rules are adjusted to discourage them.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-28656050

So Bernie, accused of bribery to the tune of $44millon, offers $100m to 'buy out' his case. Irony just doesn't cover it!

Bruce

100% Bruce - Irony ? - like you say the word doesn't cover it. 

$100m is just a drop in the ocean to him & his wealth - reported net worth is $4.2 billion.

Isn't $100m is what he gets annually from his "foundation trust fund" as part of his divorce settlement.???

Go read up on his wealth, his trust fund that keeps his unemployed/able daughters in multi-million pads, how he is paid nothing but has an annual income of millions,  then see how he avoids tax !!!  its mind boggling.

He might have found a loophole to avoid a German jail,  mores the pity,  but the sooner he disappears from F1 the better IMO

Another crash between Lewis and Nico. Is it me or there''s something really dodgy happening at Mercedes?  

Lewis better be careful otherwise Toto's missus will be taking his seat next season. 

Another crash? When were the others? They have cLashed before. Rosberg has admitted to deliberately hitting Lewis. Mercedes need to get a grip of this. If they throw anymore points away Red Bull/Riciardo will be in there.

Where has Nico admitted that?

My bad, Howard. I should have said "incident" like the one in Monaco.

The boys are on the edge and the team, as you rightly said, is not handling the situation very well and it's very difficult not to be a little sceptical about the whole drivers position within the company. I still think there's a lot to play for specially with those silly double points at the end of the season. Let's see what happens in Monza.

Just for the record I do think it was an unfortunate race incident and no way should Nico be booed by the spectators. I have great respect for the kid. He has not cracked under pressure yet, Lewis has!

Hamilton will slam the door in anyone's face. Today maybe he should have left a few cm, which would not have compromised his position. Or maybe Rosberg should not have attempted the move. Or maybe they should not have been racing.  Few teams like their drivers to race each other. Fewer now I expect. Things like this happen when drivers race each other. I think that Hamilton's "chopping off" tally this season has worked well in his favour. Sometimes it will backfire. You're more likely to come out of a situation like that with a damaged front wing than a punctured rear. But the percentages don't always play for you.

Teams should be banned under penalty of permanent ice water bucketing from choosing one driver to support.  If that's the route people want to see the sport go down I'd like to see teams restricted to one car. There's no sight worse in sport than a victory being handed to someone who did not deserve or earn it on their own merit.

In my mind that was a racing incident between Rosberg and Hamilton today.  The stewards agreed.

The booing was a bit ignorant and Hamilton always seems on the verge of schoolboy tears when things aren't going his way.

I think that's a fair and sane assessment. Precisely what the media circus won't want.