UN-Official Formula 1 Thread

[Matt34]

That was Gordon's reaction as well when he traded rides with Montoya as Annunaki mentioned.
I was at the Chicago Autoshow this year. Bridgestone brought a replica of Schumi's 2003 F1 Ferrari. It's a beautiful sight you could look at for hours. The shocker is that the crowd wasn't at all interested, there was nobody next to me looking at the car. They was a somewhat big crowd looking at the Porsche RS Spyder (the American LeMans race car), also beautiful, but not quite an F1.

I wish I could remember which magazine it was, real informative article. The author said he continually applied the brakes to soon on turns, even at speeds over 160mph. He said he would have to get back on the gas to get up to the corner.

 

[stratman]

This is loosely related to F1, but interesting nonetheless. They had a guy on the radio yesterday, he trashed his Enzo, the insurance company (they didn't mentioned which one) paid out 1.2 million, the carcass of the car was sold at auction (no amount was given) to a guy who thought he could repair and restore the car, Ferrari found out and immediately black listed the chassis and now the guy's stuck with a potentially worthless hunk of carbon fiber and metal, Ferrari will not release any parts for the car. I guess from a liability stand point it make sense for Ferrari.

 

[annunaki]

HA! HA! That's so true! Not only do you have to be lightning fast, but you have to take care of your ride. If the other teams are so poor, let them get into NASCAR. You're also right in stating that F1 is to be cutting edge, at the limit of the envelope, wether it's performance, mechanical or aerodynamical eventually this stuff trickles down to passenger cars, handicapping the engineering is not just bad for the sport, but for the car industry as well.

The best part of it all though is that the engineers have still made the cars as fast or faster than in 2004 (which was the year all/most of the lap records were set). Last year at season's end in Brazil Schumacher broke the lap record in qualifying by somwhere near .3-.4 seconds. The best part of that is he had 200 less horsepower at his disposal and two less cylinders on the motor. This year in Australia Kimi Raikkonen was only about .8 seconds off the outright lap record on CONTROL TYRES!

 

[annunaki]

I wish I could remember which magazine it was, real informative article. The author said he continually applied the brakes to soon on turns, even at speeds over 160mph. He said he would have to get back on the gas to get up to the corner.

The braking of an F1 car is truly a sight to behold. At the end of the straight at Indy they clamp down from 210-215 mph to 70-75 mph in about 300ft. That is where my seats are.

G forces during heavy braking are about 5 g's plus. Brake temperature approach exceed 2000C during heavy braking and average about 400C when they are up to temperature throughout the course of a lap.

The 0-100-0 time on an F1 car is about 5.8 seconds or so. 0-62 mph in 1.9 seconds. 0-186 mph time is 8.4 seconds. They can do a quarter mile from a dead stop in about 8.0-8.5 seconds. That is with the car being set up for a road course. 0-200 MPH is in the 10 second range I believe depending upon setup.

They can produce their own weight (1360 lbs. minimum with driver) in downforce at just 81 mph.

 

[annunaki]

This is loosely related to F1, but interesting nonetheless. They had a guy on the radio yesterday, he trashed his Enzo, the insurance company (they didn't mentioned which one) paid out 1.2 million, the carcass of the car was sold at auction (no amount was given) to a guy who thought he could repair and restore the car, Ferrari found out and immediately black listed the chassis and now the guy's stuck with a potentially worthless hunk of carbon fiber and metal, Ferrari will not release any parts for the car. I guess from a liability stand point it make sense for Ferrari.

If he was really good and had the proper tools, he could form his own new carbon fiber parts. Of course he would have to create his own molds and find an autoclave.

 

[majorloser]

Traction Control Banned for 2008 Season

&%$@

Another piece of great technology removed from F1 racing.

http://www.formula1.com/news/5857.html

 

[annunaki]

I agree, it stinks.

 

[mfabien]

I believe the idea is to rely more on driver ability and less on car functions.

 

[annunaki]

Let us remember:

The premise of Formula 1 was to advance technology. You were given a basic set of rules to stay within and interpret them technically as you saw fit without overstepping their bounds. F1 is about building the best car and getting the best driver you can for it. They have two championships specifically for that purpose. When the best driver ends up with the best car it seems like a whitewash. If you narrow it down to more or less a spec series you remove the want for the manufacturers to be in the sport. They can no longer use it as a technological playground.

What I do not like about all the rules lately is that they are trying to create closer racing. The thing is that they are already very close and that is why it is hard to overtake. The reason there was more overtaking in the past was that you had really good cars on track with not so good cars. They were easier to pass becaus the good cars were much faster. They also took more risks for first place because it had more reward.

 

[annunaki]

I believe the idea is to rely more on driver ability and less on car functions.

There is plenty of driver input necessary right now. There are plenty of things a driver must be aware of and handle throughout a race. He is still the reason a car ends up on pole or 4th on the grid.

Traction control is a subject I am not completly sure about yet. The biggest problem I have with it is a spec ecu for all of the cars.

I am sure we will see which drivers relied more on traction control than others in winter testing and the first few races of the season. Alonso relied quite heavily on TC while at Renault which you could see from his driving style. How he has adjusted at McLaren has yet to be completely seen. Button for example uses as little as necessary. I think that Raikkonen and Button will probably benefit the most from the loss of TC.

 

[stratman]

Let us remember:

The premise of Formula 1 was to advance technology. You were given a basic set of rules to stay within and interpret them technically as you saw fit without overstepping their bounds. F1 is about building the best car and getting the best driver you can for it. They have two championships specifically for that purpose. When the best driver ends up with the best car it seems like a whitewash. If you narrow it down to more or less a spec series you remove the want for the manufacturers to be in the sport. They can no longer use it as a technological playground.

What I do not like about all the rules lately is that they are trying to create closer racing. The thing is that they are already very close and that is why it is hard to overtake. The reason there was more overtaking in the past was that you had really good cars on track with not so good cars. They were easier to pass becaus the good cars were much faster. They also took more risks for first place because it had more reward.

I agree completely, I think the powers that be at F1 are eyeing NASCAR's success with envious eyes, they might be trying emulate the NASCAR model to some extent.

 

[Buckle-meister]

When the best driver ends up with the best car it seems like a whitewash.

It doesn't seem like a whitewash; it is a whitewash!

I used to watch F1 avidly. About three years ago I started to get bored with it. Yes, sometimes there were some cracking races, but by and large it became a one or two horse race. Boring.

I have to disagree Annunaki. It doesn't matter how technologically stupendous the cars are. If one person dominates the championship then there's little to no excitment generated for the spectator. By reining in those way out in front, the competition becomes just that, competition, and action then ensues.

 

[Buckeye_Nut]

I refuse to watch formula 1 racing until they get with the program and broadcast races in HD.

With that said, I think Formula 1 is boring because one or two cars tend to dominate a race. Where is the excitement in that??

That is unlike NASCAR because in NASCAR, 20 cars might lead the race before the race is completed. They're also banging doors & bumpers and swapping paint all race long in highly contested "CLOSE & COMPETITIVE" racing.

 

[stratman]

Lets just put it this way: Formula 1 is to chess as Nascar is to a rumble?

 

[majorloser]

Troubles For Ferrari

Kimi Raikkonen's engine had a slight water (coolant) leak during the end of the Melbourne race. Since this engine must be used in the next race this could spell big problems. If he blows an engine and they swap that moves him toward the back of the starting line (10 place penalty).

http://www.formula1.com/race/news/5866/771.html

 

[stratman]

Kimi Raikkonen's engine had a slight water (coolant) leak during the end of the Melbourne race. Since this engine must be used in the next race this could spell big problems. If he blows an engine and they swap that moves him toward the back of the starting line (10 place penalty).

http://www.formula1.com/race/news/5866/771.html

This has to qualify as the dumbest rule ever in any sport. The dimwit that came up with that one should be hog-tied to the fender of a NASCAR car and taken for at least 400 laps. Butt nekid'. With Michael Jackson driving the car.

 

[STRONGBADF1]

Kimi Raikkonen's engine had a slight water (coolant) leak during the end of the Melbourne race. Since this engine must be used in the next race this could spell big problems. If he blows an engine and they swap that moves him toward the back of the starting line (10 place penalty).

http://www.formula1.com/race/news/5866/771.html

Well it lasted the whole race but it didn't look like he could be as aggressive as he would like until the end.

SBF1

 

[majorloser]

Well it lasted the whole race but it didn't look like he could be as aggressive as he would like until the end.

SBF1

Yeah, I would only guess that he was under team order to make the engine last for the whole race and just earn the points. You could tell that the last few laps he was allowed to give the engine more revs.

But I'm sure he was also a little scared about the engine failing in the last few laps just like the McLaren did for him in the past. Use to be a big heart breaker to see him lead the race till the last few laps then the engine would fail or the front A-arm falls off.

 

[annunaki]

I refuse to watch formula 1 racing until they get with the program and broadcast races in HD.

With that said, I think Formula 1 is boring because one or two cars tend to dominate a race. Where is the excitement in that??

That is unlike NASCAR because in NASCAR, 20 cars might lead the race before the race is completed. They're also banging doors & bumpers and swapping paint all race long in highly contested "CLOSE & COMPETITIVE" racing.

I would say the racing is CONTROLLED & CONTRIVED in Nascar. It is easy to bang doors & bumpers while driving a 3,400 lb. tin can and only having to turn left. To me it is Nascar that is boring. 250 laps of the exact same thing.

 

[obscbyclouds]

I would say the racing is CONTROLLED & CONTRIVED in Nascar. It is easy to bang doors & bumpers while driving a 3,400 lb. tin can and only having to turn left. To me it is Nascar that is boring. 250 laps of the exact same thing.

I couldn't agree with this more! Not to mention that the 3,400 tin can's are technological dinosoars. They don't even hold a candle to F1 cars (or even ALMS). I guess that's my thing though, I love the tecchie, engineering side of racing, I'm not just there to see lots of passing and paint swapping.

As an aside, anyone else LOVE the new F1 G-meter? Actually it's more like a G-Graph, it's AWESOME!