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I don't think laptimes are telling us much, however, by looking at mileage the field does look closer this year than last. Still think Merc will be the car to beat for the 1st half of the year though.
Excellent article on Ferrari and Mclaren's problems from last year and things done to improve for this year.
Quote:
Ferrari and McLaren's new cars go in search of downforce after 2014 woes
Sky Sports F1's Mark Hughes assesses Ferrari and McLaren's new cars and why there could be cause for optimism in 2015
The new cars of arguably 2014’s two biggest under-achieving teams – Ferrari and McLaren – were revealed at Jerez, each of them very significantly different to their predecessors, both teams imbued with a sense of optimism that big performance gains have been made.
The respective weaknesses of each team’s car last year were very clear. The McLaren could never generate enough front downforce – the performance loss from this exacerbated by the tiny set up window it forced upon the car. Despite being powered by the standard-setting Mercedes power unit, it qualified around 1.4s per lap slower than the works Mercedes W05. Averaging 1.1s off the Mercedes, the Ferrari’s biggest shortfall – around 60% according to the team’s techical director James Allison - came from a power unit which lacked horsepower, had poor energy recovery efficiency and difficult driveability. The remaining 40% of the shortfall was reckoned to be aerodynamic, in particular a lack of rear downforce. Allison’s figures suggest that the Ferrari’s aerodynamics were responsible for around 0.45s of its deficit to the Mercedes. Therefore, the Ferrari’s aerodynamics, whilst not good enough, were much better than the McLaren’s.
A lack of downforce at one end of the car or the other invariably impacts at both ends. For example, Ferrari was constantly forced to run its car with less front downforce than it was capable of generating in order to have a car balance that the drivers could live with. This in turn meant that it would often not heat up its front tyres quickly enough (especially if the tyre compound was on the conservative side) decreasing the front grip even further. In this way the underlying shortage of rear downforce was giving problems at the front. Similarly, the McLaren was unable to take advantage of what may potentially have been the highest rear downforce of all (if the camber and departure angle of the rear wing was any guide) simply because the front proved stubbornly immune to generating good levels of downforce.
Although the problems manifested differently, both teams failed in 2014 to meet the big challenges of the new aero regs – getting enough front and rear downforce and then balancing the two. At the front the big obstacle was that the narrower span front wing (which stopped halfway across the tyre’s width rather than flush, as previously) made it exceptionally difficult to generate the airflow vortices (circular currents of air) just ahead of the sidepods that had previously sped up the flow over the front wing by sucking it back harder. Generating rear downforce had been made more difficult mainly by the abolition of blowing exhausts and the lower beam wing.
Only two teams –Mercedes and Red Bull - successfully resolved both those challenges with their 2014 cars. They each did it in different ways and in the new McLaren MP4-30 we see an almost straight copy of the Red Bull philosophy. Visually, in the way that its body surfaces flow, the MP4-30 has more in common with the Red Bull RB10 and 11 than it does with the MP4-29. In a way, this is unsurprising, given the recruitment to McLaren of Red Bull’s former aero chief Peter Prodromou. Essentially, he seems to have designed McLaren a Honda-powered Red Bull.
Just like the Red Bull, the stand-out feature is how tightly the car’s bodywork is waisted between the cockpit and rear wing. This ‘coke bottle’ profile is extreme, as the sidepods cut in very aggressively in plan view. Ron Dennis calls it ‘size zero’ and points out that it has been facilitated by how aggressively compact Honda has made the power unit. Gone are last year’s ‘mushroom’ blockers along the rear suspension that linked up the airflow of the diffuser and rear wing and which did so much to boost rear downforce (but at the expense of drag). The new car generates its rear downforce instead from that tightly-waisted rear bodywork. That has been made more easily achievable by Honda’s placement of the compressor at the front, just as on the Mercedes motor. Compared to the conventional rear compressors used by Renault and Ferrari this reduces the plumbing requirement for the intercooler, gives the compressed air a more straightforward route to the engine and allows the compressor itself to be bigger without damaging the airflow around the aero-sensitive exhaust area.
But what of McLaren’s problematical front end? Last year’s car had a considerable gap between the underside of the nose and the upper surface of the front wing beneath. Whilst this increased the flow to the floor and thereafter the diffuser (increasing rear downforce further) it militated against front downforce. On cars such as the Red Bull, the much smaller gap between the nose and wing created a diffuser effect as the air was forced through a narrow opening that widened behind, creating a negative pressure there. Although the new-for-2015 dimension regulations have forced everyone to change the noses of their cars, the general philosophy still applies: you can have either a narrow gap there (good for front downforce) or a big one (good for rear downforce). With the MP4-30, the McLaren has moved from the latter to the former. New front brake ducts, a blown front axle (guiding the airflow through the wheel to exit at the side) and sidepods which begin further back than on last year’s car, should make the optimum placement of those vital vortices ahead of the sidepods easier, boosting front downforce further.
But there is another way of achieving front downforce under this formula – as Mercedes demonstrated last year. Like McLaren, it opted for a big gap between the nose and wing to help with rear downforce. But it clawed back the loss of front downforce by an innovation in the front suspension layout. Instead of the conventional ‘A arm’ or wishbone arrangement, it instead had what in effect was just a single arm but with a forked end into the chassis. To get the equivalent strength of a conventional wishbone, this had to be much heavier but in eliminating the second arm it removed a key aerodynamic blockage in the creation of the vortices ahead of the sidepod. The Mercedes W05 therefore got to have its aerodynamic cake and eat it, with good front and rear downforce.
This suspension innovation has been copied by Ferrari on the new SF15-T. Although the car retains – uniquely among the 2015 field – pull-rod front suspension, it has Mercedes-like single lower arms with forked ends. The pull-rod layout already gives a clearer airflow passage (because the lower arms are higher, further out of the way of the airflow coming off the front wing) but with the single lower arms, it’s now clearer still. Ferrari’s aerodynamicists should have plenty of scope to place the vortices in just the right place to accelerate the overall front airflow. This should be vital in clawing back front downforce almost certainly lost to the very different nose layout.
Last year Ferrari had quite a narrow gap between the nose and wing. This restricted flow to the rear but helped the front. Although the siting of the oil tank within the gearbox casing (on all other cars the oil tank is in the gap between the cockpit and engine) allowed Ferrari to bring the engine further forwards to create a bigger diffuser area at the back, the nose layout was probably unable to feed that with sufficient airflow to maximise its potential. On the new SF15-T, when viewed from head-on the long nose being used for initial testing disguises the gap between nose underside and wing, making it look smaller than before. But when looked at in profile it can be seen that the gap is actually bigger than previously – feeding more flow to the rear of the car. This flow will be increased further when Ferrari makes its planned switch to a shorter nose (just as soon as it can pass the crash test). This is exactly what Mercedes did last year, when it introduced the shorter nose at the third race.
Ferrari’s rear downforce should be enhanced further with a tighter coke bottle section (though still nowhere near as tight as Red Bull’s or McLaren’s), a new rear wing family that James Allison reckons has been designed not for more peak downforce but more robust downforce that will stay attached better as the car turns or in windy conditions.
In essence Ferrari has surrendered some easy front downforce for more rear and McLaren has done the opposite. In terms of engine Ferrari is very bullish about significant power increase and better energy recovery. There is informed talk of an extra 80bhp. Last year’s motor was reckoned to be around 50bhp down on the Mercedes (though this year’s Merc is reckoned to have an additional 60bhp). If those figures are accurate, the Ferrari will begin the year 30bhp down on the Merc rather than 50 – and not be as limited as before on energy recovery from the ERS-H. In its initial form the 2015 Ferrari motor still has a rear-mounted compressor (and no longer split with the turbine to fit in the ERS-H) but it’s possible that the revised rules allowing engine development tokens to be used through the season will see Ferrari introduce the Mercedes and Honda layout of a front-mounted compressor later in the year.
Both the McLaren MP4-30 and the Ferrari SF15T, in the direction they have been developed from their predecessors, underline that the Mercedes W05 of last year was a year ahead of the game in both its aero and power unit. The Red Bull, in a different way, achieved similar aerodynamic excellence but remained under-powered. Whilst accepting that Mercedes will likely have made further gains, it would be surprising indeed if McLaren and Ferrari have not significantly reduced their deficit. Their first attempts proved to be false starts and they each now look on the road to the optimum paths suggested by Mercedes and Red Bull last year. Respectability – and maybe even competitiveness – beckons.
On the first day of the pre-season test at Jerez, three days after this interview was recorded, Nico Rosberg completed 157 laps. ‘They’re just showing off’, said Red Bull’s Christian Horner.
Within the FIA’s strict testing schedule, each Formula One team is allowed a certain number of filming days – last year Mercedes chose to use one of these to run the W05 for the first time on a circuit – and it repeated the exercise for this years W06 at Silverstone.
So this was the first day of a new school term. New uniforms – all a little too stiff and itchy. New classmates. And a new car. There were many team members on hand to run the new machine, both drivers, and two of the top-brass. A good time to ask questions and take-stock after a 2014 spent pummeling the opposition.
Nico-Rosberg-Lewis-Hamilton-Mercedes-F1-interview
Nico walks in first – tanned, lean, flanked as they all are these days by his personal trainer. He’s despicably engaging and bright. Really, he is. It’s only when you watch Nico command an interview, balance his responses with technical knowledge, humour and humility that you realise what one of the core frictions within the Mercedes team must be – Nico is a public relations dream. Lewis is not. Nico is the perfect boyfriend, the ideal husband, the model pupil. Lewis is the precocious talent brooding at the back of the classroom. And even more irritatingly for Lewis, Nico knows just when to stop short of the saccharine sweetness that makes people want to punch you.
He’s a good lad. You could drink good beers with Nico – but I’m an unashamed Lewis fan. Always have been, always will be. When Lewis’s car stops circulating at a Grand Prix, more often than not, I stop watching. It’s that sad. So these interviews will display quite staggering levels of bias in favour of Mr Stevenage.
lewis-hamilton-donut-goodwood-festival-of-speed
But we have Nico-time first. He chats engagingly about wintering-over in Ibiza. He absorbs ten minutes of pleasantries and small-talk and then becomes more serious as idiots like me ask what we think are perceptive questions. All of his answers are delivered in the most perfect English imaginable. How irritating is that? English is probably his fourth language and his active vocabulary is larger than Lewis’s.
Nico-Rosberg-Lewis-Hamilton-Mercedes-F1-interview
This is his response to a question about the modern F1 steering wheel, its complexities and how he manages to have the spare processing power to do so many things at once.
‘Yeah, it’s capacity you know, whilst you’re driving. We had a talk from the ex-leader of the Red Arrows two nights ago as a team event. I went to that just to join in. He said, “What’s important is that flying the aircraft becomes sort of natural, that you don’t have to think about the actual flying so much, so that you have much more capacity to think about problems that could arise, or where are your teammates, or no, that’s all part of the instinctive stuff, and problems that could arise or things like that.” That’s all the same in a race car. It’s great if you make the driving fast sort of the natural part, which comes quite easily; then you have capacity left to think about optimising the car around the lap, optimising different things.’
Nico-Rosberg-Lewis-Hamilton-Mercedes-F1-interview
Two things to note here – the fluid line of thought and the mention of dropping into the Brackley factory one evening for a lecture. That’s not Lewis’s style.
Next he responds to the suggestion that if he has ‘spare’ capacity, are the cars too easy to drive – is the mooted 1000hp F1 car what we need?
‘Driving in a foreign car is a massive challenge. Driving any car is exactly as difficult, yeah? There’s not one car that’s easier to drive than another when you’re on the limit. When you’re on the limit every car is a huge challenge. To be dancing on that limit, going over sometimes, bringing it back, never staying too far under, that’s the biggest challenge. Mario Andretti once said, “That if everything feels under control you’re not going fast enough.” That’s the same for all cars. Even if you take a little rent-a-car around the track now, okay you have a bit more time on the straights, but other than that, in corners it’s still going to be a massive challenge, even for me. Same thing.’
An unarguable position I’d say. At this point another questioner chimes in asking him just how ‘on it’ he is during a race, but he’s not finished with the 1000hp conundrum, so politely says he wants to finish his train of thought. This calm siloing of information and dealing with stuff in order; not moving on to the next task before completion probably tells you more about Nico’s fearsome analytical abilities and mental discipline than any direct question pertaining to the subject could manage.
Nico-Rosberg-Lewis-Hamilton-Mercedes-F1-interview
‘A thousand horsepower is not going to make it more difficult to drive. It’s just going to make it faster on the straights. You don’t want it to be faster on the straits at the moment because we’re close to record speeds anyway and that’s not going to make the show any better or make it more challenging. What I can agree with is the sound. That we need to keep on working on the sound a little bit because that’s part of the show and unfortunately the sound is not so good so that we need to look into and have a think about it. A thousand horsepower anyway, even if people start insisting, okay, we need a thousand horsepower, which I don’t agree with, but if they do then you just increase the fuel flow with engines that we have now and then you have your thousand horsepower, it’s quite simple to do. You don’t need to make complete new engines or anything. I don’t agree with that. I think it’s challenging as it is. Sound, only issue.’
Nico Rosberg Lewis Hamilton Mercedes F1 interview‘I’ll go back to that one [the other question]. In the race. I was racing Lewis. To race Lewis you need to go flat out so there’s not a moment where I’m just chilling out except when he was not in my close vicinity, then sometimes yes, I could relax a bit, but that’s natural, that’s always going to be a case. In racing when you’re comfortable you need to start protecting things because you just want to win. You don’t care if you win with 20 or 15 seconds or whatever. But it was always flat-out and okay, tyre management, but you’re still driving flat-out and tyre-management is just a way of driving flat-out but it’s still flat-out.’
And then Nico talks about the Mercedes advantage, about the team’s hard work, about his chances for this year, what he’s learned. ‘The tough moments are where I learn the most so that’s going to make me stronger.’ And then he leaves with an airy grin to go and sit in his new racing car and the six of us interviewing him all exchange a ‘that’s a very good lad’ glance and go drink some more coffee.
The car runs late with Nico in first, so we chat to Paddy Lowe about the technical changes to the cars and then Lewis hops in and completes two slow laps before it snows. When he dashes back into the hospitality area, I’m alone typing – he nips past to grab a drink. I’m star-struck, mumble something glib like ‘bet that wasn’t fun’ to which he replies ‘Nope’ and scuttles away.
Ten minutes later he’s facing the same six hacks, resplendent in fashionable undergowns garnished with a vast jacket whose furry hood appears to offer no practical weather protection. His handshake remains terrifying.
Nico-Rosberg-Lewis-Hamilton-Mercedes-F1-interview
He’s uneasy from the start. Answers are short, curt. The body language is starkly geometric, upright. Stiff. The opening salvos of nonsense patter are dismissed. Nico’s first answer about his Winter hols in Ibiza runs to over fifty words on the transcript. This was Lewis’s initial dialogue:
Speaker 1: Is it fun or like work today?
Lewis: No, not at all. Today I’m doing tedious stuff in front of the camera. That’s work.
Speaker 1: This is work.
Lewis: When you’re racing, it doesn’t feel like work.
Speaker 2: Talking to us it is?
Lewis: Yeah, that’s work.
Speaker 2: In racing, you get on with it?
Lewis: Racing is fun, yeah.
Speaker 1: How was this off-season now, second world championship? It felt like a different one?
Lewis: I felt the same as every year
Speaker 1: Really?
Lewis: Yeah, it didn’t feel any different.
Perfunctory, honest, no interest in stretching the narrative. Most people love to hate this about Lewis, I love it. The message is stark: I do this to win races, not engage in small talk.
Nico-Rosberg-Lewis-Hamilton-Mercedes-F1-interview
He talks about the success of last year, how he can improve, how he grows frustrated when he tries to explain a technical point because he suspects that we don’t have enough knowledge to understand, and he’s probably correct in that assumption. The he grows combative.
I ask him about his frugal driving last year. How we Lewis fans were amazed his aggressive style translated into using less fuel than most drivers.
‘You just never assume anything in F1 – because most of the time we may assume they are wrong. Same for everyone I think. I think every season I go into, it’s like, “Oh, he’s going to go through a couple of tyres. Oh, he’s going to go through all the fuel”. I was the most eco-friendly last year than any other driver.’
Nico-Rosberg-Lewis-Hamilton-Mercedes-F1-interview
He’s slouched back now. Not especially enjoying the questioning. He mentions keeping a notebook with all his racing history – set-up, solutions to technical problems. Someone says ‘Really, a notebook?!’ He bristles.
‘Because you don’t think we [F1 drivers] do much!’ He leans over and points to Jason from Top Gear’s notebook, glaring an assassin’s smile. ‘I have one just like you! I have a book just like that and from practice, Wednesday-Thursday night, I’ve got a sheet of things to study and things that I really need to make sure I remember. You put them on Thursday or Friday after practice, before practice and after practice. It could be gear ratios, it could be gear selections from corners, it could be braking points. You make tons of notes, tons of notes.’
He calms a little. Talks race craft, the difficulties of running in dirty air. He’s more engaged now. He’s asked to recall karting and utters a memorable quotation:
‘In karting no-one can see what you’re doing, You can see their lines, but you don’t know how they are flexing the car. You don’t know… you can’t see their steering input, you can’t see how they are drifting and when they’re… In karting, it was much easier to have an advantage. That’s why no-one could beat me in a kart.’
Nico-Rosberg-Lewis-Hamilton-Mercedes-F1-interview
And in that last sentence is the kernel of why I’m a Lewis Hamilton fan. I don’t care about the truculence or the occasionally combative tone, or the new hairstyle. I care about the racing. To hear someone say that they were unbeatable with a confidence that cannot be sullied with accusations of arrogance because the results sheets support the claim – that’s the essence of being a racing driver.
He talks engagingly about going wheel-to-wheel with modern greats: ‘You look in the mirror and you see someone like Fernando or… Immediately, you’ll alter opinion or your approach – you know what you have to do. You’re going to do the same thing, but you know how critical it is to be even more precise then because the moment you slip up, he’s going to get you.’
Nico-Rosberg-Lewis-Hamilton-Mercedes-F1-interview
He talks about the forthcoming test, the season preparations and then time’s up. He’s going – more knuckle-popping hand-crushes and then something strange happens – Nick from Evo asks him about his Pagani Zonda and his face lights-up. He gushes over the details, the noise, the manual gearshift. He’s not a Huyara fan. ‘They took me out in it and it’s all the turbo and it’s… It just whoooosh… There is that big whoosh sound to it, which I don’t like.’
He’s more energised, he’s talking feeely. Natural aspiration. ‘I remember my first time in a Formula One was here at the the national circuit with McLaren in, in 2006 I think it was, in the V10 – 21,000rpm, it was frigging amazing. It just kept going.’
The W06 ran for no more than ten laps that day, at around 30mph. Technicians fussed around it like an ITU patient and worried faces grimaced as it ventured onto the track before snow curtailed Lewis’s second full lap. Three days later the car would run more than two race distances without fault.
Mercedes is on a roll. Nico is a brilliant bloke and will push his teammate all the way this year.
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Alonso got airlifted to the hospital after a crash today during testing in barcelona, supposedly he's okay but testing has ended for Honda for the rest of the period
So it sounds like there's a more serious problem with the car than they've been having troubles with if it caused the crash today. which seems to be the reason for the crash since even Buttons testing has been brought to an end
They definitely look a year behind, which I guess isn't all that surprising, but jeepers Australia is coming quickly!
A bit of an interesting test today with Williams really showing speed and reliability. Looks to me like Mercedes is still at the front but the fight for 2nd between Ferrari and Williams looks to be a fun one in Aus!
i dont know if section 12 has a screen so bring a radio and binoculars
Section 12 has a screen, the problem is that it blocks view of the straight away. This was actually my section when I went in 2012, we ended up watching the race from the top of the patch of grass in front of Section 11.
Had the picnic blanket out, backpack with a lunch and drinks in it, it was actually a lot better than sitting in the stands.
Bought my Montreal tickets today! Section 12 - right on the second corner.
Anyone who has previously been to a Grand Prix to share some advice/tips for my first event?
There is lots to do, go early, wear comfortable shoes. Be prepared for the weather, when I went in 2012 it fucking POURED on friday and absolutely soaked us to the bone, then saturday & sunday were 30degree scorchers.
After the race on Sunday the crowds to leave are an absolute gong show, so have plenty of beers and chill for a while.
If you want to catch the podium celebration, you have to be ready at the spot where they open the fence by the paddocks a couple laps before the checkered flag, and then you have to sprint if you want to have a hope of being close enough to see anything.
The best thing of all is that you can bring in all your own beer & food that you want.
My F1 trip was probably one of my best vacations of all time (and I've done my share of travelling). The atmosphere, the character of Montreal, you will enjoy yourself. No event in Vancouver, barring the Olympics, can even begin to compare.
There is lots to do, go early, wear comfortable shoes. Be prepared for the weather, when I went in 2012 it fucking POURED on friday and absolutely soaked us to the bone, then saturday & sunday were 30degree scorchers.
After the race on Sunday the crowds to leave are an absolute gong show, so have plenty of beers and chill for a while.
If you want to catch the podium celebration, you have to be ready at the spot where they open the fence by the paddocks a couple laps before the checkered flag, and then you have to sprint if you want to have a hope of being close enough to see anything.
The best thing of all is that you can bring in all your own beer & food that you want.
My F1 trip was probably one of my best vacations of all time (and I've done my share of travelling). The atmosphere, the character of Montreal, you will enjoy yourself. No event in Vancouver, barring the Olympics, can even begin to compare.
Is it hard to meet or get the driver's autographs in Montreal? That would be pretty cool if possible.
Is it hard to meet or get the driver's autographs in Montreal? That would be pretty cool if possible.
I also went in 2012 and attended the open pit on the Friday which was kinda lackluster to tell the truth. Maybe because the weather was shit the teams didn't have the cars in the pit lane or the various wings outside, because it was pretty barren.
As mentioned previously you could try to get in line for a driver's autograph but.... meh fuck that (in my opinion).
I sat on the outside of turn 2 and thought it was the best seat in the house. We could see from the wall of champions to the entry of T3. Being in the 1st few corners at the start of the race is really something special and having the pit lane merge right infront of you I found it was easier to keep track of the race.
I also went in 2012 and attended the open pit on the Friday which was kinda lackluster to tell the truth. Maybe because the weather was shit the teams didn't have the cars in the pit lane or the various wings outside, because it was pretty barren.
As mentioned previously you could try to get in line for a driver's autograph but.... meh fuck that (in my opinion).
I sat on the outside of turn 2 and thought it was the best seat in the house. We could see from the wall of champions to the entry of T3. Being in the 1st few corners at the start of the race is really something special and having the pit lane merge right infront of you I found it was easier to keep track of the race.
Have fun!!
Rich
The pits were open on Friday? I don't remember that, if that's true I wish I knew.
I thought the open house was supposed to be on the Thursday, but was cancelled because of security concerns over the stupid Student protests that were going on at the time.
The best thing about spending the money on the Section 11/12 area tickets is that you can go pretty much anywhere around the track but people who bought tickets to cheaper areas weren't allowed on to the Section 11/12 side of the track. We spent practice 1 in our seats, practice 2 we stood by the straight on the exit of the hairpin, and qualifying & race we sat on the grass in front of 11.
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Also Caterham is auctioning off everything down to the last nut and bolt (including their cars)
Lots of F1 memorabilia to be had but also lots of stuff for your garages, maybe even stuff of interest to our resident shop owners and workers
From tool chests filled with tools to hydraulic lifts/generators/compressors/stands/portable ac/cables etcetcetcetcetcetc there are over 800items so.... take a look
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Quote:
Originally Posted by HonestTea
Pretty ironic post by Sauber F1 considering the court battle they're having with Giedo Van der Garde :
did you see the veiled threat they made in court?
Quote:
"Sauber could not allow him to race... it would be reckless and dangerous to do otherwise. It would result in an unacceptable risk of physical harm or even death.”
because the cars are 'setup' for the other 2 drivers