F1 2019

[bob6600]

And yet if Lewis had been put in the same position I expect he would have made more progress through the field. Toto will be thinking that Bottas may have been unlucky but did he do enough to turn it around.

I noticed that too. Bottas didn't seem to get through the traffic very well. Ultimately though he gets enough results for Mercedes to be miles ahead in the WCC. The top 3 teams do seem to have one driver better than the other (HAM, VER and LEC). Gasly and Bottas are dangling by a thread. Vettel being a 4 time champion is probably all he has going for him right now.

 

[Bellow]

I wouldn't write Vettel off yet.

 

[Mactech]

The T shirt explanation of motor sport.....

 

[whitenemesis]

I've never quite understood the last one, Torque. Surely how far the wall is pushed is down to momentum, the speed and mass of the car. Torque would only come into it if the engine was still running, accelerating and the wheels gripping?

Or am I "over thinking" it?

 

[rf065]

I've never quite understood the last one, Torque. Surely how far the wall is pushed is down to inertia, the speed and mass of the car. Torque would only come into it if the engine was still running and the wheels gripping?

Or am I "over thinking" it?

Your over thinking it, definately. Think of a car with high HP but no torque stationary against a wall, try to move forward and it will stall. Take a car with masses of torque and it will try to push the wall out of it's way. Obviously poetic licence here but you get the drift?

 

[Mactech]

Yes!...and the wall collects (or corrects?) the drift...

 

[whitenemesis]

Your over thinking it, definately. Think of a car with high HP but no torque stationary against a wall, try to move forward and it will stall. Take a car with masses of torque and it will try to push the wall out of it's way. Obviously poetic licence here but you get the drift?

I was following on from the three statements above where the car is hitting the wall (not stopped against it) the only force acting on the wall being the car's momentum

Defo over thinking this..

 

[bob6600]

I wouldn't write Vettel off yet.

Definitely not, but we all know how brutal Ferrari are.Although, this year they haven't had the car so the driver's are not fully responsible for not winning.

 

[Bellow]

Definitely not, but we all know how brutal Ferrari are.Although, this year they haven't had the car so the driver's are not fully responsible for not winning.

And, as I read recently, provided Vettel with a car to his liking. It seems SV prefers a car with a lot of bite from the front axle and Ferrari this season have given him one that understeers.
Historically, the only two drivers that I have heard of that could live with an understeering car were Senna and Prost. That LeClerc has on occasion outperformed SV with such a car may point to his talent, but in qualifying maybe understeer is less damaging then when encountered over a full race distance.
SV's recent performances appear to have rejuvenated him and taken some pressure off his shoulders (I can't imagine what the Italian press have thrown at him this season). And I don't give to much credence to him being beat by Ricciardo in his final season at Red Bull. I'm more inclined to believe he saw that RB were not going to be as competitive with the new regulations as he wanted for some time (a correct analysis) and he deliberately invoked the 'lack of performance' clause to flee to Ferrari.

 

[st13phil]

And, as I read recently, provided Vettel with a car to his liking. It seems SV prefers a car with a lot of bite from the front axle and Ferrari this season have given him one that understeers.

It's absolutely true that many drivers only perform at their best when the chassis behaves in a particular way under them. The Red Bull / Vettel combination in the blown diffuser era is a very good case in point, with Vettel being able to consistently extract more performance from the car than his team mate.

What’s slightly baffling about Ferrari is that they choose to pay Vettel large sums to drive for them and - presumably - to win the championship, but then don’t engineer the car to play to his strengths

 

[Bellow]

It's absolutely true that many drivers only perform at their best when the chassis behaves in a particular way under them. The Red Bull / Vettel combination in the blown diffuser era is a very good case in point, with Vettel being able to consistently extract more performance from the car than his team mate.

That's how the article read - strong front end bite for a late and fast turn in than mastery of the blown diffuser effect for exit.

What’s slightly baffling about Ferrari is that they choose to pay Vettel large sums to drive for them and - presumably - to win the championship, but then don’t engineer the car to play to his strengths

I can only assume that the direction the new regs have set their design on is at the source of this. When we consider how Ferrari built cars around Schumacher's preferences (and hang the team mate), and SV's tenure there, odd indeed!
Noticeably more buoyant these last two races, perhaps there is progress in getting the car to his liking pending. For certain, there was an air of optimism that faster tracks are to be visited soon and though it's easily forgotten after watching them come home 60s behind RB and MB in Hungary, the Ferrari is fast in a straight line.
Personally, I'm pleased to see SV back on track. Good for the championship/sport too. His last two drives were really none too shabby!

 

[Stratman]

Could Ferrari's straight line speed be due, at least in part, to lack of downforce? Their poor performance at Hungary would point to this, poor relative to Mercedes and Red Bull anyway. If this is the case then presumably MB and RB will dial back the downforce and its attendant drag at Spa and Monza, and thereby increase straight line speed.

Or am I over (or under) thinking this?

 

[Bellow]

Could Ferrari's straight line speed be due, at least in part, to lack of downforce? Their poor performance at Hungary would point to this, poor relative to Mercedes and Red Bull anyway. If this is the case then presumably MB and RB will dial back the downforce and its attendant drag at Spa and Monza, and thereby increase straight line speed.

Or am I over (or under) thinking this?

Or in MB's case, dial back the cooling.

 

[GeeJayW]

Could Ferrari's straight line speed be due, at least in part, to lack of downforce? Their poor performance at Hungary would point to this, poor relative to Mercedes and Red Bull anyway. If this is the case then presumably MB and RB will dial back the downforce and its attendant drag at Spa and Monza, and thereby increase straight line speed.

Or am I over (or under) thinking this?

I'd say that Ferrari's straight line speed advantage is due to lower drag, which could mean less downforce, but not necessarily depending on the efficiency of their aero package. Maybe they have a bit more power too (which could be from the engine or the battery pack). For sure MB et al including Ferrari will take some wing off for Spa and Monza, they'll probably be troubling the rev limiter in top on the long runs.

As for the understeer/oversteer thing; it seems to me that a lot of the guys these days want a car that just turns in regardless and they manage the rear accordingly. I'm not an expert, but it seems that getting this to happen everywhere is tricky as some of it depends on geometry setup, some of it on where the centre of aerodynamic pressure is acting at a given speed and attitude, how the weight transfer is being managed by the driver, how steering inputs are being applied, how well the tyres are doing etc.. Also having a pointy car needs the driver to be on the ball all of the time else they go straight to the scene of the accident (backwards...).

I hope Ferrari and Red Bull can put more pressure on Mercedes, otherwise the last third of the season is going to be irrelevant from a public interest viewpoint.

 

[anglaslt]

Red Bull: Alexander Albon to replace Pierre Gasly

Albon to replace Gasly for remainder of the season. The drivers will swap places. Tough on Gasly but hardly surprising.

 

[GeeJayW]

Wow! Not entirely unexpected I guess, but sooner than I thought.

 

[Mactech]

Wow! Not entirely unexpected I guess, but sooner than I thought.

Yes, it's a tough move, but they are known not to suffer fools gladly....and then one turns up on the podium in Germany and makes then seem a little foolish....

In fairness, Kvyat is now much wiser and more mature. You just wonder how quickly Albon will mature or will he crumble under pressure?
He has at least got a a good British public school education under his belt

 

[Dryce]

Yes, it's a tough move, but they are known not to suffer fools gladly.

I don't think PG is a fool

WCC points are valuable and figuring that somebody else in that seat could get them more means that it's worth the risk of 'blooding' Albon.

Also they'll be looking at Hungary and figuring that if they had a better second driver then Mercedes would never have had the option to Pit LH for those softs - that they'd have a third WDC win as well as a WCC win. More points from both drivers.

It shows how much Ricciardo was worth to them. They'd probably be second in the WCC and possibly MV would be second in the WDC if DR was taking points off Bottas.

Anyway - who would have thought that Red Bull Honda would have two wins and an almost win by the mid season break? I assumed before the season started there would be less reliability and MV might get a couple of lucky 3rds and some 'best of the rest' points with the expectation of fighting for wins next year or falling out with Honda. Instead we have Red Bull Honda probably girding themselves to get more wins and a realistic target to beat Ferrari in the second half of the season for second in WCC and possibly WDC. Remarkable.

I thought the tone at Mercedes after Hungary was a bit muted towards VB. My impression (and thats not worth much) was that the decision has been made and they won't be renewing his contract. While Mercedes are head and shoulders ahead of the other teams then VB is a reasonable bet but the risk is that with Red Bull Honda gaining ground that he's just not going to be able to mix it with MV as the season progresses - and that will cost WCC points. So having had VB 2.0 at the start of the season they need VB 3.0 with a darker more menacing beard - and possibly a prominent moustache - to appear at the end of this month to get another series of 1st or 2nd places as the season restarts and keep Red Bull Honda and Ferrari in their place.

 

[GeeJayW]

Yes, it's a tough move, but they are known not to suffer fools gladly....and then one turns up on the podium in Germany and makes then seem a little foolish....

In fairness, Kvyat is now much wiser and more mature. You just wonder how quickly Albon will mature or will he crumble under pressure?
He has at least got a a good British public school education under his belt

Kvyat has shown decent pace this year and I agree has clearly matured. He's shown that there is more to his driving than the deep pockets of his sponsor(s). If he can keep it going, maybe his time will come again.

Albon has had a great start in F1 as have his fellow rookies Russell and Norris. I hope he thrives in RBR. It's a pretty shrewd move by Red Bull/Toro Rosso. They are effectively 'calibrating' their 2nd string drivers.

 

[Bellow]

Good post (overall) Dryce, but I've picked this paragraph out as....

Anyway - who would have thought that Red Bull Honda would have two wins and an almost win by the mid season break? I assumed before the season started there would be less reliability and MV might get a couple of lucky 3rds and some 'best of the rest' points with the expectation of fighting for wins next year or falling out with Honda. Instead we have Red Bull Honda probably girding themselves to get more wins and a realistic target to beat Ferrari in the second half of the season for second in WCC and possibly WDC. Remarkable.
.

... it is indeed remarkable and possibly hasn't hit home yet. With spectators or competitors. If this is Honda on the up, then MB and Ferrari do have to watch their backs.

Kvyat has shown decent pace this year and I agree has clearly matured. He's shown that there is more to his driving than the deep pockets of his sponsor(s). If he can keep it going, maybe his time will come again.

PG moving to Torro Rosso was widely predicted, but I assumed Kivyat would be the one stepping up to Red Bull. Especially after his recent 3rd place. No easy predictions in this sport.

Albon has had a great start in F1 as have his fellow rookies Russell and Norris. I hope he thrives in RBR. It's a pretty shrewd move by Red Bull/Toro Rosso. They are effectively 'calibrating' their 2nd string drivers.

Quite!
Testing the cars may be limited but driver testing is fully on.