F1 2019

[grober]

Day 2 practice

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and the Ferrari crash footage scroll down for video.
Scuderia Ferrari F1 News (@UpdatesFerrari) on Twitter

 

[Mactech]

Do like a good 'cliffhanger' prior to the start of the season?
Best times of the F1 testing today....and of the 2 weeks,

Vettel 1:16.221
Hamilton 1:16.224

How close did you want it?

 

[GeeJayW]

Lewis did say that he thought the Ferrari was the faster car this year...

 

[AgentOrange]

There's an article on the BBC website this afternoon titled 'How Formula 1 is aiming to be more exciting and race-able in 2021'

Here's a section of it...

The current cars have awesome performance, with braking forces as much as six times the force of gravity and cornering forces that can top 5G. But the way they generate that performance is exactly why drivers find it so difficult to race.

The performance comes from huge amounts of aerodynamic downforce. But the cars can only generate that load if they are driving on their own. Put another car in front of them, and the airflow to the car behind is badly disrupted - and that has a huge effect on how much downforce it can create.

A 2018 F1 car following another car within 10 metres would lose as much as half of its total downforce. So it is literally physically impossible for that car to keep up.

The only way a car behind could follow at the same speed as one in front was if it fell back to about two seconds adrift, out of this 'dirty air'. Which by definition makes it impossible to overtake it.

To look at it from a performance perspective, on the vast majority of F1 circuits in 2018, a car following behind needed to have a lap-time advantage of nearly two seconds to overtake the one in front.

In other words, two closely matched cars competing for the lead cannot reasonably be expected to overtake each other. In many ways, it's a miracle there is any overtaking.


Doesn't sound like a recipe for great racing then? I rest my case...

 

[GeeJayW]

Physics is physics...

Aerofoils don't work well in turbulent air. So as long as cars rely on aerodynamic downforce to deliver their cornering performance, two similar cars with similar drivers, the one in front will most likely be able to brake later and get round the corner first.

They could take the wings off new F1 cars or render them useless (as per Formula E where the wings have very little angle of attack and are more cosmetic IMHO than functional), but the lap times will be pedestrian compared to the current cars. No 5G in the corners, maybe 1.5G. No 6G under braking, again maybe 1.5G. Racing might be closer, but a current F2 car would then trounce the new 'wingless' F1 car.

 

[Bellow]

Is ground effect less affected by the car in front?

 

[AgentOrange]

Just give them back the cars that they had in the 80's / 90's..... Simples!...

 

[GeeJayW]

Is ground effect less affected by the car in front?

Good question.

With the current flat floor 'plank', as I understand it (and I'm not an expert at all), the front needs to be run as close to the track as possible to effectively create an air bubble that forms a seal across the front edge. The floor is then raked so that there is much more clearance at the back. This creates a void under the car which is hopefully at much lower air pressure than the upper surfaces if the car. Air getting under from the sides tends to equalise the pressure difference, so part of the trick is designing the aero package to minimise this as much as possible without creating too much drag. In addition, getting the centre of pressure difference (downforce) in the right place is very tricky. I think Mr. Newey is perhaps the best skilled in this area right now.

Running in turbulent air is likely to be unhelpful with respect to getting air to flow where you want it to.

 

[GeeJayW]

Just give them back the cars that they had in the 80's / 90's..... Simples!...

Problem with that is 80's/90's technology is if no interest to the manufacturers. It's not relevant to their products. Besides, F1 could at times be just as processional and predictable as F1 is today. Nostalgia is never as good as it used to be.

 

[AgentOrange]

The F1 cars of today may well be much quicker than those of 25 years ago and they may also generate more 'G' force while cornering / braking.... I have no idea whether that's the case or not and to be honest I don't care.

Surely the only thing that matters whilst watching Motor Racing is the excitement generated by the racing? (created by overtaking / incidents / not knowing who will win etc.) and the feeling that the drivers are risking life and limb to achieve victory.

Can anyone honestly say that watching F1 today is as exciting as it was 30 years ago??...

 

[AgentOrange]

Even ex-drivers can't watch it anymore!....lol


Ex-world champion Nigel Mansell says Formula One is so boring that he cannot even bear to watch it on television.

"I've tried to defend it because it meant such a lot to me for so many years," the Briton told the Times newspaper on Monday.

"But even I can no longer go on defending the indefensible.

"How can you when there is virtually no overtaking on the track and little genuine excitement?" added the 1992 world champion.


"I'll usually sit down to watch the start of a Grand Prix but after a few laps I find I can't watch any more and switch off. It's that bad."

 

[GeeJayW]

The cars today are different, the sponsors are different, the drivers are different, many of the tracks are different, the racing isn't really a lot different. How many other drivers/cars competed well with the FW14/15 or the McLaren MP4/5? This notion that everything was amazing back in the day, where anyone had a chance of winning is a nonesense.

As for Nigel Mansell... I always hoped he would become world champion one day and eventually he snagged one by driving the best car on the grid. Yes he could be quick on his day, but he whines as much as straight-cut gearbox.

 

[AgentOrange]

GeeJayW... I think we'll have to agree to disagree...lol

I'll stick to watching MotoGP / WSB / BSB... like Niki Lauda!...

Mercedes Formula 1 chief Niki Lauda believes MotoGP racing is currently more spectacular to watch than its four-wheeled equivalent.


Three-time F1 World Champion Lauda spoke to media during a visit to the Czech Grand Prix at Brno, and said he was hugely impressed with the spectacle of the top level of two-wheeled racing machines.


“It’s unbelievable, 350kph or more, and to watch how they control them – it’s the most incredible racing you can see today,” said Lauda.


“Unfortunately, in Formula 1 it is the opposite. The cars are so easy to drive that you don’t see skids or something similar.


“It is difficult to cope well with the bikes, and it shows why we are working on the cars to be more difficult to drive again."

 

[GeeJayW]

MotoGP v F1 is Apples v Oranges. Both sort of round, but there endeth the comparison.

There's no denying that MotoGP/WSB/BSB is great to watch. I think we've already agreed that point earlier in this thread.
F1 2019

 

[Bellow]

F1 threads survive. Bike racing threads wither. Go figure. Better still, start your own bike thread.

 

[bob6600]

Paddy Lowe takes 'leave of absence' from Williams F1

 

[AMGeed]

^ He paid the price of missing over 2 days out of 8 days pre season testing and making Williams look a laughing stock. It was his job and he failed.

I'd say he got the bullet from Claire Williams and his leaving has been sugar coated to save his face.

 

[GeeJayW]

Hmm... wouldn't be surprised if Paddy is gone from Williams on a permanent basis. Not sure what he contributed to be honest. Last year's car was a dog and this year's may be too, though I hope it is actually a great deal better.

 

[grober]

Late tweaks to technical rules contributed to Williams' car delay · RaceFans

 

[Mactech]

Motorsport is hard game. You have to love it to do it as you are personally examined every few weeks by the race results.
Every member of the team must bring their 'A' game. If you want to stay in the game, losing is not an option.
I enjoyed my 40 years in the sport, but always assumed the job security of a football manager.