Formula One 2018 - General Thread

[LTD]

Simple answer.

VSC or SC - the pit lane is closed.

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Simple answer.

VSC or SC - the pit lane is closed.

Nope. That’d be boring.

 

[AMGeed]

Same as last season. It was a pretty poor race and rules conspired to beat LH. The halo is a non even really and doesn't detract from the TV view. I sincerely hope the racing improves because using a circuit where overtaking is nigh on impossible is just dull.

 

[Stratman]

............................

I sincerely hope the racing improves because using a formula where overtaking is nigh on impossible is just dull.

Fixed for you

 

[Deleted member 113659]

Fixed for you

 

[Dryce]

Simple answer.

VSC or SC - the pit lane is closed.

That isn't simple though - it just adds a new complication.

What happens if a VSC or SC occurs when a car is on the last ragged edmge of its tyres?

Tyre changes are mandatory - not optional.

 

[grober]

Last year for FTA broadcast from Channel 4 F1 enjoy it while you can. Thought DC seemed slightly pre-occupied thoughout for some reason?

 

[GeeJayW]

The halo looks horrible, but I understand why they've introduced it and hope it is effective.

When cars are so dependent on aerodynamics for their performance, close racing and overtaking is always going to be very difficult. In turbulent air, wings don't produce lift/downforce. Without downforce, forget 5+G in corners and under braking.

 

[brucemillar]

I am as unsure as Lewis was as to why his team did not warn him that Seb was/had pitted? But that is the luck of the draw and LH seems to accept this as did SV. I suspect that bigger worry for Mercedes will be there closed in bodywork design leaves the drivers with few option if they are not at the front of the queue. That was evident with both cars struggling to make any real headway when they were running in dirty air. The on-board from Hamilton's car showed just how much grip he was losing, when he was chasing. That lack of grip allied to the lack of cool air will be a big issue for them as the season progresses, unless they are comfortable that they will run at the front (and they are not).

The Ferrari strategy looked very calm all through the race. They looked like a team who confident in their race pace and strategy. For Hass it was a disaster, and you have to feel for the guys on the guns who were very obviously devastated. What went wrong at the 'gun' end? Why did they still release the cars when the gun guys were clearly not happy?

 

[GeeJayW]

I am as unsure as Lewis was as to why his team did not warn him that Seb was/had pitted? But that is the luck of the draw and LH seems to accept this as did SV. I suspect that bigger worry for Mercedes will be there closed in bodywork design leaves the drivers with few option if they are not at the front of the queue. That was evident with both cars struggling to make any real headway when they were running in dirty air. The on-board from Hamilton's car showed just how much grip he was losing, when he was chasing. That lack of grip allied to the lack of cool air will be a big issue for them as the season progresses, unless they are comfortable that they will run at the front (and they are not).

The Ferrari strategy looked very calm all through the race. They looked like a team who confident in their race pace and strategy. For Hass it was a disaster, and you have to feel for the guys on the guns who were very obviously devastated. What went wrong at the 'gun' end? Why did they still release the cars when the gun guys were clearly not happy?

The algorithm used by Mercedes to calculate the gap needed to Vettel, got its sums wrong. They need to sort that out before the next race.

Ferrari did a great job on strategy, bringing Kimi in early forced Lewis to pit early to cover off the undercut. It may be that Ferrari's algorithm had told them that Lewis was vulnerable if they could pit Seb under a safety car. Even without the safety car, they get a 2-3 at worst.

Ferrari customer team Haas had a bit of a convenient disaster with both cars suffering from loosewheelnutisis. This had more of an impact on the overall race result than it should have, but goes in the sh!t happens box I guess.

 

[pmcgsmurf]

I quite enjoyed the race.
It was no mean feat for me getting up at 04:55 after being to a charity speakers evening (Chick Young & Donald Finlay) the night before and not getting in till after midnight.

As has been pointed out the combination of the cars/track makes chasing and passing the car in front very difficult.

Mercedes got into the position they were after Bottas had his mishap, that left Ferrari able to pit Kimi to put pressure on Lewis who had to respond leaving Ferrari with the obvious option of going long with Seb.

I'm not a fan of Lewis after seeing how he treated a kid looking for an autograph in a BA lounge in 2008 but that's another story.

 

[brucemillar]

I understand the algorithm not working correctly, but did not understand why the team elected to not tell Lewis that Seb had pitted. The team will have known that the second Seb etered the pit lane they were going to struggle unless Lewis could pull a rabbit out the hat. They never passed him the hat? We then heard Lewis ask? "why did you not tell me"

It may well have made no difference, but he had no chance to even try.

Ferrari looked confident in race trim and they now know that Mercedes have a significant disadvantage when in dirty air.

As for the Halo? It looks awful and to me breaks the spirit of 'open top racing'. The Renault paint job masks it well but I don't like it. I also agree with SV that it would have made no difference to Massa (hit at or level by a spring) or Bianchi? (Car v JCB Digger)

 

[homersimpson]

I'm not a fan of Lewis after seeing how he treated a kid looking for an autograph in a BA lounge in 2008 but that's another story.

10 years ago! Eh?

Lewis is an acquired taste (seb is more so). The early days of Lewis he was easy to dislike, however in later years he's proved himself time and time again.. F1 is what it is today because of Lewis. I for one follow him and am always disappointed for him when he doesn't win (especially as he drives a Silver Arrow)...

 

[st13phil]

The algorithm used by Mercedes to calculate the gap needed to Vettel, got its sums wrong. They need to sort that out before the next race.

Ferrari did a great job on strategy, bringing Kimi in early forced Lewis to pit early to cover off the undercut. It may be that Ferrari's algorithm had told them that Lewis was vulnerable if they could pit Seb under a safety car. Even without the safety car, they get a 2-3 at worst.

And those two sentences accurately describe (another reason) why F1 is boring to watch: much of the decisive "action" takes place behind the scenes, where the audience can't see it. Add in aero rules that put so much emphasis on the front wing that it makes following closely and maintaining pace pretty much impossible, and braking performance that shortens the braking zone to such an extent that it's largely a matter of luck if an attempt to overtake under braking comes off, and F1 really has driven itself up a cul-de-sac when it comes to spectator interest.

There's no doubt that F1 cars are spectacularly fast, but it's like watching a 'plane flying at Mach 2 at 60,000ft: the scenery is more interesting.

 

[Bryan Allman]

As a technological tour de force I find F1 amazing - as a race it's a boring as hell. There is more overtaking in the warm up lap of the first race of the year in MotoGP than the whole of the season of F1 - And why? St13phil summed it up perfectly.

Ross Brawn needs to forget about new engine rules in the short term - reduce the front wing to a single element and ban the use of wind tunnels - everything else to be done by CFD. Then we will get much closer proximity racing and overtaking.

 

[GeeJayW]

And those two sentences accurately describe (another reason) why F1 is boring to watch: much of the decisive "action" takes place behind the scenes, where the audience can't see it. Add in aero rules that put so much emphasis on the front wing that it makes following closely and maintaining pace pretty much impossible, and braking performance that shortens the braking zone to such an extent that it's largely a matter of luck if an attempt to overtake under braking comes off, and F1 really has driven itself up a cul-de-sac when it comes to spectator interest.

There's no doubt that F1 cars are spectacularly fast, but it's like watching a 'plane flying at Mach 2 at 60,000ft: the scenery is more interesting.

I like the strategy side of it and that the best team performance can result in a win.

I don't like it that teams such as Ferrari and Mercedes can employ 10 times more people and resources than teams like Force India. There does I think need to be a more level playing field. I don't often find myself agreeing with Christian Horner, but his comments this weekend were pretty much spot on.

The performance of the cars and drivers is staggering especially cornering and braking. Truly defies belief when seen live, how they stick to the track is awesome.

However, I agree with you F1 (like test cricket which I also like) can be boring to watch.

As for Lewis; IMHO he is perhaps the best driver that there has been (of course many will disagree). His personality seems to a bit more challenging to get on board with, but then there are some drivers that I've met and worked with that have been very easy to like whilst others are the opposite. I've not met Lewis, so until I do (which these days is very very unlikely), I'll stay neutral.

 

[Dryce]

Ross Brawn needs to forget about new engine rules in the short term - reduce the front wing to a single element and ban the use of wind tunnels - everything else to be done by CFD. Then we will get much closer proximity racing and overtaking.

I'd restrict the total size of the pit teams - no race data allowed to be transmitted or processed outside of the garage and pit wall. So no teams back at the factory.

I'd restrict the number of pit crew on a tyre change to 8 or 9. A 2.5s tyre change is impressive - but happens so fast that you can't see what is going on.

As for wind tunnels vs CFD - I think having a F1 wind tunnel facility that was shared might be fairer. Make it free to any team - and allocate time on it on a fix roster. Make it a good one. If rich teams want to pay for their own then that's their business. But their return on their investment will effectibely be lower relative to the poorer teams.

For development purposes then I think teams should be penalised by WCC and WDC points deductions for engine and transmission changes. This would mean there was scope for teams in development to still race competitively on the track while diisincentivising fron running teams from just spending money on new engines because losing points would hurt.

 

[st13phil]

I like the strategy side of it and that the best team performance can result in a win.

I don't like it that teams such as Ferrari and Mercedes can employ 10 times more people and resources than teams like Force India. There does I think need to be a more level playing field.

Race strategy has always played a massive part in success in motorsport, but F1 has managed to get itself into something of a mess with it through creating a scenario where no driver can race successfully without real time decision support. The reliance upon real-time strategy decisions by the team during the race to get a win then increases the benefit that teams such as Ferrari and Mercedes derive from their greater resources to the extent it reinforces even further the disparity between the best funded teams and the rest.

I agree that there needs to be a more level playing field, but it won't happen all the time wins are so reliant upon a team of 200 engineers and analysts back at base determining in real time the optimum point at which to pit, or how much more (or less) the driver can push the car at particular points on the circuit in order to eek out another couple of laps from a set of tyres.

I don't often find myself agreeing with Christian Horner, but his comments this weekend were pretty much spot on.

My experience is that Christian Horner tends to be less vocal about disparity between teams when his is the one at the front of the pack. Sometimes what he says makes sense, other times it sounds more like sour grapes.

 

[Vintage Racer]

Lose the wings (or at least reduce the size) and let everyone have enough fuel to run flat-out from start to finish.

They seem to forget that the clue is in the name of the sport ..................Motor R A C I N G !!

Thank god for classic and vintage racing series!

 

[GeeJayW]

Lose the wings (or at least reduce the size) and let everyone have enough fuel to run flat-out from start to finish.

They seem to forget that the clue is in the name of the sport ..................Motor R A C I N G !!

Thank god for classic and vintage racing series!

I agree.

Will be interesting to see which way Liberty et al choose to go with regard to the future F1 setup.