Formula1 2013 thread

[busydude]

RB9 launched today. The livery is OK, but the car looks fugly.

Also, this is one of the worst launch events this year. Journalists were not allowed to take pics during and after the event.

 

[satyajitmenon]

RB9 launched today. The livery is OK, but the car looks fugly.

Also, this is one of the worst launch events this year. Journalists were not allowed to take pics during and after the event.

Paranoid Newey?

 

[busydude]

Merc's W04 and Toro Rosso's STR8 launched today.

STR8 looks way better than RB9 and W04 has a fugly nose.

Also Nico and Hamilton's helmets looks pretty much alike. We may have a lot of problems distinguishing one from

the other.

 

[punjabiplaya]

Merc's W04 and Toro Rosso's STR8 launched today.
Also Nico and Hamilton's helmets looks pretty much alike. We may have a lot of problems distinguishing one from the other.

The color of the t-bar will help with that.

 

[punjabiplaya]

Paranoid Newey?

I immediately remembered this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VPqm7RjgtVY

 

[busydude]

Testing at Jerez is underway and after the first day Button leads the time sheets.

There is no point in trying to make sense of these times, but Massa said McLaren are pretty quick.

http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2013/2/14250.html

Unofficial Tuesday test times from Jerez:
1. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:18.861, 37 laps
2. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:19.709, 73 laps
3. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:19.796, 54 laps
4. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:20.343, 89 laps
5. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, 1:20.401, 70 laps
6. Felipe Massa, Ferrari, 1:20.536, 64 laps
7. Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:20.699, 79 laps
8. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:20.846, 14 laps
9. Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1:20.864, 84 laps *
10. Giedo van der Garde, Caterham, 1:21.915, 64 laps
11. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1:24.176, 29 laps
* Using 2012 car

Today also saw the launch of Caterham's CT03

and Marussia's MR02

That just leaves Williams.. who have yet to launch their 2013 car.

 

[_Rick_]

Williams has been launched - looks nice.
Sutil getting a go in a Force India at Barcelona.
With only three weeks to go until FP1 in Brisbane, I wonder how long the guys at Force India will continue to weigh their options. I'd guess a decision will be made next week.
I don't think the Karthikeyan rumors are credible. Bianchi would probably be the better choice for FI in that case.
Let's see whether the Mercedes get by with less break-downs this week!

 

[busydude]

Yes, I was going to update this thread.

Anyway, FW35 launched today and this car is very different from others. It uses an ultra-small gearbox which makes the back end pretty much non existent.

There are subtle changes to the livery but the front wing looks pretty complicated and overall the car looks better than last year's.

Today also marks the first day of testing in Barcelona and here are the time sheets:

Unofficial Tuesday test times from Barcelona:
1. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:22.616, 54 laps
2. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, 1:22.623, 44 laps
3. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:22.952, 110 laps
4. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:22.965, 66 laps
5. Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1:23.733, 86 laps
6. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, 1:23.884, 73 laps
7. Sergio Perez, McLaren, 1:24.124, 77 laps
8. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:24.144, 82 laps
9. Esteban Gutierrez, Sauber, 1:25.124, 68 laps
10. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1:26.747, 65 laps
11. Charles Pic, Caterham, 1:27.534, 49 laps

When compared the last year's time sheets this year's car are much faster.

 

[_Rick_]

When compared the last year's time sheets this year's car are much faster.

Most of that will be down to the new tires, some of it may also be due to meteorological effects. On the other hand, there's less DRS available. And of course one year of development with nearly unchanged rules.

 

[busydude]

Day 2 of the test and here are the times:

Unofficial Wednesday test times from Barcelona:
1. Sergio Perez, McLaren, 1:21.848, 97 laps
2. Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull, 1:22.197, 84 laps
3. Kimi Raikkonen, Lotus, 1:22.697, 43 laps
4. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, 1:22.726, 121 laps
5. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:23.247, 76 laps
6. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:23.561, 98 laps
7. Daniel Ricciardo, Toro Rosso, 1:23.718, 70 laps
8. Paul di Resta, Force India, 1:23.971, 62 laps
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:24.205, 88 laps
10. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1:25.115, 67 laps
11. Charles Pic, Caterham, 1:26.243, 102 laps

 

[busydude]

Day 3 times:

Unofficial Thursday test times from Barcelona:
1. Fernando Alonso, Ferrari, 1:21.875, 97 laps
2. Nico Hulkenberg, Sauber, 1:22.160, 91 laps
3. Romain Grosjean, Lotus, 1:22.188, 119 laps
4. Nico Rosberg, Mercedes, 1:22.611, 108 laps
5. Pastor Maldonado, Williams, 1:22.675, 79 laps
6. Valtteri Bottas, Williams, 1:22.826, 68 laps
7. Jenson Button, McLaren, 1:22.840, 71 laps
8. Adrian Sutil, Force India, 1:22.877, 78 laps
9. Mark Webber, Red Bull, 1:23.024, 108 laps
10. Jean-Eric Vergne, Toro Rosso, 1:23.366, 106 laps
11. Max Chilton, Marussia, 1:25.690, 58 laps
12. Giedo van der Garde, Caterham, 1:26.177, 83 laps

 

[_Rick_]

That's a lot of laps on the Williams...

 

[Vdubchaos]

Kimi's steering wheel.

THere is the reason I don't watch Formula 1 anymore.

I wish they would take it back to the glory days of F1.....raw cars and monster 4cyl turbos.

Today, it's simply a race of money and technology.

 

[_Rick_]

Today, it's simply a race of money and technology.

It's been like that for about 40 years.

The question is whether a locked down formula makes the chance for success cheaper or more expensive. Clearly, innovation is constrained to a very limited scope, so there's no way to introduce revolutionary features (fan cars, six-wheelers), but it also means you can't just throw more money at the problem, to try even more things.


To enjoy F1, you have to enjoy the technical and tactical aspects, as much as the driving skills. The predictability of F1 stems from the fact, that the cars are different from each other, and their strengths and weaknesses relatively well known. The start of last season wasn't predictable, because everyone was lagging on tire development, especially under the many different conditions they raced in.

If you enjoy overtakes, and dirty racing, touring cars is more exciting. If you prefer overtakes and tactical challenges, then endurance racing is going to be your thing. If you like overtakes and crashes, watch Nascar. If you like overtaking and can stomach rag-doll effects, check out MotoGP. If you want a show of pure car control, there's WRC.

Also, I wouldn't call the 1.5L turbo formula the "glory days". Those were the years of attrition, in many ways. The number of retirements from races is way down since then, which makes the racing more exciting. Accidents are more survivable, which makes the drivers more willing to take risks. The only downside is that cars are maybe generating too much wake, which makes overtaking a car that is slower in the corners quite difficult. But then, rear wings have been limited in horizontal size recently, so that front downforce for the following car isn't completely gone, when following closely.

 

[m3ta1head]

Paddy Lowe on gardening leave at McLaren, almost no doubt now that he will be moving to AMG Mercedes for 2014...one has to wonder whether Ross Brawn's position at Mercedes is now seriously under threat. Mercedes has been ruthless in weeding out weak links in the team-looks like Stuggart is really putting the pressure on them for their lack of performances over the past 3 years

 

[Vdubchaos]

It's been like that for about 40 years.

Somewhat

Drive Skill and BALLs used to play a much bigger part. Go ahead and give today's F1 driver stick shift, clutch, no computers (no traction control etc)......in a car with almost double the horsepower.

 

[_Rick_]

almost double the horsepower.

That's not quite correct either. HP is still up there. Sure, there were the claims of "up to 1500HP in qualifying trim", but that was never used during the race.

I believe that the ground effect cars probably had more impact on laptimes, than the turbo-engines. Today's cars have more down force than they had when they were running the turbo engines, and the current Pirellis are quite grippy too. This means that cornering speeds are quite a bit faster.
The currently fastest era of F1 was 2004/2005, the last of the V10 years. Aero trumps horse power.

The drivers are still as single-mindedly commited as they were back then. In fact, with the machines becoming more reliable, and there being more races on the calendar, in some ways racing is harder these days than back then.

According to some documentary, it wasn't before the early Schumacher era, that drivers had dedicated physical exercise programs.

The Singapore race alone is an insane challenge, physically and mentally, that I doubt anyone in the late 70s could even imagine.

Also, traction control has last been legal more closely to the turbo era, than to today. Even with everything they have on board these machines, many drivers still frequently mess up GP starts.

The only thing that's leaving a sour taste in modern F1, is that pay drivers are becoming an option over fast drivers. But that can be fixed, by reducing costs. I'm expecting that this year will be one of the most expensive years in F1 history, with the need to remain competitive this season, and prepare for the V6-formula of next year.
Talking of which - the Sutil/Bianchi / Mercedes/Ferrari issue being faces at Force India should be resolved very soon. I'm guessing the fact that it took this long is a good sign for Sutil. But Ferrari is feeling the pressure to sell that engine...

 

[GoatMonkey]

I enjoy the technology aspect of F1. If it were up to me it would be more open. If they need to limit speed, then limit the amount of fuel they are allowed to use to finish the race. I would allow traction control, active suspension, movable aero, turbos, hybrid systems, etc. Pretty much whatever you want as long as it meets safety regs. They would be out there in G-suits in no time. The technology arms race would go out of control. I think it would be awesome.

 

[Saylick]

I enjoy the technology aspect of F1. If it were up to me it would be more open. If they need to limit speed, then limit the amount of fuel they are allowed to use to finish the race. I would allow traction control, active suspension, movable aero, turbos, hybrid systems, etc. Pretty much whatever you want as long as it meets safety regs. They would be out there in G-suits in no time. The technology arms race would go out of control. I think it would be awesome.

I enjoy the tech aspect as well; I'm sure most F1 fans are too. But like you say, the tech arms race would spire out of control. The teams with the most amount of moolah would dominate the field and the result is the stifling of competition. I suggest placing a spending cap on ALL the teams (something reasonable so that the budget is large enough to be experimenting with a few highly radical and/or innovative features but not large enough to be killing off teams without as much money as the big players).

 

[_Rick_]

Apparently it's Sutil in the FI cockpit.
So this year's lineup consists of (Rookies bolded)
4 Germans (Vettel, Rosberg, Huelkenberg, Sutil)
4 Brits (Hamilton, Button, Di Resta, Chilton)
3 Frenchmen (Grosjean, Pic, Vergne)
2 Finns (Raikönnen, Bottas)
2 Mexicans (Perez, Gutiérrez)
2 Brasilians (Massa, Razia)
2 Australians (Webber, Ricciardo)
a Dutchman (van der Garde)
a Venezuelan (Maldonado)
and the Spaniard.

 

[busydude]

Apparently it's Sutil in the FI cockpit.
So this year's lineup consists of (Rookies bolded)
4 Germans (Vettel, Rosberg, Huelkenberg, Sutil)
4 Brits (Hamilton, Button, Di Resta, Chilton)
3 Frenchmen (Grosjean, Pic, Vergne)
2 Finns (Raikönnen, Bottas)
2 Mexicans (Perez, Gutiérrez)
2 Brasilians (Massa, Razia)
2 Australians (Webber, Ricciardo)
a Dutchman (van der Garde)
a Venezuelan (Maldonado)
and the Spaniard.

It is rumored that Razia is not going to race in F1 this season, and Bianchi is going to replace him. Razia wasn't allowed to drive in last weeks test as his sponsors couldn't pay Marussia on time.

 

[_Rick_]

Karthikeyan is also not going to stop waving bundles of money around for a drive, and getting his name in the news for any number of not-really-open seats.
Speedweek sees him as a possible replacement, should the payment issues prevent Razia from participating.

 

[GoatMonkey]

Let me fix that for you.

4 Germans (Vettel, Rosberg, Huelkenberg, Sutil)
4 Brits (Hamilton, Button, Di Resta, Chilton)
3 Frenchmen (Grosjean, Pic, Vergne)
2 Finns (Raikönnen, Bottas)
2 Mexicans (Perez, Gutiérrez)
2 Brasilians (Massa, Razia)
2 Australians (Webber, Ricciardo)
a Dutchman (van der Garde)
a Venezuelan (Maldonado)
and some jackass from Spain.

 

[LTC8K6]

Let me re-fix that for you.

4 Germans (Vettel, Rosberg, Huelkenberg, Sutil)
4 Brits (Hamilton, Button, Di Resta, Chilton)
3 Frenchmen (Grosjean, Pic, Vergne)
2 Finns (Raikönnen, Bottas)
2 Mexicans (Perez, Gutiérrez)
2 Brasilians (Massa, Razia)
2 Australians (Webber, Ricciardo)
a Dutchman (van der Garde)
a Venezuelan (Maldonado)
and a two-time world champion jackass from Spain.[/QUOTE]

 

[GoatMonkey]

Let me re-fix that for you.

4 Germans (Vettel, Rosberg, Huelkenberg, Sutil)
4 Brits (Hamilton, Button, Di Resta, Chilton)
3 Frenchmen (Grosjean, Pic, Vergne)
2 Finns (Raikönnen, Bottas)
2 Mexicans (Perez, Gutiérrez)
2 Brasilians (Massa, Razia)
2 Australians (Webber, Ricciardo)
a Dutchman (van der Garde)
a Venezuelan (Maldonado)
and a two-time world champion jackass from Spain.

[/QUOTE]

LOL... I can't say he's a bad driver, he's pretty impressive honestly, but I still just don't like him. I prefer the three-time world champion from Germany. He's probably a jackass too, but it doesn't come across on camera. I think all of them must be pretty cocky to think that they can challenge for what is essentially the world's fastest driver title in some people's eyes.