The 2014 Formula1 Thread!

[The Boston Dangler]

2014 is upon us and it brings many changes in motorsport, particularly f1. let's get right to it:

calendar from http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/

1 Australian Grand Prix Albert Park March 14 – 16

2 Malaysian Grand Prix Sepang International Circuit March 28 – 30

3 Bahrain Grand Prix Bahrain International Circuit April 4 – 6

4 Chinese Grand Prix Shanghai International Circuit April 18 – 20

5 Spanish Grand Prix Circuit de Catalunya May 9 – 11

6 Monaco Grand Prix Monte-Carlo May 22 – 25

7 Canadian Grand Prix Circuit Gilles Villeneuve June 6 – 8

8 Austrian Grand Prix Red Bull Ring June 20 – 22

9 British Grand Prix Silverstone July 4 – 6

10 German Grand Prix Hockenheimring July 18 – 20

11 Hungarian Grand Prix Hungaroring July 25 – 27

12 Belgian Grand Prix Spa-Francorchamps August 22 – 24

13 Italian Grand Prix Monza September 5 – 7

14 Singapore Grand Prix Singapore September 19 – 21

15 Japanese Grand Prix Suzuka October 3 – 5

16 Russian Grand Prix Sochi October 10 – 12

17 US Grand Prix Circuit of the Americas October 31 – November 2

18 Brazilian Grand Prix Interlagos November 7 – 9

19 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Yas Marina November 21 – 23

european gp, india and korea have been dropped for russia and austria. will they return? i think it's very unlikely, but the well-received but disproportionately expensive indian race has a better chance than korea which was a masterpiece of bad ideas done badly. the spanish gp will now alternate between catalunya and valencia. the new york/new jersey race is now supposed to materialize in 2015.


2014 F1 drivers and teams

 

[The Boston Dangler]

INSIGHT: Plumbing the depths of F1's changes for 2014

The new 90-degree 1.6-liter 15,000 rpm V6 sees a return of the turbocharger for the first time since 1988, and is a very different proposition which uses energy recovery systems that will dramatically increase efficiency by harvesting energy dissipated as heat in both the brakes and the exhaust.

The new engine's energy recovery system (ERS) uses the MGU-K and the MGU-H plus an Energy Store, plus some power and control electronics. Heat and kinetic energy recovered can be consumed immediately if required by the other MGU, or used to charge the Energy Store. The stored energy can be used to propel the car via the MGU-K or to accelerate the turbocharger via the MGU-H. Compared to 2013 KERS, the ERS has twice the power (120kW as opposed to 60kW) for 33 seconds per lap. That's twice as much power for nearly five times longer than the previous systems, and a performance effect around 10 times greater.

The basic engine produces around 600hp. Add on the extra 160hp generated by the ERS and the 2014 cars will thus have similar power to their predecessors, but with markedly enhanced fuel efficiency. This is just as well as there is a dramatic cut in the amount of fuel permitted. Where the 2.4-liter engines used up to 160kg/225 liters [353lbs/59.4 gallons] of fuel flowed at a maximum of 170kg per hour during the typically 90-minute-long races, teams will now be allowed just 100kg/140 liters [220.5lbs/37 gallons], at the rate of 100 kg/h by FIA-mandated fuel regulators. That's a huge 35 percent cut that will be only slightly offset on the packaging side by the smaller fuel tank.

2014 regulations: F1's engine revolution

2014 regulations: Aerodynamic changes

Horner says reliability greatest challenge for 2014

 

[merlion]

Is the Red Bull Ring race in Austria on the track formerly know as the A1 Ring? Sorry, but too lazy to Google.

 

[foghorn67]

Since the European GP is dropped, are Hockenheim and Nurburgring taking turns for the German GP?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Is the Red Bull Ring race in Austria on the track formerly know as the A1 Ring? Sorry, but too lazy to Google.

the a1 ring was demolished and a new track and facilities were built in its place.

Since the European GP is dropped, are Hockenheim and Nurburgring taking turns for the German GP?

hockenheim and nurburgring have been alternating for a while. because f1 sells each race as being a unique national event, bernie created a "european" event to sell the most lucrative european country without devaluing the original event. like germany, spain has found it difficult or impossible to fund 2 grand prix every year - profits are slim or nonexistent, and the price goes up 7 to 10% each year.

 

[Biggu]

I need to try and get my butt to one of the races this year. I had tickets for F1 USA but work trapped me.

 

[boomhower]

Going to be an interesting year. Lower powered engines with low fuel capacity leaves the potential for slower cars running even slower to save fuel. Then combine the unreliable new engines with rules allowing them far fewer units to use without penalty added to the double points at the end of the year can make early parts of the year almost pointless.

Regardless I just hope it's a competitive year and not a walk by Red Bull.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

it might be the f1 thread, but we're never shy about loving all kinds of racing here!

in 2013, american le mans series and rolex grand-am had merged to form the TUDOR united sports car championship:
http://www.imsa.com
main page has the schedule - lots of great tracks, and a few oddballs.

for 2014 the cars are a mishmash of alms and grand-am, with performance equalization. new cars might be on for 2015. with the exception of GTLM and entries in the petit le mans (le mans qualifier), the cars are not FIA/ACO spec.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_SportsCar_Championship#Class_structure

There are four different classes in the United SportsCar Championship series, featuring two sports prototype categories and two grand tourer classes:

Prototype (P): the flagship class, combining Grand-Am Daytona Prototype with the American Le Mans Series P2 prototype and DeltaWing cars, built to 2014 specifications.

Prototype Challenge (PC): a spec class carried over directly from the American Le Mans Series, featuring Le Mans Prototype Challenge cars built by Oreca with engines supplied by Chevrolet and tires from Continental.

GT Le Mans (GTLM): a continuation of the ALMS GT class, consisting of cars matching the Automobile Club de l'Ouest's GTE specification.

GT Daytona (GTD): a class that combines the Grand-Am GT & GX classes with the Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars from the ALMS GTC class. Group GT3 cars will be allowed entry into this class.

Certain classes only race at certain tracks, for example: at the Grand Prix of Long Beach only the Prototype(P) and GT Le Mans(GTLM) will enter into the event.

VIDEO: In-car with Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP at the Rolex 24 Roar

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Going to be an interesting year. Lower powered engines with low fuel capacity leaves the potential for slower cars running even slower to save fuel. Then combine the unreliable new engines with rules allowing them far fewer units to use without penalty added to the double points at the end of the year can make early parts of the year almost pointless.

Regardless I just hope it's a competitive year and not a walk by Red Bull.

i think we can all agree on that! i don't mind if vettel takes another title, as long as they fight like hell for it.

the peak power is about the same. any reduction in pace is coming from the (initial) reduction in downforce. initial is in parenthesis because as we all know, every year the rules slow the cars down and every year they find a way to go faster.

honda might have a huge advantage in 2015, since they are sitting out 2014 and are able to develop their engine for an additional year before its specs are frozen. i don't care for multi-year freezes, and i think the costs should be offset by customer cars.

 

[Biggu]

Yea but it wont happen. Red Bull is just going to dump more money into it than anyone else.

I wonder if the new engines will cause any heating issues?

 

[punjabiplaya]

Yea but it wont happen. Red Bull is just going to dump more money into it than anyone else.

I wonder if the new engines will cause any heating issues?

That was/is one of the biggest concerns along with fuel. Newey is known for really tight packaging like the KERS in/under/around/whatever the gearbox last year.

 

[LTC8K6]

RB was also known for component failures.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

RB was also known for component failures.

well, yes and no. going back decades, newey's cars were always known as "fast and fragile". kimi's mclaren wing collapse entering a fast turn is a classic example of that. since their tittle run began only ferrari has been more reliable, among the fast guys. vettel had considerably better luck with that than webber did. that being said, they had the very best engine failure i've ever seen, and the timing of the alternator failure in spain cannot be beat.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

well, yes and no. going back decades, newey's cars were always known as "fast and fragile". kimi's mclaren wing collapse entering a fast turn is a classic example of that. since their tittle run began only ferrari has been more reliable, among the fast guys. vettel had considerably better luck with that than webber did. that being said, they had the very best engine failure i've ever seen, and the timing of the alternator failure in spain cannot be beat.

Didn't Webber have lots of KERS problems? Could throw a spanner in the works if the ERS suffers similar reliability - since it now offers more performance.

 

[LTC8K6]

RB had an engine failure in 2013?

 

[foghorn67]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/112034

Brian Hart passes away.

 

[boomhower]

the peak power is about the same. any reduction in pace is coming from the (initial) reduction in downforce. initial is in parenthesis because as we all know, every year the rules slow the cars down and every year they find a way to go faster.

Peak is the same but engine output is down 150 horses, the ERS adds that back but only for a small portion of the lap. Lower downforce and lower grip tires are going to make them slower. That said, if it improves racing I don't care at all. I want entertaining racing and not go back to the parades we had prior to DRS and the latest regs.

 

[LTC8K6]

They will probably be just as fast, overall.

What will cause them to pace themselves, is fuel. Some won't have that sorted and won't be able to go all out, or will run out.

Whoever can go the fastest on the least fuel will have a big advantage. They can cruise near or at the front for most of the race, saving fuel, and then have the last 1/3 of the race at max power with no fuel worries.

IOW, Red Bull. D:

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Didn't Webber have lots of KERS problems? Could throw a spanner in the works if the ERS suffers similar reliability - since it now offers more performance.

webber had all kinds of problems with the red bull cars - it became unusual if he didn't have a bad start, kers problem or blown pit stop.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/112034

Brian Hart passes away.

as difficult as f1 currently is, it's nothing compared to his era.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

RB had an engine failure in 2013?

1 engine DNF in 2013, 2 in 2012, 1 in 2011 and 1 in 2010

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Lotus to sit out first test at Jerez

this is going to be a very tough year for team enstone. kimi and their top engineers have gone to ferrari, other engineers have also left for other teams, and their financial health seems to depend entirely on one of the world's biggest con men.

 

[LTC8K6]

1 engine DNF in 2013, 2 in 2012, 1 in 2011 and 1 in 2010

That 2013 one in Singapore shouldn't even count...the cooling system was leaking water and Webber kept on driving it, and even so, it made it to the last lap.

I wouldn't call that a failure of the engine, although it gets classified that way.

 

[ikachu]

Has anyone been to the Canadian GP before? I guess it's only about a 5 hour drive from where I'm living now.

It's there enough family stuff to do in Montreal that my wife and 1 year old won't be too bored?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

Has anyone been to the Canadian GP before? I guess it's only about a 5 hour drive from where I'm living now.

It's there enough family stuff to do in Montreal that my wife and 1 year old won't be too bored?

i looked into going to the montreal race a couple years ago. it seemed to be a great place for eating, drinking, gambling and such. there's probably plenty of art for your wife to enjoy, but i certainly wouldn't bring the baby to the race.