F1 Official Thread - Grand Prix of Britain

[Sinner]

It's tough cuz there are discussions on bringing more wet-tires, but it was just so wet that the risks outweighed the benefits in terms of what they could learn about the track vs. crashing and destroying the car. Just ask Bruno...

Haha, instead you had Lewis having a casual stroll around the pit! 

 

[Sinner]

We're back guys! 

FP3...

 

[robsheedwallace]

Finally back!!

Hamilton has been keeping a nice pace. I have a great feeling about this one.

Button has been fighting some kinks still with his car and looking good. Hopefully they straighten it out by tomorrow.



Red Bull still under the microscope. I died laughing when they focused on the FIA official checking the car out in between qualifiers.

 

[Thierry Henry]

What a Q3 we had there!!! Button was 3rd fastest in the final seconds of Q3 and then about 3 seconds later Grosjean comes and takes that away Hamilton has just been dominating the weekend thus far. Hamilton is now tied with Alonso with 22 pole positions. Like I said before, if he wins pole, he's winning the race tomorrow. Should be interesting as there is heavy rain scheduled at the start.

Finally back!!
Hamilton has been keeping a nice pace. I have a great feeling about this one.
Button has been fighting some kinks still with his car and looking good. Hopefully they straighten it out by tomorrow.
Red Bull still under the microscope. I died laughing when they focused on the FIA official checking the car out in between qualifiers.

Same here lmao. The FIA placed stickers almost everywhere on that car to ensure Red Bull didn't change anything between qualifiers

 

[Sinner]

 

 I can bust this out again... 

And some WDYWT-F1 edition.

Haha, I missed the FIA-bit, but I think every car in Scrutineering will be examined in-detail... not just the RBR's. 

 

[zk1mpls]

Good to have this thread back. Good qualifying by Lewis. 150 poles in F1 for McLaren, too. They definitely needed that. A less than ideal weekend for Ferrari so far, but I hope Fernando has a good shot at a podium in the race.

Anyway, as promised, here's my renovated sim racing rig: with my new G27 and bucket seat:

From the PC thread:

After finding how much a Playseat costs =|... decided to build my own cockpit for a fraction of the price. Used CLK 320 dimensions for reference. This is what I came up (version 1.0):

Large and weighed a ton! Real sturdy, though. 

A few months later came version 2.0:

About 15% smaller and 25% lighter. Removed unnecessary crossmembers/support and made it narrower. Replaced steel flooring with aluminum.

By the way, used car seats can be had for cheap. The first bucket seat I used for my cockpit (v1 and v2) cost me around $60 for the pair. Since it was a real car seat, it was quite heavy -accounted for half the weight of my rig. That had to go ASAP.

Fast forward to last week: friend hooked me up with a Logitech G27 for cheap (sold Logitech DFGT with the quickness). Needed to mod rig to accommodate larger peripherals -perfect time to make much lighter and compact rig.

Almost finished with fabrication with v3.0. Just need to rivet down the floor and make brackets for the shifter/pedals/wheel. Paint and finishing tomorrow. Should be about 35% smaller and 30% lighter vs. v2.0, while improving functionality.

This might be the final configuration of my rig for a while, until something better and logical comes along. After all, I'm only a semi-casual sim racer. No triple-monitor setup for me. Lol.

VERSION 3.0:

^ Damn, that guy has a lot of rigs. His rig is definitely doable -not that special compared to the other ridiculous ones I've seen with motion actuators and everything. Excellent choice with the Fanatec CSR Elite, though. $540 :x Planning to get the same Thrustmaster TH8RS shifter later on. The G27's shifter kinda sucks.

Anyway, without further ado... here's my sim racing cockpit -version 3.0:

It's definitely a heck of a lot smaller and lighter than v2.0... thanks to the new replica bucket seat I purchased. Steering base came out much more rigid than v2.0 as well. Ambidextrous shifter mount to be installed tomorrow. Just finished fabrication with that. Will paint tomorrow.

Shifter mount installed (sorry for crappy low-light iPhone pics):

Trying F1 2011 out at the Hungaroring this weekend. Need to work a lot on my second sector time. :x

And since this is Niketalk, some driving kicks I got from HK last December or the other year.

 

[zk1mpls]

By the way, episode two of McLaren's Tooned:

 

[Sinner]

That's a NICE rig!  The entire chassis is custom?  Looks VERY sturdy! DAMN!  

Haha, you just got the G27 and looking at the T500 already!?  Haha.  But i don't blame you... it's a fine, fine wheel.  The quality, the weight, the feedback... top shelf.

The Tooned series are hilarious.  subtle humorous jabs at both drivers! All in good fun.

Ferrari?  BOOOOO! 

 

[zk1mpls]

Thanks! Yeah, it's custom made -my own design to be exact. I found the Playseat flexes too much, and that center post is annoying. Just copied the dimensions of a Mercedes-Benz CLK320 (car that was just on hand at the office that day for measurements). Yup, it's fairly sturdy... shifter mount still needs a little work. Still slightly flexes. Bucket seat is a little tight. Need to work on some cardio first.

Would've made a completely new one out of aluminum square tubing, but welding aluminum would've cost me a lot more than just taking apart the old one and rebuilding it. Could've shed a kilo or two, though.

Tried 70 laps around the Hungaroring today (2 x 35-lap races), and I felt quite tired... and I didn't even experience the G-Forces! Left foot fell asleep midway through the first race. Left foot braking with your foot asleep

By the way, I'm only looking at the Thrustmaster TH8RS shifter, not the T500RS! If I had the money, I wouldn't get the T500RS, either (around $900 over here :x ). I'd rather go for the Fanatec ClubSport series.

The G27's shifter kinda sucks. Throws are tiny and shifts are too soft. But before I buy a new shifter, I'd better learn to drive stick properly. I still stick to the paddle shifters. I'm still wondering how I'll replace the D-pad and buttons on the G27 shifter when I do replace that shifter, though.



Anybody else going to cop Project C.A.R.S. soon? It looks like a very promising race sim. The amount of work put into it by the community looks nuts!

 

[robsheedwallace]

Lewis takes the checkered. Solid solid race/weekend by Lewis. McLaren's pits were strong except one hiccup I believe. Sucks Button dropped back and couldn't finish 3rd

The Lotus are SCARY! Grosjean drove a great race. Kimi as well did but those chassis, scary.

Ferrari were rather quiet. Was expecting more out of Alonso.

Glad RBR fell back. Webber and Vettel looked out of form.

Senna with a 7th spot. I dig that but again Maldonado thinking he's driving bumper cars at the fair. He needs to be stopped.

 

[zk1mpls]

Missed out on the race since I had to attend my grandmother's 83rd birthday celebration, but I tried getting updates via Twitter. Looks like a solid race and great result from McLaren and Lewis. Finally they snap out of their slump.

Yeah, outside of the last grand prix, Lotus have really been one of the fastest teams on the grid. Everything just hasn't fallen into place for them just yet. But it will for them, soon.

Did seem like a quiet race for Ferrari, but we'll take all the points we can get. Just need to be as consistent as the Red Bulls. The Driver's and Constructor's Championship standings are quite similar: you got one driver/team in the outright lead, yet the other top places are all bunched up, neck-and-neck -clearly showing how important consistency/solid results are with the points system. I just wish all the other teams can still catch up with Red Bull.

Just a hair over a month until the next grand prix weekend at Spa-Francorchamps. Man, the wait is going to be too long!

By the way, why did the race end up being run only 69 laps? Isn't it a 70-lap race?

 

[Sinner]

^ 69 laps cuz there was an aborted-start, with MSC having an engine issue... so they had to do 1 extra warm-up lap.  MSC ended-up starting from the pitlane.

Anyway, that was so nerve-wracking.  Kimi's charge from the midfield was crazy.  Some serious pace from the Lotus'... Good drive from Lewis to preserve those tires, but what a pitstop and pitexit by Kimi to nudge Grosjean out of the way! After that, his confidence (and pace) seemed shot.  Also, a good gamble by VET towards the end there to box for options.  Good gamble as he was able to keep his P4 and possibly challenge for P3.  

Man, next race... in September! 

 

[2ndaccount]

What happend to JB?!  went to bed when he was on 3rd place.. im hoping for 1-2 for mclaren but now im wondering why he end up on 6th.

Great win for lewis..i didnt watch it live, just followed some update online. lap per lap..kimi's charge on lewis looks really strong (when im reading the update) nice to see lewis hold his spot.

 

[flashout01]

i think kimi is saving his first win for spa. lol

 

[Thierry Henry]

Haha! Told you guys Lewis was gonna take the W. My dude didn't disappoint one bit
By the way did any of you guys catch ESPN 2 showing Senna back to back on Sunday night?

By the way, episode two of McLaren's Tooned:

These Tooned episodes are hilarious.
"jenson are you tweeting? *looks at phone* pulling 10 Gz MEGA LOLZ"
"mate you beard slipped"

i think kimi is saving his first win for spa. lol

 

[zk1mpls]

Episode 3:

 

[Sinner]

^ Haha, I forgot to post that!  Those are all pretty funny... Good bit of British wit, I suppose?  

Jenson RoButton... ha! 

 

[Thierry Henry]

Sup guys!!

So that this thread won't die during this long break, I wanted to see what you guys are up to. Are you watching other forms of motorsport? I found myself watching Indy Car today and to be honest I didn't really see the same excitement like I do in F1 :x I literally must have watched 5 laps of it before I decided to flip the channel. The Olympics aren't doing it for me either, I find it highly overrated. but I do occasionally tune in to watch USA basketball demolish the opposition and also watch women's volleyball

 

[flashout01]

i watch the re-runs of gp2 and formula 3, i follow certain drivers but for now just watching the Olympics and its just awsome!

yeah... Kimi is just saving it fo Spa

 

[zk1mpls]

Well... as I've put my watercooling loop build on hold indefinitely (don't see the need for now), I've been reading up on Sim Racing. Checked out other people's sim cockpits and mine doesn't even hold a candle to theirs. Just insane people out there (in a good way) . Considering proper race sims to try out. Might actually cave in this week and finally get a Project C.A.R.S. Team Membership.
After each week progresses, the game looks better and better. Hopefully this will be the Gran Turismo for PC.


F1 2011 and Need for Speed: Shift 2 Unleashed just won't cut it anymore. Lol.

Also, I still play Battlefield 3 after work often. Add me up on Battlelog if you're on PC. Peep the sig.

In other news, Jenson Button and Jessica Michibata were in the country for this weekend and just placed third in his age category in the Ironman 70.3 event over here.

F1 champ Jenson Button shines at Cobra Ironman 70.3 in Cebu

By Tracy Carpena — 06 Aug 2012

"Jenson" could be a name synonymous with speed.

Former Formula 1 world champ Jenson Button has demonstrated speed once again--not on an F1 track but on a 70.3-mile triathlon course. On August 5, he zoomed past other triathletes at the Cobra Ironman 70.3 in Cebu City, where he bagged third place in the 30-34 male age category.

Button finished his very first half Ironman distance—1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21km run—in 4 hours, 35 minutes, 49 seconds. He was about 8 minutes behind August Benedicto, the first Filipino to cross the finish line. Button's coach, Paul Ryman, emerged the winner of the 30-34 male age group.

The UK-based F1 driver and triathlete finished the 1.9km swim in 25 minutes and 41 seconds, the fifth-best time among 201 athletes in his age group. He battled headwinds and crosswinds in the 90km bike leg and reached the transition area after 2 hours, 24 minutes and 42 seconds, the fourth-best time in his age category. Button's half-marathon (21km) time in Cebu's scorching heat was 1 hour, 41 minutes and 36 seconds.

Jenson finished 14th overall, just 21 seconds behind Filipino elite Franklin Peñalosa.

After crossing the finish line and with enough energy in his tank, Button went back to the run course to pace his girlfriend Jessica Michibata to the finish. The 2009 F1 champion's strong finish qualified him for the Ironman 70.3 World Championship in Las Vegas, Nevada, set for September 9, 2012.

Just like Naga City, the former Cobra Ironman 70.3 host city, Cebu had supportive locals cheering on athletes, as tweeted by Button: "Support here in Cebu has been fantastic with over 30,000 people lining the streets in the race. Super tough, hot race but worth it."

Photos by Mikko David

 

[Sinner]

I can't get enough of the Olympics.  Been watching a lot of events.  Fun watching sports you normally wouldn't watch... and the best in the world competing at it!

As for the break, I'll probably catch up on some of the past few races.  I watch the races live, but will re-watch them from the Sky broadcast.  They have better commentary and a more complete coverage.  I still need to watch the Valencia, Germany and Hungary races... from Sky!

I will sometimes watch the GP2/GP3 races if I can find a stream, but that's about it.  I also watch the Le Mans 24hrs each year... as much of it as I can, anyway.

 

[zk1mpls]

Been spending some time tweaking wheel settings on my G27 for F1 2011 for the past hour, since work was suspended for the second consecutive days due to flooding in other parts of the metro over here. Thankfully we're safe and flood-free over at my place. Just experiencing a lot of rain. Works much better now. Tried a few laps around Spa-Francorchamps... in reverse. And to think Eau Rouge/Radillon was crazy uphill. :x

I know this was posted earlier in this thread, but check out Bruno Senna doing it in real life. Not even at full speed. :x



By the way, the G27 Force Feedback seems somewhat weaker compared to the DFGT, even at maximum settings. *scratches head*

 

[Sinner]

^ Almost forgot... hope you guys are doing ok there.  I've seen some pics and it looks pretty scary.

Anyway, interesting that the DFGT may have stronger feedback, but think overall the G27 is still superior in every way.  With the Olympics, I haven't played GT5 in while! 

That's a great vid, but this is even better! 

 

[zk1mpls]

Thanks, man. Still raining pretty hard outside. Hope it stops soon.

The G27 is definitely a quality product. Of the kit, I'm definitely most impressed by the pedals, which are miles ahead of the DFGT. Quiet steering is okay, but the weak force feedback is a little underwhelming. Maybe it's just in F1 2011. I'm definitely disappointed in the G27 shifter. Looks like they cut corners with its design. But they did say this shifter is already better the G25 shifter, even with the lack of a sequential shifter... that the G25 shifter was much softer. :\

Really would want to upgrade to the TH8RS eventually, but a concern is it doesn't have any buttons/d-pad. But then again, don't really need to upgrade, since I have to learn how to drive stick properly. Need to learn that heel-toe downshift technique first.

 

[Sinner]

^ Heel-toe-ing isn't that hard.  It's more about getting into the rhythm of doing it on corner-entry. When I first tried it on my real car, I did "match-rev" first, before heel-toe.  That's basically when you don't use the brake and just try to downshift while blipping the throttle.  

So it's like:

Clutch-in

Blip throttle

Downshift

Clutch-out

All done smoothly.  And also... go watch a bunch of Best Motoring/Hot Version videos... that's how I learned!  I didn't even have Youtube back then, so it was all VHS/VCD/DVD's!