F1 Official Thread - Grand Prix of Britain

[zk1mpls]

Speaking of gear ratios... I wonder if they'll ever use 8th gear? Maybe for overtaking?

 

[Sinner]

^ I don't think they touched 8th gear at AUS...  But maybe they'll use it on those two straights at Sepang.  They need to maximize it for Shanghai's backstraight and at Monza, so not sure if Sepang's straight will be long enough for them to redline 8th... don't think so. 

Anyway...

 

[Sinner]

 

[Sinner]

So weird hearing all the tire-noises... 

 

[Sinner]

RBR may have crap engines from Renault this season, but their downforce package is still one of the best.

Old rivals...

 

[yeezusdisciple]

^ I don't think they touched 8th gear at AUS...  But maybe they'll use it on those two straights at Sepang.  They need to maximize it for Shanghai's backstraight and at Monza, so not sure if Sepang's straight will be long enough for them to redline 8th... don't think so. 

Anyway...

this pic

 

[imasoleman18]

i really want to watch this morning but ive been up since 6 this morning and i dont think ill make it too 3:30am let alone the entire race

 

[zk1mpls]

Man... the second driver seat at Red Bull is cursed... :x

10 Place grid drop for unsafe release, too.

Ferrari still quite a bit off pace. Surprisingly no engine blowouts this race. Full of racing incidents, though. Mercedes were just toying with the field.

Massa should've given way to Bottas. Team over driver any day.

 

[Sinner]

Yeah, tough day for RIC, but rules are rules I guess.  All for the sake of safety, which you can't really argue.  

Ferrari were ok, but the HULK was very impressive.  Kept the pace up and was good on fuel, it seems.  

Poor old Felipe... same ish, different team.  Good for him though cuz it benefitted Jenson... haha.

OOOOOPS.

 

[eiddyfouw]

I haven't really been following the season yet...

But, when Lewis when joined Mercedes he said they were investing heavily into the cars, and we would start seeing results very soon. Is this the start of that winning campaign or was Lewis just lucky?

 

[kdawg]

What ever happened with the Red Bull fuel thing from last time? I never heard if the appeal was successful.

 

[Sinner]

I haven't really been following the season yet...

But, when Lewis when joined Mercedes he said they were investing heavily into the cars, and we would start seeing results very soon. Is this the start of that winning campaign or was Lewis just lucky?

When Lewis joined MGP, it was basically down to this season (and the following ones of course).  With the new engine regulations, they knew that being a "factory team" was gonna be beneficial.  Merc has the best engine package out there in terms of reliability and performance.  Their car-package ain't that bad too so right now, it's the team you want to be in.  RBR has a good car, but Renault engines haven't been performing too well, which has been their liability.  Rumor has it Renault engines are down at least 80hp on the Mercs. 

 

[Sinner]

MGP 

 

[zk1mpls]

This is 2009 all over again... :x

 

[niketalker23]

So I was watching the practice on TV this morning and they mentioned that there will be an american owned team in F1. They mentioned that they need to find a car maker to design a car. My question is (since i'm new to the sport), why don't companies like Lamborghini or Porsche get into F1?

 

[Thierry Henry]

Lamborghini used to have a works team back in the day, but they only lasted like 2 seasons I believe.

The sport is highly competitive and it takes a lot of $$$ to fund a team.

 

[hoosiergunner]

So I was watching the practice on TV this morning and they mentioned that there will be an american owned team in F1. They mentioned that they need to find a car maker to design a car. My question is (since i'm new to the sport), why don't companies like Lamborghini or Porsche get into F1?

It costs hundreds of millions of dollars to be competitive. Lamborghini is anti-competition, strictly a road car company. They did build an F1 engine in the 80s and it was a massive failure. Porsche last participated building engines for McLaren in the mid-80s. They are just more focused on sports car racing.

 

[Sinner]

Looks like everything's been covered, but yeah, it comes down to money.  It's a tough economy right now, so not a lot of manufacturers want to invest that much into it... remember, they have to build/design these engines from scratch.  With the new hybrid systems for this season and onwards, the costs are astronomical.  

Anyway... here's a sample of the Lambo V12.

 

[zk1mpls]

I've read recently about Bernie saying it costs around $1Bn to run 4 seasons... so yes, it's all about the $$$.

To add to that, Porsche, Audi, and the other works teams not in F1 seem to think that sports car/endurance racing provides more logical and relevant development (i.e., technology transfer translates better) for their road car business.

To quote Mr. Ulrich, Audi Sport boss:

Audi’s racing director, Dr. Wolfgang Ulrich, told Car Magazine’s Ben Whitworth that F1 just isn’t relevant:

‘There’s a very good reason why we are not in F1,’ says Dr. Ullrich. ‘There’s no relevance to the road. Audi has always been engaged in motorsport that’s relevant to our customers such as rallying and touring cars, which brought quattro, FSI and TFSI to our road cars.

‘This is why in 1999 we decided against F1. Instead we decided to take on the greatest race in the world. We went for Le Mans.’

Endurance racing is a fascinating sport as well, but the races really take forever to finish.

 

[Sinner]

^ All very reasonable points.  And it makes sense for them... people can relate to sports/touring cars more than formula cars.  

Endurance racing is still enjoyable in its own way... a different discipline and requires a different approach.  

I don't watch a lot of their races but try to catch as much LM24 as possible.  

 

[imasoleman18]

have the day off tomorrow and the GP is at a decent time i must be dreaming

 

[Sinner]

The Mercs will run away with this one, but P3-P13 look extremely close.   Seb just missed Q3 by a few tenths.  

 

[zk1mpls]

Dozed off just right before quali... night races in the middle east :x

 

[Sinner]

But that was only 11PM! 

 

[zk1mpls]

But that was only 11PM! 

Well, I had a long day... Terribly hot over here. Gets up to 40 degrees Celsius in the office. :x

Catching the race right now, though.