The F1 thread

Cols

fretmeister said:

The cost cap is going to be interesting.

In the interviews in P2 Toto said they are not developing this year's car anymore and the pundits were wondering if that was at least partly because they want to spend all the money for next year's one.

It’s certainly is going to be interesting.

One of the impacts of the Bottas/Russell crash in Imola (according to Wolff) was that they wouldn’t be able to bring as many upgrades to later races, due to the cost of repairs.  

A front wing alone costs over £100k.  Have a big accident and it runs into millions.

Teams must need to estimate how many accidents their drivers will have in a season and leave enough space in the budget to cover them.  God only knows what’ll happen if they have a big one towards the end of the season and the team’s already maxed out their budget. 

Cols

Pat Symonds was asked recently how much it costs to manufacture the various bits of an F1 car, (leaving to one side the considerable R&D costs), and came up with the following ballpark figures:

Chassis: £500,000
Rear wing: £61,000 - £108,000
Front wing/nosecone: £100,000
Halo: £12,000
Floor and bargeboards: £100,000
Engine: £12.92m
Gearbox: £250,000
Fuel tank: £22,000
Steering wheel: £35,000
Hydraulics: £123,000
Brake discs and pads: £55,000
Tyres: £2,080 per set
Ancillaries: £36,000

Total cost: £14.58 million 

I’ll admit the cost of a single engine rocked me back on my heels a bit.  I’m old enough to remember when teams would take the engine out after qualifying and throw it in the bin.

One to think about next time a driver puts his car crunchily in the wall.  Mazespin Sr must have deep pockets…

stickyfiddle

I assume the engine cost includes some portion of R&D, rather than just time & materials to build a single unit.

Cols

Pat Symonds: “The regulations call for a customer to be supplied at €12m (£10.34m). The reality is that no one pays just this for their engines, because of all the other bits and pieces that come into it.

“Customers are paying something in the region of €15m (£12.92m) for one engine.”

Bonkers, when you consider that in the late 60s a team could buy a Cosworth DFV for £7,500 and go racing.

TimmyO

euan said:

Cols said:

Horner’s complaining that modifying their rear wing to meet the new test requirements will cost Red Bull half a million dollars.

What Horner means it will cost Red Bull half a million to develop a bendy wing that still passes the new test

That made my coffee exit my nose - but you're right 

euan

The idea from Horner that there is any cost beyond just manufacturing is somewhat ridiculous, especially something that is relatively simple like an end plate. If it was a nose/crash structure I could understand.

To have the knowledge of forces/layup/fibre/resin to create a wing that bends in certain loads you would have the ability to rapidly change the construction to not allow those forces. If you haven't already done that study as a comparison. Its not like you need a different mould, you would likely just change the ply/resin combination.

You do get flexible resins that you can use in the layup. McLaren use them in the Speedtail to create ailerons that are integrated into the rear bodywork.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Qualifying looking really interesting so far. Mercedes in front, but Lewis seems to be struggling a bit. Absolute shocker for Alonso! 

Dontgiveupyourdayjob

Wow, that's one way to guarantee your spot on pole position! 

stickyfiddle

Ha! Great session, and honestly it didn't look like anyone was going to beat Leclerc today. Hope his gearbox isn't fecked.

chillidoggy

Bugger! Would have loved to have seen Max do that final lap!

And Hamster is nowhere, what’s that all about? He just couldn’t seem to get it together.

stickyfiddle

chillidoggy said:

Bugger! Would have loved to have seen Max do that final lap!

And Hamster is nowhere, what’s that all about? He just couldn’t seem to get it together.

Rosberg was saying he reckoned Ham lost a bit of confidence in the car after a handful of big oversteer moments in FP3. Not sure if true but the car is not completely lacking as Bottas was quick, however we know the Merc is generally designed expecting a meh result in Monaco in return for an easier time everywhere else.

Ham will still want a podium and I honestly wouldn't put it past him, though I suspect Gasly is going to have a fun afternoon...

chillidoggy

Hamster griping about his car in the media, strong words will no doubt be had behind closed doors. If his car doesn’t suit this circuit, it certainly does the others, so they don’t want to be fixing a non-existent fault or they could cock it up for the next races!

I just hope it’s not the usual procession, we could do with some rain to mix it up a bit.

PC_Dave

Max’s radio reaction to Leclerc is hilarious  

Apparently he was 1 and a half up on the exit of 8, so could have stuck it in pole.

Cols

chillidoggy said:

Hamster griping about his car in the media, strong words will no doubt be had behind closed doors. If his car doesn’t suit this circuit, it certainly does the others, so they don’t want to be fixing a non-existent fault or they could cock it up for the next races!

I just hope it’s not the usual procession, we could do with some rain to mix it up a bit.

Well, he’s hardly going to shrug his shoulders and say “Sorry, Valtteri was simply faster than me today.  

And Charles.  And Max.  And Carlos. And Lando.  And Pierre….”

thumpingrug

Looks like Charles has borked his box.

YellowLedBetterMan

Anxious for Leclerc. Doesn't look good.

stickyfiddle

FUUUUUU

thumpingrug

The start is going to interesting.  After that given that its Monaco, it could be dreary.

stickyfiddle

Can we have Carlos and Lando both on the podium now?

fretmeister

Max is going to go into the distance and Bottas will be too slow and will hold the rest up.

I hope it rains.