The F1 thread

Heartfeltdawn

fretmeister said:

I do hope you don't actually want a sport to have a higher risk of death just for the altar of entertainment!

Perhaps that's the surprise in the Saudi Super League golf proposals. Loads of money but slightly more fatalities than the PGA Tour. Looking forward to 2023 and the inaugural Khashoggi Invitational Open.

Heartfeltdawn

fretmeister said:

So - if a driver were to eject they would likely suffer injuries that would cause them to miss the rest of the season, and possibly never come back. If a similar 2 ejection limit were imposed then nearly everyone on the grid would have retired already based on their past crashes.

Never going to happen. 

It will never happen because nobody in the FIA wants Mazepin to get embarrassed when him in an ejector seat qualifies five seconds faster than him in a car. 

Cols

The halo device is not aesthetically pleasing.

It is, however, a damn sight easier on the eye than watching race marshals stretchering away the lifeless bodies of Leclerc and Hamilton after being hit on the head by another car, or seeing a decapitated Grosjean being barbecued.  And that's certainly what we would have seen had it not been developed, so I'm happy to trade that for the cars looking a bit less swoopy.

Fully enclosed canopies would look nicer, but come with a lot more safety implications such as driver extraction if the car is upside down or stuffed under a barrier (a la Grosjean).  The idea of a fully enclosed safety capsule is overengineering - it's really only relevant for situations such as aircraft high altitude/high speed ejection, where a conventional ejection system would expose the pilot to extreme conditions.

markr76

They could have the drivers wear Velcro race suits. Then have a fluffy track that follows/runs above the track. The when the drivers are ejected they stick to the fluffy bit like a fly on the wall. 

Once the race has finished they could have a pickup truck drive round and pick them all up. 

Lebarque

markr76 said:

They could have the drivers wear Velcro race suits. Then have a fluffy track that follows/runs above the track. The when the drivers are ejected they stick to the fluffy bit like a fly on the wall. 

Once the race has finished they could have a pickup truck drive round and pick them all up. 

Good idea, although those velcro suits are a rip-off.

markr76

Lebarque said:

markr76 said:

They could have the drivers wear Velcro race suits. Then have a fluffy track that follows/runs above the track. The when the drivers are ejected they stick to the fluffy bit like a fly on the wall. 

Once the race has finished they could have a pickup truck drive round and pick them all up. 

Good idea, although those velcro suits are a rip-off.

I don’t get it!

chillidoggy

FFS, I leave you lot alone for five minutes, and I’ve come back to a scrap worthy of Brexit.

Ferrari with LeClerc topped first practice times.

Cols

chillidoggy said:

FFS, I leave you lot alone for five minutes, and I’ve come back to a scrap worthy of Brexit.

Ferrari with LeClerc topped first practice times.

Well, it's an emotive topic when cars look stupid but there's a good reason for it.

Everyone's just getting the laps in right now (Verstappen's going to feel it in the neck this evening) rather than going for times, but nevertheless it's good to see McLaren and Ferrari up there.

stickyfiddle

Yeah, Alfa and Haas look comparatively troubled with low lap counts for both. Williams not bad and solidly midfield on pace as well as lap count, which is good. 

Obviously we have no idea who is quickest from current times, but the big 4 all seem reliable and quick enough when they want to be. I wonder if anyone will be planning on pushing the revs hard at the end of each day and try and blow some engines up while they're allowed to without penalty. Or would that eat into the spending cap? 

TimmyO

interesting

chillidoggy

Lando was fast, but the Ferrari's are up there, too. WTF happened with Red Bull? Nowhere to be seen!

stickyfiddle

chillidoggy said:

Lando was fast, but the Ferrari's are up there, too. WTF happened with Red Bull? Nowhere to be seen!

Not trying. There's no glory in going quick on day one. Smart money is on having a sensible program and sticking to it - the confident teams generally focus on reliability and correlation/calibration of how your car reacts to setup changes compared with the wind tunnel, CFD and sim. Get those right and you'll know how quick your car is without letting anyone else find out

Heartfeltdawn

stickyfiddle said:

Not trying. There's no glory in going quick on day one. 

Advice that works for F1 seasons and for honeymoons. 

stickyfiddle

First proper vid of new cars on track. They look good overall. Ferrari probably my favourite to look at, though I'm sad the new Mclaren orange is a mess . 

markr76

stickyfiddle said:

First proper vid of new cars on track. They look good overall. Ferrari probably my favourite to look at, though I'm sad the new Mclaren orange is a mess . 

I’m biased as I do like the look of our car. But I too think the Ferrari looks ace! I like the Aston Martin’s look also. 

stickyfiddle

Yeah, the Merc looks maybe a bit simple but that's not necessarily a bad thing as it also looks like the most tightly packaged and utterly sleek

In any case I'm guessing the details under the floor are going to be a differentiator under these regs and we have no idea what each team is doing there yet

markr76

stickyfiddle said:

Yeah, the Merc looks maybe a bit simple but that's not necessarily a bad thing as it also looks like the most tightly packaged and utterly sleek

In any case I'm guessing the details under the floor are going to be a differentiator under these regs and we have no idea what each team is doing there yet

I’m sure most of the cars will look very different by the next test, first race. 

stickyfiddle

markr76 said:

stickyfiddle said:

Yeah, the Merc looks maybe a bit simple but that's not necessarily a bad thing as it also looks like the most tightly packaged and utterly sleek

In any case I'm guessing the details under the floor are going to be a differentiator under these regs and we have no idea what each team is doing there yet

I’m sure most of the cars will look very different by the next test, first race. 

Can I sell this to motorsport.com as an exclusive scoop on Mercedes development (no doubt available only to MS bloody Prime members..)

stickyfiddle

Vettel won't race in Russia. I'm guessing the GP will be cancelled within a week but he's a good man for showing some principles regardless of what the bosses think. 

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/vettel-i-wont-race-in-the-russian-gp-after-ukraine-invasion/8458166/

goldtop

First to put his head above the parapet. Good man.

Haas is presumably rethinking some colours at the moment?