The F1 thread

sinbaadi

If you get to the point where two cars basically come to a stop in order to not cross the line first, you have achieved the opposite of motor racing.

TimmyO

It’s just a matter of shortening the DRS zone a bit at some tracks I reckon 

stickyfiddle

More rumours Audi is trying to buy McLaren, or at least some of it. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but if they buy it and its name changes I will be very unhappy

Boromedic

Interesting to see if that plays out, I always thought they'd buy into RB but I guess the fact they're building full cars now means they won't. 

Rumours also of changes to the Mercedes coming, wonder if they're allowed to go back to the pre shrinkwrap spec or whether that would even make a difference?

stickyfiddle

Boromedic said:

Interesting to see if that plays out, I always thought they'd buy into RB but I guess the fact they're building full cars now means they won't. 

Rumours also of changes to the Mercedes coming, wonder if they're allowed to go back to the pre shrinkwrap spec or whether that would even make a difference?

Well rumours suggest Porsche might be going in with RB - I wonder whether that would be a takeover to become Red Bull Porsche and have RB just be a title sponsor, or if they'd just buy the engine dept and effectively pick up all of Honda's IP.

As for Merc, they said the internals were the same between both aero specs, so no reason to suggest they can't go backward at least for one car on Friday practice to compare one against the other. But I'd that sends a pretty shaky message that they aren't confident in their solution. 

Boromedic

I was thinking that would be weird and potentially against the regs if VAG had two teams, (RB and Mclaren), but I guess RB has 2 teams effectively at the mo. 

Yeah if the internals are the same then it shouldn't matter, I guess the main issue is the floor/porpoising but even small changes to the bodywork would affect it. The week between the last two races wasn't enough time to progress, so Albert Park should be interesting. They are safe in 5/6 at the mo, so a bit of mucking around won't hurt. I'm pretty sure the title is out of reach this year though. 

TimmyO

Merc changes are apparently rear wing focused (and maybe some floor tweaks) - lower downforce rear wing means they won’t have to run the whole car so
high 

euan

The porpoising was happening with he Barcelona spec car too

stickyfiddle

TimmyO said:

Merc changes are apparently rear wing focused (and maybe some floor tweaks) - lower downforce rear wing means they won’t have to run the whole car so
high 

I would guess this in combination with rear suspension that gets firmer at high speed (somehow..?!) would be the ideal answer. 

Boromedic

TimmyO said:

Merc changes are apparently rear wing focused (and maybe some floor tweaks) - lower downforce rear wing means they won’t have to run the whole car so
high 

Cool, where did you find the info please? Ta

Boromedic

euan said:

The porpoising was happening with he Barcelona spec car too

Yeah I don't think it was "as" bad though.

TimmyO

Boromedic said:

TimmyO said:

Merc changes are apparently rear wing focused (and maybe some floor tweaks) - lower downforce rear wing means they won’t have to run the whole car so
high 

Cool, where did you find the info please? Ta

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.tech-tuesday-the-major-mercedes-update-expected-to-land-in-melbourne.1v3EDiILYwkiGdsXRY8L6a.html @Boromedic ;

Boromedic

TimmyO said:

Boromedic said:

TimmyO said:

Merc changes are apparently rear wing focused (and maybe some floor tweaks) - lower downforce rear wing means they won’t have to run the whole car so
high 

Cool, where did you find the info please? Ta

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.tech-tuesday-the-major-mercedes-update-expected-to-land-in-melbourne.1v3EDiILYwkiGdsXRY8L6a.html @Boromedic ;

Thank you!

chillidoggy

But also described as a “sticking plaster”, so it’ll be an interesting weekend.

TimmyO

yeah - they haven't sorted how to generate underfloor downforce without porpoising - this just means they can use a less poor setup to avoid porpoising :-/ 

musicegbdf

stickyfiddle said:

More rumours Audi is trying to buy McLaren, or at least some of it. I'm not sure how I feel about this, but if they buy it and its name changes I will be very unhappy
 

I really hope not . 

euan

https://twitter.com/tgruener/status/1512111219414425610

Your wish might be granted

RiftAmps

Got up early and watched FP1+2...unbelievable Ferrari pace despite having the worst porpoising on track by some margin this weekend. When they sort that it'll be even further ahead of the rest. Starting to think we've got a CL WDC on our hands.

Nice to see Alpine and McLaren up there too...Alonso and Danny Ric really attacking the track...looks mega.

stickyfiddle

Audi looking at Sauber but the current investors didn't want to cede control to Andretti, so will they to Audi? Unless they want to come in more like the Alfa deal, or just for engines, but those both seem unlikely. 

Good to see Mclaren looking closer to where they finished last season and great to see Ferrari are still competitive. Not sure how long I can stand to see the Merc guys firmly in the midfield though  

goldtop

Are we doing a sweepstake on how long it takes for Ferrari's latest skullduggery to be discovered by the FIA and then for it to be quietly abandoned?