The F1 thread

sinbaadi

It's like a high speed formula e track.  All barriers, very nondescript and few landmarks of note.

The FIA should be able to take decisions and revert them if appropriate without reprisal.  Unfortunately they have set themselves up to be shot down, with a good few years of hypocritical and inconsistent decision-making.  Very frustrating.

sinbaadi

Also why on earth, if cars can follow more closely now, haven't they reviewed the DRS zones?  Surely we don't need DRS as much any more.  I find the DRS overtakes utterly boring, and nobody takes any risks at all, they just wait for the DRS zone.

HAL9000

Boring! I suspect (but hope I’m wrong) that this season is essentially going consist of watching the two Red Bulls disappearing off into the distance.

Boromedic

I see Verstappen was whinging again according to what Rosberg heard. Knob end has the best car and still whinges. 

Cols

Petty penalties on both counts.  And it really took the biscuit to wait until after the race to apply the second bullshit penalty.

Speaking of last-minute surprises, Perez is cheesed off at Max for snatching the fastest time on the final lap; apparently he'd been told by the team to cruise to the end and not push.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

I'd always assumed the speed differential gained from the DRS were broadly similar across the grid. Watching the race, the Red Bull's DRS was insanely effective (looked like he'd hit a speed boost on Mario Kart or something!) whereas the McLaren's seemed to make almost no difference at all when trying to get past Sargeant. 

Hamilton said he didn't even bother trying to fight Verstappen on the way past, the Red Bull speed differential was something else.

RiftAmps

Loving how brilliant GR is proving to be. We knew he was excellent after his 3-years hauling that Williams into places it had zero right of being but after some solid efforts last year (Brazil wins were just exceptional), he's proving to be one of the best. Head down, crack on, and get results. Love it.

sinbaadi said:

Also why on earth, if cars can follow more closely now, haven't they reviewed the DRS zones?  Surely we don't need DRS as much any more.  I find the DRS overtakes utterly boring, and nobody takes any risks at all, they just wait for the DRS zone.

They did, at an FIA meeting on 21/2/23 - https://www.fia.com/news/2023-fia-formula-one-world-championship-formula-1-commission-meeting-210223

Nitefly

Boromedic said:

THAT'S where I'd seen him before!  It's been driving me mad for years!

dazzajl

The most entertaining part of the race was Jos’ face when everyone else at RB were celebrating a one/two finish. 

sinbaadi

RiftAmps said:

Loving how brilliant GR is proving to be. We knew he was excellent after his 3-years hauling that Williams into places it had zero right of being but after some solid efforts last year (Brazil wins were just exceptional), he's proving to be one of the best. Head down, crack on, and get results. Love it.

sinbaadi said:

Also why on earth, if cars can follow more closely now, haven't they reviewed the DRS zones?  Surely we don't need DRS as much any more.  I find the DRS overtakes utterly boring, and nobody takes any risks at all, they just wait for the DRS zone.

They did, at an FIA meeting on 21/2/23 - https://www.fia.com/news/2023-fia-formula-one-world-championship-formula-1-commission-meeting-210223

I don't think any of that review was with regards to the new regs making it easier to follow more closely and overall reduction of the need for DRS at all.  They moved a detection point for Jeddah.... 

RiftAmps

sinbaadi said:

sinbaadi said:

Also why on earth, if cars can follow more closely now, haven't they reviewed the DRS zones?  Surely we don't need DRS as much any more.  I find the DRS overtakes utterly boring, and nobody takes any risks at all, they just wait for the DRS zone.

They did, at an FIA meeting on 21/2/23 - https://www.fia.com/news/2023-fia-formula-one-world-championship-formula-1-commission-meeting-210223

I don't think any of that review was with regards to the new regs making it easier to follow more closely and overall reduction of the need for DRS at all.  They moved a detection point for Jeddah.... 

"The FIA has analysed DRS zones for 2022 and some changes made for 2023 in order to either facilitate overtaking, or make it harder in certain circuits where it was deemed not to be enough of a challenge. These changes will be implemented in Bahrain, Jeddah, Melbourne, Baku and Miami, and involve the adjustment of detection and activation zones, and additionally, in Melbourne the 4th activation zone will be reinstated."

So...they analysed the 2022 season and saw where DRS was making it too easy under the new regs. They have then adjusted accordingly by either moving the detection point and/or moving the activation point further up the road (shortening the DRS zone).

For Saudi Arabia 2023, the detection line for zone 3 was moved to after the final corner, and the activation point was moved 70m up the road.

It's all on the FIA website for everyone to see.

fretmeister

Cols said:

Petty penalties on both counts.  And it really took the biscuit to wait until after the race to apply the second bullshit penalty.

Speaking of last-minute surprises, Perez is cheesed off at Max for snatching the fastest time on the final lap; apparently he'd been told by the team to cruise to the end and not push.

Dontgiveupyourdayjob said:

I'd always assumed the speed differential gained from the DRS were broadly similar across the grid. Watching the race, the Red Bull's DRS was insanely effective (looked like he'd hit a speed boost on Mario Kart or something!) whereas the McLaren's seemed to make almost no difference at all when trying to get past Sargeant. 

Hamilton said he didn't even bother trying to fight Verstappen on the way past, the Red Bull speed differential was something else.

Brundle said it was a 17mph difference.

that's massive.

Cols

17mph is insane.  That can’t just be coming from the rear wing, they must be doing something to collapse the rear suspension to stall the diffuser as well.

thumpingrug

Cols said:

17mph is insane.  That can’t just be coming from the rear wing, they must be doing something to collapse the rear suspension to stall the diffuser as well.

Im sure that since its introduction the biggest reported speed gain has been 10-12mph - 17 is a huge jump.  Given how much the DRS usage and the gap created is controlled by the FIA, you do have to wonder what else is happening to create this extra speed.

Boromedic

Come on now, Red Bull wouldn't cheat would they? Can't believe such a thing....

skullfunkerry

https://www.planetf1.com/news/ted-kravitz-red-bull-drs-advantage/

TimmyO

Maybe the Red Bull has a secret backup power unit that is fuelled by overspend-hospitality-sandwiches ? 

Team Radio: Leclerc - "Can anyone else smell crab paté?" 

chillidoggy

It’s just sour grapes from the rest of the field because the wizard Newey has once again proved he’s the best aerodynamicist in the business.

Boromedic

It's not sour grapes is it, it's trying to work out what they're doing in case they're up to something they want to copy or something against the regs. Given that RB have form in the whole flexible aero world, it's only natural to look into it. 

You know full well Horner would be whinging about it if roles were reversed.

Cols

Boromedic said:

Come on now, Red Bull wouldn't cheat would they? Can't believe such a thing....

Oh, I’m sure it’s perfectly legal.  Adrian Newey (and every other great engineer) has made a career out of looking at the technical regulation and thinking “Well it doesn’t say I’m not allowed to do that”.

So there’s a clever workaround somewhere.  Normally my view is that if someone's come up with an innovation it's the job of the other teams to work out how to do it themselves, rather than go crying to the FIA and get it banned.

However, in this case?  Imagine if every team had a DRS function that gave them a 20mph speed boost every time they activated it.  Overtaking would become even more of a joke than it already is.

So find out what it is and ban it.  And while you're at it, ban DRS as well.  I remember back when overtaking took a lot more skill, delicacy and bravery than it does these days.  Kamui Kobayashi in particular was a fantastic 'Where did that come from?' overtaker, but once DRS came in there was no particular need for his rare talent.

stickyfiddle

Scarbs on the DRS thing here

https://twitter.com/ScarbsTech/status/1637892099142983692