F1 Thread

[Horney]

I didn't watch it, just looked up the results this morning.

nick

[dom]

Anyone else getting annoyed with how Coulthard says 'Vettel'?!

Didn't even notice tbh, Coulthard is a million times better than Legard anyway so I can live with 1 wrong pronunciation

[Wayne]

Hispania duo not allowed to race

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90242

[Khare]

Glad to hear it. Collin kolles has produces a joke team....first time properly out on track was in quali ....

[Khare]

Oh and regarding drivers this year, Liuzzi shouldn't have signed for HRT. He'd be better off as a test driver for a better team/retired.

Massa is the laughing stock at Ferrari. Over the weekend he's span and locked the brakes more times than I've seen anyone (Hamilton was close on the locking brakes count though).

Heidfield was the wrong choice at Renault I think. So what he had experience with Pirelli? It's all the same for everyone at the end of the day and the "experience" did nothing for qualifying. Bruno Senna should have been given his position instead...

Looks like Toro Rosso and Sauber are the best of the midfield out there, Kobayashi is so quick!

[Khare]

Oh and http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/90255

Again this year seems like Red Bull has some sort of rule exploiting device that make it faster than the rest. Horner quotes

Strategically we elected to not use KERS in the qualifying – it was a team decision

It's a no brainer to use KERS, it's a free 70hp boost! Why wouldn't you use it?!?! I predict another season full of red bull controversy.

[DOA]

Hamiltons was broken and yet he still managed a reasonable time despite the fact his brake balance will have been well out and the lack of the straight line boost. Rather begs the question wether the drivers are getting the best out of the system now they have 2 gadgets to play with out of the corners in quali and wether they have the surplus brain power to deal with it all effectively whilst trying to get the power down, something that appeared to bite Sutil. Given the system is only worth a few tenths and testing is rather limited these days its entirely possible that the kers systems are a complete waste of time and are costing some drivers as much time as it may gain them (my own opinion is that the battery systems are a complete waste of time and money and that they are actually pretty irrisponsible bits of kit to allow on a race car due to their environmental impact). Guess only time will tell and we need to see if people start dropping the system again although Im not for a second suggesting Red bull arent doing something trick or trying to increase their engine and gearbox reliability knowing they have the pace at the moment to cover it.

Oh btw, as much as it may be a 70hp boost, its most effective at speeds where the cars are traction limited anyway meaning that once they are out of the traction limit zone (so that you can actually use the extra oomph rather than spinning it up/wrecking the rear tyres) the gains it gives are actually very small and its only available for a very short amount of time. Itll be far more effective when they swap to the tiddly turbo engines if they ever allow the teams to store more energy.

[smitty12]

Like i said when Heidfeild was decided on, HE IS TERRIBLE AT QUALIFYING!!!!!

He's definitely not the right person to be in the seat at Renault. It should have been Liuzzi in Kubica's seat, Senna as a runner up. If one of of the Lotus's get past Heidfeild in the race tomorrow he wont be in the seat long i can guarentee that. The car would be unbelievable with Kubica! Such a shame he cant compete.

Massa is off to a terrible season considering this is make or break for him  

Mclaren have been outstanding!

Mercades are a let down after hyping them selfs up!

HRT are a joke! (completely agree with comments!)

The KERS system is a good idea in my opinion and i think it will boost overtaking it'll give drives more confidence to make the move rather than waiting 10laps for the driver infront to make a mistake. It definitely needs more power thou!!

[Khare]

It's been confirmed Red Bull have a KERS different to everyone else, and it only works at the start line.

[DOA]

Where? I dont actually see any benefit in them not having a full system since they are all limited to the same weight and they are all fixed into a single weight distribution (+/- a smaaaaallll percentage) so any weight saved cant really be repositioned to gain a better car balance. Also the gains in terms of C of G are likely to be bugger all as well if they are using a lighter system to get balast down low, assuming they could even find space to get it low without lifting other heavy components. Interesting, but probably subterfuge though I stand to be corrected.

The KERS system is a good idea in my opinion and i think it will boost overtaking it'll give drives more confidence to make the move rather than waiting 10laps for the driver infront to make a mistake. It definitely needs more power thou!!

Afraid I have to completely dissagree with this, if everyone has it, it makes no difference hence part of the reason for them dropping it last time.
Look at it this way, the guy behind cant get close to you through corners due to the drop in downforce he expereinces due to your dirty air. This being the case, the only time he can gain is as soon as he is  running straight or isnt traction limited. If he then hits the Kers button, you see him gaining and press it too. Bearing in mind that you have got off the corner faster than the guy behind you due to his loss of grip and not being able to put the power down as early as you can, you cant fail to negate any advantage he might have gained before you noticed him pressing the button. Add in the fact that, by the time you have noticed him gaining he has run out of Kers power due to the pathetic power storage limits, if you press the Kers button now, you can in all probability hold the guy off despite the fact that drag increases with the square of speed and your rate of acceleration from the extra power boost will not be as high as his was momentarily. Its all pretty simply proved with a bit of maths. If some have it and some dont then thats a bit different but the fact they are power limited and all have it makes it a complete nonesense.