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2014 Formula 1 Rule Changes
- Thread starter metalhead398
- Start date
Watching this afternoon (eastern time)... Great qualifying sessions! I love spa and it's crazy weather! I will be avoiding this thread until this evening so spoil away!
Ok, just finished up...decent race, not the outcome I would have liked to see. The stewards were a bit shoddy today as well.
Great results, okay results, or poor results depending on who you like. Red Bull: Good. Ferrari: Okay. Mercedes/Lotus: Poor.
Really? 5th for Webber is too low given Vettel's pace, 3rd and 4th for Mercedes is way better than poor, and Raikkonen's problem was just pure bad luck (visor tear-off in the brake duct).
That McLaren had a "good" day with Button in 6th is still crazy to me. I hope they're better next year.
Is the what happened to the Lotus!? I am a big fan of Kimi but that makes me chuckle a bit.
I also hate to see McClaren doing so poorly... I've been a fan of F1 since the mid-90s, never really had a favorite team or driver, never really had a team I didn't like... A few drivers for sure, but that's part of the fun. I like to root for the minnows just as much as the big guys. For me it's always been about the history, the action, and of course the cars.
-John
I also hate to see McClaren doing so poorly... I've been a fan of F1 since the mid-90s, never really had a favorite team or driver, never really had a team I didn't like... A few drivers for sure, but that's part of the fun. I like to root for the minnows just as much as the big guys. For me it's always been about the history, the action, and of course the cars.
-John
Yep- another driver's tear-off ended up in the brake cooling duct, which blocked airflow, leading to the overheating. It probably happened on the grid, as it was already a problem before his first stop (the pitlane being the normal danger zone for tearoffs).
A couple years back, a driver had an engine failure as a result of a tearoff going into the radiator duct (I think it was Anthony Davidson/Super Aguri?). It happened during a practice session that same year, but into the air intake!
A couple years back, a driver had an engine failure as a result of a tearoff going into the radiator duct (I think it was Anthony Davidson/Super Aguri?). It happened during a practice session that same year, but into the air intake!
I think he meant "proportionally more than there is now" rather than "no".
Even then, the myth that drivers were better back then is insane to me. The intense feeder system these days means that the average skill level of the drivers these days is WILDLY higher than it was in the 60s/70s/80s/90s.
Sure, a couple cars had 1300-1400 hp for a few laps in qualifying, but the cars were not actually any faster than they are today. Put the drivers from today in the cars from back then (assuming they had a career of manual shifting prior) and the pecking order would be basically the exact same as it is now, and they would set the same times- or better.
Even then, the myth that drivers were better back then is insane to me. The intense feeder system these days means that the average skill level of the drivers these days is WILDLY higher than it was in the 60s/70s/80s/90s.
Sure, a couple cars had 1300-1400 hp for a few laps in qualifying, but the cars were not actually any faster than they are today. Put the drivers from today in the cars from back then (assuming they had a career of manual shifting prior) and the pecking order would be basically the exact same as it is now, and they would set the same times- or better.
Today's drivers do occasionally get to drive some of the classic machines at events like Goodwood. Jaques Villanueve driving one of his father's ferraris comes to mind...
I would have thought that the mechanical grip with the huge tires was higher then and the aero is where it is at today. I'd love to see the wings gone and the cars back under the control of the drivers and the throttle.
JazznFunk
Supporting Member
Back in '98 in CART/IndyCar I remember Adrian Fernandez had a visor tearoff get sucked into a turbo intake in pit lane and it cooked the engine. Craziness.
As for Sunday, what happened to Kimi just stunk. I can't wait for the new cars and engines next year so that everyone will have a shot at catching Red Bull. I want to see Vettel struggle for once. They obviously have a great car but man - if that boy has to fight for it I wonder how he'll hold up. He already can get pretty testy in the car when the team tells him to hold back sometimes. That said, I'm impressed with what Kimi can wring out of the Lotus when he doesn't have bad luck. Love that guy. Hope he doesn't go elsewhere.
As for Sunday, what happened to Kimi just stunk. I can't wait for the new cars and engines next year so that everyone will have a shot at catching Red Bull. I want to see Vettel struggle for once. They obviously have a great car but man - if that boy has to fight for it I wonder how he'll hold up. He already can get pretty testy in the car when the team tells him to hold back sometimes. That said, I'm impressed with what Kimi can wring out of the Lotus when he doesn't have bad luck. Love that guy. Hope he doesn't go elsewhere.
I have no doubt that todays drivers are as good if not better than any from days gone by, my problem is with the cars themselves. They are just high tech billboards, you can make the same case for NHRA drag racing. Its all about computer tech and aero packages. This does not make them more exciting to watch or better race cars in my opinion.
that's what everyone wants to believe. it was only four years after he "retired"...and he wasn't just sitting around during that time, either. he was 41 when he started again in 2010. it wasn't like Rosberg was just barely beating him, either...he was comprehensively stomping him into the ground on an almost weekly basis. Michael never really had a *good* teammate until Nico, imo. personally, I think he's overrated and he just has a knack for developing a good car.
They need to get back to the red and white paint. It's F1 for me. No wonder they they can't compete right now.
Proportionally the mechanical grip was higher, but the overall mechanical grip is actually higher now as a result of the better tire tech and suspension design.
The big misconception is that the intense aero grip makes the cars somehow easier to drive- it doesn't. The cars are still very difficult to drive because the consequences of yaw angle changes from over/understeer results in a dramatic loss of grip. The old cars with big tires and simplistic aero looked wild because they were sliding around all over the place, which made it look like the drivers could control the cars better. In reality, the drivers these days make tons of little minute slide corrections that you don't notice unless you've spent a lot of time behind the wheel. They rarely ever made the kind of powerslides they did in the old days because a) ruins the tires, b) is not faster, and c) ruins the aero for a substantial distance past the point of the slide.
The cars are still completely under the control of the drivers and the throttle. They are not simple to drive- just less obviously bombastic looking.
They want to believe it because it's true- he wasn't really on top form in 2006, either. He made more mistakes than were characteristic of on-form MSC. Add three years away, all past his prime years, and you've got a recipe for something other than success.
Michael had a number of good teammates. Rosberg is a very good driver, but it would not have looked the same if he'd been up against a 1996 or 2000 Michael. He was old, past his prime, his reflexes were not the same, and he was not the same driver, pure and simple. He'd tell you the same himself. Generally that means a driver can trade on wisdom/experience rather than outright pace, but he'd lost too much.
The idea that you can call a driver with most of the records overrated is crazy- he was an incredible driver, and one of the things that made him amazing was his ability to get every ounce out of the team around him. That was one of the keys to his success. He was never the best qualifier, nor ever the absolute fastest guy out there (though his true ability was running near-quali laps without incident for a full race, which only really Kimi and Vettel are great at these days). The package Schumacher brought, though, was what makes him great.
Everyone gets old and is no longer competitive. Happened to him, happened to Mansell, Lauda, and was starting to happen to Senna. Unavoidable.
