April 12, 2009
Happy Easter 2009!
There were supposed to be jellybeans in this photo. It appears that one of my duckies has a sweet tooth.
Happy Easter to all!
There were supposed to be jellybeans in this photo. It appears that one of my duckies has a sweet tooth.
Happy Easter to all!
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April 11, 2009
1/40th Scale Yamato... Made From Legos
This is quite... something.
Only slightly less useful than the real thing.
See more pictures of this 100,000-brick behemoth at Project Yamato.
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April 09, 2009
Dave Arneson Has Also Failed His Saving Throw
Dave Arneson, co-creator of D&D, passed away yesterday late Tuesday night. He was at least as important to the seminal pen & paper RPG as Gary Gygax, though not quite as well recognized. Essentially, he took a set of rules for large-scale battles and turned them into something appropriate for one-on-one fights... and that turned into D&D.
I wonder if he'll get the same sort of accolades that Gygax did last year...?
UPDATE: The Order of the Stick understands the importance.
I wonder if he'll get the same sort of accolades that Gygax did last year...?
UPDATE: The Order of the Stick understands the importance.
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Random Anime Picture #41: My Life At The Moment
-Hidamari x365, ep11
That just about says it all.
Still have lingering knee pain, though I've (mostly) been able to do away with the cane. Biggest problem is hills and stairs.
My boss has come back from maternity leave, but now we're in our busy season as we get ready for both Summer and Fall semesters, and the buyback for Spring. Oh, and I have to be in the Duck U. Bookstore before 7am on Friday morning for a computer network upgrade. Yarrrrgh.
Anime viewing hasn't so much slowed as cratered, not from lack of interest but lack of time... and my brain isn't coming up with much in the way of pithy comments to blog on anyway. Well, at least there's still my ducks...
-Hidamari x365, ep11
That just about says it all.
Still have lingering knee pain, though I've (mostly) been able to do away with the cane. Biggest problem is hills and stairs.
My boss has come back from maternity leave, but now we're in our busy season as we get ready for both Summer and Fall semesters, and the buyback for Spring. Oh, and I have to be in the Duck U. Bookstore before 7am on Friday morning for a computer network upgrade. Yarrrrgh.
Anime viewing hasn't so much slowed as cratered, not from lack of interest but lack of time... and my brain isn't coming up with much in the way of pithy comments to blog on anyway. Well, at least there's still my ducks...
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April 06, 2009
The Greatest FanFic EVAR!*
There is only one line that I dare repeat from this:
"You came here expecting to find a madman, but instead, you found a GOD!"
Hitler had become a Super Saiyan.
...and if that isn't great enough for you, just go here to read the whole thing.
*yes, sarcasm is intended. The greatest fanfic ever is actually this.
"You came here expecting to find a madman, but instead, you found a GOD!"
Hitler had become a Super Saiyan.
...and if that isn't great enough for you, just go here to read the whole thing.
*yes, sarcasm is intended. The greatest fanfic ever is actually this.
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April 05, 2009
Opening Day Is Here!
Yes, I'm aware that the Braves and the Phillies played on Sunday night. Don't care. It's not an official season until the Reds play their traditional afternoon game in Cincinatti... that's the first game.
Fortunately, the Cubs will be on the road (Houston) to open the season. Meanwhile, the White Sox have already postponed their opening day game at Comiskey due to snow.
Doesn't matter, though... baseball is back, and no amount of snow or cold can change that.
(yes, I'm aware that the Cubs duckie is creepy. ALL Celebriducks are creepy)
Yes, I'm aware that the Braves and the Phillies played on Sunday night. Don't care. It's not an official season until the Reds play their traditional afternoon game in Cincinatti... that's the first game.
Fortunately, the Cubs will be on the road (Houston) to open the season. Meanwhile, the White Sox have already postponed their opening day game at Comiskey due to snow.
Doesn't matter, though... baseball is back, and no amount of snow or cold can change that.
(yes, I'm aware that the Cubs duckie is creepy. ALL Celebriducks are creepy)
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F1 Update!: Malaysia 2009!
An unique race to say the least! THIS is your F1 Update! for the Malaysian Grand Prix!
*A DAY AT THE (SWIM) RACES: If anybody at the FIA had bothered to ask a local, they would have been informed that, in Kuala Lumpur, every afternoon around 6pm there is usually a heavy downpour that lasts for some time. They also would have been informed that the sun tends to set around the time the race would be coming to an end.
The FIA asked neither of these questions and started the race at 5pm local time, so as to give the European audience a chance to wake up at a half-way decent time and still be able to watch live. So what happened?
The heavens opened up, the rains bucketed down, and the track began to flood. As reader The Wondering Brit said, "There's rain, and then there's rain."
You'll note the red circle in the picture above. That circle is highlighting the Rain Light of the car in front of the Brawn, which might give you an idea of how hard it was coming down. Here's another example:
Note the way the water is spewing up around the sides of the car. On lap 31, the Race Directors called out the safety car, and one lap later they red-flagged the race. They then sat for about an hour, hoping for the weather to break. Instead, it just got worse, and for the first time since 1991, a Formula 1 race was stopped due to inclement weather.
As the race did not reach the 75% lap mark, all points scored are halved. Therefore, first place was worth 5, instead of 10, points, second is worth 4, third is worth 3, fourth is worth 2.5 points, fifth is 2, sixth is worth 1.5 points, seventh is worth 1, and 8th is worth one-half of one point. The full results list is here.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Jenson Button. He's just won his second race in a row behind the safety car, but it's not like either was lucky. Today, Button had to make four pitstops for tires as the weather vacillated between good, awful, and frogswallower. Meanwhile, 2nd place finisher Nick Heidfeld only stopped once. Despite that, Button was still 22 seconds in front at the end of the last completed lap.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: Toyota. Third and fourth place, and if there had been another lap finished it would have been second and fourth. Great job for a team that needs results now.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: On lap 13, Renault's HWMNBN and Red Bull's Mark Webber engaged in an amazing duel that lasted nearly two entire circuits of the track. The Renault was heavy on fuel but had KERS. The Red Bull was lighter, but had no boost button. The result was a back-and-forth battle where Webber would pass HWMNBN in one turn, and in the next the Renault would catch the Red Bull. It was only when the heavy Renault staggered wide under braking that Webber finally finished off one of the best fights in recent memory.
*MOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE: While a bovine lurks just under the surface of every driver in F1, this week they all get a pass: while everybody was sliding, spinning and generally pirouetting their high-tech cars around the circuit, the track conditions were more to blame. No, today's Mooooo-ooove goes to Team Ferrari for bringing Kimi Raikkonen in for full-wet tires five laps too early. By the time the rain DID start, he had already shredded his monsoons, even though Kimi was a full 30 seconds a lap slower than everybody else as he tried to keep some tread on them. To be fair, this was a calculated gamble by a team that had nothing to lose, and we don't disagree with the call... we just had to give it to someone, and this gamble is the only "mistake" bad enough to be remembered.
There's only one Driver Quote Of The Race, yet it encapsulates the entire Malaysian Grand Prix:
"What a crazy race!" - Jenson Button (note: real quote)
That's it for the rain-shortened Malaysian Grand Prix. Two weeks from now we'll be in Shanghai, China... see you then!
*A DAY AT THE (SWIM) RACES: If anybody at the FIA had bothered to ask a local, they would have been informed that, in Kuala Lumpur, every afternoon around 6pm there is usually a heavy downpour that lasts for some time. They also would have been informed that the sun tends to set around the time the race would be coming to an end.
The FIA asked neither of these questions and started the race at 5pm local time, so as to give the European audience a chance to wake up at a half-way decent time and still be able to watch live. So what happened?
The heavens opened up, the rains bucketed down, and the track began to flood. As reader The Wondering Brit said, "There's rain, and then there's rain."
You'll note the red circle in the picture above. That circle is highlighting the Rain Light of the car in front of the Brawn, which might give you an idea of how hard it was coming down. Here's another example:
Note the way the water is spewing up around the sides of the car. On lap 31, the Race Directors called out the safety car, and one lap later they red-flagged the race. They then sat for about an hour, hoping for the weather to break. Instead, it just got worse, and for the first time since 1991, a Formula 1 race was stopped due to inclement weather.
As the race did not reach the 75% lap mark, all points scored are halved. Therefore, first place was worth 5, instead of 10, points, second is worth 4, third is worth 3, fourth is worth 2.5 points, fifth is 2, sixth is worth 1.5 points, seventh is worth 1, and 8th is worth one-half of one point. The full results list is here.
*DRIVER OF THE RACE: Jenson Button. He's just won his second race in a row behind the safety car, but it's not like either was lucky. Today, Button had to make four pitstops for tires as the weather vacillated between good, awful, and frogswallower. Meanwhile, 2nd place finisher Nick Heidfeld only stopped once. Despite that, Button was still 22 seconds in front at the end of the last completed lap.
*TEAM OF THE RACE: Toyota. Third and fourth place, and if there had been another lap finished it would have been second and fourth. Great job for a team that needs results now.
*MOVE OF THE RACE: On lap 13, Renault's HWMNBN and Red Bull's Mark Webber engaged in an amazing duel that lasted nearly two entire circuits of the track. The Renault was heavy on fuel but had KERS. The Red Bull was lighter, but had no boost button. The result was a back-and-forth battle where Webber would pass HWMNBN in one turn, and in the next the Renault would catch the Red Bull. It was only when the heavy Renault staggered wide under braking that Webber finally finished off one of the best fights in recent memory.
*MOOOOO-OOOVE OF THE RACE: While a bovine lurks just under the surface of every driver in F1, this week they all get a pass: while everybody was sliding, spinning and generally pirouetting their high-tech cars around the circuit, the track conditions were more to blame. No, today's Mooooo-ooove goes to Team Ferrari for bringing Kimi Raikkonen in for full-wet tires five laps too early. By the time the rain DID start, he had already shredded his monsoons, even though Kimi was a full 30 seconds a lap slower than everybody else as he tried to keep some tread on them. To be fair, this was a calculated gamble by a team that had nothing to lose, and we don't disagree with the call... we just had to give it to someone, and this gamble is the only "mistake" bad enough to be remembered.
There's only one Driver Quote Of The Race, yet it encapsulates the entire Malaysian Grand Prix:
"What a crazy race!" - Jenson Button (note: real quote)
That's it for the rain-shortened Malaysian Grand Prix. Two weeks from now we'll be in Shanghai, China... see you then!
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April 04, 2009
F1 Quals: Malaysia 2009!
Could Brawn make it two poles in a row?
Yup. Here's the provisional grid:
Rubens Barrichello had to change a gearbox and will suffer a five-spot grid penalty. Sebastian Vettel, of course, has a 10-spot penalty from last week's wreck with Kubica.
The biggest surprise, however, is down at 16: Felipe Massa. Ferrari and Massa are both guilty of complacency. He did four laps in Q1, and was fourth after 12 minutes... at which point, the team thought "heck, he's in, let's get ready for Q2."
And then the track, which had been washed clean by a monster downpour on Friday night, began to come alive as more and more rubber was laid down. Times began to plummet and Massa's 1:35.642 began to look less and less solid. Yet Ferrari did nothing... it was as if the team didn't even notice. By the time there was any reaction from the team, it was too late to get the Ferrari back on the track and around to start a hot lap. Just like that, Massa was out in Q1, a pathetic 16th.
Other than that, there wasn't much in the way of odd excitement. Don't get me wrong, it was thrilling to watch the back-and-forth between the two Brawns, Jarno Trulli, and Seb Vettel, all of whom were P1 at one time or another, but the strategies and driving were normal F1 level. Nobody jumped above the norm. Which was still pretty cool, and Jarno Trulli is making a bid for the "smoothest driver" award for sure. If he doesn't have a couple of poles and wins this season, it'll be a huge surprise.
Maybe his first will be Sunday... we'll find out then!
Yup. Here's the provisional grid:
| Pos | Driver |
Team |
Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jenson Button | Brawn-Mercedes | 1:35.058 | 1:33.784 | 1:35.181 | ||||||
| 2 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:34.745 | 1:33.990 | 1:35.273 | ||||||
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:34.935 | 1:34.276 | 1:35.518 | ||||||
| 4 | Rubens Barrichello |
Brawn-Mercedes | 1:34.681 | 1:34.387 | 1:35.651 | ||||||
| 5 | Timo Glockenspiel | Toyota | 1:34.907 | 1:34.258 | 1:35.690 | ||||||
| 6 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:35.083 | 1:34.547 | 1:35.750 | ||||||
| 7 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:35.027 | 1:34.222 | 1:35.797 | ||||||
| 8 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:35.166 | 1:34.562 | 1:36.106 | ||||||
| 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:35.476 | 1:34.456 | 1:36.170 | ||||||
| 10 | HWMNBN | Renault | 1:35.260 | 1:34.706 | 1:37.659 | ||||||
| 11 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:35.110 | 1:34.769 | |||||||
| 12 | Kazoo Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:35.341 | 1:34.788 | |||||||
| 13 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:35.280 | 1:34.905 | |||||||
| 14 | Heikki Kovalaininnie |
McLaren-Mercedes | 1:35.023 | 1:34.924 | |||||||
| 15 | SeaBass | STR-Ferrari | 1:35.507 | 1:35.431 | |||||||
| 16 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:35.642 | ||||||||
| 17 | Nelson Piquet Jr |
Renault | 1:35.708 | ||||||||
| 18 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Mercedes | 1:35.908 | ||||||||
| 19 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:35.951 | ||||||||
| 20 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:36.107 |
Rubens Barrichello had to change a gearbox and will suffer a five-spot grid penalty. Sebastian Vettel, of course, has a 10-spot penalty from last week's wreck with Kubica.
The biggest surprise, however, is down at 16: Felipe Massa. Ferrari and Massa are both guilty of complacency. He did four laps in Q1, and was fourth after 12 minutes... at which point, the team thought "heck, he's in, let's get ready for Q2."
And then the track, which had been washed clean by a monster downpour on Friday night, began to come alive as more and more rubber was laid down. Times began to plummet and Massa's 1:35.642 began to look less and less solid. Yet Ferrari did nothing... it was as if the team didn't even notice. By the time there was any reaction from the team, it was too late to get the Ferrari back on the track and around to start a hot lap. Just like that, Massa was out in Q1, a pathetic 16th.
Other than that, there wasn't much in the way of odd excitement. Don't get me wrong, it was thrilling to watch the back-and-forth between the two Brawns, Jarno Trulli, and Seb Vettel, all of whom were P1 at one time or another, but the strategies and driving were normal F1 level. Nobody jumped above the norm. Which was still pretty cool, and Jarno Trulli is making a bid for the "smoothest driver" award for sure. If he doesn't have a couple of poles and wins this season, it'll be a huge surprise.
Maybe his first will be Sunday... we'll find out then!
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April 03, 2009
F1 Practice: Malaysia 2009!
This'll have to be quick, as I've got my fantasy baseball league auction tomorrow, and I've got to spend a good long while researching... otherwise I'm gonna be screwed. So without further ado...
Ferrari topped the timesheets in the second practice, BMW was down at the bottom, the McLarens were right in the middle.
Except for that last one, pay no attention to the results. Nobody really knows what anybody was trying to do, as is normal during practices.
Two interesting things, though. First, Kimi Raikkonen's KERS-equipped Ferrari had a tiny little problem today...
I'm fairly sure that when thick acrid smoke starts billowing from your cockpit, it's not a good thing. It's likely the batteries overheated... probably terminal for them, but replaceable. Don't be surprised if this happens to someone during the race: it's supposed to be in the high 90s.
Second, the left-rear wheel cover came off of the Williams of Nico Rosberg while he was going around 160mph or so:
...followed just a few moments later by the left-rear wheel cover of the Williams of Kazoo Nakajima, while he was going around 160mph or so:
Y'know, boys, someone just might want to take a look at that. I'm fairly sure that's not supposed to happen.
Unless it's an elaborate belated April Fool's Day joke. "Okay, Nico, Kazoo, press that purple button..."
Oh, and HWMNBN has an ear infection. Gosh. What a shame. Seriously.
Ferrari topped the timesheets in the second practice, BMW was down at the bottom, the McLarens were right in the middle.
Except for that last one, pay no attention to the results. Nobody really knows what anybody was trying to do, as is normal during practices.
Two interesting things, though. First, Kimi Raikkonen's KERS-equipped Ferrari had a tiny little problem today...
I'm fairly sure that when thick acrid smoke starts billowing from your cockpit, it's not a good thing. It's likely the batteries overheated... probably terminal for them, but replaceable. Don't be surprised if this happens to someone during the race: it's supposed to be in the high 90s.
Second, the left-rear wheel cover came off of the Williams of Nico Rosberg while he was going around 160mph or so:
...followed just a few moments later by the left-rear wheel cover of the Williams of Kazoo Nakajima, while he was going around 160mph or so:
Y'know, boys, someone just might want to take a look at that. I'm fairly sure that's not supposed to happen.
Unless it's an elaborate belated April Fool's Day joke. "Okay, Nico, Kazoo, press that purple button..."
Oh, and HWMNBN has an ear infection. Gosh. What a shame. Seriously.
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April 02, 2009
Hamilton Excluded From Australia Results!
Well, this is interesting. Lewis Hamilton has been excluded from the results of the Australian Grand Prix due to his part in the incident that earned Jarno Trulli a 25second time penalty.
What the TV cameras saw, and what the stewards based their initial decision on, was Trulli's Toyota spinning behind the safety car, and Hamilton (rightly) passing the stopped Toyota. Trulli then repassed Hamilton, which is against the sporting regs.
What we and the stewards didn't see, but a spectator with a video camera did, was Trulli rejoining the parade behind the safety car, behind Hamilton's McLaren. Hamilton then slows down dramatically and stays at the slower speed, a manuever which led Trulli to believe that the McLaren was broken. Trulli then passes Hamilton, which WOULD be legal if Lewis' car was sick.
So all of that clears Trulli and restores him to third. But that's not why Hamilton was DQ'd. He was excluded for, basically, lying to the stewards after the race about what happened. The FIA's statement reads:
The Stewards having considered the new elements presented to them from the 2009 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, consider that driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the Stewards at the hearing on Sunday 29th March 2009, a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.
McLaren released a statement in the wake of today's hearing, saying that they do not intend to appeal.
So. McLaren and Ferrari are now dead-even again... with zero points. Trulli's third place adds six points to Toyota's haul.
It's never simple, is it?
What the TV cameras saw, and what the stewards based their initial decision on, was Trulli's Toyota spinning behind the safety car, and Hamilton (rightly) passing the stopped Toyota. Trulli then repassed Hamilton, which is against the sporting regs.
What we and the stewards didn't see, but a spectator with a video camera did, was Trulli rejoining the parade behind the safety car, behind Hamilton's McLaren. Hamilton then slows down dramatically and stays at the slower speed, a manuever which led Trulli to believe that the McLaren was broken. Trulli then passes Hamilton, which WOULD be legal if Lewis' car was sick.
So all of that clears Trulli and restores him to third. But that's not why Hamilton was DQ'd. He was excluded for, basically, lying to the stewards after the race about what happened. The FIA's statement reads:
The Stewards having considered the new elements presented to them from the 2009 Australian Formula One Grand Prix, consider that driver No 1 Lewis Hamilton and the competitor Vodafone McLaren Mercedes acted in a manner prejudicial to the conduct of the event by providing evidence deliberately misleading to the Stewards at the hearing on Sunday 29th March 2009, a breach of Article 151c of the International Sporting Code.
McLaren released a statement in the wake of today's hearing, saying that they do not intend to appeal.
So. McLaren and Ferrari are now dead-even again... with zero points. Trulli's third place adds six points to Toyota's haul.
It's never simple, is it?
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April 01, 2009
Wonderduck MUST have an Ultraduck!
Wiebetech, I salute you!
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March 31, 2009
F1 On Speed!: Malaysia 2009!
Hot on the heels of the entertaining Australian Grand Prix at God's Slot Car Track, we find ourselves at the first of the Hermann Tilke "Adventure" circuits ("You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike"), the Sepang International Speedway, Kuala Lumpur.
Let's take a look at the track map:
Unlike Australia, Sepang actually has some long straightaways. These would call for a low downforce setup, but doing so will ruin you on the turny bits. Generally, you go for a comprimise solution and hope the car won't do you in.
This year, however, it's anybodys guess what the correct setup will be. New aero rules and the slick tires means that nobody has the faintest idea what to do. The three practice sessions'll be key, for sure.
Except for one thing: Sepang is legendary and/or notorious for the ever-changing weather. It's not unheard of for the race to begin in the high 90s F. with bright sunshine and stifiling humidity... until the torrential downpours come halfway through the race. If that happens, you really can throw every team's plans into a cocked hat.
Oh, and by the way? The forecast calls for a wet race. New slippery cars and rain? This has the potential of being a Force India win: they're not fast enough to have problems in the wet!
On the whole, however, I'd rather be at Spa-Francopants than Sepang. Like most Tilke tracks (Turkey excepted), it's rather dull, with little jinks thrown in at just the right place to screw up a passing attempt (turn 12, I'm looking at you). To the circuit's credit, I DO rather like turn 2: it's like a miniature version of The Corkscrew at Laguna Seca (and yes, that IS a F1 car in that link): decending and off-camber at the same time. That's about the only thing I like about Sepang, though.
STILL! It's F1, and the good burghers at SPEEDchannel will be bringing us live coverage all weekend, starting with Friday's second practice from 1am to 240am central time.
Unfortunately, that's the last time that coverage will be at a human hour. Quals comes to us plausibly live on Saturday from 4am to 530am... will we see another Brawn front row lockout, or will a Red Bull or Toyota sneak in? Please note that the Quals writeup will probably be very late on Saturday, due to a prior engagement that is, to put it mildly, unbreakable.
The live race coverage will be starting even earlier on Sunday, with SPEED going live from 330am to 6am. A replay will be shown from 1230pm to 3pm for all those people who aren't nocturnal. Will it be Rubens Barrichello's time to shine? Vettel? Trulli? Glockenspiel? Or even something really unexpected, like a McLaren or Ferrari? Sunday will tell the tale!
Let's take a look at the track map:
Unlike Australia, Sepang actually has some long straightaways. These would call for a low downforce setup, but doing so will ruin you on the turny bits. Generally, you go for a comprimise solution and hope the car won't do you in.
This year, however, it's anybodys guess what the correct setup will be. New aero rules and the slick tires means that nobody has the faintest idea what to do. The three practice sessions'll be key, for sure.
Except for one thing: Sepang is legendary and/or notorious for the ever-changing weather. It's not unheard of for the race to begin in the high 90s F. with bright sunshine and stifiling humidity... until the torrential downpours come halfway through the race. If that happens, you really can throw every team's plans into a cocked hat.
Oh, and by the way? The forecast calls for a wet race. New slippery cars and rain? This has the potential of being a Force India win: they're not fast enough to have problems in the wet!
On the whole, however, I'd rather be at Spa-Francopants than Sepang. Like most Tilke tracks (Turkey excepted), it's rather dull, with little jinks thrown in at just the right place to screw up a passing attempt (turn 12, I'm looking at you). To the circuit's credit, I DO rather like turn 2: it's like a miniature version of The Corkscrew at Laguna Seca (and yes, that IS a F1 car in that link): decending and off-camber at the same time. That's about the only thing I like about Sepang, though.
STILL! It's F1, and the good burghers at SPEEDchannel will be bringing us live coverage all weekend, starting with Friday's second practice from 1am to 240am central time.
Unfortunately, that's the last time that coverage will be at a human hour. Quals comes to us plausibly live on Saturday from 4am to 530am... will we see another Brawn front row lockout, or will a Red Bull or Toyota sneak in? Please note that the Quals writeup will probably be very late on Saturday, due to a prior engagement that is, to put it mildly, unbreakable.
The live race coverage will be starting even earlier on Sunday, with SPEED going live from 330am to 6am. A replay will be shown from 1230pm to 3pm for all those people who aren't nocturnal. Will it be Rubens Barrichello's time to shine? Vettel? Trulli? Glockenspiel? Or even something really unexpected, like a McLaren or Ferrari? Sunday will tell the tale!
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March 30, 2009
Random Anime Picture #39: Red Sky At Night
-Air TV, ep01
Say what you want about KyoAni and their habit of doing Key renai visual novel adaptations, they sure do make 'em purty.
-Air TV, ep01
Say what you want about KyoAni and their habit of doing Key renai visual novel adaptations, they sure do make 'em purty.
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March 29, 2009
F1 Update!: AUSTRALIA 2009!
Welcome to the new season of Formula 1, and the new season of F1 Update! It's been a wild offseason, full of rules changes and political manueverings, but that's all over with. Now it's time to go racing, and there's no better place to start than the more-or-less traditional place to begin a season, Australia!
*A DAY AT THE RACES: With the two Toyotas relegated to the back row for technical infringements (and choosing to start from the pit lane) and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren nursing a gearbox change, the field took to the grid and we got our first taste of the sun shining right into the driver's eyes due to the 5pm local start time. When the lights went out, the polesitter Jenson Button made a good getaway, but his teammate Rubens Barrichello did not. His BrawnGP lurched forward, then freewheeled before accelerating again. By that time, though, he had already dropped five places and jammed the entire field together as those behind him scrambled to avoid rear-ending the 'mobile chicane'. The first six cars made it through the first turn unscathed, but Barrichello proved to be a catalyst for danger. The Brawn, Mark Webber's Red Bull, and the BMW of Grizzly Nick Heidfeld all tried to be on the same racing line at once, which never works. When Rubens' car was bumped from behind by Heikki Kovaleininninnie's McLaren, a chain reaction occurred, sending the BMW spinning with a rear puncture, the Red Bull needing a new nose, the McLaren to the garage with a snapped front suspension, and the Brawn with a damaged front wing... which still managed to hold together long enough for Rubens to break off the damaged bits on Kimi Raikkonen's right rear tire 10 laps later in an ill-considered manuever.
By the end of the first lap, Button had a nearly-four-second lead over Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull... and that's about where it stayed for the first stint. Vettel couldn't get closer, Button couldn't (or wouldn't) get farther ahead.
On lap 17, Vettel pitted from second and the Williams of Nico Rosberg pitted from third while Button turned in fast lap of the race, making one wonder if this was going to be a complete runaway for the Brawn. It was then, however, that Kazoo Nakajima got a little too much curbing under his Williams, sending him careening nose-first into the wall at the exit of turn four with the remains of the car ending up dead on the racing line. The safety car took forever to be called out, allowing Button to pit beforehand.
It then took forever for the SC to go away, with the front of the field being Button, Vettel, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica, and Kimi Raikkonen, with Rubens Barrichello 10th. It was during this round of stops, though, that the lowering sun first began to play hob with the drivers, as the Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella completely missed his pit box, having to be pushed into the correct position. It was obvious that he simply couldn't see which was his until he was nearly past it.
Once the SC dove back to the pits on lap 24, the Renault of Nelson Piquet Jr and Nico Rosberg's Williams were dicing for position into turn one when the Renault suddenly snapped into a spin and sailed off into the kittylitter for no reason that anyone could see. While the cars had been close to touching, there was still daylight between them. Local yellow only, and the race continued. Again, Button opened up a 3.9 second advantage, but Vettel again hung with the Brawn at that point.
The final round of pitstops was nearly a disaster for Button, and he couldn't get the car out of second gear, preventing the fuel rig from being installed until after the tirechange was done. This reduced his lead over Vettel to less than two seconds, and made the race very close. Felipe Massa's Ferrari retired at this time with an unexplained problem, while his teammate brushes a wall and has to retire with one would expect to be suspension damage a few laps later.
With four laps to go came the defining moment of this race. Button and Vettel were on the super-soft tires which worked well... for a couple of laps, then would go off. Third-place Robert Kubica in the BMW, on the other hand, was on the medium compound tires and making up gobs of time on both cars. In the space of one lap, the Pole managed to make up nearly three seconds on Vettel and began to harry the Red Bull driver badly. On lap 56, Kubica makes his move, but the two collide and tie up with each other. Vettel loses his entire front wing and ends up in the grass, Kubica loses half his nose and steams onwards. A few hundred yards later, the two of them lose their cars at the same time, the lack of downforce sending them skittering into the wall. The BMW is a total loss, the Red Bull somehow keeps moving, though with one tire at right angles to the direction of travel. Vettel eventually has to park the car, though not until he turns nearly a half-lap in a dangerous state (he is later fined $50000 for this transgression).
The race essentially ends at this point... and Rubens Barrichello, who had been steadily working his way back from the disasterous start, is in second place, for a Brawn One-Two. Jarno Trulli is in third after starting from the pit lane, and Lewis Hamilton is fourth after starting from the back of the grid.
*CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN: At this point, it looks as if all the changes to the technical regulations accomplished exactly what the FIA intended, that of allowing cars to be able to close up to one another more easily, so as to be able to pass. We saw a lot of nose-to-tail racing, and a plethora of passes. For once, the FIA got it right.
more...
*A DAY AT THE RACES: With the two Toyotas relegated to the back row for technical infringements (and choosing to start from the pit lane) and Lewis Hamilton's McLaren nursing a gearbox change, the field took to the grid and we got our first taste of the sun shining right into the driver's eyes due to the 5pm local start time. When the lights went out, the polesitter Jenson Button made a good getaway, but his teammate Rubens Barrichello did not. His BrawnGP lurched forward, then freewheeled before accelerating again. By that time, though, he had already dropped five places and jammed the entire field together as those behind him scrambled to avoid rear-ending the 'mobile chicane'. The first six cars made it through the first turn unscathed, but Barrichello proved to be a catalyst for danger. The Brawn, Mark Webber's Red Bull, and the BMW of Grizzly Nick Heidfeld all tried to be on the same racing line at once, which never works. When Rubens' car was bumped from behind by Heikki Kovaleininninnie's McLaren, a chain reaction occurred, sending the BMW spinning with a rear puncture, the Red Bull needing a new nose, the McLaren to the garage with a snapped front suspension, and the Brawn with a damaged front wing... which still managed to hold together long enough for Rubens to break off the damaged bits on Kimi Raikkonen's right rear tire 10 laps later in an ill-considered manuever.
By the end of the first lap, Button had a nearly-four-second lead over Sebastian Vettel's Red Bull... and that's about where it stayed for the first stint. Vettel couldn't get closer, Button couldn't (or wouldn't) get farther ahead.
On lap 17, Vettel pitted from second and the Williams of Nico Rosberg pitted from third while Button turned in fast lap of the race, making one wonder if this was going to be a complete runaway for the Brawn. It was then, however, that Kazoo Nakajima got a little too much curbing under his Williams, sending him careening nose-first into the wall at the exit of turn four with the remains of the car ending up dead on the racing line. The safety car took forever to be called out, allowing Button to pit beforehand.
It then took forever for the SC to go away, with the front of the field being Button, Vettel, Felipe Massa, Robert Kubica, and Kimi Raikkonen, with Rubens Barrichello 10th. It was during this round of stops, though, that the lowering sun first began to play hob with the drivers, as the Force India of Giancarlo Fisichella completely missed his pit box, having to be pushed into the correct position. It was obvious that he simply couldn't see which was his until he was nearly past it.
Once the SC dove back to the pits on lap 24, the Renault of Nelson Piquet Jr and Nico Rosberg's Williams were dicing for position into turn one when the Renault suddenly snapped into a spin and sailed off into the kittylitter for no reason that anyone could see. While the cars had been close to touching, there was still daylight between them. Local yellow only, and the race continued. Again, Button opened up a 3.9 second advantage, but Vettel again hung with the Brawn at that point.
The final round of pitstops was nearly a disaster for Button, and he couldn't get the car out of second gear, preventing the fuel rig from being installed until after the tirechange was done. This reduced his lead over Vettel to less than two seconds, and made the race very close. Felipe Massa's Ferrari retired at this time with an unexplained problem, while his teammate brushes a wall and has to retire with one would expect to be suspension damage a few laps later.
With four laps to go came the defining moment of this race. Button and Vettel were on the super-soft tires which worked well... for a couple of laps, then would go off. Third-place Robert Kubica in the BMW, on the other hand, was on the medium compound tires and making up gobs of time on both cars. In the space of one lap, the Pole managed to make up nearly three seconds on Vettel and began to harry the Red Bull driver badly. On lap 56, Kubica makes his move, but the two collide and tie up with each other. Vettel loses his entire front wing and ends up in the grass, Kubica loses half his nose and steams onwards. A few hundred yards later, the two of them lose their cars at the same time, the lack of downforce sending them skittering into the wall. The BMW is a total loss, the Red Bull somehow keeps moving, though with one tire at right angles to the direction of travel. Vettel eventually has to park the car, though not until he turns nearly a half-lap in a dangerous state (he is later fined $50000 for this transgression).
The race essentially ends at this point... and Rubens Barrichello, who had been steadily working his way back from the disasterous start, is in second place, for a Brawn One-Two. Jarno Trulli is in third after starting from the pit lane, and Lewis Hamilton is fourth after starting from the back of the grid.
*CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN: At this point, it looks as if all the changes to the technical regulations accomplished exactly what the FIA intended, that of allowing cars to be able to close up to one another more easily, so as to be able to pass. We saw a lot of nose-to-tail racing, and a plethora of passes. For once, the FIA got it right.
more...
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Ducks Of A Feather
It appears Digicolleen over at The Duck Show and I were thinking the same way this morning... or at least our duckies were. A couple of hers are in Hawaii (wellllll...), while three of mine had been pestering me to let them go sunbathing. I promised I'd let them this morning.
The result?
Three inches of snow and ice fell on Duckford last night. Oopsie.
(The F1 Update! is coming this evening.)
The result?
Three inches of snow and ice fell on Duckford last night. Oopsie.
(The F1 Update! is coming this evening.)
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March 28, 2009
F1 Quals: Australia 2009!
In 1970, the brand new March racing team, with Jackie Stewart at the wheel, took pole in their first Grand Prix at South Africa.
The last time Rubens Barrichello was on the front row in a grand prix was 2004.
Jenson Button had his last pole in 2006, in Australia.
Today, all of those numbers changed.
Here's the provisional grid for the 2009 Grand Prix of Australia:
A front row lockout for the new Brawn Racing team, as well as fast-lap? Ferrari 7th and 9th? McLaren 14th and 15th? The only thing that seems like last year is Force India down near the bottom.
Understand, Brawn's domination wasn't a fluke. They were fastest in all three Q sessions. Barrichello's Q2 time was close to the all-time track record, set with a V10 engine with a couple hundred more horsepower. The FIA has also revealed that the Brawns had about 7.5 kg more fuel on board than anybody else, so not only are they fast, but they're faster than everybody else while being able to go longer between pitstops.
This is looking really good for the newbies, and really, really bad for everybody else.
Particularly Lewis Hamilton. You'll note that he barely made it into Q2, at which point he stayed in his pit box and didn't get a lap in. That's because he had a gearbox failure that, eventually, required a complete change. Because of that, he has to take a five-spot penalty and moves to the back of the grid. Except for one thing...
In breaking news, both Toyotas have been excluded from the qualy results, and therefore will be starting from the back. A FIA technical delegate noticed some questionable flexing of the rear wing and notified the stewards. The stewards tested the rear wing elements, found that they broke article 3.15 of the Tech Regs, and stripped the team of their times, and rightfully so. Now the question becomes, will the team be allowed to fix the problem with their cars in parc ferme, or will they have to do the work during the parade and recon laps?
We'll know more tomorrow!
The last time Rubens Barrichello was on the front row in a grand prix was 2004.
Jenson Button had his last pole in 2006, in Australia.
Today, all of those numbers changed.
Here's the provisional grid for the 2009 Grand Prix of Australia:
| Pos | Driver |
| | Team | | Q1 | Q2 | | Q3 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jenson Button |
Brawn-Mercedes | 1:25.211 | 1:24.855 | 1:26.202 | |||||
| 2 | Rubens Barrichello |
Brawn-Mercedes | 1:25.006 | 1:24.783 | 1:26.505 | |||||
| 3 | Sebastian Vettel | RBR-Renault | 1:25.938 | 1:25.121 | 1:26.830 | |||||
| 4 | Robert Kubica | BMW Sauber | 1:25.922 | 1:25.152 | 1:26.914 | |||||
| 5 | Nico Rosberg | Williams-Toyota | 1:25.846 | 1:25.123 | 1:26.973 | |||||
| 6 | Timo Glockenspiel | Toyota | 1:25.499 | 1:25.281 | 1:26.975 | |||||
| 7 | Felipe Massa | Ferrari | 1:25.844 | 1:25.319 | 1:27.033 | |||||
| 8 | Jarno Trulli | Toyota | 1:26.194 | 1:25.265 | 1:27.127 | |||||
| 9 | Kimi Räikkönen | Ferrari | 1:25.899 | 1:25.380 | 1:27.163 | |||||
| 10 | Mark Webber | RBR-Renault | 1:25.427 | 1:25.241 | 1:27.246 | |||||
| 11 | Nick Heidfeld | BMW Sauber | 1:25.827 | 1:25.504 | ||||||
| 12 | HWMNBN | Renault | 1:26.026 | 1:25.605 | ||||||
| 13 | Kazoo Nakajima | Williams-Toyota | 1:26.074 | 1:25.607 | ||||||
| 14 | Heikki Kovalainen | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:26.184 | 1:25.726 | ||||||
| 15 | Lewis Hamilton | McLaren-Mercedes | 1:26.454 | no time | ||||||
| 16 | Sebastien Buemi | STR-Ferrari | 1:26.503 | |||||||
| 17 | Nelson Piquet Jr |
Renault | 1:26.598 | |||||||
| 18 | Giancarlo Fisichella | Force India-Mercedes |
1:26.677 | |||||||
| 19 | Adrian Sutil | Force India-Mercedes | 1:26.742 | |||||||
| 20 | SeaBass | STR-Ferrari | 1:26.964 |
A front row lockout for the new Brawn Racing team, as well as fast-lap? Ferrari 7th and 9th? McLaren 14th and 15th? The only thing that seems like last year is Force India down near the bottom.
Understand, Brawn's domination wasn't a fluke. They were fastest in all three Q sessions. Barrichello's Q2 time was close to the all-time track record, set with a V10 engine with a couple hundred more horsepower. The FIA has also revealed that the Brawns had about 7.5 kg more fuel on board than anybody else, so not only are they fast, but they're faster than everybody else while being able to go longer between pitstops.
This is looking really good for the newbies, and really, really bad for everybody else.
Particularly Lewis Hamilton. You'll note that he barely made it into Q2, at which point he stayed in his pit box and didn't get a lap in. That's because he had a gearbox failure that, eventually, required a complete change. Because of that, he has to take a five-spot penalty and moves to the back of the grid. Except for one thing...
In breaking news, both Toyotas have been excluded from the qualy results, and therefore will be starting from the back. A FIA technical delegate noticed some questionable flexing of the rear wing and notified the stewards. The stewards tested the rear wing elements, found that they broke article 3.15 of the Tech Regs, and stripped the team of their times, and rightfully so. Now the question becomes, will the team be allowed to fix the problem with their cars in parc ferme, or will they have to do the work during the parade and recon laps?
We'll know more tomorrow!
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March 27, 2009
F1 Practice: Australia 2009
Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to Bizarro F1! Where up is down, left is right, dogs and cats are living together, and the best the reigning driver's champ could do is 18th. We are living in weird and wonderful times, my friends, weird and wonderful times.
Now I usually admonish anybody from drawing conclusions from times run in practice, but these practice sessions are very different than normal. Testing in the off-season has been limited, and from here on out, it is banned entirely. No longer are Friday practices just for checking fuel mileage and tire wear... now it's the only chance you get to give "fixes" a trial run, or to get used to the car at all. Everything is a long-distance speed run, practically at race pace. It has to be, because you can't rely on the third driver to put 500 laps on the T-Car (archaic term, I know) while the engineers change the angle of a fin from 14.22372o to 14.22375o. So at least for the Australian practice sessions, you really can start to make legit predictions about how the cars are going to perform in the race.
And, to be blunt, it ain't lookin' good for the two teams that won championships last year. Ferrari ended up with the 10th- and 11th-fastest times, over a second behind the leader's pace. McLaren was 17th and 18th, over 1-3/4 seconds behind, and in the cases of both teams, it didn't look like flukey... they looked slow.
Particularly the Glare With Wheels. Who knows exactly what's wrong, but only once did either McLaren look racey... and that was when Lewis Hamilton was pushing the car waaaaaaay beyond what it could safely manage. That he managed to get most of a lap in at that pace before the rear end stepped out on him says loads about his ability... and that he was able to gather the car back up after the Glare tried to kill him also points out how good he is. However, the fact that he had to fight the car tooth-and-nail just to stay alive points out how bad the McLaren is.
Ferrari looked, and was, faster out there, but having said that, they're still not good. Massa and Kimi went off countless times, and Massa in particular had one moment where... well, the rear of the car had gone so far out that it looked like it was trying to emulate an old Dead Or Alive song. And HE saved it, too... how is entirely a matter of conjecture.
So who looked fast? The Diffuser Three. Williams' Nico Rosberg set a time of 1:26.053 for fast lap, but it wasn't just a one-off... he was consistently around that time all day. Second was Rubens Barrichello in the Brawn F1, only 1/10th of a second behind. Third was Jarno Trulli in the Toyota, about .200 behind Rubens. Mark Webber's Red Bull snuck into fourth quickest, but then came the rest of the Diffuser Three: Jensen (Overrated?) Button (Brawn), Timo Glockenspiel (Toyota), and Kazoo Nakajima (Williams).
The best HWMNBN could manage was 12th, with the two BMW-Saubers right behind Giancarlo Fisichella's 13th-placed Force India. Adrian Sutil's FIndia was on top of the timesheet for a good chunk of the day before declining to 9th.
The day belonged to the three rebel teams... now to see if they can do it in Quals on Saturday!
In other questions answered on Friday, Avatar's query about lighting with a 5pm start turns out to be excellent. The 2nd Practice on Friday began at 430pm local time, and by the end of the day, the sun was right in the drivers' eyes as they came down the front straight, and shadows were ugly all the way around the circuit. It'll be a definite concern.
Another question that was posed by Steven about KERS and can it be charged at the beginning of the race, or what? Turns out it CAN be charged before the race, even before it leaves the pits. The bad news is that it takes about two hours. The worse news is that it's such a sensitive process that if it's done just the teensiest bit wrong, it could burn out the batteries used in two-and-a-half of the teams. Williams is using a flywheel system, so no batteries there.
Yes, two-and-a-half teams. McLaren, Ferrari and one of the BMW-Sauber cars. The other BMW, the one driven by Robert Kubica, will not have KERS installed. Turns out theres an excellent reason for that: Kubica (fatso that he is), weighs more than his teammate, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld, and the extra weight of the KERS system PLUS Kubica's lardbutt would counteract any advantage it might give. Let's take a look at the Big Guy, shall we?
They can't even keep him away from the buffet long enough to take a photo of him... just horribly disgraceful. How can he look at himself in the mirror?
Oh, it's gonna be a FUN season!
Now I usually admonish anybody from drawing conclusions from times run in practice, but these practice sessions are very different than normal. Testing in the off-season has been limited, and from here on out, it is banned entirely. No longer are Friday practices just for checking fuel mileage and tire wear... now it's the only chance you get to give "fixes" a trial run, or to get used to the car at all. Everything is a long-distance speed run, practically at race pace. It has to be, because you can't rely on the third driver to put 500 laps on the T-Car (archaic term, I know) while the engineers change the angle of a fin from 14.22372o to 14.22375o. So at least for the Australian practice sessions, you really can start to make legit predictions about how the cars are going to perform in the race.
And, to be blunt, it ain't lookin' good for the two teams that won championships last year. Ferrari ended up with the 10th- and 11th-fastest times, over a second behind the leader's pace. McLaren was 17th and 18th, over 1-3/4 seconds behind, and in the cases of both teams, it didn't look like flukey... they looked slow.
Particularly the Glare With Wheels. Who knows exactly what's wrong, but only once did either McLaren look racey... and that was when Lewis Hamilton was pushing the car waaaaaaay beyond what it could safely manage. That he managed to get most of a lap in at that pace before the rear end stepped out on him says loads about his ability... and that he was able to gather the car back up after the Glare tried to kill him also points out how good he is. However, the fact that he had to fight the car tooth-and-nail just to stay alive points out how bad the McLaren is.
Ferrari looked, and was, faster out there, but having said that, they're still not good. Massa and Kimi went off countless times, and Massa in particular had one moment where... well, the rear of the car had gone so far out that it looked like it was trying to emulate an old Dead Or Alive song. And HE saved it, too... how is entirely a matter of conjecture.
So who looked fast? The Diffuser Three. Williams' Nico Rosberg set a time of 1:26.053 for fast lap, but it wasn't just a one-off... he was consistently around that time all day. Second was Rubens Barrichello in the Brawn F1, only 1/10th of a second behind. Third was Jarno Trulli in the Toyota, about .200 behind Rubens. Mark Webber's Red Bull snuck into fourth quickest, but then came the rest of the Diffuser Three: Jensen (Overrated?) Button (Brawn), Timo Glockenspiel (Toyota), and Kazoo Nakajima (Williams).
The best HWMNBN could manage was 12th, with the two BMW-Saubers right behind Giancarlo Fisichella's 13th-placed Force India. Adrian Sutil's FIndia was on top of the timesheet for a good chunk of the day before declining to 9th.
The day belonged to the three rebel teams... now to see if they can do it in Quals on Saturday!
In other questions answered on Friday, Avatar's query about lighting with a 5pm start turns out to be excellent. The 2nd Practice on Friday began at 430pm local time, and by the end of the day, the sun was right in the drivers' eyes as they came down the front straight, and shadows were ugly all the way around the circuit. It'll be a definite concern.
Another question that was posed by Steven about KERS and can it be charged at the beginning of the race, or what? Turns out it CAN be charged before the race, even before it leaves the pits. The bad news is that it takes about two hours. The worse news is that it's such a sensitive process that if it's done just the teensiest bit wrong, it could burn out the batteries used in two-and-a-half of the teams. Williams is using a flywheel system, so no batteries there.
Yes, two-and-a-half teams. McLaren, Ferrari and one of the BMW-Sauber cars. The other BMW, the one driven by Robert Kubica, will not have KERS installed. Turns out theres an excellent reason for that: Kubica (fatso that he is), weighs more than his teammate, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld, and the extra weight of the KERS system PLUS Kubica's lardbutt would counteract any advantage it might give. Let's take a look at the Big Guy, shall we?
Oh, it's gonna be a FUN season!
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March 25, 2009
Australia is right around the corner (UPDATED)
...and if F1 is right around the corner, so is controversy. Depending on how things go during Thursday's practices, it's expected that Toyota, Williams and Brawn will be racing with the spectre of eventual DQ over their heads.
Y'see, it appears that those three teams may have found a loophole in the rules regarding the rear diffuser. Nothing illegal, mind you, just perhaps maybe not in the exact spirit of the technical regulations. Or, maybe, the other teams are just upset that they didn't think of it first.
The main difference between the two designs is minor, but telling: McLaren's runs straight across, but Toyota's center section (immediately beneath the light, obscured somewhat by the glow) is arched, thereby violating the maximum height allowed.
But it really doesn't, because the arched bit is NOT part of the diffuser, but of the rear crash structure. It just LOOKS like part of the diffuser... and acts like part of the diffuser, too. The other two "diffuser teams" have similar (though slightly different) designs.
The other seven teams followed the rules literally, as evidenced by the straight-across version demonstrated by the McLaren design. And so, chances are good that there will be a protest levied against the "Diffuser Three". Because it doesn't violate the rules, it will be upheld by the track stewards. There will then be an appeal to the FIA, which won't be reviewed for at least three or four weeks. Until that time, whatever results the teams gain will basically be provisional, with the possibility of being negated by the FIA.
Can we just have a race without any complaining? Please?
UPDATE: Four teams protested the diffuser design. The stewards and the FIA deliberated for six hours, then decided the design was okay. So step one is in the books, and next will be the more formal appeal to the FIA.
Y'see, it appears that those three teams may have found a loophole in the rules regarding the rear diffuser. Nothing illegal, mind you, just perhaps maybe not in the exact spirit of the technical regulations. Or, maybe, the other teams are just upset that they didn't think of it first.
Toyota's diffuser
McLaren's diffuser
The diffuser is the black bit directly under the warning light, below the level of the rear axle. Its purpose is to slow the air moving underneath the car as it flows behind the chassis, which increases downforce. It also cleans the air up by minimizing eddys and vortices, thereby reducing drag.The main difference between the two designs is minor, but telling: McLaren's runs straight across, but Toyota's center section (immediately beneath the light, obscured somewhat by the glow) is arched, thereby violating the maximum height allowed.
But it really doesn't, because the arched bit is NOT part of the diffuser, but of the rear crash structure. It just LOOKS like part of the diffuser... and acts like part of the diffuser, too. The other two "diffuser teams" have similar (though slightly different) designs.
The other seven teams followed the rules literally, as evidenced by the straight-across version demonstrated by the McLaren design. And so, chances are good that there will be a protest levied against the "Diffuser Three". Because it doesn't violate the rules, it will be upheld by the track stewards. There will then be an appeal to the FIA, which won't be reviewed for at least three or four weeks. Until that time, whatever results the teams gain will basically be provisional, with the possibility of being negated by the FIA.
Can we just have a race without any complaining? Please?
UPDATE: Four teams protested the diffuser design. The stewards and the FIA deliberated for six hours, then decided the design was okay. So step one is in the books, and next will be the more formal appeal to the FIA.
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March 24, 2009
A Lap of Australia
...or at least the track at Melbourne.
2007, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari.
2007, Kimi Raikkonen, Ferrari.
Voices by the Legendary Announce Team.
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March 23, 2009
F1 On Speed!: Australia 2009
You have no idea how good it was to type that title. Finally, all the blathering, all the complaining, all the bickering that is the F1 offseason is about to end. Finally, all that matters is horsepower, downforce, speed and skill... because the 2009 F1 season is, finally, about to begin.
And where better than the quasi-traditional starting point for the season, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, or as I like to call it, "God's Slot-car Track." Let's take a look at the track map, shall we?
In some ways, Melbourne is the "perfect" F1 track. It's fast, but has some nice turns that require good low-speed performance. Yet many turns are high-speed and challenging (#5 and #11 in particular), where a brave driver can keep his foot in all the way through. It's a temporary circuit with some sections that are permanent as well. Smooth, but some bumpy areas (but not too bumpy) in the braking zones to challenge the suspension. It's a great track for the drivers to get used to racing again (not like they haven't been driving all winter), easy but not too easy.
Having said all that, last year's race saw 14 cars break down or crash out, leaving only seven competitors to take the checkered flag (there was one DQ as well). Ambient air temps around 100oF had something to do with that, of course, but reliablilty will be an issue in this race as well, what with the new rules and all. This year's race will be starting at 5pm local time instead of 1pm, so the temps may be lower... or not. It's weather, who knows?
Either way, the good folks at SPEEDchannel will be bringing us their usual excellent coverage all weekend long! First off, we'll get LIVE coverage of Friday's second practice session from 1230am to 2am. That's followed with (plausibly) LIVE coverage of the season's first Quals on Saturday from 1am to 230am.
But then it's time for the real deal: the Australian Grand Prix LIVE Sunday morning from 1230am to 3am. There's also a replay from 330pm to 6pm on Sunday afternoon. As usual, all times are Central. East coasties, add one hour, y'all on the west coast take two hours away, and those of you in Guam, well, you're on your own for this one.
And F1 UPDATE! will be here with all the news as the 2009 F1 season gets under way!
It's about bloody time.
And where better than the quasi-traditional starting point for the season, Albert Park, Melbourne, Australia, or as I like to call it, "God's Slot-car Track." Let's take a look at the track map, shall we?
In some ways, Melbourne is the "perfect" F1 track. It's fast, but has some nice turns that require good low-speed performance. Yet many turns are high-speed and challenging (#5 and #11 in particular), where a brave driver can keep his foot in all the way through. It's a temporary circuit with some sections that are permanent as well. Smooth, but some bumpy areas (but not too bumpy) in the braking zones to challenge the suspension. It's a great track for the drivers to get used to racing again (not like they haven't been driving all winter), easy but not too easy.
Having said all that, last year's race saw 14 cars break down or crash out, leaving only seven competitors to take the checkered flag (there was one DQ as well). Ambient air temps around 100oF had something to do with that, of course, but reliablilty will be an issue in this race as well, what with the new rules and all. This year's race will be starting at 5pm local time instead of 1pm, so the temps may be lower... or not. It's weather, who knows?
Either way, the good folks at SPEEDchannel will be bringing us their usual excellent coverage all weekend long! First off, we'll get LIVE coverage of Friday's second practice session from 1230am to 2am. That's followed with (plausibly) LIVE coverage of the season's first Quals on Saturday from 1am to 230am.
But then it's time for the real deal: the Australian Grand Prix LIVE Sunday morning from 1230am to 3am. There's also a replay from 330pm to 6pm on Sunday afternoon. As usual, all times are Central. East coasties, add one hour, y'all on the west coast take two hours away, and those of you in Guam, well, you're on your own for this one.
And F1 UPDATE! will be here with all the news as the 2009 F1 season gets under way!
It's about bloody time.
Posted by: Wonderduck at
09:04 PM
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