August 26, 2011
F1 Practice: Belgium 2011 (take two)
If it isn't raining at Spa, it's getting ready to. It's a F1 cliche,
but cliches get to be cliches by being repeated, usually because, well,
they have basis in fact. So guess what it did today during the two
Friday practices?
If you guessed "rain", you win the no-prize. There were about five minutes at the start of the first practice where it wasn't raining. The track was slowly improving through the afternoon practice until, just as the teams put on dry tires, it began to pour again. As a result, nobody got much data other than figuring out just exactly where the driver would stick the car in the wall. So, short day on track all around.
However, there's a couple of big news items to discuss. The first is that Renault has unceremoniously booted Grizzly Nick Heidfeld from his drive. Team boss Eric Boullier said "I think it didn't work. His leadership didn't work in the team and when you are sometimes slower than (Red Menace) Vitaly (Petrov), in fact most of the time slower than Vitaly, it is difficult for him to push the team and to settle himself as the team leader." In reply, Grizzly Nick said "I have a valid contract, I want to drive," and filed suit in London's High Court to regain his seat. There's something smelly coming from Renault, and it isn't the cheese. I'm sure it's only a coincidence that the Bearded One was being paid €250000 per start and Renault is reportedly desperate for funds, not only for this season but for next. Of course, The Red Menace brought a metric farkton of sponsorship money with him for his seat. But who has replaced Grizzly Nick?
Ladies and gentlemen, may I reintroduce Bruno Senna, last seen driving for HRT in 2010. Somewhere, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld was pointing at the monitor and laughing.
The other bit of news is that this weekend is a major moment in the career of one of the F1 legends, for this is the 20 year anniversary of Slappy Schumacher's debut in the sport. In 1991, he was drafted into service for the Jordan team when their regular driver, Bertrand Gachot, was imprisoned for two months for spraying a taxi driver with teargas (and really, who amongst us hasn't wanted to do that?). He proceeded to qualify the Jordan 191 7th for the Grand Prix of Belgium, making his more experienced teammate, Andrea de Cesaris, who qualified 11th, look awful. Slappy would be forced to retire on the first lap of the race with a gearbox full of neutrals, but it was the start of one of the greatest careers ever. This week, Slappy is wearing a special commemorative helmet.
Say what you want about Slappy, and believe me, I have, he's one of the best. Was one of the best. Something like that. Whatever.
It's supposed to rain during Quals... that should be fun! See you in the morning.
If you guessed "rain", you win the no-prize. There were about five minutes at the start of the first practice where it wasn't raining. The track was slowly improving through the afternoon practice until, just as the teams put on dry tires, it began to pour again. As a result, nobody got much data other than figuring out just exactly where the driver would stick the car in the wall. So, short day on track all around.
However, there's a couple of big news items to discuss. The first is that Renault has unceremoniously booted Grizzly Nick Heidfeld from his drive. Team boss Eric Boullier said "I think it didn't work. His leadership didn't work in the team and when you are sometimes slower than (Red Menace) Vitaly (Petrov), in fact most of the time slower than Vitaly, it is difficult for him to push the team and to settle himself as the team leader." In reply, Grizzly Nick said "I have a valid contract, I want to drive," and filed suit in London's High Court to regain his seat. There's something smelly coming from Renault, and it isn't the cheese. I'm sure it's only a coincidence that the Bearded One was being paid €250000 per start and Renault is reportedly desperate for funds, not only for this season but for next. Of course, The Red Menace brought a metric farkton of sponsorship money with him for his seat. But who has replaced Grizzly Nick?
Ladies and gentlemen, may I reintroduce Bruno Senna, last seen driving for HRT in 2010. Somewhere, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld was pointing at the monitor and laughing.
The other bit of news is that this weekend is a major moment in the career of one of the F1 legends, for this is the 20 year anniversary of Slappy Schumacher's debut in the sport. In 1991, he was drafted into service for the Jordan team when their regular driver, Bertrand Gachot, was imprisoned for two months for spraying a taxi driver with teargas (and really, who amongst us hasn't wanted to do that?). He proceeded to qualify the Jordan 191 7th for the Grand Prix of Belgium, making his more experienced teammate, Andrea de Cesaris, who qualified 11th, look awful. Slappy would be forced to retire on the first lap of the race with a gearbox full of neutrals, but it was the start of one of the greatest careers ever. This week, Slappy is wearing a special commemorative helmet.
Say what you want about Slappy, and believe me, I have, he's one of the best. Was one of the best. Something like that. Whatever.
It's supposed to rain during Quals... that should be fun! See you in the morning.
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August 22, 2011
F1 on SPEED!: Belgium 2011
...and we're back! The F1 Circus' summer vacation is over, the motor homes and carriers have converged on a little town in the Ardennes Forest, and the crew of F1 Update! has awakened from their forced hibernation. Ladies and Gentlemen, it's time for Formula 1 to return to Spa!
For most of the world, going to a spa for the weekend means a calm, relaxing experience, sometimes involving mud getting into places it shouldn't and fish nibbling dead skin off your toes. For Formula 1 drivers though, going to Spa for the weekend means excitement, tension, stress and danger lurking behind every corner of this 4.35-mile long circuit, arguably the best on the F1 calendar.
One cannot speak of Spa without referencing the track's signature piece, the combination of Eau Rouge and Raidillon. The run from La Source to Eau Rouge is downhill, but at Eau Rouge the track suddenly climbs steeply uphill. Indeed, the vertical direction change is so abrupt that you will hear what sounds like the drivers pulling their foot off the accelerator. Nothing could be further from the truth; what you're hearing is the engine suffering from the compression resulting from the sudden changes. Meanwhile, you also have a horizontal direction change as you negotiate the blind third turn. THEN you have another change of direction at Raidillon, the site of some of the most dramatic, violent accidents in F1 history. In the old days, saying that you took Eau Rouge flat out was a sign of a driver's bravery. In today's F1 cars it's not quite as difficult to accomplish, but one never, ever, takes Eau Rouge lightly. In fact, news came down today that DRS is not to be used through the turn during practice and quals.
The other signature piece of Spa is the weather. It's practically guaranteed to rain sometime during the F1 weekend, and one can probably count the historical number of totally dry races on the fingers of both hands, and it's likely you'd have a digit or two left over. This year, rain is expected on Friday with chances on both Saturday and Sunday.
All of which can be seen on SPEED! Yes, the Legendary Announce Team will be back in all their glory, providing us with their usual sterling coverage. Here's the way the schedule breaks down:
Friday: 3a-430a Practice 1 (streaming). 7a-840a Practice 2 (live).
Saturday: 4a-5a Practice 3 (streaming). 7a-830a Quals (live).
Sunday: 630a-9a 2011 Grand Prix of Belgium (live). 230p-5p race replay.
All times are, as usual, Pond Central Time. The F1U! crew will be all over the weekend... or at least as much as we can be, considering that Friday will be the 12th day of work in a row and the 18th out of 19. There is a chance we'll not have much in the way of Practice coverage.
But F1 is back! All is right with the world... or something along those lines. See ya then!
For most of the world, going to a spa for the weekend means a calm, relaxing experience, sometimes involving mud getting into places it shouldn't and fish nibbling dead skin off your toes. For Formula 1 drivers though, going to Spa for the weekend means excitement, tension, stress and danger lurking behind every corner of this 4.35-mile long circuit, arguably the best on the F1 calendar.
One cannot speak of Spa without referencing the track's signature piece, the combination of Eau Rouge and Raidillon. The run from La Source to Eau Rouge is downhill, but at Eau Rouge the track suddenly climbs steeply uphill. Indeed, the vertical direction change is so abrupt that you will hear what sounds like the drivers pulling their foot off the accelerator. Nothing could be further from the truth; what you're hearing is the engine suffering from the compression resulting from the sudden changes. Meanwhile, you also have a horizontal direction change as you negotiate the blind third turn. THEN you have another change of direction at Raidillon, the site of some of the most dramatic, violent accidents in F1 history. In the old days, saying that you took Eau Rouge flat out was a sign of a driver's bravery. In today's F1 cars it's not quite as difficult to accomplish, but one never, ever, takes Eau Rouge lightly. In fact, news came down today that DRS is not to be used through the turn during practice and quals.
The other signature piece of Spa is the weather. It's practically guaranteed to rain sometime during the F1 weekend, and one can probably count the historical number of totally dry races on the fingers of both hands, and it's likely you'd have a digit or two left over. This year, rain is expected on Friday with chances on both Saturday and Sunday.
All of which can be seen on SPEED! Yes, the Legendary Announce Team will be back in all their glory, providing us with their usual sterling coverage. Here's the way the schedule breaks down:
Friday: 3a-430a Practice 1 (streaming). 7a-840a Practice 2 (live).
Saturday: 4a-5a Practice 3 (streaming). 7a-830a Quals (live).
Sunday: 630a-9a 2011 Grand Prix of Belgium (live). 230p-5p race replay.
All times are, as usual, Pond Central Time. The F1U! crew will be all over the weekend... or at least as much as we can be, considering that Friday will be the 12th day of work in a row and the 18th out of 19. There is a chance we'll not have much in the way of Practice coverage.
But F1 is back! All is right with the world... or something along those lines. See ya then!
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July 30, 2011
F1 Quals: Hungary 2011
Over the past six years, only once has the Hungarian Grand Prix been won by the polesitter. So qualifying isn't that important, right? Well, those other five races were won by the driver sitting second... so yeah, kinda important. Let's see the provisional grid:
Yep, Vettel's back on pole, his eighth of the season. But it wasn't until the final hot lap of Q3 that he had shown any real sort of pace, and he was still slower than #2 Lewis Hamilton in the Hungaroring's first and third timing sectors. Then you have Jenson Button located right behind Vettel on the grid? I'd say McLaren's back on the pace, yes.
Meanwhile, Mark Webber has to be wondering which Elder God he's pissed off this week. Sixth? That's the best he could do? When his teammate took pole? C'mon, Mark... you're a likable guy, you're the underdog on your own team, you've got five-sixths of the world pulling for you, and this is the best you could do? Perhaps more surprising is Felipe Massa coming home fourth... and beating HWMNBN in Quals for the first time this season.
You may notice Sergio Perez sitting there at 10th didn't set a time during Q3. My suspicion is that he saw the true heavy hitters (McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull) out there throwing haymakers at each other and decided, "y'know, I think I'll just save my tires." For most of the session, it looked like the two Mercedes drivers and Adrian F'n Sutil felt the same, cowering in their garages while the big boys engaged in their own private war. It wasn't until the last minute possible that they came out, which makes me wonder why they even bothered. Is Rosberg really going to make a difference from seventh, for example? I don't understand exactly what they're doing there, but I'm not a F1 team strategist; it's probably something really deep and... um... strategery-like.
Race is on Sunday, and F1U! will be along sometime thereafter. See you then!
Yep, Vettel's back on pole, his eighth of the season. But it wasn't until the final hot lap of Q3 that he had shown any real sort of pace, and he was still slower than #2 Lewis Hamilton in the Hungaroring's first and third timing sectors. Then you have Jenson Button located right behind Vettel on the grid? I'd say McLaren's back on the pace, yes.
Meanwhile, Mark Webber has to be wondering which Elder God he's pissed off this week. Sixth? That's the best he could do? When his teammate took pole? C'mon, Mark... you're a likable guy, you're the underdog on your own team, you've got five-sixths of the world pulling for you, and this is the best you could do? Perhaps more surprising is Felipe Massa coming home fourth... and beating HWMNBN in Quals for the first time this season.
You may notice Sergio Perez sitting there at 10th didn't set a time during Q3. My suspicion is that he saw the true heavy hitters (McLaren, Ferrari, Red Bull) out there throwing haymakers at each other and decided, "y'know, I think I'll just save my tires." For most of the session, it looked like the two Mercedes drivers and Adrian F'n Sutil felt the same, cowering in their garages while the big boys engaged in their own private war. It wasn't until the last minute possible that they came out, which makes me wonder why they even bothered. Is Rosberg really going to make a difference from seventh, for example? I don't understand exactly what they're doing there, but I'm not a F1 team strategist; it's probably something really deep and... um... strategery-like.
Race is on Sunday, and F1U! will be along sometime thereafter. See you then!
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July 29, 2011
F1 Practice: Hungary 2011
Welcome to the Hungaroring, the circuit of milk and honey!
No, I can't do it. There's just no way I can keep up the happy-go-lucky attitude about the Hungarian Grand Prix. It's slow, it's twisty, there's only one passing point, argh. There was even less going on in 2nd Practice than normal. We did get a look at the new version super-soft tires from Pirelli, and they do seem like they'll last slightly longer than the six or eight laps they used to do. Yay?
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton led both practice sessions on Friday, second practice with a 1:21 and change. If my math is correct, the 107% rule would take out four cars: O'Glockenspiel, d'Ambrosio, Ricciardo, and Liuzzi. In other words, both Virgins and both HRTs. Which is weird, because slower tracks like this one should be better for the slower teams, not worse... unless the miserable twistybits are just kneecapping the less-than-nimble new teams (minus Lotus, of course). While you've gotta go slow to go fast, there's such a thing as going too slow. We'll find out the ultimate result during Quals on Saturday morning, of course.
In other news, Jarno Trulli is back in the Lotus after a one-race vacation, and shock of shocks, he's praising the team for the improvements they've made to the power steering! Of course, this has nothing to do with his incessant complaining earning him that one-race vacation.
Unfortunately, it looks like we're to have a dry race on Sunday. Alas.
In other important news, F1 has released a revised calendar for the 2012 season. Instead of the 21 races originally scheduled, it's now going to be 20 as Turkey is to be axed. That's a shame, because it's a fun circuit, but nobody ever went to the race and rising fees seem to be pricing the race out of F1. The good news is that the United States Grand Prix has been moved. No longer are they going to Austin Texas at the end of June/beginning of July! Now it'll be November 18th, which makes MUCH more sense: it won't be 215 degrees during race weekend. For what it's worth, that removes the second biggest obstacle to F1U! taking a fieldtrip (the biggest obstacle is fundage).
As mentioned, Quals in the morning, we'll see you then!
No, I can't do it. There's just no way I can keep up the happy-go-lucky attitude about the Hungarian Grand Prix. It's slow, it's twisty, there's only one passing point, argh. There was even less going on in 2nd Practice than normal. We did get a look at the new version super-soft tires from Pirelli, and they do seem like they'll last slightly longer than the six or eight laps they used to do. Yay?
McLaren's Lewis Hamilton led both practice sessions on Friday, second practice with a 1:21 and change. If my math is correct, the 107% rule would take out four cars: O'Glockenspiel, d'Ambrosio, Ricciardo, and Liuzzi. In other words, both Virgins and both HRTs. Which is weird, because slower tracks like this one should be better for the slower teams, not worse... unless the miserable twistybits are just kneecapping the less-than-nimble new teams (minus Lotus, of course). While you've gotta go slow to go fast, there's such a thing as going too slow. We'll find out the ultimate result during Quals on Saturday morning, of course.
In other news, Jarno Trulli is back in the Lotus after a one-race vacation, and shock of shocks, he's praising the team for the improvements they've made to the power steering! Of course, this has nothing to do with his incessant complaining earning him that one-race vacation.
Unfortunately, it looks like we're to have a dry race on Sunday. Alas.
In other important news, F1 has released a revised calendar for the 2012 season. Instead of the 21 races originally scheduled, it's now going to be 20 as Turkey is to be axed. That's a shame, because it's a fun circuit, but nobody ever went to the race and rising fees seem to be pricing the race out of F1. The good news is that the United States Grand Prix has been moved. No longer are they going to Austin Texas at the end of June/beginning of July! Now it'll be November 18th, which makes MUCH more sense: it won't be 215 degrees during race weekend. For what it's worth, that removes the second biggest obstacle to F1U! taking a fieldtrip (the biggest obstacle is fundage).
As mentioned, Quals in the morning, we'll see you then!
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July 25, 2011
F1 on SPEED!: Hungary 2011
Ah, Hungary. Beautiful, glorious Hungary. My favorite circuit in Formula 1. Let's take a look at the track map:
It's glorious, isn't it? It's been described as "Monaco without the glamour." But that's a good thing! Without the glitz and glamour, all that's left is to concentrate on the racing. Set into a natural bowl, most spectators can see the majority of the track from their seats. It has little altitude change, but is bumpy due to being built on relatively sandy soil. The twisty layout makes passing difficult, emphasizing driver skill over speed.
Like Monaco, the Hungaroring is a high-downforce low-speed track, where maneuverability outweighs grunt. Since the Grand Prix is pretty much the only race run on the Hungaroring, the track is usually dusty and "green" at the start of the weekend, but traction improves while the various sessions are run and the circuit rubbers in. Rain can wash that rubber off of course, but there's only been one wet race in the 25 year history of the Hungarian Grand Prix, in 2006. That race was Jenson Button's first win, in fact.
As the race is run in late July, it's always hot and humid here. The natural bowl keeps a lot of the daytime heat, meaning there's little relief. This makes keeping the cars cool an exciting challenge for the mechanics, and you'll often see various pieces of bodywork removed around the engine area to promote airflow.
Ah, Hungary. To be in Budapest in the summertime, watching the Grand Prix... is there anything better? Fortunately for those of us who can't experience the wonderment, the Legendary Announce Team will be bringing us everything with their usual talent and aplomb... and even better, it'll all be back on SPEED! Let's take a look at the schedule:
Friday: 3am - 430am Practice 1 (streaming), 7am - 840am Practice 2 (live)
Saturday: 4am - 5am Practice 3 (streaming), 7am - 830am Quals (live)
Sunday: 630am - 9am Grand Prix of Hungary (live)
So whip up some bundáskenyér with körözött, settle in on the couch, pop open a Soproni, and hope for a Zsolt Baumgartner sighting! We'll see you then!
more...
It's glorious, isn't it? It's been described as "Monaco without the glamour." But that's a good thing! Without the glitz and glamour, all that's left is to concentrate on the racing. Set into a natural bowl, most spectators can see the majority of the track from their seats. It has little altitude change, but is bumpy due to being built on relatively sandy soil. The twisty layout makes passing difficult, emphasizing driver skill over speed.
Like Monaco, the Hungaroring is a high-downforce low-speed track, where maneuverability outweighs grunt. Since the Grand Prix is pretty much the only race run on the Hungaroring, the track is usually dusty and "green" at the start of the weekend, but traction improves while the various sessions are run and the circuit rubbers in. Rain can wash that rubber off of course, but there's only been one wet race in the 25 year history of the Hungarian Grand Prix, in 2006. That race was Jenson Button's first win, in fact.
As the race is run in late July, it's always hot and humid here. The natural bowl keeps a lot of the daytime heat, meaning there's little relief. This makes keeping the cars cool an exciting challenge for the mechanics, and you'll often see various pieces of bodywork removed around the engine area to promote airflow.
Ah, Hungary. To be in Budapest in the summertime, watching the Grand Prix... is there anything better? Fortunately for those of us who can't experience the wonderment, the Legendary Announce Team will be bringing us everything with their usual talent and aplomb... and even better, it'll all be back on SPEED! Let's take a look at the schedule:
Friday: 3am - 430am Practice 1 (streaming), 7am - 840am Practice 2 (live)
Saturday: 4am - 5am Practice 3 (streaming), 7am - 830am Quals (live)
Sunday: 630am - 9am Grand Prix of Hungary (live)
So whip up some bundáskenyér with körözött, settle in on the couch, pop open a Soproni, and hope for a Zsolt Baumgartner sighting! We'll see you then!
more...
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July 23, 2011
F1 Quals: Germany 2011
Another gray day at the Nurb Jr. for the 2011 Grand Prix of Germany's Qualifying session. No rain, but constant clouds and a strong breeze combined for a surprisingly cool day as well (53 degrees), making it difficult for the drivers to get heat into their tires. But would that make a difference today? Or would the threat of rain on race day play a part today? Let's take a look at the provisional grid:
For the first time in 14 races, Red Bull's Seb Vettel will not be starting a race from the front row. If you think about it, that's a pretty darn amazing stat. And gosh, he must be miserable with ending up a pitiful third.
Two years ago, Vettel's teammate Mark Webber started this race from pole... and got his first ever F1 win. Today, he said that his time was the best he could have possibly done, that there wasn't another hundredth left in the car. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised with the speed of his steed. After Friday's practice sessions, he was moaning that there was no chance to fight for pole, the car was too slow, yadda yadda yadda. Instead, he's less than a tenth of a second behind. Not too shabby for a "crappy" chassis.
Meanwhile, Hamilton's teammate is complaining. "Something isn't right," said Jenson Button. "The pace isn't there. It was there this morning, so I don't know where it has gone." I have a suspicion as to where it is... I suspect that McLaren is hedging their bets for Sunday. Y'see, there's a halfway decent chance of rain sometime during the Grand Prix and I'd almost put money on Button having a wet-weather setup. If so and the team's gamble pays off, look for him to be on the podium, if not the top step. If not? Let's not think of that. I'm thinking that perhaps Red Bull has Vettel set up the same way, with the difference in position coming down to relative car quality.
You may have noticed that next to Seb Buemi's name, the number "16" is missing. That's not a typo. After Quals were completed, the Toro Rosso driver's car failed the mandatory fuel test. It violated regulation 19.8.3, meaning that the chemical makeup of the sample taken after Quals did not match the reference sample taken before the weekend. As a result, Buemi has been excluded from Qualifying. Since he officially didn't set a time, he could have been prevented from racing, but instead he'll be starting dead last. In their defense, the team says that they had to replace Buemi's fuel pump system (which is why he didn't appear in P2), and that the new system must have had some residual chemicals (lubricants, perhaps) in it that contaminated the fuel inadvertently. Oddly enough, I'm inclined to believe them, particularly since NKOTT's fuel passed muster.
Race at 11am Pond Central time... see you here for F1U! sometime afterwards!
For the first time in 14 races, Red Bull's Seb Vettel will not be starting a race from the front row. If you think about it, that's a pretty darn amazing stat. And gosh, he must be miserable with ending up a pitiful third.
Two years ago, Vettel's teammate Mark Webber started this race from pole... and got his first ever F1 win. Today, he said that his time was the best he could have possibly done, that there wasn't another hundredth left in the car. McLaren's Lewis Hamilton, on the other hand, was pleasantly surprised with the speed of his steed. After Friday's practice sessions, he was moaning that there was no chance to fight for pole, the car was too slow, yadda yadda yadda. Instead, he's less than a tenth of a second behind. Not too shabby for a "crappy" chassis.
Meanwhile, Hamilton's teammate is complaining. "Something isn't right," said Jenson Button. "The pace isn't there. It was there this morning, so I don't know where it has gone." I have a suspicion as to where it is... I suspect that McLaren is hedging their bets for Sunday. Y'see, there's a halfway decent chance of rain sometime during the Grand Prix and I'd almost put money on Button having a wet-weather setup. If so and the team's gamble pays off, look for him to be on the podium, if not the top step. If not? Let's not think of that. I'm thinking that perhaps Red Bull has Vettel set up the same way, with the difference in position coming down to relative car quality.
You may have noticed that next to Seb Buemi's name, the number "16" is missing. That's not a typo. After Quals were completed, the Toro Rosso driver's car failed the mandatory fuel test. It violated regulation 19.8.3, meaning that the chemical makeup of the sample taken after Quals did not match the reference sample taken before the weekend. As a result, Buemi has been excluded from Qualifying. Since he officially didn't set a time, he could have been prevented from racing, but instead he'll be starting dead last. In their defense, the team says that they had to replace Buemi's fuel pump system (which is why he didn't appear in P2), and that the new system must have had some residual chemicals (lubricants, perhaps) in it that contaminated the fuel inadvertently. Oddly enough, I'm inclined to believe them, particularly since NKOTT's fuel passed muster.
Race at 11am Pond Central time... see you here for F1U! sometime afterwards!
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July 22, 2011
F1 Practice: Germany 2011
A gray day in the Eifel Mountains, which isn't unusual. Friday's practice sessions went the way they usually do... cars went out on track, ran laps, came back in, rinse, repeat. Nothing particularly exciting, which also isn't unusual. Except for Seb Buemi's wild ride in P1... that was exciting.
The Toro Rosso got sideways and went airborne twice... first when he hit the curbs, then again when the car landed, slid across some grass and an access road, then bounced in the kittylitter. It could have been a big wreck, but wasn't. Buemi got right out, though I'll bet his back'll be sore in the morning; F1 drivers sit directly on the floor of the chassis, and they don't exactly have much in the way of shock absorbers either.
In other news for the race weekend, Jarno Trulli has been quite vocal of late, criticizing his car's power steering up hill and down vale. For at least four or five races, he's been complaining about how it just isn't working right... which is not-so-veiled criticism of his team, as well. There's almost certainly been discussions behind closed doors between Lotus and Trulli, asking him to keep the complaints behind closed doors. For example, if there's been a problem on Heikki Kovaleinninninnie's chassis, we haven't heard about it. Yet Trulli has continued to moan and whine in public. Well, Lotus has reacted. Jarno is getting the weekend off, no reason given. In his place, F1U! is happy to announce that Cowboy Karun Chandok is back in the saddle! It's been over a year since he's been in a F1 race, but we have no doubt that he'll repeat his excellent performances on Sunday.
Meanwhile, more and more regulations for 2014 have been released. As we've already heard, the inline four-cylinder turbo engine is dead, replaced with a new V6 that'll be limited to 15000rpm. What's very new is that the engines will have to have an onboard starter! That's right, F1 cars will now have to do the same thing that road cars have been able to do for decades. Another interesting rule is that, when a car is in the pit lane, it will be allowed to run on electric power only. I assume that's between the speed limiter lines, but it may mean anywhere related to the pit lane... such as pit-in. We'll see. I'm neither excited nor offended by this; it's just the FIA being the FIA. As usual.
Speaking of the FIA, the marshals have done it again.
Good to know that they've solved all the other problems in F1.
Quals in the morning. See ya then.
The Toro Rosso got sideways and went airborne twice... first when he hit the curbs, then again when the car landed, slid across some grass and an access road, then bounced in the kittylitter. It could have been a big wreck, but wasn't. Buemi got right out, though I'll bet his back'll be sore in the morning; F1 drivers sit directly on the floor of the chassis, and they don't exactly have much in the way of shock absorbers either.
In other news for the race weekend, Jarno Trulli has been quite vocal of late, criticizing his car's power steering up hill and down vale. For at least four or five races, he's been complaining about how it just isn't working right... which is not-so-veiled criticism of his team, as well. There's almost certainly been discussions behind closed doors between Lotus and Trulli, asking him to keep the complaints behind closed doors. For example, if there's been a problem on Heikki Kovaleinninninnie's chassis, we haven't heard about it. Yet Trulli has continued to moan and whine in public. Well, Lotus has reacted. Jarno is getting the weekend off, no reason given. In his place, F1U! is happy to announce that Cowboy Karun Chandok is back in the saddle! It's been over a year since he's been in a F1 race, but we have no doubt that he'll repeat his excellent performances on Sunday.
Meanwhile, more and more regulations for 2014 have been released. As we've already heard, the inline four-cylinder turbo engine is dead, replaced with a new V6 that'll be limited to 15000rpm. What's very new is that the engines will have to have an onboard starter! That's right, F1 cars will now have to do the same thing that road cars have been able to do for decades. Another interesting rule is that, when a car is in the pit lane, it will be allowed to run on electric power only. I assume that's between the speed limiter lines, but it may mean anywhere related to the pit lane... such as pit-in. We'll see. I'm neither excited nor offended by this; it's just the FIA being the FIA. As usual.
Speaking of the FIA, the marshals have done it again.
Good to know that they've solved all the other problems in F1.
Quals in the morning. See ya then.
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July 21, 2011
I Knew This Was Coming...
...but it doesn't make it any easier.
That's just darn annoying, is what that is.
That's just darn annoying, is what that is.
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July 19, 2011
F1 on TV!: Germany 2011
Once upon a time, there was a track called "The Green Hell." 12.9 miles long, with 154 turns, it was the ne plus ultra of the racing world. The toughest, most demanding purpose-built track in the world, and quite possibly the most dangerous as well. If you could win a race here, you had done something truly special. It was more correctly known as The Nurburgring, and despite the similar name it is not where the 2011 Grand Prix of Germany is being held. Let's take a look at the Nurburgring track map where we'll be racing this weekend:
Correctly known as the Nurburgring GP-Strecke, I prefer to call it "Nurb Jr.", though a local nickname, "Ersatzring", is pleasing as well. It's shorter, less challenging (though trying to thread a needle while driving a F1 car would also be less challenging), and infinitely safer. It's a high-downforce circuit, with a generic level of tire wear. It also alternates with Hockenheim on the F1 calendar, so the last time we were here, BrawnGP and Jenson Button were winning everything in sight. Of course, that means that such things as the quick-wearing Pirelli tires, DRS-enabled rear wings, blown diffusers and constant-flow throttle, and the crazy-go-nuts Red Bull chassis haven't been here, so it'll all be new and fresh.
"But wait just a minute Wonderduck," I hear you saying. "You've wasted hundreds of words over the past few races trying to describe what effect the removal of the constant-flow throttle and blown diffuser would have. It's gone, the FIA took it off the cars!" Smugly, you sit back, sure that you've caught the head of F1U! in a mistake.
Yes, well, the FIA apparently had their fingers crossed when they said all that about things being taken off the cars. Effective immediately, teams can go back to "Valencia"-spec setups... including the blown diffusers. T'anks, FIA! In 2012, though, all that stuff'll be gone again.
But we've still got this race weekend to get through, and as usual, the Legendary Announce Team will be there to call all the action. As I'm saying the same thing every race, I'm just going to list the times now.
Friday - Practice 1: 3a-430a (streaming), Practice 2: 7a - 840a (live on SPEED)
Saturday - Practice 3: 4a - 5a (streaming), Quals: 7a - 830a (live, SPEED)
Sunday - GP of Germany: 11a - 1p (tape delay, FOX)
This is the last race of the year on FOX... hurray! We'll see you then!
Correctly known as the Nurburgring GP-Strecke, I prefer to call it "Nurb Jr.", though a local nickname, "Ersatzring", is pleasing as well. It's shorter, less challenging (though trying to thread a needle while driving a F1 car would also be less challenging), and infinitely safer. It's a high-downforce circuit, with a generic level of tire wear. It also alternates with Hockenheim on the F1 calendar, so the last time we were here, BrawnGP and Jenson Button were winning everything in sight. Of course, that means that such things as the quick-wearing Pirelli tires, DRS-enabled rear wings, blown diffusers and constant-flow throttle, and the crazy-go-nuts Red Bull chassis haven't been here, so it'll all be new and fresh.
"But wait just a minute Wonderduck," I hear you saying. "You've wasted hundreds of words over the past few races trying to describe what effect the removal of the constant-flow throttle and blown diffuser would have. It's gone, the FIA took it off the cars!" Smugly, you sit back, sure that you've caught the head of F1U! in a mistake.
Yes, well, the FIA apparently had their fingers crossed when they said all that about things being taken off the cars. Effective immediately, teams can go back to "Valencia"-spec setups... including the blown diffusers. T'anks, FIA! In 2012, though, all that stuff'll be gone again.
But we've still got this race weekend to get through, and as usual, the Legendary Announce Team will be there to call all the action. As I'm saying the same thing every race, I'm just going to list the times now.
Friday - Practice 1: 3a-430a (streaming), Practice 2: 7a - 840a (live on SPEED)
Saturday - Practice 3: 4a - 5a (streaming), Quals: 7a - 830a (live, SPEED)
Sunday - GP of Germany: 11a - 1p (tape delay, FOX)
This is the last race of the year on FOX... hurray! We'll see you then!
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July 13, 2011
Top Gear S17E03
I greatly enjoy watching Top Gear. Clarkson, May and Hamster Hammond play off each other incredibly well, leading to great hilarity, at times reaching Monty Python levels of humor quality. Then of course, there's the cars, and the envy... after all, they've got the greatest job in the world, and they know it, and they don't take it for granted.
Which makes the "highlight" of this past Sunday's episode so excruciating to talk about. You see, this week they put a F1 Star in the (old) Reasonably Priced Car. In the past, they've had Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, amongst others, hop into the Suzuki Liana and turn a few laps on the Top Gear Test Track. The last F1 driver to appear was Rubens Barrichello, and we all remember what happened that time... and the t-shirts he had made up. But this time, there was a different feeling in the studio... a feeling of dark menace.
Which turned out to be entirely appropriate, for when he was younger he cavorted and gamboled with Slappy Schumacher itself.
He is now a couple of years older, and instead of a kart, he now drives this:
...and I began to weep. Can I never escape from the menace of...
more...
Which makes the "highlight" of this past Sunday's episode so excruciating to talk about. You see, this week they put a F1 Star in the (old) Reasonably Priced Car. In the past, they've had Mark Webber, Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, amongst others, hop into the Suzuki Liana and turn a few laps on the Top Gear Test Track. The last F1 driver to appear was Rubens Barrichello, and we all remember what happened that time... and the t-shirts he had made up. But this time, there was a different feeling in the studio... a feeling of dark menace.
Which turned out to be entirely appropriate, for when he was younger he cavorted and gamboled with Slappy Schumacher itself.
He is now a couple of years older, and instead of a kart, he now drives this:
...and I began to weep. Can I never escape from the menace of...
more...
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July 09, 2011
F1 Quals: Britain 2011
Rain clouds above Silverstone for the Qualifying session for the 2011 Grand Prix of Great Britain are a normal sight, but the storm clouds in the pit lane gave hope that perhaps, just maybe, the Red Bull dominance may have been broken by the blown diffuser ban. So, was it? Here's the provisional grid:
Nope. Time to face facts: nothing is going to stop Red Bull, short of land mines and anti-tank weaponry. Even the lousy weather helped Red Bull today, as it began drizzling in Q3, just as people were beginning their last-ditch attempts to knock Webber and Vettel off the front row. When you're taking some of the turns at Silverstone at 160mph, suddenly having a puddle in front of you tends to (excuse the pun) dampen the spirits of the drivers.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm hoping that the Ferraris can do something on Sunday to gore the Bulls... maybe Massa will be ordered to go to ramming speed heading into Turn 1. Because that's about the only way we're going to hear something other than the Austrian anthem being played on the podium for the winning constructor.
Well, that or rain. One of the two. Fortunately, we've got a chance of the wet stuff for Sunday. See you then!
Nope. Time to face facts: nothing is going to stop Red Bull, short of land mines and anti-tank weaponry. Even the lousy weather helped Red Bull today, as it began drizzling in Q3, just as people were beginning their last-ditch attempts to knock Webber and Vettel off the front row. When you're taking some of the turns at Silverstone at 160mph, suddenly having a puddle in front of you tends to (excuse the pun) dampen the spirits of the drivers.
I can't believe I'm saying this, but I'm hoping that the Ferraris can do something on Sunday to gore the Bulls... maybe Massa will be ordered to go to ramming speed heading into Turn 1. Because that's about the only way we're going to hear something other than the Austrian anthem being played on the podium for the winning constructor.
Well, that or rain. One of the two. Fortunately, we've got a chance of the wet stuff for Sunday. See you then!
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July 08, 2011
F1 Practice: Britain 2011
Ah, to be in England in the summertime... just don't forget your umbrellas, raincoat and galoshes. Other than a fifteen minute long stretch in P2 right at the end, what we had was the textbook definition of a wet track at Silverstone. Very wet. Nearly "boat racing" levels of wet.
While watching the most highly skilled drivers in the world look like they've never even heard of a car, let alone actually drive one, was mildly entertaining, it did nothing to answer the burning question of the day. That being, of course, what effect will the Open Throttle ban have on the myriad racers and particularly the nigh-on unbeatable Red Bulls? Since the heavy rain made even the relatively simple task of keeping the cars on track nearly impossible, nobody knows what's going to happen once they have a dry track under them.
There's been a clarification of the ruling from the FIA. It turns out that the ban isn't actually a total ban. Instead, the teams can keep the throttle open about 10% instead of at full force. Legendary Announce Team tech guru Steve Matchett did a great job explaining how this trick works. In essence, when the driver takes his foot off the "make noise" pedal, thereby closing the throttle, the engine changes modes. Instead of burning fuel in the classic "suck-squeeze-bang-blow" routine of the internal combustion engine, when the throttle is closed the engine becomes a highly efficient pump, accelerating nothing but air through the exhaust pipes and over the diffuser, thereby keeping the downforce at a constant. Just how the teams accomplish this neat trick is an exercise for the tech nobbins out there. That also explains just why the FIA declared the trick a violation of the "movable aerodynamic device" rule. The pistons are moving, after all!
Now that the FIA has taken 90% of the benefit away, the teams are screaming that they should be allowed to have 20% of the trick. Or 25%. Or whatever number that's greater than 10% that they feel like throwing out there. It's all somewhat farcical, except the teams actually have something of a point here. As I mentioned before Valencia, the cars that use the Constant Throttle trick were designed with it, meaning that it's required to keep the cars stable and safe. At least, that's how their argument goes. The fact that they can make this change without rebuilding the entire rear end of their cars makes me think that perhaps it isn't as critical as the teams would like us to think.
Or maybe it is. In P1, Gandalf Kobayashi got his Sauber a little squirrely on some of the astroturf edging the front straight. He got sideways, hit a bump, and once again we discovered that, under the right conditions, F1 cars really can fly. Short distances, and not well, but they can. Alas, when he returned to earth, the right-side wheels dug in, and this resulted:
To me, there's no worse accident than one where a F1 car gets upside down, unless it's one where the car is tumbling, and that's very nearly what we got here. Would the increase in blown diffuser downforce had made a difference here? No, as Gandalf had his foot down as hard as he could given the conditions, given that he was accelerating off the final turn. Just mere luck kept him from the grim tumble.
Quals in the morning, maybe it'll be dry then!
While watching the most highly skilled drivers in the world look like they've never even heard of a car, let alone actually drive one, was mildly entertaining, it did nothing to answer the burning question of the day. That being, of course, what effect will the Open Throttle ban have on the myriad racers and particularly the nigh-on unbeatable Red Bulls? Since the heavy rain made even the relatively simple task of keeping the cars on track nearly impossible, nobody knows what's going to happen once they have a dry track under them.
There's been a clarification of the ruling from the FIA. It turns out that the ban isn't actually a total ban. Instead, the teams can keep the throttle open about 10% instead of at full force. Legendary Announce Team tech guru Steve Matchett did a great job explaining how this trick works. In essence, when the driver takes his foot off the "make noise" pedal, thereby closing the throttle, the engine changes modes. Instead of burning fuel in the classic "suck-squeeze-bang-blow" routine of the internal combustion engine, when the throttle is closed the engine becomes a highly efficient pump, accelerating nothing but air through the exhaust pipes and over the diffuser, thereby keeping the downforce at a constant. Just how the teams accomplish this neat trick is an exercise for the tech nobbins out there. That also explains just why the FIA declared the trick a violation of the "movable aerodynamic device" rule. The pistons are moving, after all!
Now that the FIA has taken 90% of the benefit away, the teams are screaming that they should be allowed to have 20% of the trick. Or 25%. Or whatever number that's greater than 10% that they feel like throwing out there. It's all somewhat farcical, except the teams actually have something of a point here. As I mentioned before Valencia, the cars that use the Constant Throttle trick were designed with it, meaning that it's required to keep the cars stable and safe. At least, that's how their argument goes. The fact that they can make this change without rebuilding the entire rear end of their cars makes me think that perhaps it isn't as critical as the teams would like us to think.
Or maybe it is. In P1, Gandalf Kobayashi got his Sauber a little squirrely on some of the astroturf edging the front straight. He got sideways, hit a bump, and once again we discovered that, under the right conditions, F1 cars really can fly. Short distances, and not well, but they can. Alas, when he returned to earth, the right-side wheels dug in, and this resulted:
To me, there's no worse accident than one where a F1 car gets upside down, unless it's one where the car is tumbling, and that's very nearly what we got here. Would the increase in blown diffuser downforce had made a difference here? No, as Gandalf had his foot down as hard as he could given the conditions, given that he was accelerating off the final turn. Just mere luck kept him from the grim tumble.
Quals in the morning, maybe it'll be dry then!
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July 06, 2011
Top Gear S17E02
So there's this little British motoring show you might have heard of called Top Gear. On the show, the three presenters, Jeremy Clarkson (the big one), Richard Hammond (the small one) and James May (the slow one), are allowed to get their mitts on some of the world's most exciting cars and do things with them that would make most people soil themselves with fear or excitement. Or both. It's been around for 17 seasons, and amongst other things they've attempted to launch a Reliant Robin into space (and failed), driven a rocket-powered Mini down a ski jump, tried to destroy a Toyota Hilux (and failed), driven to the North Pole (the first to do so in history), taken a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport to 258mph, discovered that a Ford Fiesta make a good Higgins Boat, and created a blender powered by a V8 (it can blend bricks!).
All of which sounds like something of a good time. But in their most recent episode, which aired this past Sunday July 3rd, the lads got to do something any racing fan would give up body parts for. Y'see, for this episode they were testing "hot hatchbacks" in their usual fashion: each chooses a car, then they do some ridiculous challenge or two, this time in a small Italian town.
This, they accomplished with their usual level of humor. Then to test how their cars drove in real-life situations, they were told to motor from this little Italian town to a small French fishing village. Which you may have heard of.
As they were in the hills above Monaco, an eerie, almost spectral moan could be heard emanating from the town below. Clarkson got on his radio to the other two with "Lads... I think the race is on!" Hammond: "What race?" Cue Clarkson wanting to strangle his two co-workers.
Their next challenge was fairly simple: turn three racing laps on the Monaco Grand Prix circuit (on Friday, the "quiet day" of the Grand Prix weekend). Clarkson, a long-time F1 fan, immediately tracked down David Coulthard's Chin, Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello for advice on how to best drive around the circuit.
Hammond and May, neither of whom are F1 fans in the least (despite Hammond having driven a F1 car and calling the experience "mind-blowing"), spent the day and most of the night at a party located here:
...and not finding out anything at all about the circuit. They did speak to a very nice driver named Tim O'Glock, though.
Finally, their moment on-track came.
I hate them so very much, as do pretty much all right-thinking motorheads. After all, they had the entire Monaco circuit to themselves for 10 minutes or so. Bastards.
Seriously though, if you're a F1 fan, you owe it to yourself to track down a copy of this episode. It's really quite special. As Top Gear is the world's most downloaded TV program, it shouldn't be hard to find.
All of which sounds like something of a good time. But in their most recent episode, which aired this past Sunday July 3rd, the lads got to do something any racing fan would give up body parts for. Y'see, for this episode they were testing "hot hatchbacks" in their usual fashion: each chooses a car, then they do some ridiculous challenge or two, this time in a small Italian town.
This, they accomplished with their usual level of humor. Then to test how their cars drove in real-life situations, they were told to motor from this little Italian town to a small French fishing village. Which you may have heard of.
As they were in the hills above Monaco, an eerie, almost spectral moan could be heard emanating from the town below. Clarkson got on his radio to the other two with "Lads... I think the race is on!" Hammond: "What race?" Cue Clarkson wanting to strangle his two co-workers.
Their next challenge was fairly simple: turn three racing laps on the Monaco Grand Prix circuit (on Friday, the "quiet day" of the Grand Prix weekend). Clarkson, a long-time F1 fan, immediately tracked down David Coulthard's Chin, Mark Webber and Rubens Barrichello for advice on how to best drive around the circuit.
Hammond and May, neither of whom are F1 fans in the least (despite Hammond having driven a F1 car and calling the experience "mind-blowing"), spent the day and most of the night at a party located here:
...and not finding out anything at all about the circuit. They did speak to a very nice driver named Tim O'Glock, though.
Finally, their moment on-track came.
I hate them so very much, as do pretty much all right-thinking motorheads. After all, they had the entire Monaco circuit to themselves for 10 minutes or so. Bastards.
Seriously though, if you're a F1 fan, you owe it to yourself to track down a copy of this episode. It's really quite special. As Top Gear is the world's most downloaded TV program, it shouldn't be hard to find.
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July 05, 2011
F1 on TV!: Britian 2011
If Monaco is the glamorous soul of Formula 1, and Monza the basic essence of Formula 1, Silverstone Circuit, home to the 2011 British Grand Prix, is Formula 1's beating heart. Let's take a look at this, the track where the very first official F1 race was held:
There's been some changes made since that bright day in 1950 when Giuseppi Farina brought his Alfa Romeo 158 across the line for the first ever F1 victory. Heck, there's been some changes since last year, when they debuted the new "Arena Circuit". Take a look:
You see the change? They've moved the start/finish line! Before, Copse was Turn 1, now Turn 1 is Abbey, which leads into the new part of the layout. Of course, they've moved the pit lane and the speed trap as well. Actually, moving the speed trap makes sense: it's now at the fastest part of the track, the Hangar Straight, just before braking for Stowe. It'll be a bit confusing now, I expect. For years, you came out of Woodcote, one of the faster turns in F1, for the blast to the finish line... now you're coming out of Club, which is not one of the faster turns in F1. Copse used to be the best first turn in F1 save for Spa's La Source. Now it's the "just" the lead-in for my favorite sequence of turns: Maggots-Becketts-Chapel. I'd kill to have a good camera and a position right where the number "13" is located on the 2011 track map... oh, the pictures one could take.
But I digress... and I note that I'm accidentally repeating my comments from last year's F1 on TV! entry for Silverstone. That's the problem with this sort of preview... I've been doing it for nearly six years, eventually you run out of original things to say about a circuit.
Well, the Legendary Announce Team is paid to say original things! They'll be bringing us their usual sterling coverage of the race weekend, starting off with Friday's 1st Practice session, streaming on speedtv.com from 4am to 530am. P2 will be live on SPEED itself from 8am to 940am.
Saturday brings us streaming coverage of P3 from 4am to 5am, leading up to the live broadcast of Quals on SPEED, airing from 7am to 830am.
Finally, the race itself will be on your local FOX affiliate from 11am to 1pm. All times are Pond Central, of course, so add a hour for those of you who live in Jersey, subtract one hour for people who live on top of the Rocky Mountains, and take away two hours for those of you near the Pacific Ocean.
Of course F1U! will be proving that you don't have to be witty or clever to provide writeups about a Formula 1 race weekend! See you then!
There's been some changes made since that bright day in 1950 when Giuseppi Farina brought his Alfa Romeo 158 across the line for the first ever F1 victory. Heck, there's been some changes since last year, when they debuted the new "Arena Circuit". Take a look:
You see the change? They've moved the start/finish line! Before, Copse was Turn 1, now Turn 1 is Abbey, which leads into the new part of the layout. Of course, they've moved the pit lane and the speed trap as well. Actually, moving the speed trap makes sense: it's now at the fastest part of the track, the Hangar Straight, just before braking for Stowe. It'll be a bit confusing now, I expect. For years, you came out of Woodcote, one of the faster turns in F1, for the blast to the finish line... now you're coming out of Club, which is not one of the faster turns in F1. Copse used to be the best first turn in F1 save for Spa's La Source. Now it's the "just" the lead-in for my favorite sequence of turns: Maggots-Becketts-Chapel. I'd kill to have a good camera and a position right where the number "13" is located on the 2011 track map... oh, the pictures one could take.
But I digress... and I note that I'm accidentally repeating my comments from last year's F1 on TV! entry for Silverstone. That's the problem with this sort of preview... I've been doing it for nearly six years, eventually you run out of original things to say about a circuit.
Well, the Legendary Announce Team is paid to say original things! They'll be bringing us their usual sterling coverage of the race weekend, starting off with Friday's 1st Practice session, streaming on speedtv.com from 4am to 530am. P2 will be live on SPEED itself from 8am to 940am.
Saturday brings us streaming coverage of P3 from 4am to 5am, leading up to the live broadcast of Quals on SPEED, airing from 7am to 830am.
Finally, the race itself will be on your local FOX affiliate from 11am to 1pm. All times are Pond Central, of course, so add a hour for those of you who live in Jersey, subtract one hour for people who live on top of the Rocky Mountains, and take away two hours for those of you near the Pacific Ocean.
Of course F1U! will be proving that you don't have to be witty or clever to provide writeups about a Formula 1 race weekend! See you then!
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June 30, 2011
HRT Hates India!
Did HRT's team principal Colin Kolles once have a bad tikka masala or something? Last year, the weekend before the 2010 British Grand Prix, the team jettisoned Cowboy Karun Chandhok from its lineup for Sakon Yamamoto. Today, the weekend before the 2011 British Grand Prix, HRT demoted Narain Kittylitter into their reserve driver slot, replacing him in the race seat with Australian Daniel Ricciardo.
A heckuva birthday gift for the to-be-22-year-old, who's birthday is Friday. Ricciardo has been behind the wheel of a F1 car before, as he's been a Friday driver for Toro Rosso. Somewhere, NKOTT (Jaime Alguersuari) is breathing a sigh of relief. Ricciardo had been looming large in the shadows as the Toro Rosso driver had a lousy beginning to the season, leading many to believe that he'd take over NKOTT's seat.
Back at HRT, it's no surprise that everybody expects to see Kittylitter behind the wheel again, conveniently in time for the first Grand Prix of India... particularly because TATA Motors, India's largest automobile maker (and the world's 4th largest manufacturer of trucks and 2nd largest maker of buses) sponsors the team. Yeah, Narain'll be back, no question.
Meanwhile, the guys over at Force India have to be muttering bad things about HRT, wouldn't you think?
A heckuva birthday gift for the to-be-22-year-old, who's birthday is Friday. Ricciardo has been behind the wheel of a F1 car before, as he's been a Friday driver for Toro Rosso. Somewhere, NKOTT (Jaime Alguersuari) is breathing a sigh of relief. Ricciardo had been looming large in the shadows as the Toro Rosso driver had a lousy beginning to the season, leading many to believe that he'd take over NKOTT's seat.
Back at HRT, it's no surprise that everybody expects to see Kittylitter behind the wheel again, conveniently in time for the first Grand Prix of India... particularly because TATA Motors, India's largest automobile maker (and the world's 4th largest manufacturer of trucks and 2nd largest maker of buses) sponsors the team. Yeah, Narain'll be back, no question.
Meanwhile, the guys over at Force India have to be muttering bad things about HRT, wouldn't you think?
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June 25, 2011
F1 Quals: Valencia 2011
A beautiful day at Valencia for the Qualifying round of the 2011 Grand Prix of Europe. Would the rules changes make a difference, would it be much ado about nothing? Let's take a look at the provisional grid:
A surprisingly undramatic Qualifying session today, to be honest. There was a red flag in the middle of Q2 when Bhikshu Maldonado's Williams had a gearbox failure of some type, bringing him to a halt in the middle of the track. Since they had to crane him off the course, the flag was thrown, but it was only for a couple of minutes and did not appear to disrupt anybody's qualifying plans. Even Q3 felt unexciting: the most tension involved was wondering if Heidfeld and Sutil would come out for a lap in the session. Neither did, realizing that the best they could likely do is ninth place. By not coming out, they've protected a set of soft tires. Kinda sad when that becomes more important than trying to improve your slot on the grid, but there you are.
The high point of Quals was undoubtedly Vettel's pole-winning lap, as it was the fastest a car has gone around the Valencia Street Circuit ever. Nobody has broken into the 1:36s before the Red Bull did today. So much for engine mapping restraints leashing the Bulls.
We don't know what the race will bring of course, but one would be a fool if you didn't think we'd have a Red Bull runaway. Of course, Vettel has been hard-pushed the last two races and cracked under the pressure in Montreal, so it's not impossible that we'll have a good race.
We'll see tomorrow, and F1U! will be there as soon as we can... since the race is tape-delayed here in the US, it won't be starting until 11am Central. See ya then!
A surprisingly undramatic Qualifying session today, to be honest. There was a red flag in the middle of Q2 when Bhikshu Maldonado's Williams had a gearbox failure of some type, bringing him to a halt in the middle of the track. Since they had to crane him off the course, the flag was thrown, but it was only for a couple of minutes and did not appear to disrupt anybody's qualifying plans. Even Q3 felt unexciting: the most tension involved was wondering if Heidfeld and Sutil would come out for a lap in the session. Neither did, realizing that the best they could likely do is ninth place. By not coming out, they've protected a set of soft tires. Kinda sad when that becomes more important than trying to improve your slot on the grid, but there you are.
The high point of Quals was undoubtedly Vettel's pole-winning lap, as it was the fastest a car has gone around the Valencia Street Circuit ever. Nobody has broken into the 1:36s before the Red Bull did today. So much for engine mapping restraints leashing the Bulls.
We don't know what the race will bring of course, but one would be a fool if you didn't think we'd have a Red Bull runaway. Of course, Vettel has been hard-pushed the last two races and cracked under the pressure in Montreal, so it's not impossible that we'll have a good race.
We'll see tomorrow, and F1U! will be there as soon as we can... since the race is tape-delayed here in the US, it won't be starting until 11am Central. See ya then!
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June 24, 2011
F1 Practice: Valencia 2011
So it was another dull practice session today, lots of cars just turning laps. HWMNBN was fastest in P2, just ahead of Lewis Hamilton, Seb Vettel and Slappy Schumacher. All four were separated by less than 6/10ths of a second, so it truly could be anybody on pole... if you put any stock in practice session times, which I don't.
However, this race will be the first with a new set of rules. The FIA stepped down from on-high and decided that teams are no longer able to adjust electronic engine mapping between Quals and the race. This actually makes sense. Once Q1 begins and a car crosses the pit-out line, it is then considered to be in parc ferme condition and only the most minor changes can be made (wing settings, mostly). After a car is eliminated from Quals (or makes it through Q3), the teams are basically unable to even touch the chassis. Yet prior to this weekend, they could hook up a computer to the car and reprogram the Electronic Control Unit, basically telling the engine "hey, we want you to work this way now." No longer. There are pernicious rumors going around that this trick is one of the major reasons Red Bull has been so good in Quals: they had found a particularly hot combination of settings on their ECU. It probably wouldn't last a full race distance without causing the engine to grenade, but it didn't have to: they could just change it to something more suitable for Sunday. I don't know that I entirely believe it, yet it's awfully strange that their Renault engine outperforms RENAULT'S Renault engine. Guess we'll find out on Saturday.
But that's not the only rule change coming down the pike, oh no. Many teams have been doing some very clever things with their diffusers this season, directing their exhaust gases over it to get extra downforce. Now, this seems counter-intuitive: you get the most powerful exhaust stream when you're accelerating, which is when you want it the least. Conversely, when you're braking for a turn, you want more downforce, but you've probably got your foot off the throttle at that time, meaning less exhaust and therefore less downforce. The engineering boffins have figured a way around this however, and now have a "constant flow" exhaust. In effect, the same amount of exhaust is blown out the tailpipes, no matter how hard you're pressing the go-fast pedal. If you've watched any races this season, you've surely noticed the flatulent sound that the Mercedes and McLaren make when they brake for a turn... that's from the constant flow exhaust kicking in. At the beginning of the season, the FIA was fine with this, but they changed their mind a few races ago... effective at the next race (Silverstone), this technological trick is banned.
As you can imagine, the teams are screaming bloody murder about these (mostly unprecedented) mid-season rules changes. Particularly with the constant flow exhaust, their argument is that the removal of these things will make the cars much less balanced, and therefore less safe. They have a point; F1 cars are remarkably sensitive to any changes in their aerodynamics. While unlikely, it's not impossible that, say, the Red Bull chassis (for example) will become flat-out dangerous without this extra downforce. Still the FIA is going ahead with it, and the teams much follow suit. Please note that the Renault's forward-facing exhaust is not included in this... though if they're running the constant flow technology through it, that is. The British GP might be even more interesting than normal.
This is going to be the first race where the hard tire will be the new medium compound rubber, which Pirelli has reformulated to last somewhat longer than it used to. As we've seen in the past, however, the hard tire is still trending around 1.5 seconds slower than the softer rubber. I suppose I really should use the phrasing that F1 uses to describe the tires: "Prime" for the harder tire and "Option" for the softer. It might make it less confusing to... well, just about everyone.
Just like in Canada, there are two DRS activation zones, but only one detection zone. The detection zone is, essentially, the bridge between Turns 9 and 10. The activation zones are from just after Turn 11 to Turn 12, then from 14 to 17. Once again, this means that someone can pass using DRS in the first stretch, then continue using the movable rear wing to create a bigger lead without fear of response. I'm sure you're wondering just why they don't have two detection zones... as are we all. Nobody knows for sure (and the FIA ain't tellin'), but the common wisdom appears to be that there's a problem on the FIA's end, either in the detection software or the actual computer. Guys, here's an idea... spring for another computer, maybe a nice quad-core with more than a gigabyte of RAM.
Quals in the morning, see you then!
However, this race will be the first with a new set of rules. The FIA stepped down from on-high and decided that teams are no longer able to adjust electronic engine mapping between Quals and the race. This actually makes sense. Once Q1 begins and a car crosses the pit-out line, it is then considered to be in parc ferme condition and only the most minor changes can be made (wing settings, mostly). After a car is eliminated from Quals (or makes it through Q3), the teams are basically unable to even touch the chassis. Yet prior to this weekend, they could hook up a computer to the car and reprogram the Electronic Control Unit, basically telling the engine "hey, we want you to work this way now." No longer. There are pernicious rumors going around that this trick is one of the major reasons Red Bull has been so good in Quals: they had found a particularly hot combination of settings on their ECU. It probably wouldn't last a full race distance without causing the engine to grenade, but it didn't have to: they could just change it to something more suitable for Sunday. I don't know that I entirely believe it, yet it's awfully strange that their Renault engine outperforms RENAULT'S Renault engine. Guess we'll find out on Saturday.
But that's not the only rule change coming down the pike, oh no. Many teams have been doing some very clever things with their diffusers this season, directing their exhaust gases over it to get extra downforce. Now, this seems counter-intuitive: you get the most powerful exhaust stream when you're accelerating, which is when you want it the least. Conversely, when you're braking for a turn, you want more downforce, but you've probably got your foot off the throttle at that time, meaning less exhaust and therefore less downforce. The engineering boffins have figured a way around this however, and now have a "constant flow" exhaust. In effect, the same amount of exhaust is blown out the tailpipes, no matter how hard you're pressing the go-fast pedal. If you've watched any races this season, you've surely noticed the flatulent sound that the Mercedes and McLaren make when they brake for a turn... that's from the constant flow exhaust kicking in. At the beginning of the season, the FIA was fine with this, but they changed their mind a few races ago... effective at the next race (Silverstone), this technological trick is banned.
As you can imagine, the teams are screaming bloody murder about these (mostly unprecedented) mid-season rules changes. Particularly with the constant flow exhaust, their argument is that the removal of these things will make the cars much less balanced, and therefore less safe. They have a point; F1 cars are remarkably sensitive to any changes in their aerodynamics. While unlikely, it's not impossible that, say, the Red Bull chassis (for example) will become flat-out dangerous without this extra downforce. Still the FIA is going ahead with it, and the teams much follow suit. Please note that the Renault's forward-facing exhaust is not included in this... though if they're running the constant flow technology through it, that is. The British GP might be even more interesting than normal.
This is going to be the first race where the hard tire will be the new medium compound rubber, which Pirelli has reformulated to last somewhat longer than it used to. As we've seen in the past, however, the hard tire is still trending around 1.5 seconds slower than the softer rubber. I suppose I really should use the phrasing that F1 uses to describe the tires: "Prime" for the harder tire and "Option" for the softer. It might make it less confusing to... well, just about everyone.
Just like in Canada, there are two DRS activation zones, but only one detection zone. The detection zone is, essentially, the bridge between Turns 9 and 10. The activation zones are from just after Turn 11 to Turn 12, then from 14 to 17. Once again, this means that someone can pass using DRS in the first stretch, then continue using the movable rear wing to create a bigger lead without fear of response. I'm sure you're wondering just why they don't have two detection zones... as are we all. Nobody knows for sure (and the FIA ain't tellin'), but the common wisdom appears to be that there's a problem on the FIA's end, either in the detection software or the actual computer. Guys, here's an idea... spring for another computer, maybe a nice quad-core with more than a gigabyte of RAM.
Quals in the morning, see you then!
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June 20, 2011
F1 on TV!: Europe 2011
Their short North American sojourn completed, the F1 Circus returns to the Mother Continent this week with the 2011 Grand Prix of Europe. The European GP has always been a way to get a second race into whatever country has the popular driver at the time... which is why Germany had two races during the height of the Schumi Years. These days, it's HWMNBN... or at least, it was when the contracts were signed... which is why Spain now gets two races. To accomplish this feat, Spanish organizers built an all-new track in Valencia, a street circuit! And oh, did our hopes soar... only to be splatted to the ground like Icarus flying too close to the sun. A fly being nailed by a flyswatter. A X being Y'd by a Z (enter your own lousy analogy terms). Let's take a look at this hope-crushing circuit:
By all rights, a layout like that looks like this should be exciting... like Monaco, but with substantial high-speed sections. Unfortunately, it hasn't turned out that way. What we've discovered is that there's just too many turns in just the wrong places. For example, look at Turn 12: right at the end of the fastest part of the track, should be a great place to pass... except it's followed immediately by Turn 13, turning it into painfully slow chicane. Anybody passing on the inside of 12 winds up on the outside of 13, where they usually get scraped off by the car being passed... except nobody actually tries passing there, because they know what'll happen. And that's the problem all around the circuit: almost all the supposedly good passing points are actually soul-destroying chicanes!
At least, that's the way it used to be. As we've learned this season, the KERS/DRS combination makes even the dull circuits at least mildly interesting. Throw in the knowledge that Valencia is very wide for a street track and things are looking at least mildly hopeful again. Pirelli is thinking that tire wear will be high due to the combination of the number of turns (the most in F1), a rough track surface, and the predicted high air temperatures. They're bringing the Medium and Soft compounds this time around.
Of course, it's hard to forget the "highlight" of last year's race, and I'm not talking about Seb Vettel winning. I'm talking about his teammate's unexpected peregrinations.
Yup, this is the circuit where Red Bull Air first took flight. That was also the race that earned Kamui Kobayashi his nickname of "Gandalf." So it's not been without excitement, it just hasn't been really racing-related.
We'll be treated to the lovely dulcet tones of the Legendary Announce Team as usual. Alas, we'll be getting the race on tape-delay via FOX... but we'll get to that in a moment. Coverage begins with live streaming of Friday's 1st Practice from 3am to 430am. Practice 2 will be live on SPEED from 7am to 840am. Saturday's 3rd Practice will be streaming as well, from 4am to 5am. The all-important Quals session comes to us live on SPEED from 7am to 830am.
Finally, the race will be airing on your local FOX affiliate from 11am to 1pm, some five hours after it really begins. All times are Pond Central, of course.
F1U! will be all over the race weekend, like a X is all over Z, with a side helping of µß. We'll see you then!
By all rights, a layout like that looks like this should be exciting... like Monaco, but with substantial high-speed sections. Unfortunately, it hasn't turned out that way. What we've discovered is that there's just too many turns in just the wrong places. For example, look at Turn 12: right at the end of the fastest part of the track, should be a great place to pass... except it's followed immediately by Turn 13, turning it into painfully slow chicane. Anybody passing on the inside of 12 winds up on the outside of 13, where they usually get scraped off by the car being passed... except nobody actually tries passing there, because they know what'll happen. And that's the problem all around the circuit: almost all the supposedly good passing points are actually soul-destroying chicanes!
At least, that's the way it used to be. As we've learned this season, the KERS/DRS combination makes even the dull circuits at least mildly interesting. Throw in the knowledge that Valencia is very wide for a street track and things are looking at least mildly hopeful again. Pirelli is thinking that tire wear will be high due to the combination of the number of turns (the most in F1), a rough track surface, and the predicted high air temperatures. They're bringing the Medium and Soft compounds this time around.
Of course, it's hard to forget the "highlight" of last year's race, and I'm not talking about Seb Vettel winning. I'm talking about his teammate's unexpected peregrinations.
Yup, this is the circuit where Red Bull Air first took flight. That was also the race that earned Kamui Kobayashi his nickname of "Gandalf." So it's not been without excitement, it just hasn't been really racing-related.
We'll be treated to the lovely dulcet tones of the Legendary Announce Team as usual. Alas, we'll be getting the race on tape-delay via FOX... but we'll get to that in a moment. Coverage begins with live streaming of Friday's 1st Practice from 3am to 430am. Practice 2 will be live on SPEED from 7am to 840am. Saturday's 3rd Practice will be streaming as well, from 4am to 5am. The all-important Quals session comes to us live on SPEED from 7am to 830am.
Finally, the race will be airing on your local FOX affiliate from 11am to 1pm, some five hours after it really begins. All times are Pond Central, of course.
F1U! will be all over the race weekend, like a X is all over Z, with a side helping of µß. We'll see you then!
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June 14, 2011
Seat Swap: Hamilton vs Stewart
Every now and again, something particularly cool will trickle out of the motorsport world. Some years ago, SPEED ran a TV show called "Tradin' Paint." The concept behind it was simple: take two racers from different series and put them in the other driver's car. In that one-hour event, they got what might have been the two most dissimilar drivers in the world, plunked 'em down on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway's International Circuit, and let 'em loose. The two drivers? From NASCAR, Jeff Gordon. And from Formula 1, Juan Pablo Montoya (aka "The Pope"). Neither driver did particularly well in the other car, it must be said: Gordon spun the 2002 Williams FW24, and Montoya never quite got the hang of the awful brakes on the Chevy; at one point, he flatspotted his tires so badly that the canvas backing was visible on the front-left corner. Still, both drivers loved the experience, Montoya so much that a few years later, he quit F1 and jumped to NASCAR.
Today, it happened again. The show was called "Seat Swap," and featured a pair of champions. From the world of NASCAR, 2002 and 2005 champion Tony Stewart. And from F1, 2008 World Driver's Champion Lewis Hamilton.
The venue was New York's Watkins Glen International Raceway, once home to the US Grand Prix, now a stop on NASCAR's calendar. Stewart has won five times at "The Glen", though never on the full circuit (NASCAR does not use "the Boot" during their race). Hamilton, of course, has never driven at The Glen before... F1 stopped coming to the circuit five years before he was born. The machines couldn't have been any more different. Stewart brought the road-race version of his 2011 Chevy Impala, and McLaren brought the MP4-23. In case you're not up on your history, that's the 2008 chassis, the car with which Hamilton won his Championship. The weather was iffy, to put it mildly. As a result, the F1 car was using the full wet tires, and the NASCAR had rain tires, I assume from the Nationwide Series as the Sprint Cup won't race in the rain. You'd think this would mean that Hamilton would have something of an advantage, but you'd be incorrect. Stewart might be the best American racer of his generation. Along with his two NASCAR titles, he's also won a championship in the Indy Racing League, midget cars, sprint cars and USAC Silver Crown cars. In other words, he's got plenty of experience in open-wheel racing, and Indy cars are about as close to F1 cars as you'll find here in the US. By contrast, Hamilton had never raced with a roof over his head.
Fortunately for everybody, when the time came for the two to switch rides, the track had dried off substantially. I don't know if the two of them were kidding or what, but both drivers wanted to put on slick tires and go back out after their respective runs. As it was, Stewart probably did a better job in the MP4-23 than Hamilton did in the Impala, but Lewis seemed to have had more fun. Indeed, at one point during his laps, he was actually giggling into the radio as he proclaimed the stock car "Wicked!" On his last lap, Stewart's crew called him into the pit lane. Hamilton promptly said something to the effect of "Sorry, didn't hear you!" and turned another lap. He then finished up with a respectable couple of donuts and a cloud of smoke.
Stewart on the other hand either couldn't figure out where the radio button was on the McLaren's steering wheel or was waaaaaay too busy actually driving to talk. Either way, he was quite impressive behind the wheel of the F1 car, turning laps that would probably be competitive to other F1 drivers on this circuit... or, at least, not embarrassingly slow. HRT or Virgin-level speed, let's say... not bad for only five laps' worth of experience in a F1 car. Alas, no burnouts or donuts for Smoke. I for one really wanted to see him try it. An 18000 rpm burnout would be something to behold, particularly when the engine jumped out of the car and made a bid for freedom. Hamilton's mechanics probably threatened him with painful painful things if he gave it a shot.
Both drivers had huge grins on their faces, both said things like "...the most fun I've had other than driving in (insert race series here)." Stewart went one step farther, though... he invited Lewis Hamilton to partake in his annual charity race, The Prelude To The Dream. That's a late-model dirt track race run before the NASCAR season kicks off, and he said that if Lewis wants to do it, there'll be a brand new car waiting for him.
I wanna see that. Make it happen, Lewis, make it happen!!!
Today, it happened again. The show was called "Seat Swap," and featured a pair of champions. From the world of NASCAR, 2002 and 2005 champion Tony Stewart. And from F1, 2008 World Driver's Champion Lewis Hamilton.
The venue was New York's Watkins Glen International Raceway, once home to the US Grand Prix, now a stop on NASCAR's calendar. Stewart has won five times at "The Glen", though never on the full circuit (NASCAR does not use "the Boot" during their race). Hamilton, of course, has never driven at The Glen before... F1 stopped coming to the circuit five years before he was born. The machines couldn't have been any more different. Stewart brought the road-race version of his 2011 Chevy Impala, and McLaren brought the MP4-23. In case you're not up on your history, that's the 2008 chassis, the car with which Hamilton won his Championship. The weather was iffy, to put it mildly. As a result, the F1 car was using the full wet tires, and the NASCAR had rain tires, I assume from the Nationwide Series as the Sprint Cup won't race in the rain. You'd think this would mean that Hamilton would have something of an advantage, but you'd be incorrect. Stewart might be the best American racer of his generation. Along with his two NASCAR titles, he's also won a championship in the Indy Racing League, midget cars, sprint cars and USAC Silver Crown cars. In other words, he's got plenty of experience in open-wheel racing, and Indy cars are about as close to F1 cars as you'll find here in the US. By contrast, Hamilton had never raced with a roof over his head.
Fortunately for everybody, when the time came for the two to switch rides, the track had dried off substantially. I don't know if the two of them were kidding or what, but both drivers wanted to put on slick tires and go back out after their respective runs. As it was, Stewart probably did a better job in the MP4-23 than Hamilton did in the Impala, but Lewis seemed to have had more fun. Indeed, at one point during his laps, he was actually giggling into the radio as he proclaimed the stock car "Wicked!" On his last lap, Stewart's crew called him into the pit lane. Hamilton promptly said something to the effect of "Sorry, didn't hear you!" and turned another lap. He then finished up with a respectable couple of donuts and a cloud of smoke.
Stewart on the other hand either couldn't figure out where the radio button was on the McLaren's steering wheel or was waaaaaay too busy actually driving to talk. Either way, he was quite impressive behind the wheel of the F1 car, turning laps that would probably be competitive to other F1 drivers on this circuit... or, at least, not embarrassingly slow. HRT or Virgin-level speed, let's say... not bad for only five laps' worth of experience in a F1 car. Alas, no burnouts or donuts for Smoke. I for one really wanted to see him try it. An 18000 rpm burnout would be something to behold, particularly when the engine jumped out of the car and made a bid for freedom. Hamilton's mechanics probably threatened him with painful painful things if he gave it a shot.
Both drivers had huge grins on their faces, both said things like "...the most fun I've had other than driving in (insert race series here)." Stewart went one step farther, though... he invited Lewis Hamilton to partake in his annual charity race, The Prelude To The Dream. That's a late-model dirt track race run before the NASCAR season kicks off, and he said that if Lewis wants to do it, there'll be a brand new car waiting for him.
I wanna see that. Make it happen, Lewis, make it happen!!!
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June 12, 2011
Now THAT Was A Race!
The Canadian GP had just about everything you could possibly have in one race!
I need a cigarette! Was it good for you?
F1U! coming tonight... this is gonna be a long writeup.
I need a cigarette! Was it good for you?
F1U! coming tonight... this is gonna be a long writeup.
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