June 12, 2011
Montreal Monsoon
Less than an hour before the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix and it's pouring down rain at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Of course, it may stop before the race, but the track'll still be damp. Ladies and Gentlemen, we've got ourselves a wet race!
UPDATE: Forgot to mention the little detail that, as long as anybody on-track is using galoshes, DRS is disabled entirely.
Also, Custard d'Ambrosio has been permitted to take to the grid for the race. The stewards decided that, since he needed to have a backup car built for him after his wreck on Friday (the monocoque was broken!), his pace was acceptable in Quals. He'll start 24th.
More after the race with F1 Update!
UPDATE: Forgot to mention the little detail that, as long as anybody on-track is using galoshes, DRS is disabled entirely.
Also, Custard d'Ambrosio has been permitted to take to the grid for the race. The stewards decided that, since he needed to have a backup car built for him after his wreck on Friday (the monocoque was broken!), his pace was acceptable in Quals. He'll start 24th.
More after the race with F1 Update!
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June 11, 2011
F1 Quals: Canada 2011
Leaden, heavy skies awaited the F1 Circus as Quals for the 2011 Grand Prix of Canada got underway, but would the rain come? Or would the galoshes come out for the first time this year? Let's take a look at the provisional grid:
Okay yes, Seb Vettel is on pole for the sixth time in seven races, and yes, his lap was the fastest this track has seen since 2004 when F1 was in the middle of a tire war, used V-10 engines and had huge wings. But the two Ferrari drivers made him work for it. Indeed, both Felipe Massa and HWMNBN were on pole at various times in Q3. Vettel actually had to come out for a second hot lap, something he hasn't done for a couple of races... meaning that he won't have that unused set of super-soft tires in pocket tomorrow. Tracks like Montreal don't really suit the Red Bull chassis, which performs better on low speed circuits. I think this pole lap was probably Vettel's best of the season; he looked so smooth and controlled out there, like he wasn't under any pressure whatsoever.
Yet Ferrari very nearly took the front row from him. Both look strong, but whether that's because the car works well on a low fuel load or if it can truly duel with the Red Bull, we won't discover until tomorrow.
And what of the McLarens? The two of them have to be running a lot of rear wing, for they were dreadfully slow through the speed trap (~190mph, when the Force Indias are over 200). That's great for traction, but then why did they still look twitchy through the chicanes? I can only assume they are running a wet setup on Hamilton's and Button's cars. It's a gamble, but if the rains come they'll be in the catbird seat. And the weather forecast suggests it will rain at some time during Sunday's race.
Further down the grid, bonus points to Pete Rose for making it to Q2. He was given roughly 10 minutes to get ready going into P2, it took the team over an hour to modify the cockpit to fit him (he's nearly six inches taller than the driver he's replacing), he'd never been in the 2011 Sauber challenger, and they didn't even have a Sauber firesuit for him. Yet he still made it out of Q1. Pretty spiffy, that.
Unfortunately, it looks like we'll only have a 23-car grid. Custard d'Ambrosio just couldn't figure out the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and his time falls below the 107% mark. Unlike in Monaco where HRT was allowed to race because their pace in P3 was faster than their Quals time, Custard hasn't been fast all weekend. Look for him to be on the sidelines when the lights go out on Sunday.
We'll see you then!
Okay yes, Seb Vettel is on pole for the sixth time in seven races, and yes, his lap was the fastest this track has seen since 2004 when F1 was in the middle of a tire war, used V-10 engines and had huge wings. But the two Ferrari drivers made him work for it. Indeed, both Felipe Massa and HWMNBN were on pole at various times in Q3. Vettel actually had to come out for a second hot lap, something he hasn't done for a couple of races... meaning that he won't have that unused set of super-soft tires in pocket tomorrow. Tracks like Montreal don't really suit the Red Bull chassis, which performs better on low speed circuits. I think this pole lap was probably Vettel's best of the season; he looked so smooth and controlled out there, like he wasn't under any pressure whatsoever.
Yet Ferrari very nearly took the front row from him. Both look strong, but whether that's because the car works well on a low fuel load or if it can truly duel with the Red Bull, we won't discover until tomorrow.
And what of the McLarens? The two of them have to be running a lot of rear wing, for they were dreadfully slow through the speed trap (~190mph, when the Force Indias are over 200). That's great for traction, but then why did they still look twitchy through the chicanes? I can only assume they are running a wet setup on Hamilton's and Button's cars. It's a gamble, but if the rains come they'll be in the catbird seat. And the weather forecast suggests it will rain at some time during Sunday's race.
Further down the grid, bonus points to Pete Rose for making it to Q2. He was given roughly 10 minutes to get ready going into P2, it took the team over an hour to modify the cockpit to fit him (he's nearly six inches taller than the driver he's replacing), he'd never been in the 2011 Sauber challenger, and they didn't even have a Sauber firesuit for him. Yet he still made it out of Q1. Pretty spiffy, that.
Unfortunately, it looks like we'll only have a 23-car grid. Custard d'Ambrosio just couldn't figure out the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and his time falls below the 107% mark. Unlike in Monaco where HRT was allowed to race because their pace in P3 was faster than their Quals time, Custard hasn't been fast all weekend. Look for him to be on the sidelines when the lights go out on Sunday.
We'll see you then!
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June 10, 2011
F1 Practice: Canada 2011
To say that this was a weird practice session today in Montreal would be something of an understatement. The dominant color of the day would have to have been red. Red for the three flags brought out for crashes by Red Bull's Seb Vettel, Sauber's Gandalf Kobayashi, and Custard d'Ambrosio's Virgin. And red for the color of the fast car of the day, HWMNBN's Ferrari. P2 in particular was a sloppy, stop-and-start affair that really prevented the teams from getting data on long runs.
Sauber is probably the big loser in P2. Of course, Gandalf power-sanded the right side of his car into dust against the wall. Then, they learned that Sergio Perez won't be racing this weekend, as he's still recovering from the concussion he suffered in Quals at Monaco. Before today, he had been cleared for action by the FIA's medical staff, and he gave it a shot with some twenty laps in P1. There's just no way to predict how someone will react to the real-life stresses of racing a F1 car at top speed, what with the g-loading that wants to rip your head off. After P1, he went to the team and said that he couldn't do it, he wasn't feeling 100%. Smart move by the rookie, that. Unfortunately, Team Sauber don't have their third driver, Esteban Gutierrez, in Canada this weekend. Would have been interesting to see the kid, but that's the way it goes. In Perez's stead, Sauber has asked McLaren for permission to borrow their test driver for the rest of the weekend, and McLaren assented. His name? Pedro de la Rosa. That's right everybody, Pete Rose is back again!
They're expecting rain both Saturday and Sunday... last race saw our first Safety Car of the year. Will we get our first glimpse of the wet tires this week?
In other news from the F1 world...
Bahrain, which was a no-go, then a go-go, is now a no-no. The screams of protest from the drivers (led by Mark Webber), the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), and the fans were all set to be completely ignored by both Birdy Ecclestone and the FIA... but then Bahrain race organizers pulled the plug on the race this year. Seems they couldn't guarantee the safety of the drivers... or something like that. Color me surprised.
Then there's Virgin Racing. For the entirety of their short existence, their cars have been designed by Nick Wirth. Wirth is F1's leading proponent of designing using computer simulation only... no wind tunnels for Nick's cars, no sirree! Well, Virgin has decided that being the worst team on the grid is getting kinda old and bid Wirth farewell.
Quals aren't until the afternoon on Saturday; we'll be here immediately thereafter! Don't forget that this is the weekend for the 24 Hours of LeMans, my favorite race of the year... yes, it's not all F1 around Pond Central!
Sauber is probably the big loser in P2. Of course, Gandalf power-sanded the right side of his car into dust against the wall. Then, they learned that Sergio Perez won't be racing this weekend, as he's still recovering from the concussion he suffered in Quals at Monaco. Before today, he had been cleared for action by the FIA's medical staff, and he gave it a shot with some twenty laps in P1. There's just no way to predict how someone will react to the real-life stresses of racing a F1 car at top speed, what with the g-loading that wants to rip your head off. After P1, he went to the team and said that he couldn't do it, he wasn't feeling 100%. Smart move by the rookie, that. Unfortunately, Team Sauber don't have their third driver, Esteban Gutierrez, in Canada this weekend. Would have been interesting to see the kid, but that's the way it goes. In Perez's stead, Sauber has asked McLaren for permission to borrow their test driver for the rest of the weekend, and McLaren assented. His name? Pedro de la Rosa. That's right everybody, Pete Rose is back again!
They're expecting rain both Saturday and Sunday... last race saw our first Safety Car of the year. Will we get our first glimpse of the wet tires this week?
In other news from the F1 world...
Bahrain, which was a no-go, then a go-go, is now a no-no. The screams of protest from the drivers (led by Mark Webber), the Formula One Teams Association (FOTA), and the fans were all set to be completely ignored by both Birdy Ecclestone and the FIA... but then Bahrain race organizers pulled the plug on the race this year. Seems they couldn't guarantee the safety of the drivers... or something like that. Color me surprised.
Then there's Virgin Racing. For the entirety of their short existence, their cars have been designed by Nick Wirth. Wirth is F1's leading proponent of designing using computer simulation only... no wind tunnels for Nick's cars, no sirree! Well, Virgin has decided that being the worst team on the grid is getting kinda old and bid Wirth farewell.
Quals aren't until the afternoon on Saturday; we'll be here immediately thereafter! Don't forget that this is the weekend for the 24 Hours of LeMans, my favorite race of the year... yes, it's not all F1 around Pond Central!
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June 06, 2011
F1 on TV!: Montreal 2011
Ah, Canada. A place where they put gravy on french fries and call it a delicacy. Where maple syrup would be the national beverage if they didn't have Labatts. A land where bacon isn't bacon. Where death by moose is a serious possibility, even in your living room. A nation whose best restaurant is Tim Hortons. Their football is played on a 110-yard field, their baseball is played indoors, and their greatest cultural icon is Celine Dion.*
But damn, do they have a helluva Formula 1 track! Let's take a look at the map for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve:
Built on a man-made island in the Montreal section of the St Lawrence River, the track is 2.71 miles long, very fast, and brutal on both brakes and tires.
Brakes suffer here because of the abrupt stop-and-go nature of the circuit. On this layout, you're either going ridiculously fast (200+ mph is the norm here) or ridiculously slow (see Turn 10 or Turn 6/7). That's hard on the brakes for two reasons: first, there's just the effort required to slow the car down from 200mph to 50mph or less; that takes its toll on the carbon/carbon material. Second, the brakes tend to glaze here. The brake material heats up to the point where the very top layer begins to melt... then is rapidly cooled by the unending straights. This makes the brakes less efficient, meaning they need to work even harder and get hotter and melt more... then they rapidly cool off. Rinse and repeat for 70 laps. You don't see explosive brake failure very often in F1, but when you do, it's undoubtedly going to be here.
Tires die miserable deaths here due to a tarmac that has the odd properties of being abrasive, yet not particularly grippy. This lack of surface grip is why Pirelli is bringing the same tires as the ones used in Monaco: the softs and super-softs. Nowhere is that need for grip needed more than at Epingle, better known as the Hairpin. Not only because of the tight bend and the need to decrease speed in a hurry, but because of the ever-present danger of Marmots. Like this one in 2007:
But damn, do they have a helluva Formula 1 track! Let's take a look at the map for the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve:
Built on a man-made island in the Montreal section of the St Lawrence River, the track is 2.71 miles long, very fast, and brutal on both brakes and tires.
Brakes suffer here because of the abrupt stop-and-go nature of the circuit. On this layout, you're either going ridiculously fast (200+ mph is the norm here) or ridiculously slow (see Turn 10 or Turn 6/7). That's hard on the brakes for two reasons: first, there's just the effort required to slow the car down from 200mph to 50mph or less; that takes its toll on the carbon/carbon material. Second, the brakes tend to glaze here. The brake material heats up to the point where the very top layer begins to melt... then is rapidly cooled by the unending straights. This makes the brakes less efficient, meaning they need to work even harder and get hotter and melt more... then they rapidly cool off. Rinse and repeat for 70 laps. You don't see explosive brake failure very often in F1, but when you do, it's undoubtedly going to be here.
Tires die miserable deaths here due to a tarmac that has the odd properties of being abrasive, yet not particularly grippy. This lack of surface grip is why Pirelli is bringing the same tires as the ones used in Monaco: the softs and super-softs. Nowhere is that need for grip needed more than at Epingle, better known as the Hairpin. Not only because of the tight bend and the need to decrease speed in a hurry, but because of the ever-present danger of Marmots. Like this one in 2007:
Or this one the following year:
Or this one:
Saturday brings streaming coverage of Practice 3 from 9am to 10am, followed by live coverage of Quals on SPEED, again from 1pm to 230pm.
The 2011 Grand Prix of Canada will be Sunday, live from 12noon to 2pm... on your local FOX affiliate. Yes, that's right, it's that time of year again. At least the Legendary Announce Team will be on hand to do the honors.
And so will the F1U! team! See you then!
*I kid the Canadians... but only because I know they're too polite to actually complain about it. Ha!
Oh wait, that one isn't a marmot at all, but a Japanese track worker trying to run in front of Seb Buemi during a fundraiser in Japan for the victims of March's Earthquake/Tsunami. Believe it or not, the doofus is fine. So is the guy who tried to cross the track in front of a F1 car.
Anyway, the nicest part of the Grand Prix of Canada is that it's run here in North America. None of that "getting up at 4am" crap for this race! It all kicks off with live streaming coverage of Practice 1 on Friday morning, from 9am to 1030am! Then Practice 2 is also live, this time on SPEED, from 1pm to 240pm.
Anyway, the nicest part of the Grand Prix of Canada is that it's run here in North America. None of that "getting up at 4am" crap for this race! It all kicks off with live streaming coverage of Practice 1 on Friday morning, from 9am to 1030am! Then Practice 2 is also live, this time on SPEED, from 1pm to 240pm.
Saturday brings streaming coverage of Practice 3 from 9am to 10am, followed by live coverage of Quals on SPEED, again from 1pm to 230pm.
The 2011 Grand Prix of Canada will be Sunday, live from 12noon to 2pm... on your local FOX affiliate. Yes, that's right, it's that time of year again. At least the Legendary Announce Team will be on hand to do the honors.
And so will the F1U! team! See you then!
*I kid the Canadians... but only because I know they're too polite to actually complain about it. Ha!
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June 03, 2011
Bahrain A Go-Go
The FIA, in their infinite wisdom and uncanny powers of reasoning, have decided that there'll be a Grand Prix in Bahrain after all this season. It will be taking over the weekend the Indian Grand Prix was scheduled for, October 30th. India will now be the last GP of the season, running on December 11th. Not only will this be the longest F1 season in terms of number of races, now it'll be the longest in terms of calendar time as well.
As one can imagine, this is not going over well. The deputy director of Human Rights Watch said "It seems like a highly questionable decision by Formula One. (Teams and drivers) now have to make a decision influenced by financial reasons and personal feelings." The Guardian is essentially calling for teams to boycott the race. Mark Webber, who has been the most outspoken driver regarding a return to Bahrain, tweeted "When people in a country are being hurt, the issues are bigger than sport. Let's hope the right decision is made." Former world champion Damon Hill came out against the decision, saying F1 "will forever have the blight of association with repressive methods to achieve order." And the head of F1 Update! here at The Pond said "This is a ridiculous decision by the FIA. If the championship has been decided by Bahrain, look for teams to not even show up." As much as it pains us, the F1U! team actually agrees with former FIA Fuhrer Max Mosley's view that advertisers are going to run screaming from the public relations fiasco that will occur.
If you have any questions about exactly why the decision was made to race in Bahrain, one needs look no further than this article on F1 Fanatic. Formula One Group, the corporation that owns the rights to the promotion of F1, is set to generate almost $1.8 BILLION in revenue this year. Money makes the sport go 'round.
Which also explains the other news that came out of the FIA today: the calendar for next year has 21 races on it. The inaugural US Grand Prix on the new circuit in Austin, TX, will be June 17th, 2012. One year to get the track ready... cross fingers, folks!
The FIA, in their infinite wisdom and uncanny powers of reasoning, have decided that there'll be a Grand Prix in Bahrain after all this season. It will be taking over the weekend the Indian Grand Prix was scheduled for, October 30th. India will now be the last GP of the season, running on December 11th. Not only will this be the longest F1 season in terms of number of races, now it'll be the longest in terms of calendar time as well.
As one can imagine, this is not going over well. The deputy director of Human Rights Watch said "It seems like a highly questionable decision by Formula One. (Teams and drivers) now have to make a decision influenced by financial reasons and personal feelings." The Guardian is essentially calling for teams to boycott the race. Mark Webber, who has been the most outspoken driver regarding a return to Bahrain, tweeted "When people in a country are being hurt, the issues are bigger than sport. Let's hope the right decision is made." Former world champion Damon Hill came out against the decision, saying F1 "will forever have the blight of association with repressive methods to achieve order." And the head of F1 Update! here at The Pond said "This is a ridiculous decision by the FIA. If the championship has been decided by Bahrain, look for teams to not even show up." As much as it pains us, the F1U! team actually agrees with former FIA Fuhrer Max Mosley's view that advertisers are going to run screaming from the public relations fiasco that will occur.
If you have any questions about exactly why the decision was made to race in Bahrain, one needs look no further than this article on F1 Fanatic. Formula One Group, the corporation that owns the rights to the promotion of F1, is set to generate almost $1.8 BILLION in revenue this year. Money makes the sport go 'round.
Which also explains the other news that came out of the FIA today: the calendar for next year has 21 races on it. The inaugural US Grand Prix on the new circuit in Austin, TX, will be June 17th, 2012. One year to get the track ready... cross fingers, folks!
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May 28, 2011
F1 Quals: Monaco 2011 (UPDATED)
We got a big dose of the reality of motorsport today during Quals for the 2011 Grand Prix of Monaco. Here's the provisional grid:
Sauber driver Sergio Perez suffered a massive wreck on his first hot lap in Q3. He came out of the tunnel wide, which put him on a piece of track that has a small dip in it. The rear of his car lost traction and snapped him across the track and into the armco, tearing the tires off the right side of his car. Sliding off the wall, he then slammed broadside into the TecPro barriers at the Harbor Chicane.
Q3 was immediately red-flagged, as the accident moved the padded tire barrier onto the track itself. Marshals were at the accident site quickly, and almost as fast it was clear that Perez was hurt. An ambulance was summoned and arrived shortly, followed by the FIA medical car. It took some 20 minutes to extricate Perez from the ruined Sauber, while marshals stood around the car, holding a tarp above it to prevent spectators from seeing what was going on. The television director did not help our growing unease, staying on the very-long view; a sure sign that something serious has occurred. It got even worse when the Legendary Announce Team reported that the Sauber pit wall had called Perez immediately after the accident... and got no response. Just to ramp the fears up to greater heights, he was loaded into the ambulance, which event we could not see due to the preponderance of marshals surrounding him. The ambulance then drove off... slowly. He was taken to Princess Grace Hospital in Monaco, which is actually just off the main straight, and at last report was conscious and aware and complaining of pain in his legs.
To be frank, I expected the worst. F1 cars are very sturdy, and the monocoque is exquisitely protected, but nothing about the accident felt right. Even the incongruous 'flumpf' sound the car made when it hit the padded barrier was out of place. The only good thing about the crash was that Nico Rosberg had a similar wreck in P3, except that he missed the barrier by about two inches. That incident led the organizers to remove the speed bumps from the inside of the chicane which prevented Perez from getting airborne, unlike Rosberg.
One driver walks away, one driver doesn't. I surely hope Perez is all right, though I doubt he'll be in the car for tomorrow's race. More as this develops.
The rest of the Quals pales in comparison to Perez's crash. Neither HRT car took part in the session, and as they were substantially off the pace in all three practices, they will probably not be allowed to race on Sunday. Seb Vettel is on pole, but didn't exactly look dominant. Expect a decent race on Sunday. We'll see you then!
UPDATE: Sauber has put out a press release detailing Sergio Perez's condition. "It was with great relief the Sauber F1 Team received the news that Sergio Perez has no serious injuries after his heavy accident in the closing minutes of the final part of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. The doctors said Perez had suffered concussion and a sprained thigh, but no broken bones and, following a scan, they could find no further injuries." He'll be kept in hospital overnight for observation and the concussion pretty much guarantees that he'll not be racing on Sunday, but wow! What a relief.
Also breaking, the stewards have decided to allow both HRTs to run in Sunday's race. This despite never making the 107% time in any of the practice sessions. Their pace in P3 would have made the 107% time in Q1 however, which must be what the stewards are looking at. Good for HRT, I guess.
Sauber driver Sergio Perez suffered a massive wreck on his first hot lap in Q3. He came out of the tunnel wide, which put him on a piece of track that has a small dip in it. The rear of his car lost traction and snapped him across the track and into the armco, tearing the tires off the right side of his car. Sliding off the wall, he then slammed broadside into the TecPro barriers at the Harbor Chicane.
Q3 was immediately red-flagged, as the accident moved the padded tire barrier onto the track itself. Marshals were at the accident site quickly, and almost as fast it was clear that Perez was hurt. An ambulance was summoned and arrived shortly, followed by the FIA medical car. It took some 20 minutes to extricate Perez from the ruined Sauber, while marshals stood around the car, holding a tarp above it to prevent spectators from seeing what was going on. The television director did not help our growing unease, staying on the very-long view; a sure sign that something serious has occurred. It got even worse when the Legendary Announce Team reported that the Sauber pit wall had called Perez immediately after the accident... and got no response. Just to ramp the fears up to greater heights, he was loaded into the ambulance, which event we could not see due to the preponderance of marshals surrounding him. The ambulance then drove off... slowly. He was taken to Princess Grace Hospital in Monaco, which is actually just off the main straight, and at last report was conscious and aware and complaining of pain in his legs.
To be frank, I expected the worst. F1 cars are very sturdy, and the monocoque is exquisitely protected, but nothing about the accident felt right. Even the incongruous 'flumpf' sound the car made when it hit the padded barrier was out of place. The only good thing about the crash was that Nico Rosberg had a similar wreck in P3, except that he missed the barrier by about two inches. That incident led the organizers to remove the speed bumps from the inside of the chicane which prevented Perez from getting airborne, unlike Rosberg.
One driver walks away, one driver doesn't. I surely hope Perez is all right, though I doubt he'll be in the car for tomorrow's race. More as this develops.
The rest of the Quals pales in comparison to Perez's crash. Neither HRT car took part in the session, and as they were substantially off the pace in all three practices, they will probably not be allowed to race on Sunday. Seb Vettel is on pole, but didn't exactly look dominant. Expect a decent race on Sunday. We'll see you then!
UPDATE: Sauber has put out a press release detailing Sergio Perez's condition. "It was with great relief the Sauber F1 Team received the news that Sergio Perez has no serious injuries after his heavy accident in the closing minutes of the final part of qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix. The doctors said Perez had suffered concussion and a sprained thigh, but no broken bones and, following a scan, they could find no further injuries." He'll be kept in hospital overnight for observation and the concussion pretty much guarantees that he'll not be racing on Sunday, but wow! What a relief.
Also breaking, the stewards have decided to allow both HRTs to run in Sunday's race. This despite never making the 107% time in any of the practice sessions. Their pace in P3 would have made the 107% time in Q1 however, which must be what the stewards are looking at. Good for HRT, I guess.
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May 26, 2011
F1 Practice: Monaco 2011
The only thing to talk about from today's practice sessions in Monaco are the tires. Of course, one could say that about every race, every session at every track, but Monaco is different. There's never any testing here, since the circuit is 100% public streets. Bridgestone and Michelin, longtime tire makers to F1, never quite got the hang of how their rubber would react on the pavement of the Principality and publicly admitted it. There's just too many variables that change every year. Think about the streets where you live, the route you take to work every day... how many different patches of asphalt and concrete do you drive upon? Just off the top of my head, there are eight distinct stretches in the three mile drive from Pond Central to Duck U, all of them laid down in the past five or six years. Of course each of them seems the same to our cars, but what about to a highly-strung F1 car going at 150mph and braking at 3g's?
That's why Pirelli, the sport's new tire manufacturer, had such a daunting task ahead of them this year. But then, just to make things even more "exciting," the city streets of Monaco demand all the traction a car can find. Every wing on the cars are cranked as high as possible, the suspension is as soft as the teams can make it, and the tires? For the previous five races, Pirelli brought their Hard and Soft compounds to the track. Here? The "hard" tire is actually the soft compound. The "soft" tire is the season debut of the super-soft rubber. Earlier in the week, Pirelli thought the super-soft compound would last about 10 laps, which doesn't sound too horrible. It's hardly great, but it seems workable.
Until you realize that Monaco is the shortest track in F1, just a hair over two miles long. By way of comparison, the Turkish Grand Prix is run on a 3.3 mile circuit. THEN you think "how many laps comprise a race at Monaco?" The answer is 78. If your stomach just got a little queasy at that revelation, congratulations! You too could be a strategist for a F1 team!
As it turned out, the super-soft tires might have a little more life in them than anybody thought. Towards the end of P2, Seb Vettel went out with a full load of fuel and the red-lettered shoes and managed to keep them on the car for 22+ laps. Again, that doesn't sound too bad... until you look at the timesheets and see that his last laps were over three full seconds slower than the first laps. This at a time when he should have been faster simply because of fuel burning off! Feeling a little more nauseous?
The super-soft tires are approximately one second faster than the softs, which are about twice as durable. Pirelli claims that it's theoretically possible that someone do the race on two stops. I think three is probably more likely, and maybe someone will go for a four-stopper.
To get a good lap around Monaco, a driver has to be 100% committed, 100% of the time. At every other circuit on the calendar, there's at least one place where a driver can relax, even if it's only for a few seconds: Abu Dhabi leaps immediately to mind, with its nigh-on 3000ft long back straight. Nothing like that at Monaco... even the front "straight" bends to the right. Felipe Massa showed just how focused you have to be around the Principality on one hot lap in P2. Through the Swimming Pool complex, he was actually turning while airborne over a curb. He then drifted around Rascasse and fishtailed through Anthony Noghes. There, he looked like he was going to permanently embed his left-rear wheel in the armco barriers, but the curbing there kicked him away... and right towards the armco on the INSIDE of the turn. A quick flip of the wrists kept him clear of those, and he crossed the line with the third fastest time of the session up until then. Breathtaking! Heck, the Legendary Announce Team was actually laughing about it.
Yes, should be a fun race weekend... the way it's going, we just might see someone in the harbor. See you Saturday for Quals!
That's why Pirelli, the sport's new tire manufacturer, had such a daunting task ahead of them this year. But then, just to make things even more "exciting," the city streets of Monaco demand all the traction a car can find. Every wing on the cars are cranked as high as possible, the suspension is as soft as the teams can make it, and the tires? For the previous five races, Pirelli brought their Hard and Soft compounds to the track. Here? The "hard" tire is actually the soft compound. The "soft" tire is the season debut of the super-soft rubber. Earlier in the week, Pirelli thought the super-soft compound would last about 10 laps, which doesn't sound too horrible. It's hardly great, but it seems workable.
Until you realize that Monaco is the shortest track in F1, just a hair over two miles long. By way of comparison, the Turkish Grand Prix is run on a 3.3 mile circuit. THEN you think "how many laps comprise a race at Monaco?" The answer is 78. If your stomach just got a little queasy at that revelation, congratulations! You too could be a strategist for a F1 team!
As it turned out, the super-soft tires might have a little more life in them than anybody thought. Towards the end of P2, Seb Vettel went out with a full load of fuel and the red-lettered shoes and managed to keep them on the car for 22+ laps. Again, that doesn't sound too bad... until you look at the timesheets and see that his last laps were over three full seconds slower than the first laps. This at a time when he should have been faster simply because of fuel burning off! Feeling a little more nauseous?
The super-soft tires are approximately one second faster than the softs, which are about twice as durable. Pirelli claims that it's theoretically possible that someone do the race on two stops. I think three is probably more likely, and maybe someone will go for a four-stopper.
To get a good lap around Monaco, a driver has to be 100% committed, 100% of the time. At every other circuit on the calendar, there's at least one place where a driver can relax, even if it's only for a few seconds: Abu Dhabi leaps immediately to mind, with its nigh-on 3000ft long back straight. Nothing like that at Monaco... even the front "straight" bends to the right. Felipe Massa showed just how focused you have to be around the Principality on one hot lap in P2. Through the Swimming Pool complex, he was actually turning while airborne over a curb. He then drifted around Rascasse and fishtailed through Anthony Noghes. There, he looked like he was going to permanently embed his left-rear wheel in the armco barriers, but the curbing there kicked him away... and right towards the armco on the INSIDE of the turn. A quick flip of the wrists kept him clear of those, and he crossed the line with the third fastest time of the session up until then. Breathtaking! Heck, the Legendary Announce Team was actually laughing about it.
Yes, should be a fun race weekend... the way it's going, we just might see someone in the harbor. See you Saturday for Quals!
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May 21, 2011
F1 Quals: Spain 2011
Interesting strategies were on display today in the quals for the 2011 Grand Prix of Spain... very interesting indeed. First, let's take a look at the provisional grid:
The streak is dead! Mark Webber beat teammate Seb Vettel for pole position, the first time all season that Vettel isn't on pole. The Driver's Champion may have had a problem with his KERS unit, which would account for the difference easily.
The "interesting strategies" I mentioned earlier were in Q3, when the McLarens and Red Bulls went out just as the session started, did one hot lap, then parked themselves in the pitlane. Then... we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Until the 2:00 mark, it was looking like nobody else would head out on track, content to preserve their tires and take their place on the grid from where they stood in Q2. That just might have worked, truth be told. Having said that, it's a horrible precedent; the whole point of the Knockout Qualifying format is to get cars out on the track, not to have them sit in the garage. Something needs to be fixed, and quick.
You may note that Grizzly Nick Heidfeld has a big fat "no time" next to his name in Q1. He never actually made it out on track, due to a little incident he had in Saturday morning's P3.
Renault says that there was a crack in the ducting that runs the exhaust to the front of the car, and that let 1000°F. gases flow into the sidepod. As you can imagine, there's a lot of stuff in there that can burn. Heidfeld escaped without injury, but the car was not so lucky. However, this gives Grizzly Nick a chance to earn Driver of the Race tomorrow, just like Gandalf and Webber before him, both of whom started from waaaaaaay back, and both wound up ending up in the points. Good luck, Griz!
The Renault Flambé allowed Heikki Kovaleinninninninnie to get his Lotus into Q2, the first time the "new" team has accomplished that feat. Before one says "eh, it was just because Grizzly got a deal on marshmallows", however, please note that he beat out both Force Indias and Rubens Barrichello with his 15th place on the grid. Not just a gimmie, this.
What is it with Finns and 15th place? First it was Kimi Raikkonen taking his #15 Perky Jerky Toyota Tundra to 15th place in last night's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, and today it's Heikki getting 15th on the grid... I think there's something going on here.
Finally, if you're a betting person, you should drop a big wad of cash on Mark Webber to win on Sunday. You have to go back to 2000 to find a polesitter that didn't win, and 19 of the past 20 races have been won from the front row. The lone exception was when Slappy Schumacher won a wet race in 1996... from third. Of course, that was before DRS and KERS, but it still looks pretty favorable for Webber...
Race tomorrow, see you then!
The streak is dead! Mark Webber beat teammate Seb Vettel for pole position, the first time all season that Vettel isn't on pole. The Driver's Champion may have had a problem with his KERS unit, which would account for the difference easily.
The "interesting strategies" I mentioned earlier were in Q3, when the McLarens and Red Bulls went out just as the session started, did one hot lap, then parked themselves in the pitlane. Then... we waited. And waited. And waited some more. Until the 2:00 mark, it was looking like nobody else would head out on track, content to preserve their tires and take their place on the grid from where they stood in Q2. That just might have worked, truth be told. Having said that, it's a horrible precedent; the whole point of the Knockout Qualifying format is to get cars out on the track, not to have them sit in the garage. Something needs to be fixed, and quick.
You may note that Grizzly Nick Heidfeld has a big fat "no time" next to his name in Q1. He never actually made it out on track, due to a little incident he had in Saturday morning's P3.
Renault says that there was a crack in the ducting that runs the exhaust to the front of the car, and that let 1000°F. gases flow into the sidepod. As you can imagine, there's a lot of stuff in there that can burn. Heidfeld escaped without injury, but the car was not so lucky. However, this gives Grizzly Nick a chance to earn Driver of the Race tomorrow, just like Gandalf and Webber before him, both of whom started from waaaaaaay back, and both wound up ending up in the points. Good luck, Griz!
The Renault Flambé allowed Heikki Kovaleinninninninnie to get his Lotus into Q2, the first time the "new" team has accomplished that feat. Before one says "eh, it was just because Grizzly got a deal on marshmallows", however, please note that he beat out both Force Indias and Rubens Barrichello with his 15th place on the grid. Not just a gimmie, this.
What is it with Finns and 15th place? First it was Kimi Raikkonen taking his #15 Perky Jerky Toyota Tundra to 15th place in last night's NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race, and today it's Heikki getting 15th on the grid... I think there's something going on here.
Finally, if you're a betting person, you should drop a big wad of cash on Mark Webber to win on Sunday. You have to go back to 2000 to find a polesitter that didn't win, and 19 of the past 20 races have been won from the front row. The lone exception was when Slappy Schumacher won a wet race in 1996... from third. Of course, that was before DRS and KERS, but it still looks pretty favorable for Webber...
Race tomorrow, see you then!
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May 20, 2011
F1 Practice: Spain 2011 (UPDATED)
Interesting news bits from Spain today, so lets get right to it.
First off, as the first real stop on the European leg of the F1 season (Turkey doesn't really count, since it's still pretty far from the team factories), every team has introduced a ton of new modifications to their chassis. None of them were major... a tweak to the front wing here, a clip to the rear bodywork there, that sort of thing... but McLaren introduced "between 10 and 12" mods for this race, as an example. That's not out of the ordinary; I'm sure most of the teams put the same amount of changes on their cars. so what will all these changes mean? I haven't the faintest idea, but here's the thing: neither does anybody else, including the teams.
Next up, the FIA issued a command on Wednesday that made the teams scream. One of the new technical developments that many of the teams have implemented is a neat trick with the exhaust. As you know, when you push down on the accelerator in a car, the engine goes and exhaust is pushed out the... um... exhaust... at various speeds. The harder the engine works, the higher velocity the exhaust is blown out. Logical, right? Well, most of the teams have repositioned their tailpipes so that the gas from the exhaust is blown over the rear diffuser, increasing the downforce generated. Again, perfectly logical. Well, the neat trick is that some of the teams have done something to their engines that, even when the accelerator isn't being pressed, the velocity of the exhaust gases is kept at a constant. Now that's cool! You can hear it during the races, a weird flatulence as they go through a corner or shift down. Getting back to the FIA's fatwa, they decided to ban the constant velocity exhaust, effective for the Spanish Grand Prix. Their rationale? Because the exhaust flow is being used to improve the aerodynamics of the car, a part of the exhaust system violates the rule against "movable aerodynamic devices" (never mind DRS). What part of the exhaust system breaks the rule? The engine! After all, the pistons move... Of course, the teams immediately protested. Not because they couldn't do the modifications in time, I'm sure they could. The teams are saying the removal of the constant exhaust will ruin the stability of the cars, as they've been designed to have that additional airflow over the diffuser. Remove that, they say, and the cars will be too dangerous to drive. The matter has been referred to the F1 Working Group and a final decision will be issued "soon."
Third, Pirelli has made a change to their hard compound tire and has debuted it here at Spain. The short version is that it's now a SUPER-hard tire, and is predicted to last maybe 24 or 25 laps, instead of 16 or 12. The tradeoff, of course, is that they have the grip of a newborn baby. As a result, they are two seconds per lap slower than the soft tires. Should make things interesting towards the end of the race, particularly if someone gambles by going off-sequence with their tire choices, like Mark Webber did at China. Unsurprisingly, the drivers are united in their hatred for the new tire. Lewis Hamilton calls them "disastrous." Gandalf Kobayashi said "The new superhard compound gives you the feeling you are driving a totally different car. They are so slow." To which I suggest, "shut up and drive."
Fourth up, the Circuit de Catalunya did something interesting during the offseason. They excavated all the graveltraps at the track and replaced the kittylitter with larger-diameter stones. This was in reaction to Lewis Hamilton's accident last year, and Heikki Kovaleinninninnie's crash in 2008, both of which were caused by a piece of gravel getting caught in the the front-left wheel and milling through the metal. The larger gravel should prevent the stones from getting stuck in the first place, though it'd be even better if the drivers could keep their cars out of the kittylitter...
Finally, Kimi Raikkonen, former World Driving Champion and current rallycar driver, is making his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series tonight, driving the #15 Perky Jerky Toyota Tundra.
Perky Jerky. A legendary marque, the equal to Ferrari or McLaren, for sure. I'll be watching the race tonight, just to see how Mumbles does... of course, I'll pass along information afterwards!
UPDATE: Kimi ended up 15th in his first truck series race. He bumped the wall a couple of times, but so did just about everybody else at one time or another. The Charlotte Motor Speedway was apparently quite the vicious beast today, never quite settling down and never, ever, generating much in the way of traction. Everybody was loose during the race. That Kimi made it through the whole thing without wrecking or spinning was impressive as heck. He showed a lot of the car handling skills that made him the 2007 F1 World Champion, making some passes, avoiding two or three wrecks that happened dead ahead of him, just driving a solid race. For his first time in a NASCAR truck with other racers around him, he did a helluva job. However, some things will never change:
"Mrmmmrmrrmrmbl mrmrblbbmmrblmrmmm mrmrblbmmrmrmr. Mmrmmrb mrmrbrmmllbrr mrmmrmr." - Kimi Raikkonen (note: real quote from post-race interview... man I've missed that)
First off, as the first real stop on the European leg of the F1 season (Turkey doesn't really count, since it's still pretty far from the team factories), every team has introduced a ton of new modifications to their chassis. None of them were major... a tweak to the front wing here, a clip to the rear bodywork there, that sort of thing... but McLaren introduced "between 10 and 12" mods for this race, as an example. That's not out of the ordinary; I'm sure most of the teams put the same amount of changes on their cars. so what will all these changes mean? I haven't the faintest idea, but here's the thing: neither does anybody else, including the teams.
Next up, the FIA issued a command on Wednesday that made the teams scream. One of the new technical developments that many of the teams have implemented is a neat trick with the exhaust. As you know, when you push down on the accelerator in a car, the engine goes and exhaust is pushed out the... um... exhaust... at various speeds. The harder the engine works, the higher velocity the exhaust is blown out. Logical, right? Well, most of the teams have repositioned their tailpipes so that the gas from the exhaust is blown over the rear diffuser, increasing the downforce generated. Again, perfectly logical. Well, the neat trick is that some of the teams have done something to their engines that, even when the accelerator isn't being pressed, the velocity of the exhaust gases is kept at a constant. Now that's cool! You can hear it during the races, a weird flatulence as they go through a corner or shift down. Getting back to the FIA's fatwa, they decided to ban the constant velocity exhaust, effective for the Spanish Grand Prix. Their rationale? Because the exhaust flow is being used to improve the aerodynamics of the car, a part of the exhaust system violates the rule against "movable aerodynamic devices" (never mind DRS). What part of the exhaust system breaks the rule? The engine! After all, the pistons move... Of course, the teams immediately protested. Not because they couldn't do the modifications in time, I'm sure they could. The teams are saying the removal of the constant exhaust will ruin the stability of the cars, as they've been designed to have that additional airflow over the diffuser. Remove that, they say, and the cars will be too dangerous to drive. The matter has been referred to the F1 Working Group and a final decision will be issued "soon."
Third, Pirelli has made a change to their hard compound tire and has debuted it here at Spain. The short version is that it's now a SUPER-hard tire, and is predicted to last maybe 24 or 25 laps, instead of 16 or 12. The tradeoff, of course, is that they have the grip of a newborn baby. As a result, they are two seconds per lap slower than the soft tires. Should make things interesting towards the end of the race, particularly if someone gambles by going off-sequence with their tire choices, like Mark Webber did at China. Unsurprisingly, the drivers are united in their hatred for the new tire. Lewis Hamilton calls them "disastrous." Gandalf Kobayashi said "The new superhard compound gives you the feeling you are driving a totally different car. They are so slow." To which I suggest, "shut up and drive."
Fourth up, the Circuit de Catalunya did something interesting during the offseason. They excavated all the graveltraps at the track and replaced the kittylitter with larger-diameter stones. This was in reaction to Lewis Hamilton's accident last year, and Heikki Kovaleinninninnie's crash in 2008, both of which were caused by a piece of gravel getting caught in the the front-left wheel and milling through the metal. The larger gravel should prevent the stones from getting stuck in the first place, though it'd be even better if the drivers could keep their cars out of the kittylitter...
Finally, Kimi Raikkonen, former World Driving Champion and current rallycar driver, is making his debut in the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series tonight, driving the #15 Perky Jerky Toyota Tundra.
Perky Jerky. A legendary marque, the equal to Ferrari or McLaren, for sure. I'll be watching the race tonight, just to see how Mumbles does... of course, I'll pass along information afterwards!
UPDATE: Kimi ended up 15th in his first truck series race. He bumped the wall a couple of times, but so did just about everybody else at one time or another. The Charlotte Motor Speedway was apparently quite the vicious beast today, never quite settling down and never, ever, generating much in the way of traction. Everybody was loose during the race. That Kimi made it through the whole thing without wrecking or spinning was impressive as heck. He showed a lot of the car handling skills that made him the 2007 F1 World Champion, making some passes, avoiding two or three wrecks that happened dead ahead of him, just driving a solid race. For his first time in a NASCAR truck with other racers around him, he did a helluva job. However, some things will never change:
"Mrmmmrmrrmrmbl mrmrblbbmmrblmrmmm mrmrblbmmrmrmr. Mmrmmrb mrmrbrmmllbrr mrmmrmr." - Kimi Raikkonen (note: real quote from post-race interview... man I've missed that)
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May 16, 2011
F1 on SPEED!: Spain 2011
Some tracks are bad because they've got a horrible design (Hungary). Some tracks are bad because time has passed them by (Monaco). Some tracks are bad because they were neutered in the name of safety (Hockenheimring).
And then there's the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, home of the 2011 Grand Prix of Spain. Let's take a look at the track map:
On first blush, there's nothing particularly wrong with the layout. Nice long front straight, some interesting turns in the technical portions, decent back straight, both slow and fast curves. So what's the problem? Well, there are three.
The first problem is that... there isn't any problem at all. It's a perfectly acceptable circuit. But there's nothing about the track that stands out in any way. There's no one aspect of the layout that would make a driver quake with fear or quiver in anticipation. Not even any elevation change to break up the monotony. It's just there.
The second problem relates to the first. Because the track is so sedate and the weather in Barcelona so benign, the teams do a lot of offseason testing here, and have since the circuit opened in 1991. As a result, there is hardly anything for the drivers to learn about the track. Every bump, every crack, every bit of flaking paint on the curbs is known to the men on the pit wall. In the past, this has led to a series of processionals to rival the Parade of Roses. This may change this season, what with KERS and the DRS being in play, but if ever there was a circuit where the influence of these things could be minimized, this is the one.
The third problem is that this is the home track for HWMNBN, and therefore should be anathema to all right-thinking fans of Formula 1.
Of course, the good people of SPEED will be on-the-spot with their coverage of the race weekend, beginning with streaming coverage of Friday's first practice session, which goes from 3am to 430am. Practice 2 will be live on SPEED from 7am to 840am that same day. Saturday brings us Practice 3, streaming from 4am to 5am. Live coverage of Quals will be on SPEED from 7am to 830am.
Finally, the 2011 Grand Prix of Spain will be LIVE on Sunday, from 630am to 9am on SPEED. There will be a replay from 3pm to 630pm that same day.
As usual, the F1 Update! crew will be more than pleased to bring you our usual sterling commentary, replete with trenchant wit, all weekend long. We'll see you then!
And then there's the Circuit de Catalunya, Barcelona, home of the 2011 Grand Prix of Spain. Let's take a look at the track map:
On first blush, there's nothing particularly wrong with the layout. Nice long front straight, some interesting turns in the technical portions, decent back straight, both slow and fast curves. So what's the problem? Well, there are three.
The first problem is that... there isn't any problem at all. It's a perfectly acceptable circuit. But there's nothing about the track that stands out in any way. There's no one aspect of the layout that would make a driver quake with fear or quiver in anticipation. Not even any elevation change to break up the monotony. It's just there.
The second problem relates to the first. Because the track is so sedate and the weather in Barcelona so benign, the teams do a lot of offseason testing here, and have since the circuit opened in 1991. As a result, there is hardly anything for the drivers to learn about the track. Every bump, every crack, every bit of flaking paint on the curbs is known to the men on the pit wall. In the past, this has led to a series of processionals to rival the Parade of Roses. This may change this season, what with KERS and the DRS being in play, but if ever there was a circuit where the influence of these things could be minimized, this is the one.
The third problem is that this is the home track for HWMNBN, and therefore should be anathema to all right-thinking fans of Formula 1.
Of course, the good people of SPEED will be on-the-spot with their coverage of the race weekend, beginning with streaming coverage of Friday's first practice session, which goes from 3am to 430am. Practice 2 will be live on SPEED from 7am to 840am that same day. Saturday brings us Practice 3, streaming from 4am to 5am. Live coverage of Quals will be on SPEED from 7am to 830am.
Finally, the 2011 Grand Prix of Spain will be LIVE on Sunday, from 630am to 9am on SPEED. There will be a replay from 3pm to 630pm that same day.
As usual, the F1 Update! crew will be more than pleased to bring you our usual sterling commentary, replete with trenchant wit, all weekend long. We'll see you then!
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May 07, 2011
F1 Quals: Turkey 2011
Uh-oh. Let's look at the provisional grid for the 2011 Grand Prix of Turkey:
Yep, our first Red Bull front-row lockout for 2011, but that's not what prompted the "uh-oh." No, that was brought on by how they accomplished the feat. Both Seb Vettel and Mark Webber did one run in Q3, looked at their times and said, "Nah, we're done. Come and get us." So while everybody else went out and burned another set of their allotment of soft tires trying to catch up to the Bullies, Vettel and Webber sat in the pits, sipping tea in the Red Bull motor home. I suspect they could have gone even faster, but just didn't bother. Pray for rain, race fans, pray for rain... otherwise this one could be really, really ugly. I mean, Nico Rosberg had the qualifying session of his life today, is sitting third on the grid, and he's still a half-second behind our polesitter, with one less set of fresh soft tires.
At the other end of the grid, we may have our first Steward's Decision coming, as Gandalf Kobayashi's fuel pump died on his out lap for Q1. He needed help to make it back to pits, being pushed by track marshals the last couple hundred yards, and obviously never made it back out. With no time set, he obviously didn't meet the 107% time, and is therefore prohibited from starting the race. However, Sauber can (and certainly will) go to the Stewards, say "technical difficulties, you know what our pace has been all weekend, let us in." I fully expect the Stewards to agree, but you never know.
So there we are. Race on Sunday, F1U! sometime thereafter. See you then!
Yep, our first Red Bull front-row lockout for 2011, but that's not what prompted the "uh-oh." No, that was brought on by how they accomplished the feat. Both Seb Vettel and Mark Webber did one run in Q3, looked at their times and said, "Nah, we're done. Come and get us." So while everybody else went out and burned another set of their allotment of soft tires trying to catch up to the Bullies, Vettel and Webber sat in the pits, sipping tea in the Red Bull motor home. I suspect they could have gone even faster, but just didn't bother. Pray for rain, race fans, pray for rain... otherwise this one could be really, really ugly. I mean, Nico Rosberg had the qualifying session of his life today, is sitting third on the grid, and he's still a half-second behind our polesitter, with one less set of fresh soft tires.
At the other end of the grid, we may have our first Steward's Decision coming, as Gandalf Kobayashi's fuel pump died on his out lap for Q1. He needed help to make it back to pits, being pushed by track marshals the last couple hundred yards, and obviously never made it back out. With no time set, he obviously didn't meet the 107% time, and is therefore prohibited from starting the race. However, Sauber can (and certainly will) go to the Stewards, say "technical difficulties, you know what our pace has been all weekend, let us in." I fully expect the Stewards to agree, but you never know.
So there we are. Race on Sunday, F1U! sometime thereafter. See you then!
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May 06, 2011
F1 Practice: Turkey 2011
The big news from today's practices at the Istanbul Otodrom was... the weather. We had rain throughout P1, and it made a huge impact on our World Champion. Or, rather, his Red Bull made a huge impact on the wall because of the weather. He got a little too wide on the exit of Quad-8, putting his right-side tires went over the back of the curb. This had the effect of skating the underside of the Red Bull over the curb, ruining the aerodynamics completely. The car spun back across the track and slammed into the barriers, deranging all four tires, breaking the nose, and jamming a couple dozen cubic yards of dirt and turf into the intakes in the process. It came back to the pit lane on the flatbed truck, went into the garage and never came back. Seb Vettel missed P2 as a result. Speculation from the Legendary Announce Team was that the chassis was damaged, which basically means it would be a writeoff and the mechanics would have to build up another car before P3 and Quals. We'll see how that affects Vettel on Saturday.
Other that that, there was no rain for P2, though the grass off-track was still soggy. This allowed Imam Maldonado to wreck his car three times during the two sessions... that takes skill. Can't imagine that Williams is too thrilled with him, but hey, $30million in sponsorship makes a big difference om a team's reaction when you bend the car.
HWMNBN had a grim-looking moment, when his Ferrari came coasting into the pit lane. A quick cut to the in-car camera replay allowed us the hear the problem: something on the Ferrari began to sound like an elephant with gastric distress after eating bad burritos for a week. Shift gears down, blaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Probably an exhaust problem (which does nothing to dispel the notion of the elephant), HWMNBN was back out after a few minutes, though driving gingerly. Understandable considering the... quality... of the sound. I would never want to hear that sound, ever, no matter the cause.
Finally, get well wishes go out to The Varsha, lead talker of the Legendary Announce Team. It appears that he's under the weather, and Lee Diffy will be filling in. Feel better soon!
Quals in the morning!
Other that that, there was no rain for P2, though the grass off-track was still soggy. This allowed Imam Maldonado to wreck his car three times during the two sessions... that takes skill. Can't imagine that Williams is too thrilled with him, but hey, $30million in sponsorship makes a big difference om a team's reaction when you bend the car.
HWMNBN had a grim-looking moment, when his Ferrari came coasting into the pit lane. A quick cut to the in-car camera replay allowed us the hear the problem: something on the Ferrari began to sound like an elephant with gastric distress after eating bad burritos for a week. Shift gears down, blaaaaaaaaaaaaat. Probably an exhaust problem (which does nothing to dispel the notion of the elephant), HWMNBN was back out after a few minutes, though driving gingerly. Understandable considering the... quality... of the sound. I would never want to hear that sound, ever, no matter the cause.
Finally, get well wishes go out to The Varsha, lead talker of the Legendary Announce Team. It appears that he's under the weather, and Lee Diffy will be filling in. Feel better soon!
Quals in the morning!
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May 02, 2011
F1 on SPEED!: Turkey 2011
Okay, vacation's over... everybody back on your heads. The F1 Circus trundles its way to the Istanbul Otodrom for what might be the last Grand Prix of Turkey. Let's take a look at the track map:
Yes, with a planned lineup of 19 races in 2012, and two new tracks debuting next year, three existing circuits are going to have to go away. Considering that Turkey's contract is up after this race, and Darth Bernie is saying that F1's fees for the race are going to double, it's a good bet that this will be the last we see of Hermann Tilke's magnum opus.
That this is Tilke's best circuit speaks poorly of the designer, but not the track. All in all, Turkey is a decent enough layout with one outstanding turn. I speak of Quad-8, of course. An increasing-radius four apex turn, it might just be the most exciting turn in F1's modern tracks, and it can at least stand in the same room with the classics without being made fun of.
Other than that, the rest of the circuit is decent, nothing amazing. Turns 2, 8 and 11 are quite hard on tires, as is the asphalt that makes up the track surface, so we should have a good ol' time trying to keep track of the pit stops on race day. Fortunately, the F1 Update! crew will have an intern for this race, as the Official First Friend of The Pond, Vaucaunson's Duck, will be visiting.
SPEED will be providing its usual sterling coverage of the weekend, of course. It all begins with streaming coverage of P1 on Friday, from 2am to 330am. P2 will be shown LIVE on SPEED from 6am to 740am on Friday as well. On Saturday, P3 will be streaming from 3am to 4am. Quals will be LIVE on SPEED from 6am to 730am.
Finally, the 2011 Grand Prix of Turkey will be shown LIVE from 630am to 9am on Sunday, with a replay from 1230pm to 3pm.
F1U! will be all over the race weekend, as usual. We'll see you here for all the festivities!
Yes, with a planned lineup of 19 races in 2012, and two new tracks debuting next year, three existing circuits are going to have to go away. Considering that Turkey's contract is up after this race, and Darth Bernie is saying that F1's fees for the race are going to double, it's a good bet that this will be the last we see of Hermann Tilke's magnum opus.
That this is Tilke's best circuit speaks poorly of the designer, but not the track. All in all, Turkey is a decent enough layout with one outstanding turn. I speak of Quad-8, of course. An increasing-radius four apex turn, it might just be the most exciting turn in F1's modern tracks, and it can at least stand in the same room with the classics without being made fun of.
Other than that, the rest of the circuit is decent, nothing amazing. Turns 2, 8 and 11 are quite hard on tires, as is the asphalt that makes up the track surface, so we should have a good ol' time trying to keep track of the pit stops on race day. Fortunately, the F1 Update! crew will have an intern for this race, as the Official First Friend of The Pond, Vaucaunson's Duck, will be visiting.
SPEED will be providing its usual sterling coverage of the weekend, of course. It all begins with streaming coverage of P1 on Friday, from 2am to 330am. P2 will be shown LIVE on SPEED from 6am to 740am on Friday as well. On Saturday, P3 will be streaming from 3am to 4am. Quals will be LIVE on SPEED from 6am to 730am.
Finally, the 2011 Grand Prix of Turkey will be shown LIVE from 630am to 9am on Sunday, with a replay from 1230pm to 3pm.
F1U! will be all over the race weekend, as usual. We'll see you here for all the festivities!
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April 25, 2011
F1 Tids and Bits
While we wait for another 12 days and a few hours to pass before the next race, here's some news from around the F1 world...
First off, excellent news! Robert Kubica was released from the hospital today, some 10 days earlier than was expected. While still using a walker from all reports, he's progressing so well that the doctors decided that the best thing for him was to go home for a few days before beginning a new round of therapy. It was just short of three months ago that he suffered the hideous crash that shattered his right leg, ruined his right elbow, and nearly severed his right hand. It's still too early to tell if he'll ever be able to get behind the wheel again, but hey, he's walking and his hand is still attached... that's pretty amazing right there.
There's some serious discussion occurring amongst the teams about banning the movable rear wing, aka Drag Reduction System (DRS), for the Grand Prix of Monaco. This actually makes a great deal of sense. There really isn't a straight on the circuit worthy of the term, after all. Further, the layout is so cramped that it's only just barely wide enough for two cars. Considering that Monaco is pretty much nothing but slow, tight turns, DRS would seem to be flat-out dangerous. I wonder if they're considering taking KERS out of the mix, too?
The organizers at Abu Dhabi are making some changes to the circuit prior to the race in November. Amongst other things, they're combining the two left-hand turns 13 and 14 into one big sweeper, widening the chicane at Turns 5/6 so as to allow different lines through the curves, and they're changing the camber on Turn 9. This is a big one as originally the camber ran opposite the way it should, i.e., the outside of the turn is lower than the inside. Now Turn 9 is going to be much more of a traditional banked turn, allowing drivers to drive around the outside without losing grip. Using my Crazy MS Paint Skillz, I've mocked up what the trackmap might look like.
Okay, maybe not, but you get the gist. Should give us a couple more passing areas, that.
Finally, Pirelli is telling us that if we thought the tire wear problems were bad now, just wait until we hit Turkey! According to the manufacturer, the Istanbul Otodrom's surface is made out of 2-grit sandpaper and broken glass, and the tires will last even fewer laps than normal. I guess that means the soft tires will last maybe six laps, the hards a dozen, and the super-soft tires would explode the moment the Pirelli trucks reach the paddock.
More as events warrant!
First off, excellent news! Robert Kubica was released from the hospital today, some 10 days earlier than was expected. While still using a walker from all reports, he's progressing so well that the doctors decided that the best thing for him was to go home for a few days before beginning a new round of therapy. It was just short of three months ago that he suffered the hideous crash that shattered his right leg, ruined his right elbow, and nearly severed his right hand. It's still too early to tell if he'll ever be able to get behind the wheel again, but hey, he's walking and his hand is still attached... that's pretty amazing right there.
There's some serious discussion occurring amongst the teams about banning the movable rear wing, aka Drag Reduction System (DRS), for the Grand Prix of Monaco. This actually makes a great deal of sense. There really isn't a straight on the circuit worthy of the term, after all. Further, the layout is so cramped that it's only just barely wide enough for two cars. Considering that Monaco is pretty much nothing but slow, tight turns, DRS would seem to be flat-out dangerous. I wonder if they're considering taking KERS out of the mix, too?
The organizers at Abu Dhabi are making some changes to the circuit prior to the race in November. Amongst other things, they're combining the two left-hand turns 13 and 14 into one big sweeper, widening the chicane at Turns 5/6 so as to allow different lines through the curves, and they're changing the camber on Turn 9. This is a big one as originally the camber ran opposite the way it should, i.e., the outside of the turn is lower than the inside. Now Turn 9 is going to be much more of a traditional banked turn, allowing drivers to drive around the outside without losing grip. Using my Crazy MS Paint Skillz, I've mocked up what the trackmap might look like.
Okay, maybe not, but you get the gist. Should give us a couple more passing areas, that.
Finally, Pirelli is telling us that if we thought the tire wear problems were bad now, just wait until we hit Turkey! According to the manufacturer, the Istanbul Otodrom's surface is made out of 2-grit sandpaper and broken glass, and the tires will last even fewer laps than normal. I guess that means the soft tires will last maybe six laps, the hards a dozen, and the super-soft tires would explode the moment the Pirelli trucks reach the paddock.
More as events warrant!
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April 21, 2011
Trading Paint II: Coming This Summer
Some years ago, NASCAR driver Jeff Gordon and then-F1 pilot Juan Pablo Montoya got together at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway... and threw each other their car keys. Gordon wound up giddy as a schoolgirl, Montoya wound up moving to NASCAR.
A month ago, it was announced that there's going to be a sequel this Summer. From NASCAR, Tony Stewart. From the F1 Circus... Lewis Hamilton.
A month ago, it was announced that there's going to be a sequel this Summer. From NASCAR, Tony Stewart. From the F1 Circus... Lewis Hamilton.
And this time, they're going to be at a real circuit: Watkins Glen. No word if they'll be running the NASCAR layout or the full F1-grade track (my guess is the truncated one), but either way, it's gonna be fun. I predict that Hamilton will suck, and that Stewart will be in F1 inside of three years.* As you can imagine, I'll be all over it as soon as it occurs... probably around the time of the GP of Canada.
*note: not really, but I've wanted him, Earnhardt Jr or Kyle Busch to drive in F1 for years, just to set foreign relations back a few centuries.
*note: not really, but I've wanted him, Earnhardt Jr or Kyle Busch to drive in F1 for years, just to set foreign relations back a few centuries.
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April 16, 2011
F1 Quals: China 2011
Well, that was interesting. A cloudy, chilly day greeted the teams as they got ready for the all-important Quals session at Shanghai. That'd make getting heat into the tires a challenge, something the Ferraris have been having problems with anyway. So how'd it work out? Let's take a look at the provisional grid for the 2011 Grand Prix of China:
The obvious shocker here is that Mark Webber was knocked out in Q1. He'd been having electrical problems during Saturday's 3rd practice session, his KERS system failed (again) in Q1, and he only used hard tires during the 20 minute session. Despite that, he should have been able to do better than 18th, but there he is. The cold temps never allowed his tires to heat up sufficiently, I guess. On the bright side, he'll have three untouched sets of soft tires for the race.
Then Quals got exciting for a different reason. With about three minutes left in Q2, Vitaly (The Red Menace) Petrov turned in the fourth-fastest time of the session when his gearbox suddenly contained nothing but neutrals and hate. Unable to get his car off the circuit, Charlie Whiting had no choice but to throw the red flag with 2:02 left in the period. Back in the paddock, consternation reigned. You see, a number of teams had kept their cars in the garage to conserve tires... including Petrov's teammate, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld. Felipe Massa also hadn't turned a lap yet. When the circuit was reopened, pretty much everybody other than the McLarens and Seb Vettel, all of whom were secure in their positions, poured out for one desperation hot lap. When it was all over, Grizzly Nick was on the outside looking in, unable to get his tires to heat up sufficiently.
Q3, of course, belonged to Vettel's Red Bull while his teammate fumed in the garage. After Vettel's lap, Button and Hamilton turned one hot lap each, then parked to conserve tires for the race... almost like they were conceding they couldn't catch the young German and the race would be for second place.
That's concerning. If the team with the best chance of catching Red Bull just gives up, what's to keep the season from turning into a complete rout? Eesh.
Race tomorrow, and F1U!'ll be all over it. See you then!
The obvious shocker here is that Mark Webber was knocked out in Q1. He'd been having electrical problems during Saturday's 3rd practice session, his KERS system failed (again) in Q1, and he only used hard tires during the 20 minute session. Despite that, he should have been able to do better than 18th, but there he is. The cold temps never allowed his tires to heat up sufficiently, I guess. On the bright side, he'll have three untouched sets of soft tires for the race.
Then Quals got exciting for a different reason. With about three minutes left in Q2, Vitaly (The Red Menace) Petrov turned in the fourth-fastest time of the session when his gearbox suddenly contained nothing but neutrals and hate. Unable to get his car off the circuit, Charlie Whiting had no choice but to throw the red flag with 2:02 left in the period. Back in the paddock, consternation reigned. You see, a number of teams had kept their cars in the garage to conserve tires... including Petrov's teammate, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld. Felipe Massa also hadn't turned a lap yet. When the circuit was reopened, pretty much everybody other than the McLarens and Seb Vettel, all of whom were secure in their positions, poured out for one desperation hot lap. When it was all over, Grizzly Nick was on the outside looking in, unable to get his tires to heat up sufficiently.
Q3, of course, belonged to Vettel's Red Bull while his teammate fumed in the garage. After Vettel's lap, Button and Hamilton turned one hot lap each, then parked to conserve tires for the race... almost like they were conceding they couldn't catch the young German and the race would be for second place.
That's concerning. If the team with the best chance of catching Red Bull just gives up, what's to keep the season from turning into a complete rout? Eesh.
Race tomorrow, and F1U!'ll be all over it. See you then!
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April 15, 2011
F1 Practice: China 2011
In the past, whenever there's been a Grand Prix approaching in Shanghai, the Chinese authorities have made the various factories in the area shut down. This year, that didn't happen.
That's not fog making things in the distance look all hazy and indistinct, it's air pollution. I can only imagine what it'd be like to breathe that when you're pulling 5Gs around a track... and what about the engines? They're normally aspirated, I'd assume that there's some small loss of performance involved.
Pray for rain, ere Vettel run away again. In P1, he was a half-second faster than his teammate Mark Webber... and two seconds faster than anybody else. In P2, he was only a couple of tenths faster than the McLarens.
I don't have a whole lot to say about the practice sessions, truth be told. Cars drove around, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld crashed his Renault twice (once each session), the tires look to be failing even faster than they did in Malaysia, and the smog makes it look like the racetrack was built on a moor.
Oh wait, it was. Well, swampland at least. As we've learned from tracks like Interlagos, when you build on or near water (i.e., filled swamp), you have problems with the track surface. I gather that they had some problems with subsidence over the past year, as there are new sections of asphalt scattered all over the circuit. Didn't seem to be causing any problems, though.
The tires seem to have picked up a new, unpleasant, trait: the rears seem to work great... right up until the point where they lose grip and snap the cars in random directions. We were seeing that all day; it looked like the drivers had no idea if or when they were pushing too hard. The first indication they had was when the car suddenly was pointing against the direction of traffic. Yeek. And, like in Malaysia, the soft tires may as well just be jelly-donuts after a couple of laps. The hard tires aren't much better. I suspect that Pirelli is gonna be hearing even more complaints right quickly.
Quals tomorrow.
That's not fog making things in the distance look all hazy and indistinct, it's air pollution. I can only imagine what it'd be like to breathe that when you're pulling 5Gs around a track... and what about the engines? They're normally aspirated, I'd assume that there's some small loss of performance involved.
Pray for rain, ere Vettel run away again. In P1, he was a half-second faster than his teammate Mark Webber... and two seconds faster than anybody else. In P2, he was only a couple of tenths faster than the McLarens.
I don't have a whole lot to say about the practice sessions, truth be told. Cars drove around, Grizzly Nick Heidfeld crashed his Renault twice (once each session), the tires look to be failing even faster than they did in Malaysia, and the smog makes it look like the racetrack was built on a moor.
Oh wait, it was. Well, swampland at least. As we've learned from tracks like Interlagos, when you build on or near water (i.e., filled swamp), you have problems with the track surface. I gather that they had some problems with subsidence over the past year, as there are new sections of asphalt scattered all over the circuit. Didn't seem to be causing any problems, though.
The tires seem to have picked up a new, unpleasant, trait: the rears seem to work great... right up until the point where they lose grip and snap the cars in random directions. We were seeing that all day; it looked like the drivers had no idea if or when they were pushing too hard. The first indication they had was when the car suddenly was pointing against the direction of traffic. Yeek. And, like in Malaysia, the soft tires may as well just be jelly-donuts after a couple of laps. The hard tires aren't much better. I suspect that Pirelli is gonna be hearing even more complaints right quickly.
Quals tomorrow.
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April 11, 2011
F1 on SPEED!: China 2011
From Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to Shanghai, China is 2307 miles, or roughly a six hour flight. That's just a hop, skip and a jump for the F1 Circus, and that's why we've only got our first back-to-back races of the season. This weekend sees them racing at Shanghai International Circuit, yet another of the interminable Tilke tracks. Let's take a look at the map, shall we?
Last year, I was somewhat... rude during the "F1 on SPEED" entry, but was forced to eat my words (or lack of them) after the actual race, a chaotic affair that earned the honorable mention for Race of the Year in the 2010 F1U! Awards. It brought us both the Move of the Year and the Mooooo-oove of the Year as well. Amazing what a little rain can do... it can turn even a Tilke track into one of the most exciting layouts!
Okay, I'm done gushing. The last three races here have all been run in the wet; this made them exciting, but that's in spite of the track, not because of it. Fortunately, the forecast is for rain this time around, too... just like Malaysia. *sigh* I dunno, flip a coin and let me know how it turns up, okay?
Of course, the good people of SPEED will be providing all LIVE coverage for this race... no more "plausibly live" coverage of Quals anymore! It all starts Thursday night from 9pm to 1030pm, with streaming coverage of 1st Practice... maybe we'll get another locked wheel or something exciting like that! P2 comes along from 1am to 240am Friday morning on SPEED itself. P3 is streaming from 10pm to 11pm Friday night, in preparation for Saturday's Quals session from 1am to 230am.
Then comes the big one, the 2011 Grand Prix of China, live from 130am to 4am Sunday morning! There's probably a replay, but I can't be arsed to find out when it is. Heh.
Of course, all times are Pond Central. Add an hour if you're in Atlanta, subtract two if you're in San Francisco, and if you're on the Moon, add 1.29 seconds (assuming your base is directly over either The Pond), more or less. Hope you have a lot of oxygen bottles. Drop me a line, will ya, I'd like to hear from The Pond's first off-planet reader!
Last year, I was somewhat... rude during the "F1 on SPEED" entry, but was forced to eat my words (or lack of them) after the actual race, a chaotic affair that earned the honorable mention for Race of the Year in the 2010 F1U! Awards. It brought us both the Move of the Year and the Mooooo-oove of the Year as well. Amazing what a little rain can do... it can turn even a Tilke track into one of the most exciting layouts!
Okay, I'm done gushing. The last three races here have all been run in the wet; this made them exciting, but that's in spite of the track, not because of it. Fortunately, the forecast is for rain this time around, too... just like Malaysia. *sigh* I dunno, flip a coin and let me know how it turns up, okay?
Of course, the good people of SPEED will be providing all LIVE coverage for this race... no more "plausibly live" coverage of Quals anymore! It all starts Thursday night from 9pm to 1030pm, with streaming coverage of 1st Practice... maybe we'll get another locked wheel or something exciting like that! P2 comes along from 1am to 240am Friday morning on SPEED itself. P3 is streaming from 10pm to 11pm Friday night, in preparation for Saturday's Quals session from 1am to 230am.
Then comes the big one, the 2011 Grand Prix of China, live from 130am to 4am Sunday morning! There's probably a replay, but I can't be arsed to find out when it is. Heh.
Of course, all times are Pond Central. Add an hour if you're in Atlanta, subtract two if you're in San Francisco, and if you're on the Moon, add 1.29 seconds (assuming your base is directly over either The Pond), more or less. Hope you have a lot of oxygen bottles. Drop me a line, will ya, I'd like to hear from The Pond's first off-planet reader!
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April 09, 2011
F1 Quals: Malaysia 2011
In Australia, Seb Vettel and Red Bull blew the rest of the field away on his pole lap to the tune of 8/10ths of a second. He then went on to run away and hide from everybody during the race. But could he continue that dominance in Malaysia, or could McLaren, Ferrari or even the resurgent Renaults kick the World Champion in the shins? Let's look at the provisional grid for Sunday's Grand Prix of Malaysia:
All Skate, ladies and gentlemen, everybody All Skate! Not only did HRT make the field, but even Kittylitter made it with nearly a second to spare. Vitantonio Liuzzi was actually closer to the Virgins than he was to his own teammate. A rousing round of applause to the tiny team from Murcia, everybody... HRT has officially joined the 2011 F1 season! This bodes well for the rest of the season, at least as far as having a full grid goes.
Now for the important stuff. Yes, Seb Vettel took pole position, but the difference has been much reduced. .104 of a second is a much more manageable margin to deal with for the rest of the field to deal with in comparison to the sound thrashing handed out at Australia. I think we're seeing a repeat of the Red Bull RB6 with this year's RB7: great in the corners, great under braking, but not quite as fast on the straights. For you WWII buffs out there, the RB6 was the Mitsubishi A6M Zero of the F1 world: nimble, but not as fast as, say, the F6F Hellcat. Australia isn't the fastest circuit in the world with no true high-speed zones to speak of, and so would play right into the RB7's strengths. Malaysia, with its two gigantically long straights, would be more to the favor of the McLarens of the world.
However, there is an ominous side to all of this for the rest of the field. Vettel only put in 12 laps for the entirety of Quals. In comparison, Hamilton did 19, Webber 17, Button 15, and HWMNBN 14. On a circuit that's proving to be murder on the new Pirellis, those laps not turned on his tire allotment might make a small but crucial difference in the race.
Oddly, or perhaps not so oddly, the top five spots on the grid fall exactly the same way they did in Australia. Heck, even the sixth spot is held by a Renault, just like in the first race of the year, though this time driven by Grizzly Nick Heidfeld rather than The Red Menace.
So there you have it, folks. We might just have ourselves a race tomorrow, depending on who makes it to Turn 1 first, and how much of a lead he has. F1 Update! will be here Sunday... see you then!
All Skate, ladies and gentlemen, everybody All Skate! Not only did HRT make the field, but even Kittylitter made it with nearly a second to spare. Vitantonio Liuzzi was actually closer to the Virgins than he was to his own teammate. A rousing round of applause to the tiny team from Murcia, everybody... HRT has officially joined the 2011 F1 season! This bodes well for the rest of the season, at least as far as having a full grid goes.
Now for the important stuff. Yes, Seb Vettel took pole position, but the difference has been much reduced. .104 of a second is a much more manageable margin to deal with for the rest of the field to deal with in comparison to the sound thrashing handed out at Australia. I think we're seeing a repeat of the Red Bull RB6 with this year's RB7: great in the corners, great under braking, but not quite as fast on the straights. For you WWII buffs out there, the RB6 was the Mitsubishi A6M Zero of the F1 world: nimble, but not as fast as, say, the F6F Hellcat. Australia isn't the fastest circuit in the world with no true high-speed zones to speak of, and so would play right into the RB7's strengths. Malaysia, with its two gigantically long straights, would be more to the favor of the McLarens of the world.
However, there is an ominous side to all of this for the rest of the field. Vettel only put in 12 laps for the entirety of Quals. In comparison, Hamilton did 19, Webber 17, Button 15, and HWMNBN 14. On a circuit that's proving to be murder on the new Pirellis, those laps not turned on his tire allotment might make a small but crucial difference in the race.
Oddly, or perhaps not so oddly, the top five spots on the grid fall exactly the same way they did in Australia. Heck, even the sixth spot is held by a Renault, just like in the first race of the year, though this time driven by Grizzly Nick Heidfeld rather than The Red Menace.
So there you have it, folks. We might just have ourselves a race tomorrow, depending on who makes it to Turn 1 first, and how much of a lead he has. F1 Update! will be here Sunday... see you then!
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April 08, 2011
F1 Practice: Malaysia 2011
Nothing particularly exciting to report from the 2nd Practice session, to be honest, so it's time to discuss some goings-on in the F1 world while I wait for P3 to begin streaming.
First up, if you didn't believe your eyes when you saw the picture of Renault's massive flat spot, when Grizzly Nick Heidfeld had a brake lock-up on him, here's more proof:
Would have ground the tire down even farther if the bottom of the car hadn't've stopped it. It turns out that the both Renaults had the same problem: defective uprights. The upright is the part that lets the wheel assembly attach to the suspension. It's what the brakes mount to, it's where the wheel hub sits, etc etc etc. On a street car, the wheels mount to the axle; on a F1 car, the point of contact is the upright. Renault thinks they had a bad manufacturing batch, which is why both cars had the same type of failure on the same day. It manifested itself differently, of course (Heidfeld's caused the brake to lock, Petrov's was more severe, causing a high-speed failure of the suspension), but the same part was to blame. Replacements were tested, installed, and both cars were back on track late in P2.
Custard d'Ambrosio's suspension failure was tracked to a clevis bracket that attached one of the suspension's rods to the body of the car. The damage done was severe enough that he never got into P2.
What I thought was a transmission problem for Ferrari early in P1 turned out to not be so. The team was doing aerodynamic testing of some piece or another, and required the cars to circulate at a specific speed all the way around the track... ergo, no upshifting. Allegedly.
Narain Kittylitter's smoking HRT turned out to be nothing more than a really bad oil leak. No blown engine, which is good news for the team. When Vitantonio Liuzzi's car came to a halt on track in P2, nobody was quite sure why. Turns out his gearbox got a little cornfuzzled when he took a curb a little too enthusiastically. That sort of thing can happen to any car at any time... the shock transmitted itself to the gear selector and in lieu of trying to engage two gears at once (bad, leads to a gearbox full of neutrals) it decided to engage nothing and go into petulant child mode (not great, but a lot better than a handful of metal shavings).
The tires really are having problems at this track. At one point during P2 track temps were well above 120°F, which improved grip but accelerated wear. The abrasive surface at Sepang is also causing the tires to wear faster; look for three stops for sure, barring weather. Speaking of weather, everybody is expressing surprise at the lack of rain so far, while commenting that every day the teams have been in Malaysia, it has rained at 4pm local time. Both quals and the race will be in progress at 4pm on their respective days.
Quals tomorrow morning, see you then!
First up, if you didn't believe your eyes when you saw the picture of Renault's massive flat spot, when Grizzly Nick Heidfeld had a brake lock-up on him, here's more proof:
Would have ground the tire down even farther if the bottom of the car hadn't've stopped it. It turns out that the both Renaults had the same problem: defective uprights. The upright is the part that lets the wheel assembly attach to the suspension. It's what the brakes mount to, it's where the wheel hub sits, etc etc etc. On a street car, the wheels mount to the axle; on a F1 car, the point of contact is the upright. Renault thinks they had a bad manufacturing batch, which is why both cars had the same type of failure on the same day. It manifested itself differently, of course (Heidfeld's caused the brake to lock, Petrov's was more severe, causing a high-speed failure of the suspension), but the same part was to blame. Replacements were tested, installed, and both cars were back on track late in P2.
Custard d'Ambrosio's suspension failure was tracked to a clevis bracket that attached one of the suspension's rods to the body of the car. The damage done was severe enough that he never got into P2.
What I thought was a transmission problem for Ferrari early in P1 turned out to not be so. The team was doing aerodynamic testing of some piece or another, and required the cars to circulate at a specific speed all the way around the track... ergo, no upshifting. Allegedly.
Narain Kittylitter's smoking HRT turned out to be nothing more than a really bad oil leak. No blown engine, which is good news for the team. When Vitantonio Liuzzi's car came to a halt on track in P2, nobody was quite sure why. Turns out his gearbox got a little cornfuzzled when he took a curb a little too enthusiastically. That sort of thing can happen to any car at any time... the shock transmitted itself to the gear selector and in lieu of trying to engage two gears at once (bad, leads to a gearbox full of neutrals) it decided to engage nothing and go into petulant child mode (not great, but a lot better than a handful of metal shavings).
The tires really are having problems at this track. At one point during P2 track temps were well above 120°F, which improved grip but accelerated wear. The abrasive surface at Sepang is also causing the tires to wear faster; look for three stops for sure, barring weather. Speaking of weather, everybody is expressing surprise at the lack of rain so far, while commenting that every day the teams have been in Malaysia, it has rained at 4pm local time. Both quals and the race will be in progress at 4pm on their respective days.
Quals tomorrow morning, see you then!
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