2011 F1 Season thread

[The Boston Dangler]

here's a good article on DRS:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/03/19/adjustable-rear-wings-separating-good-bad/

includes a red bull video showing the wing in action. rb6 + kers + drs = rocket ship!

 

[The Boston Dangler]

The 2011 F1 rules changes at-a-glance

quite the list. some subtle, some ridiculous

 

[punjabiplaya]

I really like the Red Bull videos. They had some good ones last year too.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

I really like the Red Bull videos. They had some good ones last year too.

red bull is the best as far as videos and internet are concerned

 

[The Boston Dangler]

for the US, speed will show:

practice 1: thursday, 9:30 pm eastern, stream on speedtv.com

practice 2: friday, 1:30 am eastern, speed tv

practice 3: friday, 11 pm eastern, stream on speedtv.com???

qualifying: saturday, 2 am eastern, speed tv

race: sunday, 1:30 am eastern, speed tv

 

[punjabiplaya]

exciting! I have no idea how it's going to turn out. Granted, we can all assume that Ferrari and Red Bull will be the fastest, but who knows with all the new regs and things like Renault's crazy new design

 

[The Boston Dangler]

http://en.espnf1.com/australia/motorsport/story/43958.html

The FIA has tweaked the moveable rear wing regulations ahead of the first race of the season to increase the chances of the new system boosting overtaking.

The area in which the wing can be deployed during races has been extended beyond the 600-metre zone originally penciled in to incorporate the entire pit-straight at the Albert Park circuit. If a driver is within one second of the car in front when he enters turn 14 he will then be able to activate his rear wing two turns later at the entrance of the final corner. In total the distance between the activation line and the first corner will be just under 860 metres.

see also:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2011/03/24/f1-fanatic-flying-lap-episode-12/

on The Flying Lap, one guys says there's no difference between this and pushing a button to reduce the first car's motor from 8 to 6 cylanders

 

[PlasmaBomb]

The Pirelli's sound interesting...

Speaking about the new tyres being used this year, Barrichello said it was difficult to keep life in them just by driving more slowly:

“I think it’s difficult for everyone. It depends on the balance that you have. It’s quite normal that it’s wear-related, it gets to the point where the tyre’s gone and you don’t bring it back. It’s not a question of graining or this or that.

“You look after them but it’s almost like if you go not flat out you make it survive a little bit more but you don’t make it survive the whole race – it will go, it will break, it’s not just a question of looking after them.

“You could make it survive the whole race by going ten seconds slower but it’s just not the case.”

He said it could have consequences for overtaking: “We are back into a situation where a big overtaking manoeuvre with flat-spotting and so on could ruin your whole race. So I think you’ve got to be mindful of that as well.”

Vettel is supposed to have said there may be 3-4 stops per race now...

 

[RiDE]

1st practice started about 30 minutes ago... you can stream it on speed if you're in the US. No commentary... which I don't think is a bad thing. :hmm:

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-live-formula-one-video-streaming

 

[punjabiplaya]

The Pirelli's sound interesting...



Vettel is supposed to have said there may be 3-4 stops per race now...

yeah, Pirelli was told by the FIA to make the tires wear faster than the Bridgestones

 

[punjabiplaya]

p1 - webber, vettel, alonso

 

[busydude]

A little off topic, but official formula1 app for andriod has been released a couple of days back.. you can install it from andriod marketplace and its really kickass!! A pretty neat app.

That is all.. carry on all of you.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

1st practice started about 30 minutes ago... you can stream it on speed if you're in the US. No commentary... which I don't think is a bad thing. :hmm:

http://formula-one.speedtv.com/article/f1-live-formula-one-video-streaming

it was awesome!

 

[The Boston Dangler]

check out williams' radical gearbox:
http://scarbsf1.wordpress.com/2011/03/24/williams-lowline-gearbox-in-detail/

that's the lower wishbone (or z-bone) mounted above and ahead of the diff. the dampers and other suspension parts pass through the gearbox in the square hole towards the front.

 

[bruceb]

VCR is all set to tape the first race Autrailian Grand Prix, Sunday 1:30AM on Speed TV

 

[SSSnail]

WTF happened to making the cars as good as they can be, and let the skills of the drivers settle it on the track? Stupid F-ing F1 committee.

 

[The Boston Dangler]

weeeeeellllllllll, this season is as good as over. vettel will smoke everyone all year long.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Vettel, Hamilton
Webber, Button

Interestingly, P1 & 2 drivers had both lost or didn't use KERS for their position claiming laps in Q3...!

Great first two rows. Ferrari really not looking competitive yet, Renault look to be all in their faces right now. 107% rule owns Hispania, and that's probably not a bad thing. Cannot wait for the race!

 

[JulesMaximus]

Looks like Red Bull are the team to beat. Everyone else will be playing catchup for the rest of the season.

Will be interesting to see how the tire strategies play out tomorrow (tonight).

 

[punjabiplaya]

vettel and red bull look unstoppable, granted it's only been one race so far

 

[The Boston Dangler]

from position 3 on back, that was an excellent race!

 

[LTC8K6]

No difference, really. Still couldn't pass unless you were already a lot faster than the car in front. Tires were weird. Still basically a parade.

 

[PlasmaBomb]

So the first race is over...

Results -
1 Sebastian Vettel 1:29:30.259
2 Lewis Hamilton +22.2 secs
3 Vitaly Petrov +30.5 secs
4 Fernando Alonso +31.7 secs
5 Mark Webber +38.1 secs
6 Jenson Button +54.3 secs
7 Felipe Massa +85.1 secs
8 Sebastien Buemi +1 Lap
9 Adrian Sutil +1 Lap
10 Paul di Resta +1 Lap

Perez and Kobayashi originally finished seventh and eighth, but were disqualified for rear wing infringements.

Vettel pace seemed awesome again today, managing to get a 2.4 second gap on the first lap...

Perez managed to complete the race with only one stop... which was surprising.

Good drive from Hamilton despite the damage to the car, for someone with the reputation of being the hardest person on the gird on their tyres he seemed to cope OK with the higher wear rates of the Pirelli's

DRS (movable rear wing) didn't seem to play much of a role -

Button didn't seem to be able to get past Massa despite using the DRS and KERS

So what are your thoughts on the DRS - did the stewards get the positioning wrong? does it not give enough advantage?

 

[The Boston Dangler]

i think the drs is a video-gamey gimmick and has proven pretty worthless

 

[punjabiplaya]

yeah, they thought it would be useful (what the hell were they thinking?) but it's proven worthless