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  Engine Comparisons

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn
15-11-2017, 08:21 PM
Forum: Technical Talk
- Replies (19)

New Hybrid to old or historical - can't compare myself, but would love to know from more well informed, torque - revs - turbos, etc, or what do any believe to be the best F1 engine ever - I get that that's a bit vague, but any info would be appreciated Smile

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  Favourite Track(s)

Posted by: Purple-banana
15-11-2017, 05:25 PM
Forum: F1 General Discussion Board
- Replies (45)

Afternoon all,

Which is your favourite current F1 track, and why?
Which is your favourite historic F1 track, and why?
Lastly, if you could take modern F1 back to any previous track, or to a new venue - which would it be, and why?

For me, my favourite track from the current calendar Spa, it has everything - high speed corners, low speed corners, technical sections, balls-out sections, unpredictable weather, a long circuit where you're not always tripping over a Sauber and a bit of gradient. Finally it has Eau Rouge, although personally I'm just as excited about Pouhon and Blanchimont.

Of the historic ones, I'd my favourite has got to be Turkey. I must have logged thousands of laps around there in DTM cars on TOCA Race Driver against my best mate years ago, and the real-life F1 races there were typically just as exciting!

Ashamedly, even though I call myself a petrol-head, I only discovered Portimao a few weeks ago, and I am really loving that track. I think it would be great for F1, although some of the gradients might be a bit extreme.

Looking forward to hearing your inputs!

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  Potential new teams / engine manufacturers

Posted by: Jody Barton
14-11-2017, 02:31 PM
Forum: Team Gossip
- Replies (14)

So, Liberty Media are saying that a number of manufacturers are interested in entering F1 if the engines / PUs change, so far we’ve heard about Porsche (Volkswagen Group), Aston Martin, Jaguar (with Cosworth), Lamborghini, Ford and Toyota. We know they also want to see 26 cars (currently that would mean 13 teams, an increase of 3). However, what price would we be willing to pay to attract them? If all 6 manufacturers came into the sport and we retained the current 4 manufacturers that would be ideal, that’d be a lot of works teams. However, losing Renault, Ferrari and Mercedes would be a big blow to the sport, so how would you handle the conundrum?

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  Force India name change

Posted by: Jody Barton
14-11-2017, 10:52 AM
Forum: Team Gossip
- Replies (25)

In case some of you weren’t aware, Force India have been looking to change the team name to something more generic / less ‘India’ based to appeal to wider sponsors. Ridiculous I know, but I’ve tended to find PR types utterly devoid of common sense and rationality in my life. Any who, the team had been all set to change their name to the Thunderbirds sounding Force One, they even went as far as registering companies with the name at companies house in the UK, and someone found mocked up team logos a few months back...

They’ve hit a snag however...

Liberty Media do not like the name, and have hinted they will decline it, and they have the full support of the FIA, why? Because the name is too close to Formula 1, especially when abbreviated. However, there are rumours there three main sponsorship deals are reliant on them changing their name to something else that doesn’t include India in the title, so, any ideas ladies and gents? Let’s have your suggestions.

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  Best driver combo 2018

Posted by: Jody Barton
14-11-2017, 09:29 AM
Forum: Driver Contract Gossip
- Replies (31)

Being as though the big teams seem to be sticking rather than twisting, and the only two teams who haven’t confirmed their pairing for 2018 are Williams and Sauber (Still think Sauber will Leclerc Ericcson), who, of the confirmed teams has the best driver line-up and why?

I’ll kick the conversation off and go a tad controversial....

Mercedes. Why? I think Lewis is the best driver on the grid right now, and in Bottas he has a very steady calm number 2 who is willing to put in the mileage and leg work. The fact they seemingly get on so well means I think it gives the team a great ego free shot at both titles, something I think RBR May lack if they are competitive next year.

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  Rake on F1 cars the story of 2017

Posted by: Jody Barton
14-11-2017, 08:55 AM
Forum: Technical Talk
- Replies (5)

Ever since 2009 when Newey and Allison started playing with more extreme rakes on cars it’s been a big debate about why teams do it, which I might cover if I’m asked too, but I figured by now most people know why, and every winter tech nerds like me try working out the rake of the cars. I get my figures by using Photoshop and putting a poly mask over it from Illustrator. If you know the size of the wheels (which we do) then you can easily work the rest out of the details, although you obviously need good pics of the cars both side on and front on to get close to accurate measurements, I’m pretty sure my figures aren’t as good as the teams themselves, BUT, it’s all I have.

HaF = Height at Front of car
HaR = Height at Rear of car

Mercedes
Wheelbase = 3738mm
Rake = 0.95
HaF = 29mm
HaR = 88mm

Ferrari
Wheelbase = 3595mm
Rake = 1.55
HaF = 17mm
HaR = 120mm

Red Bull
Wheelbase = 3539mm (was 3689mm)
Rake = 1.58 (at the beginning of the season they were running closer to 1.05)
HaF = 20mm
HaR = 123mm

McLaren
Wheelbase = 3556mm
Rake = 2.08
HaF = 14mm
HaR = 139mm

Above are the averages of rake on the cars so far this season. The teams haven’t really changed much from winter testing (RBR aside but I’ll come to that). Ferrari ran either a 1.50 degree rake or 1.58 degree rake, at most tracks that’s equated to 1.55 degrees of rake, they seem to keep that pretty consistent, even running with it at tracks like Spa and Monza, where others took rake out of the car, Ferrari played way more with front and rear wing angles.

Next up Merc, and the first of the big FRIC / Trick Suspension losers. In the previous regulations Merc ran cars that on straights ran about 1 degree of rake (fairly standard for a few decades) but under braking moved to as much as 2 degrees. So I think losing FRIC hurt Mercedes more than they let on. In winter testing their rake was 0.9 degrees, the least rake of any car on the grid. Like Ferrari they’ve tended to stick with that, except in Singapore, Hungary and Mexico where they ran a little more. I think their whole aero philosophy was buggered by the FRIC ruling.

That brings us neatly onto RBR, who essentially developed a MK.II car mid way through the season because of the loss of FRIC. Their car was essentially 150mm shorter by Belgium, but they had shaved some of that out of the car by as early as Monaco, and took a bit more in Austria. As the car got shorter their rake got higher. Although I think they’re also now running variable ride height suspension system where essentially there is no front to rear connect, the FIA directive before Brazil seems to confirm this. Either way, RBR have had to change the most.

McLaren were also hit by the loss of FRIC, but their system never seemed to lead as extreme changes in rake that either Mercedes or RBR were able to achieve. Nevertheless they always ran less rake in the straights and more in the corners. McLaren run the most extreme rake on the grid, by some margin. Winter testing they started with 1.85 degrees, or thereabouts, and that has only been cranked up. For much of the season it hovered around 2.05, but from Singapore on it’s seemed to be around 2.10. So their straight line speed deficit is NOT all Honda.

Other teams hit by the loss of FRIC were clearly Williams (who had developed a workable system) and Renault who appeared to copy Mercs system. So the big winners out of it appear to be Force India and Ferrari. Although next year I think all teams will gravitate more towards 1.5 degree of rake, it’ll be interesting to see the Mercedes and McLaren designs, I personally think the former will crank on the rake, while the later will dial it out.

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  we need Jody for this

Posted by: Foghorn Leghorn
13-11-2017, 11:03 PM
Forum: Technical Talk
- Replies (11)

title says it all - haha Smile

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  Dream Team

Posted by: Purple-banana
13-11-2017, 10:36 PM
Forum: F1 General Discussion Board
- Replies (30)

Money is no object, pick your drivers (living or dead), engineers, team name, engine supplier, heck even colour schemes and team gear supplier. Go!

For me:

JBRacing
Engine supplier: Ferrari (current spec, none of that cheap Sauber rubbish)

Driver #1: Michael Schumacher c. 2002
Driver #2: Jenson Button c. 2006
Driver (Res.): Robert Kubica c. 2008

Team Boss: Stephano Dominicalli
Cheif designer: Adrian Newey

Primary colour scheme: White/Red (a la 2011 HRT)
Kit supplier: Nike

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  2019

Posted by: forzaferrari
13-11-2017, 12:25 PM
Forum: Driver Contract Gossip
- Replies (73)

With things pretty much tied up for drivers in 2018, what drivers would you like to see in which teams for 2019....go...

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Lightbulb Pre-season testing

Posted by: Purple-banana
13-11-2017, 10:26 AM
Forum: F1 General Discussion Board
- Replies (3)

First question:
Has anyone here been to pre-season testing before?

Second question:
Would anyone be interested in going next year? Could be a bit of an F1 Banter social, put some faces to names, have a few beers in the Spanish spring sunshine. Thoughts?

Flights look to be around £60-£100 return dependant on dates/airports, I'm sure there will be plenty of cheap hotels near the circuit too. Or campsites even!

I'm happy to do some more detailed research if people would be interested?

Cheers
John

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