KERS thoughts anyone? The FOTA gang said a while back that they put it to a vote and decided none of them will use it next year, but FIA left it in the regs. Since then Norbert Haug (Merc) has been talking about how they'd like to keep it and use it on the McLaren in 2010, and Williams say since they were booted out of FOTA the agreement doesn't apply to them and they're looking into using it next year even if they don't manage to get it onto their car in '09. Now Renault have said their current car is to the point where it's a sound platform for development of their 2010 car....and, coincidentally (?), they're reintroducing KERS for Monza "as part of a raft of new updates planned for their car." Strange wording that, eh? I personally think it was a strange bit of tech to push onto F1 cars, but if nothing else it works as a way to change the dynamics of a race both strategically and on the track. They should have implemented it differently though, maybe giving the development project to one company to build a standard kit. It would still be up to each team to consider the weight and integration issues vs performance and decide whether to use it from one race to the next, or whether to use it at all for that matter. It seemed like a terrible idea at first, but I get the feeling minds are changing now that 1) the systems are maturing a bit and through some of the teething problems and 2) they're starting to come to grips with how it's actually being used by the drivers as opposed to how they could only imagine it working before the season started. I'm sure FOTA felt it drove the last nail in the KERS coffin when they voted to drop it, but I wonder.... One of these days someone is probably going to remember that the FIA have already floated the idea of allowing teams to double the KERS output in '10 or '11....
If Luca Badoer is behind the wheel you better get out of the way.....and it doesn't matter how fast he's going..... Badoer crashed in parc ferme at Valencia (Motorsport.com/GMM)
Holy crap, Fisichella/Force India on the pole!!!! As might be expected he pulled it off running light, but he's not the only one who ran Q3 light on fuel. Other surprises abound, like Barrichello with the highest placed Brawn finishing only P4 yet lighter than any other car on the grid, both BMWs in the top 5, Vettel and Webber back in P8 and P9, Hamilton, Alonso, Button and Kovalainen P12-P15....and all four of them behind Sutil in the other Force India! No surprise....Badoer last....
Finally a fun race ! Spa showed pretty much what a level playing field can deliver. I will not give away the result until others have seen it - but, really, wow that was an interesting and fun race.
This was a great race! Much like it used to be. But, why in the heck didn't Kimi get a penalty for gaining positions at the first turn when he ran wide and made up 2 positions? Oh wait......he drives the red car.
I did not see it that way. He was in third place when he ran wide and he came out in third after the excursion. No position gained. Plus the wife had him in the NUT pool, so she is $69.83 ahead of the game.
After watching the replay he was either 3rd/4th/5th or 6th depending on where the corner actually starts ! I think that a penalty after the race has finished would be stupid..... He also used his KERs to good effect on the high-grip run-off area
There was this overhead shot of Kimi out on that other section during the start, you can see the rear do a little sashay to the right when he hits that KERS button.
Oh he definitely passed a car or two going into the corner. He was on the outside of both the third and fourth placed cars going into the corner and passed them both before coming back on track. But then again he is sporting the invisible red paint scheme!
To be fair, the red car bias has been in place for so long it's now commonplace and everyone knows it. If any other team has as poor an outing as our buddy Luca he'd never have made a showing in that second race.
Not me, I've been a tofisi for like ever. When F1 coverage in the US was limited to the annual Monaco race on Wide World of Sports, Nigel Roebucks 2 months after the race reports in Road & Track or maybe a few lines in Competition Press. I bleed Ferrari Red.
I saw it with my own eyes and still can't believe how well Fisi's Force India ran. Good stuff.....aside from all the first lap carnage. Even more unbelievable, Ferrari say there's a possibility they'll leave Badoer in Massa's car for Monza! Are all the intelligent folks at Ferrari still on summer vacation? Badoer says he's aiming for a points finish at Monza.....what the hell?!?!
He must be talking about that old game we played in high school. Hitting a garbage can = 1 point. Pedestrian = 2 points. Grandma = 5 points. Grandma with a shopping cart = 10 points.
As an ex Marlboro McLaren employee I am contract bound to hate Ferrari. However my first memory of F1 was back in, erm, a bloody long time ago. My father had some black and white cine footage of Monaco from 1961, he showed me the film in about 1970 and I was utterly enamored with the Ferrari 156's (sharknose). The idea of a German Count driving a blood red Ferrari that looked like that sparked something in me that pretty much went on to lead to a life time fascination with F1. Oh and yeah I was really happy to see Kimmi win this one - anyone that enters snowmobile races under the name 'James Hunt' is cool by me.....
I've been in on a couple discussions on this topic and Googled plenty trying to figure it out. I've seen a lot of theories -- most of them obviously flawed -- but not a lot of solid consensus on the answer. The best explanation I've seen -- with the greatest consensus -- says it has something to do with the FIA's efforts to control speed, sort of along the line of the grooved tire idea. Wheel size is constrained by regulation, possibly to force greater tire sidewall height and therefore deflection, etc. Another theory says the small(ish) wheel diameter also limits the space available for brakes; same intent (constrain performance). I'd love to see something concrete but haven't found it yet. Seems like a good question for Steve Matchette or some other technical expert in the know but I have no access to folks with such expertise.