Most liked posts in thread: F1 - 2011

Steve · Feb 21, 2011

Nathan said: ↑

Bahrain GP canceled, Ecclestone tries to reschedule
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... and the testing scheduled for Bahrain is now an additional test in Barcelona 8-11 Mar.

Steve · Feb 21, 2011

Interesting to see the cancellation decision was taken out of Bernie's hands by the royal family...apparently Bernie was still thinking about it...

Steve · Feb 24, 2011

The 2011 Williams finally has its party clothes on, plus a few words (below) on the car's design. My favorite line ... "Everyone likes a tight rear end..."

Michael: Lowest rear end ever for Williams (gpupdate.net)

24 Feb 2011

Sam Michael has labelled Williamsâ€™ FW33 as a â€˜no holds barredâ€™ car for the team, which is proud to be entering with a rear end lower than any other car on the grid. The livery of the Grove squadâ€™s contender was revealed on Thursday, chiefly white as new Venezuelan sponsor PDVSA arrives.

â€œAs you know thereâ€™s been a lot of regulation changes,â€ the Technical Director explained. â€œThe aero concept for this car started in December 2009, the mechanical concepts three months later and this forms the backbone of the car. Everyone likes a tight rear end, so thatâ€™s what formed the design process of the FW33.

â€œThe only thing thatâ€™s really free is the rear end, it took many months of development on the dyno. We really had to tear up papers from the past for the transmission and be â€˜no holds barredâ€™.

â€œWe wanted to be the lowest right from the beginning. Itâ€™s the smallest and most compact rear end Williams have ever designed. The whole driving force behind the gearbox is to improve airflow to that rear wing, which will be a key differentiator for this year.

â€œThe top suspension is a z-bone, all the suspension is high because you want to take away any intrusion from the lower part of the rear wing. The driveshaft angles are higher than anyone has ever done in Formula 1 before.

â€œWeâ€™ve taken a non-conventional view on F1 suspension design to achieve this and weâ€™ve had no issues with transmission or rear suspension in testing, so the fundamental part of the car is right and that enables us to just concentrate on performance.

â€œBecause you canâ€™t do as much with the diffuser nw, people have had to push more than in the past.â€
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ScottinBend · Feb 24, 2011

Would have been nice to actually have a decent pick of that tight rear end....!

minimark · Feb 24, 2011

What a tease, all that talk about the rear end and a bunch of pics with not one of them of it.... Would love to see just how much angle there is in those driveshafts....

It's like telling us all about Lindsay Lohens hoo hoo and showing us pics of her face....

Steve · Feb 24, 2011

minimark said: ↑

What a tease, all that talk about the rear end and a bunch of pics with not one of them of it.... Would love to see just how much angle there is in those driveshafts....
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I know! The closest pics I've seen are from earlier in the testing before the new livery. It does look like a rather minimalist rear end from this angle...no good pics of the suspension, etc, though.

Crashton · Feb 25, 2011

ScottinBend said: ↑

Would have been nice to actually have a decent pick of that tight rear end....!
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Are you talking about the Wiiliams umbrella girls? :ihih:

ScottinBend · Feb 25, 2011

Yes and yes...!

Steve · Feb 25, 2011

A few more pics of the Williams FW33:

minimark · Feb 25, 2011

Wow that's actually very sweet!!! Looks like they moved the engine forward too and really opened the whole rear end up so the spoilers will be riding in as much clean air as possible!!! Kudos!

Redbeard · Feb 25, 2011

Wow. The rear-suspension stress-members are aero parts as well. That's impressive. :eek6:

ScottinBend · Feb 25, 2011

Man.....there is nothing back there!

I really want to see this thing driven in anger.

goaljnky · Feb 25, 2011

ScottinBend said: ↑

Man.....there is nothing back there!

I really want to see this thing driven in anger.
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I wish them success and hope they are ... successful. I love seeing someone try stuff outside the box.. I mean grid..

minimark · Feb 26, 2011

Can't stop studying it, the more you look at it the more (or less) you see! If it works and holds up, bet you'll see everyone going in that direction..:devil:

Steve · Feb 26, 2011

Here's another view. Amazing how the engine cover and everything else other than floor and suspension (and rear wing) seems to end ahead of the front of the rear tires!

minimark · Feb 26, 2011

Is it me or does the driver look a tick more forward too?

Steve · Feb 26, 2011

You may be right but I can't see it.

Here's another shot I like. Thanks to the light, at this angle you get a good look at the area opened up by McLaren's U-shaped sidepod arrangement.

Redbeard · Feb 27, 2011

What was that quote? "Brave side of brave." You bet!

Steve · Feb 28, 2011

We've seen this happen before. Wasn't it JPM last time?

Hamilton to drive NASCAR at Watkins Glen (gpupdate.net)

2008 Formula 1 World Champion Lewis Hamilton will enjoy his first taste of a NASCAR next month, with the Englishman set to trade places with Sprint Cup driver Tony Stewart at the legendary Watkins Glen race track.

As part of a demonstration run, Stevenage man Hamilton will step into Stewartâ€™s Chevrolet Impala as the latter takes to the cockpit of 2010â€™s McLaren MP4-25.

From 2012, Woking-based McLaren â€“ eight-times constructorsâ€™ title winners - will be supplying fuel injection systems to NASCAR.
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Steve · Feb 28, 2011

Well done Jackie!! It's not really all down to the tracks of course (and he should have stopped short of proposing that particular solution IMHO) but I do love to see someone respected slating the downside(s) of the Tilke design era.

Stewart: Tilke tracks to blame for lack of passing (crash.net)

Sir Jackie Stewart has called for a change in design theory to improve the F1 show for fans and drivers alike.

Sir Jackie Stewart has called for more individuality among grand prix circuits in a bid to spice up the show, after several seasons where overtaking has been at a premium.

Still frustrated by Fernando Alonso's fruitless attempts to pass Vitaly Petrov and, potentially, go on to claim a third world title in Abu Dhabi late last season, Stewart has claimed that alterations to the most modern of circuits could help improve overtaking more simply than all the technological innovations - such as KERS and adjustable rear wings - being dreamed up and added to the current breed of F1 car.

"In my time, I have been a very keen golfer and, when I think of the great golf courses of the world â€“ from St Andrews to Pebble Beach to Augusta â€“ they all have green fairways and they all have sandy bunkers," the Scot told Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper, "Some suit the longer hitters; others place a premium on accuracy, but they each have their own unique characteristics. Crucially, no two of the ones I mentioned were designed by the same person.

"My belief is that the major reason for the lack of overtaking in modern grand prix racing is down to the modern tracks, nearly all of which have been designed by the same man, the German architect Hermann Tilke."

While he praised Tilke for the general improvement in facilities at new venues, he called on the German - who was behind such tracks as Shanghai, Bahrain and Abu Dhabi - to consider making alterations to sections of his designs in order to facilitate overtaking at otherwise sanitised circuits.

"Racetracks have changed since my day - and thank God for that," he noted, "Back then, a driver who raced for five years had a two in three chance of being killed, [and] four to six drivers a year lost their lives. It was totally unacceptable and I campaigned hard for improved safety in the sport, which happily came to pass. It is nearly 17 years since a life was lost in an F1 car, [and] I can't think of an industry, a sport or a business where that standard of risk management has been achieved.

"But we have now gone too far the other way. Circuits should not permit liberties to be abused without a penalty that can be instantly recognised by spectators or TV viewers. Safety is one thing; abuse of privilege is another.

"The new circuits themselves must take their share of the blame. Put simply, they are largely carbon copies of each other and they tend not to penalise mistakes. Take the last race of 2010 for example. There were four drivers who could have clinched the championship in Abu Dhabi, but Ferrari's Fernando Alonso was the overwhelming favourite. He had only to finish fourth to secure his third world crown, [but] it didn't happen because he could not find a way past Vitaly Petrov, a rookie in his first season in F1 and with little or no experience of being under such pressure."

Such was the ability to make a mistake and get away with it in Abu Dhabi, Stewart complains that, as well as finishing higher up the order, Alonso could just as easily have slipped back or gone out of the race altogether.

"Alonso ran wide at the Yas Marina track on four separate occasions as he tried to best the Renault and yet, incredibly, the car behind him, driven by Mark Webber, was still not able to pass," he sighed, "The run-off area was so well manicured and without obstacles that Alonso was effectively able to make fairly big mistakes and still maintain his position. That is plainly wrong."

Even though the FIA has allowed the use of KERS and adjustable rear wings in 2011, Stewart insists that there is a simpler solution to the age-old problem of little overtaking.

"Unless circuits are modified, spectators and television viewers might have to live with a lack of overtaking for some time," he ventured, "but I have another solution. What if Tilke simply modified the corners around his circuits in such a way that if a driver runs wide he is penalised? What if the surface of the run-off areas was changed so that a car's traction is reduced and a driver going wide loses ground either to the car he is following or allows the car chasing him to pass? Pretty simple really â€“ and a lot cheaper than developing KERS.

"Making mistakes is something we all do. In most cases, we have to pay for those mistakes. We shouldn't die for them, but we surely should be penalised. This is what race fans the world over want to see; the best drivers in the world, in the most advanced cars, competing to become world champion. They should not be able to get there by getting away with making mistakes...."
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