F1 Most liked posts in thread: F1 - 2013

Zapski · Aug 3, 2013

minimark said: ↑

A bit of irony when one considers all the complaints about the gentleman drivers at the24hr of LeMans in recent years, and the danger it presents at that level of racing...

And now we may have a Gentleman...er...check that, an adolescent driver possibly in the highest form of racing there is, F1...

Money talks, and racing in F1 takes a whole heap of it.....
Click to expand...

Sadly it's really no different than the early days of Grand Prix driving when it was all Gentlemen Drivers. Professional teams were something of a rarity, and two of them were state-funded propaganda for the Germans.

So now we're going to get what's essentially a state-funded propaganda team for the Russians it seems. The only difference is that the Russians will probably just take an old MIG 19, turn the wings upside down and nail some wheels to it.

mrntd · Aug 14, 2013

This is very good. Humorous look at how to identify F1 drivers.

I particularly like Grosjean's

A humorous look at how to identify F1 Drivers | The F1 Poet - Ernie Black

Steve · Aug 15, 2013

Interesting to see how technical directors think about the big changes coming to the cars next year. Also a good simple summary of the changes. Here's a snip, see their discussion via Q & A at the link below.

Future vision: Engineers discuss 2014 changes (formula1.com)

The 2014 season will bring with it some of the biggest changes to Formula One racingâ€™s technical regulations for quite some time. Not only is the sport adopting new 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engines, there are also tweaks to the rules concerning aerodynamics and a far greater emphasis on energy recovery systems. We spoke to two technical directors - Toro Rossoâ€™s James Key and Caterhamâ€™s Mark Smith - about the new regulations and what effect theyâ€™ll have on the design of next yearâ€™s cars, but first, here is a summary of the main changes:

Engine - itâ€™s out with 2.4-litre normally-aspirated V8 engines and in with 1.6-litre V6 turbo engines, revving to a maximum of 15,000rpm.

Gearbox - gearboxes are to have eight forward ratios - rather than the current seven - which each team must nominate ahead of the season.

Energy Recovery Systems (ERS) - in 2014, a larger proportion of each carâ€™s power will come from ERS which, together with the engine, make up the powertrain or power unit. As well as generating energy under braking, ERS units will also generate power using waste heat from the engineâ€™s turbocharger. Unlike the current KERS - which give drivers an extra 80bhp for six seconds per lap - the 2014 ERS will give drivers around 160bhp for 33 seconds per lap. To compensate for the extra power being generated under braking by ERS, teams will be allowed to use an electronic rear brake control system.

Fuel - to promote fuel efficiency, fuel will be limited to 100kg per race.

Minimum weight - to compensate for the increased weight of the 2014 powertrain, minimum weight has been increased from the current 642kg to 690kg.

Exhaust - unlike today where two exhaust tailpipes are used, the 2014 regulations mandate the use of a single tailpipe which must be angled upwards to prevent the exhaust flow being used for aerodynamic effect. Additionally, bodywork is not allowed to be placed behind the tailpipe.

Nose height - for safety reasons the height of noses will be reduced in 2014. The maximum height is currently 550mm, whereas next year itâ€™s 185mm.

Front wing - front wings will be a little narrower next year with the width reduced from 1800mm to 1650mm.

Rear wing - the rear wing will also look a little different in 2014 compared to this yearâ€™s models. The lower beam wing is being outlawed and the main flap will be slightly shallower in profile.

2014 Q&A - Caterham's Mark Smith and Toro Rosso's James Key .....
Click to expand...

Click here for the interview.

goaljnky · Aug 15, 2013

Zapski said: ↑

Sauber F1 Team | Vertrag steht und erste Zahlungen sind erfolgt

So it's a "go" then.
Click to expand...

And here I thought the Russian that bought his 18 year old college daughter an $80 million penthouse in NY had money...

Steve · Aug 19, 2013

No Red Bull seat for Raikkonen in 2014 (racer.com)

Jonathan Noble | August 19, 2013

Daniel Ricciardo now appears set to secure the second Red Bull Formula 1 seat for 2014, with talks between the team and Kimi Raikkonen having come to an end.

Amid growing speculation that Red Bull had decided to pick Ricciardo, Raikkonen's manager Steve Robertson told AUTOSPORT on Monday that the Finn was no longer a contender to line-up alongside Sebastian Vettel next year.

Robertson confirmed the news, which first appeared in Finnish newspaper Turun Sanomat, that the former world champion's discussions with Red Bull had come to an end.

"It's true," said Robertson. "Kimi will not be driving for Red Bull in 2014. We held some talks, but a deal will not be happening."

Red Bull had openly admitted that its choice for Mark Webber's replacement was between Raikkonen and Ricciardo, despite being made aware in Hungary that Fernando Alonso could be available too.

Raikkonen had always been happy to stay at Lotus for 2014, but the prospect of racing for reigning champion Red Bull was given serious consideration. The Finn's representatives opened negotiations with Red Bull, as the team weighed up whether to opt for Raikkonen's experience and guaranteed speed, or put its faith in a youngster like Ricciardo as a long-term prospect.

Although Red Bull is insisting that it is not in a position yet to announce its 2014 drivers, Robertson's revelation that Raikkonen is now out of the running points to a Ricciardo deal being a formality. An announcement about Red Bull's plans could be made as soon as this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, although the team may opt to wait for the following race in Italy.

Should Ricciardo be confirmed, he will move up to Red Bull's main team after two full seasons with its junior Toro Rosso squad. He also competed in 11 races for HRT in 2011.

RAIKKONEN HAS OTHER OPTIONS

The collapse of the Red Bull talks means that Raikkonen's best option to remain in competitive machinery in 2014 is to finalize a fresh deal with Lotus. But such a deal is not a formality, amid questions about the financial health of the team, with Raikkonen reportedly having been paid late on some occasions.

Robertson said that Lotus was just one possibility for Raikkonen as talks continued with a number of teams.

"We are pretty confident that Kimi will be in F1 next year," he explained. "There are options â€“ and that is plural â€“ out there and I will continue to talk to teams. I am hopeful we will sort something out in the not too distant future."

This article originally appeared in Autosport.com
Click to expand...

Zapski · Aug 22, 2013

This is a good read - Gerald Donaldson: DC Describes A Disastrous Belgian GP

David Coulthard kept a diary of his 1998 season with McLaren. He was deeply involved in the controversial, crash-filled event at the notorious Spa circuit. His bad day in Belgium ended with Michael Schumacher accusing him of attempted murderâ€¦

â€œLike most drivers I love the breathtaking and exhilarating Spa circuit, where the adrenaline runs higher than anywhere we race. Itâ€™s a fabulous place, tremendously satisfying and thrilling for us as well as the spectators. Every corner at Spa is famous in racing lore and the track has been the scene of some of the sportâ€™s greatest battles. It is also notorious for wet weather and big accidents. Unfortunately this yearâ€™s event had far too much of both and, sad to say, yours truly was in the thick off it.

â€œIn the pre-race warmup session the rain began that was to continue to fall throughout the race. Also a forecast of what was to come were the numerous incidents of cars sliding off the soaking wet track. More worrying was the lack of visibility when following other cars. In the spray it was difficult to even see the track, let alone the car in front. My McLaren team mate Mika Hakkinen and I were on the front row, ahead of Jordanâ€™s Damon Hill, Ferrariâ€™s Michael Schumacher and the rest of the 22-car field.

â€œAs I sat there on the starting grid in the pouring rain my visor was steaming up, the last thing you want moments before you're going to need the clearest possible vision. With one eye on the starting lights I reached down between my legs and got the leather shammy and gave my visor a quick wipe. Despite this unwanted distraction I got away smoothly, we all made it safely around La Source and started down the hill toward Eau Rouge. Suddenly, my rear wheels spun. The car veered sharp right, smashed into the wall, then shot back across the track directly in front of the oncoming pack.

â€œI still don't know what caused me to spin, though it seems likely I just made a mistake, lost it and from then on was just a passenger. At first I was convinced that I was hit from behind, but when I watched it later on video I couldn't see anyone close. In fact, no one could see anything except glimpses of cars smashing into each other and wheels and debris flying in all directions through the clouds of spray.

â€œIt all happened so quickly. I don't really remember many details, after the first hit against the wall. I saw it coming and got ready for more. In that impact my visor popped open and as the car bounced back I grabbed the chinpiece of my helmet with both hands and held on for dear life. I ducked down as low as possible in the cockpit because I was afraid of another car coming over the top and taking my helmet with it.

â€œI just prayed that my car wouldn't rebound into the middle of the track. But it did and it was destroyed, as were many others. When the red flag came out there were a dozen cars parked there in what looked like a wrecker's yard. It was one of the biggest ever multiple shunts and a miracle that no one was seriously hurt.

â€œI don't know how many cars hit me. My cockpit was a steaming mess, with cold fire extinguisher fluid spraying onto my legs. My left foot was bruised from bashing around in the footwell, and my head had also taken a knock. Mika Salo came up and asked me if I was okay. My natural reaction was to say yes, though I was actually feeling a bit shell-shocked and wasn't entirely positive that I was okay, or even where I was.

â€œWhen I got back to the garage the team was getting the T-car ready for the re-start, which would take nearly an hour while the track was cleaned up. For a while I wasn't sure what track we were at. Gradually, it came back that we were at Spa and the Belgian Grand Prix would start all over again. Once I got back into the car I felt fine and just focussed on making a good start among the 18 survivors who would again temp fate on a soaking wet Spa.

â€œOn the second start Mika and Michael touched going around La Source. Mika spun, was hit by another car and his race ended there and then. Half way around the first lap Alexander Wurz tried to pass me in his Benetton, we collided and flew off the track. Alex was unable to continue. As I was sliding backwards through a gravel trap I selected first gear. I let the car slide through onto the grass on the other side and rejoined the race - in 16th and last place.

â€œThe day after the race Alex sent me a fax saying he hadn't been able to find me at the track to apologize for running into me. He hoped that the incident wouldn't affect our personal relationship. I had helped him settle in when he moved to Monaco and we saw each other there occasionally. It was a nice gesture on his part and I phoned him and left a message on his answering machine, saying that I would prefer that he didn't run into me, but there were no hard feelings. There was no animosity after this incident, though there was a lot of it to come.

â€œCars were flying off the track all around Spa. The Safety Car came out a couple of times, while the marshals removed abandoned cars from dangerous positions. But I was making little progress on intermediate tyres as the rain fell more heavily. On lap 9 I stopped to change to full wets and came back out in 13th place, second last in what remained of the 22-car field.

â€œMeanwhile, Michael Schumacher was leading the race and the team kept me informed of his progress. Because of the spray I couldn't see much in my mirrors. On lap 24 my engineer Pat Fry said Michael was coming up behind to lap me and that I should prepare to let him past. As I dropped down the hill from Malmedy through Rivage I caught a glimpse of a car approaching, and the marshals began waving blue flags to let me know a faster car was coming up behind me. As I went through the Pouhon corner I maintained my position and my speed on the right hand side of the track to give Michael plenty of room to overtake me. The next thing I knew there was an almighty thump at the rear of my car.

"I was in total disbelief! I flicked on the radio and said that Michael had hit me from behind and his Ferrari had just gone past me on three wheels. My car had lost the rear wing in the impact and I came into the pits behind Michael, who somehow managed to make it there on three wheels. The guys directed me into the garage, where I got out of the car. As I was taking off my gloves Michael came running into our garage shouting and screaming at the top of his lungs: â€˜WERE YOU ****ING TRYING TO KILL ME?!â€™

â€œI said something like: "It was you who ran into the back of me, pal." Michael tried to get closer to me, but my guys held him back. In his fax to me Alex Wurz said that our guys should have let Michael through, because I still had my helmet on! That was the only funny part of this exchange. I was extremely angry at Michael's outburst. I'm afraid I responded in kind and my remarks were widely reported.

â€œI said that for Michael to come into the garage acting like an animal and accusing me of trying to kill him was totally unacceptable and disgusting. If he couldn't do it himself he really needed to get some help to control his anger.

â€œI explained that the team had told me Michael was coming and asked me to move over, which I would have done anyway. I was having a terrible race and he was about to lap me, so I was getting out of his way. Either he wasn't watching in front of him or he couldn't see me in the poor visibility. I hadn't moved over, or swerved, or slowed down. He just drove straight into the back of me.

â€œWhen I had incidents with him in the past - such as in Argentina earlier in the year, where he also hit me from behind - I had waited and discussed it with him like a man afterwards. I didn't come stomping down the pit lane asking if he was trying to kill me. I said that until Michael was prepared to discuss it reasonably, man-to-man, I had no interest in talking to him.

â€œThere were accusations from Michael and Ferrari that I deliberately took him off to help my team mate Mika in the championship. I thought this was absolute bollocks - paranoia in the extreme. I said that while it might be understandable in this twisted world that some people would suggest such a thing, you only had to watch the TV footage to see that I was trying to get out of his way. I expected him to drive around me - not straight into the back of me.

â€œIt was completely absurd to think that I would willingly risk becoming involved in an accident that could have been lethal. I had already had more than my share of crashes at Spa and the whole weekend, including the practice accidents, was a wakeup call for us all. In the race the conditions were atrocious, visibility was often nil, and there were cars aquaplaning off all over the place. Before the incident with Michael I had been on the radio for four or five laps, telling the team to speak to the Stewards and get the Safety Car out for the safety of all the drivers.

â€œWith a new wing on the back of my car I went back out to finish the race. I was seven laps down, but there was a chance I could collect a point because cars were still dropping out. Just before the finish there was another serious accident caused by the poor visibility. Giancarlo Fisichella's Benetton was destroyed, and briefly caught fire, when it ran full force into the back of Shinji Nakano's slower Minardi.

â€œAfter the race was over the Stewards investigating our coming-together called it a racing incident and that neither Michael nor I was to blame. Michael later modified his remarks (and at Monza, the next race, we met and made an uneasy peace). What bothered me most was the personal attack on my integrity. That is something I place great value on and I could not accept it being questioned.
In our sport we might all have an inflated opinion of ourselves, because you need a lot of confidence to do what we do. But I know right from wrong. I did not believe I had done anything wrong, nor did most of those who saw what happened.

â€œOnly eight cars were still running at the end of a disastrous Grand Prix. I was classified seventh, five laps behind the winner. One of the few positive things to happen in Belgium was Damon Hill's first victory for Eddie Jordan's team. I was delighted for them both and I don't think anyone begrudged them the win in what had otherwise been a black day for the sport.

- excerpt from DAVIDâ€™S DIARY by David Coulthard (with Gerald Donaldson)
Click to expand...

Along with a video of the race highlights

[ame=http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x5kt5l_spa-francorchamps-1998-belgium-gp-h_auto]Spa Francorchamps 1998 Belgium gp highlights - VidÃ©o Dailymotion[/ame]

Nathan · Aug 23, 2013

Ecclestone says 2014 Grand Prix of America is dead

The United States of America will not be getting a second Formula One race next year. The troubled Grand Prix of America, which was slated to run on a street circuit on the shores of the Hudson river and in the shadow of the New York City skyline has been shelved, following the failure of the race's organizers to come up with the requisite $100 million in funds demanded by F1's tempestuous maestro, Bernie Ecclestone. The problematic Grand Prix was already pushed back once, from the 2013 season to 2014, and Ecclestone has also torn up at least one contract.

At the helm of the US race is Leo Hindrey, a multi-billionaire and a managing partner at InterMedia Partners, and Chris Pook, an ally of Ecclestone's and the former boss of the CART. The two placed Swiss financier and bank UBS in charge of putting together the $100 million. While UBS has only been on the case since June, according to the CNN report, that's apparently long enough for Ecclestone, who told the news channel, "It's not on the cards for next year. They haven't got any money."

Ecclestone followed up, saying the GPoA "is like Donington all over again," referring to the race at the UK's Donington Park. The UK track was meant to take the British Grand Prix from Silverstone in 2010, but was dropped before a single race could be ran, due to its failure to come up with the $210-million race fee. Despite the lack of funds, the organizers of US race remain confident that they'll still be on the finalized calendar to be released by the FIA at the end of the year.

Ecclestone's decision regarding this second US race is a telling one, though, as CNN points out. Running a race with the NYC skyline has been a dream of the F1 boss for year, and while that dream may be in tatters, there's still a spot on the F1 calendar that will need to be filled. It's unclear what will happen if the US race organizers can come up with the money before the end of the year.

tampadave · Aug 23, 2013

I'm new to MA and just discovered the F1 thread. What a bonus! I'm a big F1 fan, so I'm very glad to see the coverage here. By coincidence, I just received a copy of Nigel Mansell's autobiography from Amazon.

Glad to be here.

Minidave · Aug 25, 2013

The pass Vettel made on the Hamster was amazing, and then to pull a second and half in the first lap was pretty damn impressive.....but from there on it was a classic Vettel race, pull out a good lead, cruise home and stop running those fastest laps at the end like that dammit! :biggrin5:

Minidave · Aug 26, 2013

Slow down dammit, you're winning too fast! :biggrin5:

Yeah, they also tried to get him to cool it towards the end too, but then the weather changed and they told him to go for it.

Crashton · Aug 26, 2013

Slow down & hurry up.....

I know what Kimi would have told them. :lol:

Zapski · Aug 26, 2013

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8eQ9wMaO9I]Tooned 50: Episode 3 - The Emerson Fittipaldi Story - YouTube[/ame]

Crashton · Aug 27, 2013

Did anyone see this? I think it was brilliant!!!

The video Shell doesn't want you to see on Vimeo

Minidave · Aug 28, 2013

Wonder if that's what they were "booing" at during Vettel"s interview? Someone removing the banners?

B.A.D. · Aug 29, 2013

It is a good thing that Seb is such a down to earth, team player. I can't imagine what he would be like if he was a diva like Lewis...

B.A.D. · Aug 29, 2013

I just realized that I forgot to turn my sarcasm font on with my post! While I think Lewis is the worst as far as ego goes, I don't think Seb is far behind. I give him credit for being a 3 time F1 champ, but I'm curious how much of that has to do with the car versus his actual skill.

Minidave · Aug 29, 2013

I'm sorry, I don't buy that argument at all......Seb's teammate the last three seasons has years more experience, is considered a top driver, and hasn't been able to come close to Seb's performance in the exact same car.

No, if he was driving a Caterham he would not be world champion three times over, but neither would any of the other top drivers......the comparison is not valid.

Crashton · Aug 29, 2013

Cars in a team may be the same, but drivers are not. What is splendid for one driver is often called undriveable by a teams second driver. You can bet your paycheck that the Red Bull is what Vettel wants & not necessarily what Webber wanted. Yes they are very adjustable machines, but I'd bet there were more resources on Vettel's side of the garage.

My main point is all drivers like a car a different way. Vettel is very happy with his car & it shows. When his car is not perfect neither is he & that also shows.

Steve · Aug 30, 2013

One of the teams tried that a few years ago. Someone (Bernie? FIA? other teams?) said not allowed and that's why we had a couple BARs with dual livery, split down the middle with a zipper.

CHKMINI · Aug 30, 2013

F1 = Drama. Give me grassroots racing like NASA and SCCA where the drivers don't give a damn how they look, they drive for the fun, and they can actually turn a wrench.

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