Are you guys getting the fascinating infrared camera shots from Monza? If not:
[ame=http://youtu.be/24iacFcrVOg]Formula 1 Thermal (IR) Onboard Camera View of Tires - YouTube[/ame]
On the UK TV coverage they said black was under 80C/160F and orange was 120C/220F and above.
I like how you can see how much negative camber they run - on the long Monza straights, most of the tyre width cools down below 80C except for a narrow strip next to the inside sidewall.
And, for the observant, it does seem the video above has been reversed from left to right - the Parabolica definitely goes right!
Vettel lost a lot of fans with his defiance of team orders at the Malaysian Grand Prix. There have been a host of opinion pieces since then on his perceived arrogance.
Yeah, it turns out that, for best handling and grip, not only must a F1 tyre be in the right temperature range, it has to be attached to the front suspension by more than the safety tether.
Saw this at another site and thought you guys might appreciate it. The car is identified as a 1959 Cooper Climax T51. See any resemblance to the modern day MINI bonnet, particularly the striping?
Felipe Massa has warned team-mate Fernando Alonso that he will no longer support the Spaniard as a number two driver and says it's time he focused on himself.
The Brazilian will leave Ferrari at the end of the year when he will be replaced by Kimi Raikkonen. With seven races remaining until that happens, Massa says he'll be 'looking after himself' after spending the past few seasons playing second fiddle.
"I will not race for Alonso from now on," he told Brazilian broadcaster Galvao Bueno TV Globo. "Right from Friday at Singapore I'll be working for myself.
"I will attack all the time, every lap. It's come the time to look after myself."
The 32-year-old has been forced to move aside for Alonso on several occasions, even missing out on what would have been his first win in 29 races at the 2010 German Grand Prix.
Speaking about the new pairing at Ferrari, Massa believes tempers will flare between Alonso and Raikkonen.
"I know both Fernando and Kimi on and off the track and I rate them as excellent drivers, but I'm afraid they will collide when sharing the team.
"I told the bosses to breathe as much as possible while they still can because it will be hard for them to breathe next season."
Good for Felipe. On the other hand (reading between the lines) he's implying that he'll get better results from now on. Sure it has to do with trying to impress some potential future team but if things continue to go as they have lately he might wish he'd kept his mouth shut.
I figured Webber would get some kind of penalty, but 10 grid spots what the hell??? For me Alonso picking up Webber was a high point in a yawner of a race.
Wonder if Lotus will get slapped for having a non-properly attired Renault guy adding air to Romain's car.
I'll second that. I just want to watch some interesting driving and strategy.
If there isn't a battle for the lead, I'm happy to watch any other racing on the track. Thanks to the number of cameras and views provided by F1 for broadcast these days there's almost always video feed available of something interesting and as long as they decide to show and comment on it I'm happy.
I rarely care who wins so if there's actual competition up front I'm usually rooting for whoever isn't leading at the time or hasn't won lately. But though a lead battle does lend additional excitement, thanks to all the other entertainment I'm rarely bored without it.
This is probably what keeps me interested. Seems to me F1 commentators do a pretty good job talking about whatever action is available (and trying to understand the strategy in the background) instead of focusing on a leader whose only real challenge is passing back markers. Maybe they learned that of necessity during the Schumacher era? :biggrin5:
Things could get boring soon though even for an easily entertained person like me if teams shifting their focus more toward 2014 leads to less and less happening (behind Vettel) race after race.
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Yes, I know I'm a broken record on this subject. I'll try to resist bringing it up every chance I get. :wink:
I hear all you guys whining about Vettel and I shake my head......do you not realize what you are seeing?
When Senna was beginning to dominate, did you not cheer for him, or if you weren't alive yet don't you wish you had been there to see it?
Well, you're here now, and you're seeing an amazing driver at the beginning of the height of his prowess.....and I think he's going to get even better.
He already has the amazing ability to put a second or two a lap on the field on cold tires, in this race he also made his tires last 6 laps longer than anyone else, while increasing his lead. This guy is showing you things no one else on the grid can do, and you all are bitching about it?
He's won the same number of races in the same number of starts as Schumi, no one else is even close to his record, and I think he will easily surpass Schumi in totals, I don't know if he'll best him in total championships won, but he'll be close.
I think he's that rare combination of skills, youth, maturity and pure ability that rarely comes along, and I'm having fun watching him!
The best proof of his ability sits in the sister car, where a far more experienced driver cannot match his performance in any area, qualifying, race strategy, race performance, tire maintenance or any other criteria.
On another note, how in the world does Alonso and Ferrari manage those amazing starts? Think of where Alonso would be if his starts were pretty much the same as everyone else's.......6th, 7th? He sure wouldn't be second in the driver's championship.
On the Sky F1 broadcast we heard a team radio message from Lotus telling Grosjean that he was faster than Kimi, and to go ahead and race him. Grosjean protested that with a "no!"
Martin Brundle pointed out that it would have helped Lotus if Grosjean had beaten Kimi, since then they could point at him as their number 1 driver for next year and tell their investors "look, we have a driver who can beat Kimi!"
So it seams to me that the only person who wouldn't let Grosjean race Kimi was Grosjean.
If I'm the team head I'd wait till Kimi was eliminated mathematically first. There is money in having the Drivers Championship, even if the driver is jumping ship the end of the season.
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