Duracell Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 44 minutes ago, Derby_EnglandLoyal said: Lewis Hamilton for me and also tipped Button to do well this year as long with Force India. Mercedes seemed to have pulled further away than before, and I agree DEL, really can't see Hamilton being beaten again. He so clearly had the edge on Rosberg last season and he only has to beat himself. Honda have made some gains, but more are needed still if they want to get back to podiums. I also think the McLaren chassis doesn't have quite as much downforce as they let on, but definitely think they'll improve last year. Button doing well this year would be consistent points-scoring finishes and beating Alonso. Both are realistic aims. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicME85 Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 The Honda PU has been running detuned but the McLaren has been setting good sector times which actually suggests the chassis is very good and I wouldnt be surprised, there was a lot of talk last season about how good it was despite Peter Prod only having a short amount of time within McLaren, the MP4-31 however is his car. Ferrari could challenge Mercedes...if their PU can hack it, so far its not looking good for the 2016 Ferrari Power Unit, the main team plus Sauber and Haas have all had trouble with it so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicME85 Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 Sooooooo....Ferrari have tested the Halo design on Kimi's car this morning. Looks awful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duracell Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 22 hours ago, RicME85 said: The Honda PU has been running detuned but the McLaren has been setting good sector times which actually suggests the chassis is very good and I wouldnt be surprised, there was a lot of talk last season about how good it was despite Peter Prod only having a short amount of time within McLaren, the MP4-31 however is his car. Ferrari could challenge Mercedes...if their PU can hack it, so far its not looking good for the 2016 Ferrari Power Unit, the main team plus Sauber and Haas have all had trouble with it so far. I remember reading some detailed analysis from someone (can't remember who, but it was a former aero engineer in Autosport) who broke down the deficit McLaren had to Mercedes and he still believe that last season they were at least half a second off aerodynamically. The chassis might be very good in terms of the rest of the field with the exception of Red Bull, but I'd be really impressed if they've clawed that gap to the Mercs. Having said that, the first 4 tenths of those half a second are comparatively easy to find - it's the last tenth that's always the hardest. On a slightly different note, I think it's a good thing that Arai is leaving Honda. It's well documented how often Japanese manufacturers fail so often in global motorsport, despite their resources and passion. Quite often is a domineering board and/or an older yoda-type figure-head whose word is gospel to all those who work immediately beneath him. Arai always struck me as one of those types and his abrasive style was totally out of tune with the way Formula One and McLaren work. Honda have some of the best engineers in the business, and with the right management they will catch up with Mercedes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenportram Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 7 hours ago, RicME85 said: Sooooooo....Ferrari have tested the Halo design on Kimi's car this morning. Looks awful. how can visibility be okay with a great big bit of carbon fibre right in front of your face? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicME85 Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 Photoshopped onto the Pirelli test car Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duracell Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 It's a really clumsy and heavy-handed solution to the issue. It happens a lot in F1, the teams and stakeholders can't agree and they end up with a compromise that no one-really wants. Watch the video here @davenportram released by Mercedes which shows what the vision might be like. https://www.formula1.com/content/fom-website/en/latest/technical/2015/8/video---mercedes-cockpit-protection-concept.html Looks better that the one on Raikkonen's car, but still seems like there's a fair amount of obstruction and still plenty of areas which aren't protected. Sounds like the canopy idea was dismissed as they were worried about driver extraction, but I think this area had more legs to it. In the 1970s, the front-running cars at Le Mans weren't allowed closed cockpits as they were thought of as dangerous (funny how the wisdom changes), but the circuit there used to have one, long 3.7 mile straight without any chicanes and open cockpits are very draggy. Renault got around this by building a glass bubble around the cockpit with a hole on the top so they could tell the rule-makers that it was still an open cockpit car while retaining most of the benefits of a coupe. A solution like that would look loads better without reducing vision. Maybe you could have a removable strut across the top to prevent bouncing wheels or large pieces of debris protruding into the cockpit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenportram Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 I can understand the driver extraction concern but surely they can design one that either detatches with certain impact, or is quick release. Seems like it is a no because they'd rather have the research money spent on faster cars. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 I hate the halo - achieves little in my view, if you are that worried, close cockpits is the only solution and don't tell me getting the driver out is beyond the wit of F1 teams - quick release systems and so on. Or, accept that motor racing is dangerous and leave them open. Anyway, for the new season it already looks like it'll another Merc dominant year, followed by Ferrari then a midfield battle witch will most likely be the most interesting bit. I tip McLaren and Red Bull to improve, Williams to drop back, HASS to be quite good, Manor to also surprise, FIF1 and Sauber to struggle. Renault to be rubbish. But who is going to pick up the tag of the new Maldonado? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicME85 Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 Rio Haryanto will. Not sure FIF1 will struggle, the car is one of the fastest in testing and their development cycle is out of sync due to the late move to the Toyota windtunnel last year. Haas seem to be having issues with the brake by wire (which is odd as Im sure its the system Ferrari use so should be able to give them the settings to dial it in as part of their agreement. Back to the Halo, Im in the 'motorsport is dangerous camp', it always has been and as Martin Brundle says, it pronounces such on the admission ticket. Im not saying go back to the 'Killer Years' (excellent BBC documentary that all F1 fans should watch) but an essence of danger still needs to exist. The halo that Ferrari ran yesterday was just a mock up made from carbon fibre, the real one is made from tube steel: There is another design the FIA tested that is even worse: The original idea: Original fighter style canopy: I think the logical solution is what Red Bull are apparently going to test at some point in the next month or so...the Batmobile. This is apparently the top hoop of the halo with a screen replacing the vertical support. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Duracell Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 Think Haryanto's might prove to be a bit erratic, although he last tested an F1 car a couple of years ago when they were completely different, so maybe his early adventures can be put down to his fresh start. The Manor is fast enough to make a nuisance of itself this season so we'll soon find out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicME85 Posted March 4, 2016 Author Share Posted March 4, 2016 really looking forward to this season...just to see what happens behind Mercedes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RadioactiveWaste Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 I'm looking forward to the midfield pecking order sorting itself out, but up front I'm fearing more boredom. I'm genuinely in the accepting there is risk camp - I've seen the Killer years program to. It's pretty shocking how it used to be, but if you remove all risk you might as well just run the races on the simulator. Ultimately, no one is forced to compete in motor-sport, same as no one is forced to play rugby etc. I think the bat mobile makes more sense than the halo - and I liked the old Le Mans cars seems an infinatly better solution if that's the way the sport is compelled to go. I don't think the qualifying changes will amount to much in the end (if they would have, i've no doubt they'd have been stalled during the process). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenportram Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 new qualifying is boring and stupid. Theres not enough time for the cars to get back out. plus teams that want to start on the harder compound in the race will go out in Q2 and do one lap, otherwise if hey go out on soft tyres to get through to Q3 they would have to start the race on them its dull as dishwater. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davenportram Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 back to the old dats for me would be better. Make a qualifying tyre that can do 10 laps, make them all go out and do ten laps during the 15 minutes, no tyre changes allowed but let them have one pit stop with refuelling. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zag zig Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 On 4 March 2016 at 14:08, Duracell said: Think Haryanto's might prove to be a bit erratic, although he last tested an F1 car a couple of years ago when they were completely different, so maybe his early adventures can be put down to his fresh start. The Manor is fast enough to make a nuisance of itself this season so we'll soon find out. You nailed that one! Rookie will make mistakes for sure, needs to learn out to navigate the pit lane for starters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sith Happens Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 1 hour ago, davenportram said: new qualifying is boring and stupid. Theres not enough time for the cars to get back out. plus teams that want to start on the harder compound in the race will go out in Q2 and do one lap, otherwise if hey go out on soft tyres to get through to Q3 they would have to start the race on them its dull as dishwater. Agree.....the old excitement as it went down to the last few seconds has gone...nothing happened in the last 3 or 4 minutes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sith Happens Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Looks like they are going to abandon it, but ecclestone reluctant to go back to old one as it will mean mercedes will be 1-2. But surely isnt that the point? If your fastest then you get pole? He clearly wants to mess the grid up to make the races more entertaining, may aswell say sod it and draw lots if thats what he wants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RicME85 Posted March 19, 2016 Author Share Posted March 19, 2016 He wants what they do in BTCC essentially but instead of a success ballast its a success time addition. Just crap. If you are the best you deserve to be out the front Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CumbrianRam Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 McLaren look much better this year at least, they will just get better as the season goes on, regular points come summer IMO. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.