Comments on: Rain likely at German GP weekend

By: just me

just me — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 05:05:28 +0000

… a small improvement in downforce or mechanical grip should result in a larger performance gain in harsh conditions vs. more forgiving conditions.

Mechanical grip with wet tyres on wet asphalt is so much lower that the differences in downforce are secondary compared to the driver’s skill to find a good line with just the right amount of “wetness” (not too wet, not too dry) to find optimal grip.

Vettel won Monza 2008 by skill and consistency, not by the aerodynamics/downforce of his STR.

By: Hakka

Hakka — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 05:43:03 +0000

narrow down the differences between cars.

I never quite understood why this is. I would imagine any advantage or disadvantage will be magnified under extreme conditions. That is, a small improvement in downforce or mechanical grip should result in a larger performance gain in harsh conditions vs. more forgiving conditions.

Can anyone explain?

By: just me

just me — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:17:30 +0000

I respectfully disagree:
wet races bring out the driver skills and narrow down the differences between cars.

Driving ‘on the edge’ in rain is first and foremost a skill and ‘feel’ challenge. Second is the ‘brain’ challenge – choosing a competitive strategy! When it comes to “brain versus muscle”, Ferrari failed miserably in the recent wet races .

By: just me

just me — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 18:11:23 +0000

Yahoo

By: Kovy

Kovy — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 06:16:39 +0000

Which is why I just put down $5 on Toro Rosso or Force India to win. $2500 return.

By: manatcna

manatcna — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 22:01:52 +0000

Wet races are more or less lotteries

By: TommyB

TommyB — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:46:43 +0000

Yay thats 4 Toro Rosso fans on this website!!

By: Bartholomew

Bartholomew — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:38:14 +0000

Orders from FIA :
All races wet in 2010 !

By: just me

just me — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 17:32:26 +0000

me too – huge STR fan! Always love to see an underdog (small team, small budget) to take on the big guys and and embarrass them every now and then.

I wondered at the beginning of this season what the impact of Gerhard Berger leaving would be and it appears now that my fears became true: STR without Berger is not competitive! Of course, there never is just ONE factor (Vettel leaving being the major one).

Now, with a 50% chance of rain, I get really excited for STR again: is Buemi able to shine in rain and put STR on the map this season? Hope floats …

By: F1Fan

F1Fan — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 15:29:19 +0000

Rain and low temperatures should help RBR. If it stays dry, look out for drivers on the clean side of the grid at the start. There is a very significant racing-line advantage at the start at the Ring.

Also, Keith, why is Murray Walker predicting a very strong race for Ferrari this weekend ??