Forum Replies Created
- Posts
It seems I’m not the only one who thinks so. Check out the bottom pic here. http://www.racecar-engineering.com/cars/mercedes-w03-2/ Note that it lines up with the channel that seems to feed air to the top of the diffuser.
During the race I noticed that the hole at the back of the “coke bottle” of the Merc seemed to feature some form of turbulent air being forced through it. Whether it was dust or vapour I couldnt tell and it was only visible for a second in the corners. I dont recall if the DRS was enabled but the puff might suggest a response to the DRS activation. http://www.google.ie/imgres?q=mercedes+f1+2012+car+rear&um=1&hl=en&biw=974&bih=636&tbm=isch&tbnid=g227s4r2GPSr3M:&imgrefurl=http://www.racecar-engineering.com/news/f1-teams-question-mercedes-rear-wing-legality/&docid=YHdWlLW1LnysKM&imgurl=http://www.racecar-engineering.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/upw03.jpg&w=640&h=383&ei=l-VpT62oHYK6hAfjuPCXCg&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=233&sig=105030831841779622944&page=1&tbnh=110&tbnw=184&start=0&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:2,s:0&tx=133&ty=35
Here’s a pic of the rear end and something to watch in the next race. Of course if it rains there will be no DRS but I also think that it has a constant effect as well. I cant see the technical logic of directing air from the back to the front wing effectivelyThe BBC seem to have done a good job but it is still not live. However their viewing figures were up on the live race last year. http://www.forumula1.com/2012/f1/f1-news/bbc-viewing-figures-up-despite-delayed-coverage/ Sky however, of the pay-channel’s 2012 coverage, meanwhile, averaged just 526,000 viewers. As far as I am aware you can get a weekend subscription to Sky and those viewers will probably watch the BBC for its live coverage compounding the pain for Sky. I was set up to watch the race on RTL with commentry by radio 5live but a link posted here allowed me to watch the full sky show online, including free practise. It was ok, I think Brundle needs to chill but I hear the show is being built around him. I dont see the added cost being justified and I would prefer a bit less of the dramatics and more of the racing. I still dont like DRS and the false drama it injects to the show.
Mercedes you mean? They would have known what McLaren were doing with the engine though. If the example given by the Fia is true and it was hard on the engine to impliment, then they may have asked Mercedes questions about reliability in that area and aroused suspicians. Also I read somewhere that Red Bull sounded strange in the corners and engine mapping was suspected as the cause. We will know soon.
http://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/mercedes-triggered-latest-fia-clampdown-report/
It seems I was right in my suspicians about who triggered the latest clampdown, it was Mercedes.I always felt Felipe was the best driver in 2008 and deserved the championship title. This is not to say that Lewis did anything wrong apart from errors but Singapore was where Felipe lost it. The stats show that ontrack he performed peerlessly and beat Kimi fair and square in equal machinery, something no other driver has managed in F1, in a year you would have expected Kimi to be stronger as WDC. By the end of the season no one could touch him and he had even made Turkey his personal stamping ground by winning 3 in a row. He did the same in Brazil, giving one win to Kimi so he could beat Lewis. In spite of two difficult years, if he can beat Kimi, he can beat Alonso IMHO. A lot will be down to the car but if Felipe is happy behind the wheel he will be a contender.
The only chink in Felipes armour is that if he’s not happy for any reason it tends to bother him more than others. Last season he had tyre problems, which Fernando handled better and that masked his real performance. 2012 looks to be different, and he knows what he has to do. Last season was a shock for him but probably removed any emotional fallout from his accident and now all he has to do is focus on the job at hand and beat Alonso.http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/97662
This move by the FIA was brought to their attention by an engine manufcturer and I think it was Mercedes because engine mapping would have no effect on their system if it was based on heating redirected air. It could prove problematic for some of the others and Red Bull, having used it extensbily to great effect, maybe more than others.
There are rumours Renault and Mercedes-powered teams are still using clever engine mapping techniques for aerodynamic effect. http://paddocktalk.com/news/html/story-183675.htmlJack I agree with you regarding driver aids. A drivers skill is measured by how well he uses his right foot to find the limit. DRS is an abomintion in my view because it takes away what we want to see most, how a driver performs on the limit. By artifically adding 10km of speed while removing downforce, this skill is blurred. No skill attached just showmanship and trickery.
Also overtaking is no longer special and combined with new tightening of the overtaing rules it could become boring. Moving back on line after a defensive move was one area that all drivers were aware of and exploited. It made for some great battles and was one of the few weapons a driver in a slower car had against a faster car. With the introduction of DRS it became even more important. The rights of the driver in the slower car are being completely dismissed and his skill is being stifled in favour of the spectacle. Stick KERS into the mix and you have 2 buttons adding speed artifically. This dilutes the spectacle. IMHOI dont see anything fishy going on at McLaren, just the result of two high performing drivers vieing for dominance. Lewis has had personal problems which affected him last season but he still won 3 races in spite of everything. I dont think MW favours Button, it’s just that Jenson is a very intelligent, likeable driver who has stepped up to the mark and is in the best form of his career. His relationship with everyone is friendly and relaxed and it would be easy to read to much into it IMHO. There is no area that you can criticise him. But Jenson is a much more experienced in that he had a long tough road that evenually silenced all his critics. Lewis came into F1 in a completely different way and had instant success and instant fame. It was always going to have a few rocky moments.
I dont think that Lotus is an option for Lewis, at least not yet. If he decides to move then it will be to either Ferrari or RB for the reasons I suggested above IMHO. A lot will be down to the season. Lewis has a serious management team and he is supremely confident in his own talent. The team have already indicated that they are ready to sign but I believe that Lewis is playing a waiting game to see how the season goes and if Ferrari or RB express an interest, then that strengthens his position in contract negotiations. In fact it would be a bad move to sign too early from Lewis’s stand point. Mind you if the car is quick from the first race I would expect a McLaren contract to be a formality.I reckon Lewis could go to any of the top teams at the moment apart from Mercedes, I believe they are commited to both their drivers. Ferrari and RB both have drivers of high quality and drivers not performing as well as is expected of them and I believe both would jump at the chance to put Lewis in the other car. But in the end it’s all down to Lewis and his management team. Short term it’s down to the car, everbody sees that, I believe a great car will reignite the love between him and McLaren. But I dont think McLaren are to blame in any of this, it was down to Lewis’s love life really. I’m sure we can all relate to that at some level “when nothing really matters anymore”. :) Unfortunately everything around you gets tainted. I thought Mclaren handled it well and still improved the car.
But you do have to ask yourself why the heavyweight management if he intended to stay at McLaren throughout his career. I think that having Alonso and Lewis in Ferraris going hammer and thongs against each other is something that LDM thinks about every night before he goes to bed because no matter what happened it would be legendary. He’s not alone in that dream either I bet. I think his management would lean towards Ferrari because many of their clientele drive them and they get looked after very well by the organisation. RB would be another option with SV and would be spectacular IMHO. My money would be on Lewis to shade it.
They are the only real options at the moment, he’s definately not going anywhere else. When he first started racing and I saw some of his guests, P Diddy et al, I reckoned he’s going to be gettiing a lot of advice there on how to maximise “Brand Lewis”. I reckon he will easily be the biggest earner in F1 ever before he’s finished. Thats an area that McLaren where have been restrictive in the past although I believe Lewis has a generous deal in that regard. However, how many ferrari caps with Lewis Hamilton on them would sell do you think? If Lewis stays at McLaren then this is all fantasy but a pleasant one. Apologies to McLaren fans, no offence intended.
All the news we get in the technical side of F1 is second hand at best. The drivers are a different matter because they are human. I know this about Lewis. Whatever he does will be great.:) I dont know if this matters but Lewis is back with his GF.I get what you mean regarding the bubble and it’s effect but wouldn’t that mean there would be no airflow directed to cool the driver and also in a wet race wouldn’t it cause extra spray reducing visability?
