The Official 2017 Australian Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**

[Ahonen]

The Moose said:

Ahonen said:

Williams did a test, probably over 15 years ago, where they did a direct back to back of steel vs carbon. The result was that the difference in braking performance was tiny and far smaller than expected. The big gain from carbon disks is weight - more importantly unsprung rotational weight.

Absolutely, but I thought I'd keep things simple!

[CraigyMc]

Z3MCJez said:

Will Buxton is alright. Good even.

He's a really nice bloke in person and really does a lot of research on his stuff, unlike many of his peers.
He's just on the wrong coverage for me (NBCSN) - talent wasted. He'd be a better pitlane reporter than Ted for Sky.

[George29]

CraigyMc said:

Indycar tried that somewhat successfully with the hanford wing, but it was really about ovals.

That is the sort of thing I'd implement.

Edited by George29 on Monday 27th March 20:33

[kambites]

skeggysteve said:

That Lotus 72 is so much more beautiful than today's cars!

Hmm, I always thought the 72 was a complete pig in terms of aestetics, the way the rounded cockpit pokes up steeply out of a completely flat body looks awful.

[S0 What]

Even i found that one boring but ho-hum there are other races
Stroll was pretty much as i thought (if not worse) but lets give him a few races to see if he settles down, if not munster was correct and he's a waist of space and only good for dads cash.
McLaren went way further than i thought then went and broke just as points were on the cards
Good to see ferrari up there this year although redbull were furtehr back than i expected, possably the result of the suspension clarification promted by ferrari? if it was it was a good move on thier part ?

[markcoznottz]

rallycross said:

There are plenty of simple things that could be done to improve things

1. steel brakes, giving longer braking zones more chance to pass
2. manual gear change, let the drivers work harder, more mistakes = more passing
3. standardized front and rear wings, choice of 3, cuts down ridiculous waste of time and money in wind tunnels

Tests conducted by the fia were inconclusive about steel brakes when they were tested some years back, they didn't increase braking distances.

[CraigyMc]

markcoznottz said:

rallycross said:

There are plenty of simple things that could be done to improve things

1. steel brakes, giving longer braking zones more chance to pass
2. manual gear change, let the drivers work harder, more mistakes = more passing
3. standardized front and rear wings, choice of 3, cuts down ridiculous waste of time and money in wind tunnels

Tests conducted by the fia were inconclusive about steel brakes when they were tested some years back, they didn't increase braking distances.

Over how many laps? Once the steel brakes are heat-saturated, they'll not perform any more.

There's only so much ducting you can fit to cool them.

[hairyben]

Flatdash said:

I`m at a loss why on earth has Pat Symonds popped up on the Sky team ? No doubt a nice chap but for the duration of Australia he looked at a loss.. as though he'd just surfaced from a period of cryogenic suspension and was baffled by the bright lights.

TBF he reminded me of damon hill on his first school day in skyF1, kinda hanging around looking awkard like a spare dick at an orgy. Soon found his groove through, pat could add sime usefull insight.

[markcoznottz]

CraigyMc said:

markcoznottz said:

rallycross said:

There are plenty of simple things that could be done to improve things

1. steel brakes, giving longer braking zones more chance to pass
2. manual gear change, let the drivers work harder, more mistakes = more passing
3. standardized front and rear wings, choice of 3, cuts down ridiculous waste of time and money in wind tunnels

Tests conducted by the fia were inconclusive about steel brakes when they were tested some years back, they didn't increase braking distances.

Over how many laps? Once the steel brakes are heat-saturated, they'll not perform any more.

There's only so much ducting you can fit to cool them.

Not really sure, they didn't release that info, all things considered, carbon seems better. To be fair the old Indy cars used to use steels and race on road curcuits ( i.e. Not ovals) and were heavier than an equivalent year f1 car. About 750 bhp as well?

[rubystone]

hairyben said:

TBF he reminded me of damon hill on his first school day in skyF1, kinda hanging around looking awkard like a spare dick at an orgy. Soon found his groove through, pat could add sime usefull insight.

Agreed. Mind you he is like that in the flesh!

[FourWheelDrift]

Return to V8 or V10 engines, dumping the hybrids. Mr Toad he say no - http://www.crash.net/f1/news/243130/1/todt-f1-has-...

"FIA President Jean Todt has reiterated once more than Formula 1 will never return to the days of V8 or V10 power because it has a 'bigger responsibility' to ensure it remains relevant to road car manufacturers."

as mentioned in the comments, none of the manufacturers make a v6 1.6 hybrid turbo

Edited by FourWheelDrift on Monday 27th March 22:39

[anonymous-user]

Eric Mc said:

And mighty entertaining it can be too - BUT, it doesn't have current drivers pushing to the absolute limits - which makes a big difference.

The top Historic events have a great mix of talents, you do often get some seriously quick young drivers in the cars sharing with the owners. For example, before he signed for Porsche and became WEC champion, I was strapping Brendon Hartley into a 1967 McLaren M1C for a few events, I've also worked with some of the best young drivers in modern GT's when they drove in Historics.

Some of the Historic races have a lot more "racing" than you see in modern formula. The front runners are really pushing on.

[George29]

FourWheelDrift said:

Return to V8 or V10 engines, dumping the hybrids. Mr Toad he say no - http://www.crash.net/f1/news/243130/1/todt-f1-has-...

"FIA President Jean Todt has reiterated once more than Formula 1 will never return to the days of V8 or V10 power because it has a 'bigger responsibility' to ensure it remains relevant to road car manufacturers."

as mentioned in the comments, none of the manufacturers make a v6 1.6 hybrid turbo

Edited by FourWheelDrift on Monday 27th March 22:39

None of them made a 3 litre V10 or 2.4 V8 either? Doesn't mean the technology doesn't filter down

[DannyL]

CraigyMc said:

Z3MCJez said:

Will Buxton is alright. Good even.

He's a really nice bloke in person and really does a lot of research on his stuff, unlike many of his peers.
He's just on the wrong coverage for me (NBCSN) - talent wasted. He'd be a better pitlane reporter than Ted for Sky.

Agreed...

[HustleRussell]

FourWheelDrift said:

Return to V8 or V10 engines, dumping the hybrids. Mr Toad he say no - http://www.crash.net/f1/news/243130/1/todt-f1-has-...

"FIA President Jean Todt has reiterated once more than Formula 1 will never return to the days of V8 or V10 power because it has a 'bigger responsibility' to ensure it remains relevant to road car manufacturers."

as mentioned in the comments, none of the manufacturers make a v6 1.6 hybrid turbo

Be careful what you wish for, the rule makers originally wanted 1600cc 4-pot engines- this was protested by the teams chiefly because it'd change the way they constructed the cars so drastically.

[DannyL]

Loved to see Kimi as F1 drivers spokesman extolling the virtues of the late john Surtees...wasn't long ago that Kimi spent much of his time avoiding all human contact.

[Eric Mc]

jsf said:

Eric Mc said:

And mighty entertaining it can be too - BUT, it doesn't have current drivers pushing to the absolute limits - which makes a big difference.

The top Historic events have a great mix of talents, you do often get some seriously quick young drivers in the cars sharing with the owners. For example, before he signed for Porsche and became WEC champion, I was strapping Brendon Hartley into a 1967 McLaren M1C for a few events, I've also worked with some of the best young drivers in modern GT's when they drove in Historics.

Some of the Historic races have a lot more "racing" than you see in modern formula. The front runners are really pushing on.

I really enjoy historic racing. However, even if some drivers do push it more than others- they aren't pushing in the same way a young hot shoe who is supposedly racing at the pinnacle of the sport would be.

I doubt a Lotus 49 being driven today is being driven anything like the way it would have been in 1967 or 68.

[smash]

Generally only watch C4 coverage but my bro has Sky and on the few occasions I've seen it frankly I found it a bit dull and lifeless.

There's a slight air of mischievous with the C4 team that I really enjoy - they're not too reverent or too serious and this sport is definitely not above a bit of gentle pee taking. Maybe Steve Jones doesn't know the ins and outs of every part of an F1 car or have an encyclopedic F1 knowledge but he is, IMHO, entertaining - to me it feels like there's much more camaraderie between the guys than the Sky team.

Eddie a buffoon? Possibly - but I see his technique is more akin to a naughty child who, the more he's told to stop, the more he continues to poke the adult with greater relish, which for some reason I really enjoy watching!

Race was boring.

[anonymous-user]

Eric Mc said:

jsf said:

Eric Mc said:

And mighty entertaining it can be too - BUT, it doesn't have current drivers pushing to the absolute limits - which makes a big difference.

The top Historic events have a great mix of talents, you do often get some seriously quick young drivers in the cars sharing with the owners. For example, before he signed for Porsche and became WEC champion, I was strapping Brendon Hartley into a 1967 McLaren M1C for a few events, I've also worked with some of the best young drivers in modern GT's when they drove in Historics.

Some of the Historic races have a lot more "racing" than you see in modern formula. The front runners are really pushing on.

I really enjoy historic racing. However, even if some drivers do push it more than others- they aren't pushing in the same way a young hot shoe who is supposedly racing at the pinnacle of the sport would be.

I doubt a Lotus 49 being driven today is being driven anything like the way it would have been in 1967 or 68.

In a lot of cases the cars are going quicker than they were in period. They are being pushed as far as the tyres will let you Eric. There are some very good drivers in Historics who often drive modern kit also and run up the front in those too.

Of course you have a majority of very good amateur drivers who will never match the pace of a talented young kid, but you also get some drivers who would absolutely spank some of the recent guys who made it to F1.

[bobbo89]

smash said:

Generally only watch C4 coverage but my bro has Sky and on the few occasions I've seen it frankly I found it a bit dull and lifeless.

There's a slight air of mischievous with the C4 team that I really enjoy - they're not too reverent or too serious and this sport is definitely not above a bit of gentle pee taking. Maybe Steve Jones doesn't know the ins and outs of every part of an F1 car or have an encyclopedic F1 knowledge but he is, IMHO, entertaining - to me it feels like there's much more camaraderie between the guys than the Sky team.

Eddie a buffoon? Possibly - but I see his technique is more akin to a naughty child who, the more he's told to stop, the more he continues to poke the adult with greater relish, which for some reason I really enjoy watching!

Race was boring.

Completely agree with this, although the race wasn't boring!