The Official 2017 Australian Grand Prix Thread **Spoilers**
Discussion
Good news; might not be another Mercedes cake walk to the championship and McLaren seem to be more reliable than was expected, but still awfully slow.
Bad news; as I expected - those absurdity complicated front wings, barge boards etc mean that following and passing appears difficult. The lower rear wing might mean DRS is not as effective as it was. Also the race being a nailed on one stop means no jeopardy in strategy other than over/under cut - it could be a dull year with overtaking difficult and few stops to roll the dice. Oh, and those stupid coat hanger wings need to go and the fins with them.
Bad news; as I expected - those absurdity complicated front wings, barge boards etc mean that following and passing appears difficult. The lower rear wing might mean DRS is not as effective as it was. Also the race being a nailed on one stop means no jeopardy in strategy other than over/under cut - it could be a dull year with overtaking difficult and few stops to roll the dice. Oh, and those stupid coat hanger wings need to go and the fins with them.
DanielSan said:
Red Bull removed theirs also, it was confirmed to be illegal before the weekend started. Mercedes might have to go back to burning oil as fuel though
I hadn't seen that. Thanks. I think the Ferrari engine is now very close to the Mercedes one. It seemed in qually that they were running just a bit more downforce, but all very hard to tell. Anyway, it will now depend on in-season development as there's not much between them at the moment ...
Blayney said:
Did I miss anything after lap 40-something? Fell asleep.
Nope, it wasn't an amazing race, okay but not amazing. I think it will get more interesting as teams get more data and understand the tyres better, then they'll take a few more risks on strategy which puts them at odds with competitors and we'll see some close racing.Shark Fins causing cars to snap in to loss of control as per Danny's accident is a bit of a concern. I don't think we have a clear picture on how well a car can follow another just yet either - Hamilton behind Max isn't a good yardstick because Mercs are poor in traffic.
Mclaren almost got to the end with Alonso nd managed it with Stoffel but there is an awful lot of work to do, the question is are Honda capable of getting it done.
Z3MCJez said:
I hadn't seen that. Thanks.
I think the Ferrari engine is now very close to the Mercedes one. It seemed in qually that they were running just a bit more downforce, but all very hard to tell. Anyway, it will now depend on in-season development as there's not much between them at the moment ...
I think Ferrari could be the winner when it comes to development, they've certainly had to work harder at it this last few years....I think the Ferrari engine is now very close to the Mercedes one. It seemed in qually that they were running just a bit more downforce, but all very hard to tell. Anyway, it will now depend on in-season development as there's not much between them at the moment ...
Blayney said:
Did I miss anything after lap 40-something? Fell asleep.
No.Needs a 5 minute highlights reel tops. After I went to make breakfast half way through I never came back to pay much attention to it. Watched some YouTube videos instead. Came to check the result ... finished as it was at half way.
Nice to see a red car on the top step, bodes well. Shame to see Haas fade and die, very happy for them to have qualified so well. But I struggled to care really, I don't really care for who wins, I just like to see some good track action. Think that's it for me with live races this year. Highlights will do me.
PhillipM said:
It's nothing to do with the shark fins, the shark fins do exactly the opposite and help to prevent spinning when the tyres are slipping
Did you see the bit that Pat did before the race ?The suggestion is if the car is at an angle to the oncoming air the shark fin will deflect the airflow, meaning half the rear wing doesn't produce downforce, effectively it works as a spoiler in this scenario.
Crafty_ said:
PhillipM said:
It's nothing to do with the shark fins, the shark fins do exactly the opposite and help to prevent spinning when the tyres are slipping
Did you see the bit that Pat did before the race ?The suggestion is if the car is at an angle to the oncoming air the shark fin will deflect the airflow, meaning half the rear wing doesn't produce downforce, effectively it works as a spoiler in this scenario.
Crafty_ said:
Did you see the bit that Pat did before the race ?
The suggestion is if the car is at an angle to the oncoming air the shark fin will deflect the airflow, meaning half the rear wing doesn't produce downforce, effectively it works as a spoiler in this scenario.
I did, yes, and I think it was a bit of bThe suggestion is if the car is at an angle to the oncoming air the shark fin will deflect the airflow, meaning half the rear wing doesn't produce downforce, effectively it works as a spoiler in this scenario.
ks.Tell me, why would all the teams run them if they did that? The entire point of them is they produce lateral force at the rear that more than compensates for it right up past where the tyres drop off a cliff. It's going around regardless by that point.
The airflow it's purportedly 'blocking' from the shadowed side of the wing would be straightened by the fin and accelerated over the outside of the rear wing anyway.
The wider, stiffer tyres are where the lower slip angles are coming from.
Edited by PhillipM on Sunday 26th March 08:04
PhillipM said:
I did, yes, and I think it was a bit of bks.
Tell me, why would all the teams run them if they did that? The entire point of them is they produce lateral force at the rear that more than compensates for it right up past where the tyres drop off a cliff. It's going around regardless by that point.
Because the car is designed to point in the direction of travel, not be broadside (i.e. sliding at the rear). The point of the piece was that if the car gets away from the driver its harder to recover, due to the loss of downforce at the rear.ks.Tell me, why would all the teams run them if they did that? The entire point of them is they produce lateral force at the rear that more than compensates for it right up past where the tyres drop off a cliff. It's going around regardless by that point.
If the car is pointing (roughly) in the direction of travel the airflow won't be hitting the shark fin at an oblique angle and therefore it won't cause this effect and thus the driver can recover from even a fairly lurid slide.
Crafty_ said:
Because the car is designed to point in the direction of travel, not be broadside (i.e. sliding at the rear). The point of the piece was that if the car gets away from the driver its harder to recover, due to the loss of downforce at the rear.
If the car is pointing (roughly) in the direction of travel the airflow won't be hitting the shark fin at an oblique angle and therefore it won't cause this effect and thus the driver can recover from even a fairly lurid slide.
The aero on these cars has been setup to work in lateral slip more than straight lines for many, many years. If the car is pointing (roughly) in the direction of travel the airflow won't be hitting the shark fin at an oblique angle and therefore it won't cause this effect and thus the driver can recover from even a fairly lurid slide.
The shark fin reduces performance in a straight line, so if that wasn't the case nobody would use them.
You also still have the masses of grip from the underfloor and diffuser being generated, which is a larger percentage of the overall downforce than previous years, so rear wing blockage would be even less of an issue this year than it has been previously.
For me I found that dull, and the outlook looks worse.
Okay it may be far to early to really say, but currently the Ferrari looks like it had bags of time in hand. If so, then we've just gone from a silver car to a red car winning, albeit they are a little closer.
If you can't overtake, we've gone back to early 2001's where Schumacher would wait for the overcut, put a few blistering laps in and come out ahead.
I hope to god it's mixed up, otherwise we've we'll be seeing the finger every other week.
Okay it may be far to early to really say, but currently the Ferrari looks like it had bags of time in hand. If so, then we've just gone from a silver car to a red car winning, albeit they are a little closer.
If you can't overtake, we've gone back to early 2001's where Schumacher would wait for the overcut, put a few blistering laps in and come out ahead.
I hope to god it's mixed up, otherwise we've we'll be seeing the finger every other week.
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