Official 2020 Eifel Grand Prix Thread **SPOILERS**

[RonaldMcDonaldAteMyCat]

Adrian W said:

so that would be the exhaust, the bit that is designed to get extremely hot and even contain fire, that sticks out of the back of the car, I know, maybe they were worried that it might singe the damp grass

The bodywork that was smouldering and turning black was obviously not designed to deal with that level of heat in that place. Hence it smouldering. Same as Ocon retiring when his brakes set on fire and caused his ducts/hubs to disintegrate (and his retirement). There are areas of the car that can deal with heat but only up to a point.

Do I believe the SC was issued to 'spice up' the race? No.

[Deesee]

Whitefly Swatter said:

anyone else notice there were nine teams in the top ten?

And 3 engines in top 3..

[jsf]

RonaldMcDonaldAteMyCat said:

The bodywork that was smouldering and turning black was obviously not designed to deal with that level of heat in that place. Hence it smouldering. Same as Ocon retiring when his brakes set on fire and caused his ducts/hubs to disintegrate (and his retirement). There are areas of the car that can deal with heat but only up to a point.

Do I believe the SC was issued to 'spice up' the race? No.

The car is designed to be cooled by airflow to the various areas that require it, when you have been running at speed and then stop, the cooling stops, so you get localised overheating, sometimes this burns the bodywork. During the design stage they try and package the cars so that there is the absolute minimum clearance and airflow into the car, to maximise performance. This is not new, it's the absolute norm and why we see all the fans on the cars in park ferme, despite a slow in lap.

In winter testing it's often the case that they got the calcs slightly wrong and even at speed the bodywork burns, McLaren had this issue in 2018 testing. https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/134694/mclaren-t...

[Adrian W]

RonaldMcDonaldAteMyCat said:

The bodywork that was smouldering and turning black was obviously not designed to deal with that level of heat in that place. Hence it smouldering. Same as Ocon retiring when his brakes set on fire and caused his ducts/hubs to disintegrate (and his retirement). There are areas of the car that can deal with heat but only up to a point.

Do I believe the SC was issued to 'spice up' the race? No.

So now they can throw out the safety car just in case something Might happen, I’ll go with them trying to spice things up

[Derek Smith]

Deesee said:

Whitefly Swatter said:

anyone else notice there were nine teams in the top ten?

And 3 engines in top 3..

Thanks for pointing that out, the pair of you. I missed it entirely.

A bit of a change.

The more I see of the Renault engine this season, the more I am wondering if the McLaren choice of power unit for next season is necessarily going to be an upgrade.

[TheDeuce]

Derek Smith said:

The more I see of the Renault engine this season, the more I am wondering if the McLaren choice of power unit for next season is necessarily going to be an upgrade.

It is an upgrade - it'll run harder for longer than the others which is great for quali. Once out in front the Merc drivers are generally just maintaining the gap. Other than quali we don't get to see their reserve of power very often.

[kambites]

TheDeuce said:

It is an upgrade - it'll run harder for longer than the others which is great for quali. Once out in front the Merc drivers are generally just maintaining the gap. Other than quali we don't get to see their reserve of power very often.

Maybe true for the works team, but it's a bit hard to believe that the customer teams aren't pushing their engines as hard as they dare.

[Leithen]

TheDeuce said:

Derek Smith said:

The more I see of the Renault engine this season, the more I am wondering if the McLaren choice of power unit for next season is necessarily going to be an upgrade.

It is an upgrade - it'll run harder for longer than the others which is great for quali. Once out in front the Merc drivers are generally just maintaining the gap. Other than quali we don't get to see their reserve of power very often.

It will be 2022 before they have a design built around the Merc Power Unit though, so next year will probably be standing still in relative terms.

[TheDeuce]

Leithen said:

TheDeuce said:

Derek Smith said:

The more I see of the Renault engine this season, the more I am wondering if the McLaren choice of power unit for next season is necessarily going to be an upgrade.

It is an upgrade - it'll run harder for longer than the others which is great for quali. Once out in front the Merc drivers are generally just maintaining the gap. Other than quali we don't get to see their reserve of power very often.

It will be 2022 before they have a design built around the Merc Power Unit though, so next year will probably be standing still in relative terms.

A good point. It's ultimately down to how well they implement the PU and what potential compromises it brings. Time will tell on that point.

Especially relevant going in to next season as I'm not sure how much they're allowed to change the car design with the current freeze on chassis development. Obviously they have to adapt the back end to work with the new mounting points and rear suspension etc.. They had signed with Merc ahead of knowing they would need to use this years car next year so perhaps that will scupper them to a degree.

[Derek Smith]

TheDeuce said:

Leithen said:

TheDeuce said:

Derek Smith said:

The more I see of the Renault engine this season, the more I am wondering if the McLaren choice of power unit for next season is necessarily going to be an upgrade.

It is an upgrade - it'll run harder for longer than the others which is great for quali. Once out in front the Merc drivers are generally just maintaining the gap. Other than quali we don't get to see their reserve of power very often.

It will be 2022 before they have a design built around the Merc Power Unit though, so next year will probably be standing still in relative terms.

A good point. It's ultimately down to how well they implement the PU and what potential compromises it brings. Time will tell on that point.

Especially relevant going in to next season as I'm not sure how much they're allowed to change the car design with the current freeze on chassis development. Obviously they have to adapt the back end to work with the new mounting points and rear suspension etc.. They had signed with Merc ahead of knowing they would need to use this years car next year so perhaps that will scupper them to a degree.

I'm been a McL fan since MP4 started. There were some great times but they seem to have the skill of jumping from the lifeboat onto a sinking ship with a high degree of accuracy. Think the worst, and if it doesn't happen . . . . what am I saying? The worst always happens.

[M5-911]

Sad to see Raikonen wearing a mask with the iron cross on his mask (his own brand).
His management will bring all the story that it was a sign used before the WW2 but let's not forget that Kimi knows that Jesse James use the Iron cross branding as he is a well known Neo Nazi.

[jsf]

Derek Smith said:

I'm been a McL fan since MP4 started. There were some great times but they seem to have the skill of jumping from the lifeboat onto a sinking ship with a high degree of accuracy. Think the worst, and if it doesn't happen . . . . what am I saying? The worst always happens.

McLaren have been at the front end of the 2nd tier teams for 2 years Derek.

Engine integration will be a piece of cake compared to the old days, the current engine rules make the things virtually interchangeable.

[TheDeuce]

DR forgot to do the shoey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvfnf6Alth8

Looks genuinely gutted when he's reminded.

[Hazmat1]

M5-911 said:

Sad to see Raikonen wearing a mask with the iron cross on his mask (his own brand).
His management will bring all the story that it was a sign used before the WW2 but let's not forget that Kimi knows that Jesse James use the Iron cross branding as he is a well known Neo Nazi.

So your saying kimi is a Neo Nazi sympathiser and part of their global propaganda machine .. Jesus fking Christ.

[majordad]

Remember Seaman and his supposed Nazi salute, Kimi is sound as was Seaman.

[Pericoloso]

TheDeuce said:

DR forgot to do the shoey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvfnf6Alth8

Looks genuinely gutted when he's reminded.

Thy showed him doing it on the CH4 highlights show .

[TheDeuce]

Pericoloso said:

TheDeuce said:

DR forgot to do the shoey

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xvfnf6Alth8

Looks genuinely gutted when he's reminded.

Thy showed him doing it on the CH4 highlights show .

I'm still catching up, he did it after he was reminded I guess?

[Leithen]

Derek Smith said:

TheDeuce said:

Leithen said:

TheDeuce said:

Derek Smith said:

The more I see of the Renault engine this season, the more I am wondering if the McLaren choice of power unit for next season is necessarily going to be an upgrade.

It is an upgrade - it'll run harder for longer than the others which is great for quali. Once out in front the Merc drivers are generally just maintaining the gap. Other than quali we don't get to see their reserve of power very often.

It will be 2022 before they have a design built around the Merc Power Unit though, so next year will probably be standing still in relative terms.

A good point. It's ultimately down to how well they implement the PU and what potential compromises it brings. Time will tell on that point.

Especially relevant going in to next season as I'm not sure how much they're allowed to change the car design with the current freeze on chassis development. Obviously they have to adapt the back end to work with the new mounting points and rear suspension etc.. They had signed with Merc ahead of knowing they would need to use this years car next year so perhaps that will scupper them to a degree.

I'm been a McL fan since MP4 started. There were some great times but they seem to have the skill of jumping from the lifeboat onto a sinking ship with a high degree of accuracy. Think the worst, and if it doesn't happen . . . . what am I saying? The worst always happens.

I wouldn't be too pessimistic Derek, for a couple of reasons.

First Andreas Seidl. I think he's the real deal and in many ways an old school team principal. More engineer than manager, but excellent at both.

Second, Zak Brown. Until I listened to Will Buxton's F1 podcast interviewing him ( https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.mclaren...), I had my doubts. But, as with so many things, I then realised I had probably entirely misjudged him.

I think it will take a few years, but I think they have a long term plan and it's realistic.

[TheDeuce]

Leithen said:

Derek Smith said:

TheDeuce said:

Leithen said:

TheDeuce said:

Derek Smith said:

The more I see of the Renault engine this season, the more I am wondering if the McLaren choice of power unit for next season is necessarily going to be an upgrade.

It is an upgrade - it'll run harder for longer than the others which is great for quali. Once out in front the Merc drivers are generally just maintaining the gap. Other than quali we don't get to see their reserve of power very often.

It will be 2022 before they have a design built around the Merc Power Unit though, so next year will probably be standing still in relative terms.

A good point. It's ultimately down to how well they implement the PU and what potential compromises it brings. Time will tell on that point.

Especially relevant going in to next season as I'm not sure how much they're allowed to change the car design with the current freeze on chassis development. Obviously they have to adapt the back end to work with the new mounting points and rear suspension etc.. They had signed with Merc ahead of knowing they would need to use this years car next year so perhaps that will scupper them to a degree.

I'm been a McL fan since MP4 started. There were some great times but they seem to have the skill of jumping from the lifeboat onto a sinking ship with a high degree of accuracy. Think the worst, and if it doesn't happen . . . . what am I saying? The worst always happens.

I wouldn't be too pessimistic Derek, for a couple of reasons.

First Andreas Seidl. I think he's the real deal and in many ways an old school team principal. More engineer than manager, but excellent at both.

Second, Zak Brown. Until I listened to Will Buxton's F1 podcast interviewing him ( https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.mclaren...), I had my doubts. But, as with so many things, I then realised I had probably entirely misjudged him.

I think it will take a few years, but I think they have a long term plan and it's realistic.

Whatever we see next year, what really matters for all teams is 2022 season, when so much changes. If McLaren can maintain their current position on the grid at that point it will job well done. It's difficult to judge where the teams could be then, based on where they are now. We don't know how much resource some teams might have already directed to 2022 (was going to be 2021) last season.

I agree McLaren and Zak seem to be on a good path, but the 2022 changes could throw up a few surprises in terms of where each team is really at. It'll be a very interesting season start for sure, some teams will have punched above or fallen below where they are currently. On that basis I'd hold of predictions for any team beyond next season. Even Merc could 'get it wrong' as the specs change so drastically.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

If all McLaren take from the switch to mercedes is reliability it’ll be a good move.

I don’t know how many are down to the renault side of things but getting two McLarens across the finish line seems to be a miracle these days.