Official 2023 Australian Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

Official 2023 Australian Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

Poll: Official 2023 Australian Grand Prix Thread ***SPOILERS***

Total Members Polled: 170

Verstappen: 63%
Perez: 4%
Leclerc: 2%
Sainz: 1%
Hamilton: 11%
Russell: 4%
Alonso: 16%
Author
Discussion

Sandpit Steve

9,885 posts

73 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
honda_exige said:
Always used to find it crazy how far forward the cockpit was on 70s F1 cars.

Hard to find calibrated side on views, W14 seems similar to the Aston, both appreciably more 'cab forward' than the McLaren.
In the ‘70s cars, the driver’s ankles were the front crash structure! It’s only relatively recently (after Schumacher’s crash at Silverstone?) that the pedal box has been required to be behind the front axle, and the car pass a head-on crash test.

Sandpit Steve

9,885 posts

73 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
axel1990chp said:
Do get the impression Lewis is making up excuses and his head isn't fully in it these days. Doesn't seem to be anywhere near what he is capable off. Maybe this year is the year to call it
Lando Norris will be hoping so!

I think he’ll renew for a couple of years more, so long as the gap gets closed by development during this season.

Nova Gyna

1,052 posts

25 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Deesee said:
RBR catering employee of the month Dec 21 is in the paddock.

Is that Masi?

Deesee

8,327 posts

82 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Nova Gyna said:
Deesee said:
RBR catering employee of the month Dec 21 is in the paddock.

Is that Masi?
Yep, everywhere..


cuprabob

14,414 posts

213 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Deesee said:
Nova Gyna said:
Deesee said:
RBR catering employee of the month Dec 21 is in the paddock.

Is that Masi?
Yep, everywhere..

Everywhere except the Mercedes Team areas, I assume smile

wpa1975

8,593 posts

113 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Deesee said:
Nova Gyna said:
Deesee said:
RBR catering employee of the month Dec 21 is in the paddock.

Is that Masi?
Yep, everywhere..

He should be nowhere near F1 at all

honda_exige

5,979 posts

205 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
wpa1975 said:
He should be nowhere near F1 at all
Looks like he's working for V8 supercars from his gillet. They are one of the support races I believe.

GlobalRacer

217 posts

12 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
He was part of SuperCars for years before going to F1.

Deesee

8,327 posts

82 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
honda_exige said:
wpa1975 said:
He should be nowhere near F1 at all
Looks like he's working for V8 supercars from his gillet. They are one of the support races I believe.
Thats correct and they have a separate paddock.. what are the odds on a book coming out..

Sandpit Steve

9,885 posts

73 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Deesee said:
Yep, everywhere..

Who the fk gave him a paddock pass?

Nova Gyna

1,052 posts

25 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
wpa1975 said:
He should be nowhere near F1 at all
I agree. I’m stunned that he’s got the brass neck to show his face in the paddock.

I really hope this isn’t the beginning of him slithering his way back into F1.

Siao

808 posts

39 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
SturdyHSV said:
andburg said:
honda_exige said:
Interesting Hamilton saying he's not comfortable with the driving position of the W14 (and W13). Don't recall him mentioning this last year but could be mistaken.

________

https://the-race.com/formula-1/mercedes-seat-posit...

We sit closer to the front wheels than all the other drivers,” said Hamilton. “Our cockpit is too close to the front.

“When you’re driving, you feel like you’re sitting on the front wheels which is one of the worst feelings to feel when you’re driving a car.

“If you were driving your car at home, and you put the wheels right underneath your legs, you would not be happy when you’re approaching the roundabout!

“So, what that does is it just really changes the attitude of the car and how you perceive its movement. And it makes it harder to predict, compared to when you’re further back and you’re sitting closer, more centre.

“It’s just something I’ve really struggled with.”

Asked by The Race if Hamilton had accepted that Mercedes would retain the seating position because of the team’s belief it was part of making the fastest possible car, he replied: “Yeah, I listened to the team and that was the direction that they said that we should go.
makes sense

sure I've read various places say as a driver you want the car to pivot round your head. Moving the pivot behind will take some major adjusting to
I wonder if this is another example of something Lewis told the team last year, that they didn't listen to? In terms of his seating position in the car is contributing to the difficulties with extracting performance from it, and the W14 has continued that issue.

Only mention it as I was struggling not to be skeptical about what input he could have really offered but that's another good example that I hadn't thought of.

Also, a better comparison picture from that linked article above:



Edited by SturdyHSV on Thursday 30th March 12:12
Ferrari and Merc are in an angle, you can tell as you can see the front left tyres compared to RB and Aston. Not sure how much that skews the perception though

Nova Gyna

1,052 posts

25 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
I hope PhilAsia has taken his meds before he sees this! biggrin

Siao

808 posts

39 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Nova Gyna said:
I hope PhilAsia has taken his meds before he sees this! biggrin
He's not replying, so he either fainted or he took the next flight there...

PhilAsia

3,696 posts

74 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all


Guys, can't we just move on? That is soooo 2021!!

Piginapoke

Original Poster:

4,736 posts

184 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all




I think even less paint on the rear of the McLaren? spin

Petrus1983

8,516 posts

161 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Piginapoke said:




I think even less paint on the rear of the McLaren? spin
My spies at McLaren inform me that ALL paint is coming off and they’ve dispatched the tea boy to Halfords to buy some go faster stripes. My moneys on Lando for the win now.

NRS

22,078 posts

200 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
tertius said:
honda_exige said:
Obviously the photos aren't 100% accurate due to angulation but the Merc doesn't seem too dissimilar from the Ferrari/Merc/Aston, only the RB seems to be significantly different.

I'm struggling a little bit to not see this as an excuse from Lewis. At some point do you suggest it's evidence that he isn't adaptable? Or that adaptability lessens with age? - Alonso shows that isn't necessarily true for all.
Would be interesting to see it as a proportion of the wheelbase - I.e. the drivers head is x% of the distance from the front axle to rear axle. I think that might be more relevant.

If you look at those pictures the front wheels are aligned but the rear wheels are all different.
I'd guess Merc could be a lot worse than some other teams, as although the zero sidepod concept is discussed as raising the centre of gravity due to stacking the stuff higher it could also be that they've lengthened the car a bit and stuck it in a more in a row running towards the back of the car too. That would mean more distance to the rear of the car even if the rules regulate the distance to the brake pedal/front wheels.

Sandpit Steve said:
Deesee said:
Yep, everywhere..

Who the fk gave him a paddock pass?
Apparently a gift from CH.

PhilAsia

3,696 posts

74 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Petrus1983 said:
Piginapoke said:




I think even less paint on the rear of the McLaren? spin
My spies at McLaren inform me that ALL paint is coming off and they’ve dispatched the tea boy to Halfords to buy some go faster stripes. My moneys on Lando for the win now.
I am intrigued at how they uncovered the stumbled on incompetence...

Sandpit Steve

9,885 posts

73 months

Thursday 30th March 2023
quotequote all
Petrus1983 said:
My spies at McLaren inform me that ALL paint is coming off and they’ve dispatched the tea boy to Halfords to buy some go faster stripes. My moneys on Lando for the win now.
Toto has already said that the 2022 silver car had 6kg of paint and stickers, but the 2023 black one has 3.2kg. That’s a massive saving, if you can get it past the sponsors.