Monaco & overtaking.

[d_drinks]

robp said: Anyone got any other reasons why we dont see overtaking? Would like to hear them......

Here's one for the boiling pot....grip or more accurately a reliance on aerodynamic grip with only little consideration given to mechanical grip i.e. tyres. Think Tuscans/Clio V6’s etc. softish slick tyres, huge power, much more power than mechanical grip available, relatively little aero aids other than a small front slitter and rear diffuser in the case of the Tuscan to aid high speed stability. A lack of electronic aids also helps the racing.

In F1 you have circa 800bhp (so nearly twice that of a Tuscan) but take off the rear wing or damage the front wing and the cars simply can not turn a corner or will lose it under braking, there is NO mechanical grip, and the cars are not able to handle this, they are designed (as per the regulations) to maximise aero grip.

Design a standard front and rear wing that all teams must use (2-3 different wings maybe so teams can chose??) the wing will be designed to decrease the car/chassises reliance on aero grip only, increase ride height by 7-10mm widen the rear tyres and narrow the fronts, remove the grooves and revert to true slicks, delete electronic aids including fully automatic gearboxes (these make a mockery of places like Monza where the driver has very little do all race) force the driver to change gear – sited as dangerous by the likes of Shumacher, but reduce the cornering speeds and reduce the potential for huge damage in the event of accidents – think Barber Dodge, the mange to race with manual H pattern boxes, F1 greats like Senna managed to do very well with a manual shift.

Teams would hate all of the above, for at least the following reasons:
a) reducing the size of any bodywork esp the rear/front wings reduces space for sposorship(it’s sold by the mm after all)
b) removing the electronic aids is seem to move the sport away from the cutting edge
c) safety, drivers can twist any aid into a must have to race safely.

Given that Berrnie now wants to have the top 10 cars on the gird decided by a lottery draw it shows how desperate it has all become, and why the sport, oops sorry business has managed to destroy itself

[Racefan_uk]

Talking of reverting back to slick tyres, did anyone else notice on the rear facing camera on Montoya's car on Sunday that the camber the rear wheels were set to meant that the tyres had gone completely past the grooves and he was effectively racing on a pair of slicks at the rear!

Engineers, they always find a way!

[rlk500]

I agree, the regulations to ban the majority of the driver aids haven't gone far enough.

All of the electronic stuff should go, along with carbon brakes and most of the aero kits.

Pit stops, tyre changes should also go. You race for 2 hours with what you start with.

Most F1 drivers appear to have actually forgotten how to overtake, it's not a skill they exactly need to perfect. (any of that annoying passing stuff can be taken care of during a pit stop....)

Race on proper circuits - Imola has been santised due to the Senna incident (which could have happened just about anywhere). which circuits do the drivers enjoy - Spa, Suzuka etc. not Hungary........A few years back ken Tyrell said he designed his cars with 2nd gear corners in mind as there where more 2nd gear corners in F1 than any others.......

[robp]

Is traction control being removed?

It was suppose to be after Silverstone but I read on here a few weeks ago the plans had been changed, they are going to keep in for the forseable future

[JonRB]

The only way they can effectively police a ban on electronic aids is to provide a sealed-unit ECU to all the teams. It's the only way to prevent the unpoliceable software solutions that provoked the rule change that allowed traction control.

The teams will resist this vehemontly.

[viperman]

Monaco is a fcuking stupipd track, its not a race track, the only good thing about it is it gave JPM a win, top job jaun-BMW-Williams

[wob]

Traction control is back in, although launch control and fully auto gearboxes are banned from next season. There will be an FIA supplied logger on all cars that will log a fair number of channels in addition to whatever the teams use. Car->pit telemetry is back in as well as far as I can remember.

[robp]

wob said: Traction control is back in, although launch control and fully auto gearboxes are banned from next season. There will be an FIA supplied logger on all cars that will log a fair number of channels in addition to whatever the teams use. Car->pit telemetry is back in as well as far as I can remember.

Where are all these changes publicised? I cant seem to keep up with all the changes!

[The DJ 27]

In my opinion, Wings should be kept as they are, as they only provide about 45% of total downforce anyway. However, the diffuser at the back of the car should be removed, and something should be put under the car to stall the airflow under the car. Huge wide slicks should be brought back in, as should turbo engines (overboost button = overtaking). Finally, paddleshifts and semi-automatic gearboxes, along with all the other electronic crap should be banned. Think about how amazing the racing would be. Oh yeah, I'm thinking of the 80's aren't i?
(not that I watched an 80s F1 video the other day or anything. Beat current F1 hands down)

[wob]

robp: They aren't publicised, but they come via the TWG minutes and Charlie Whiting sends technical directives to all the teams. This year they seem to have been changing every five minutes though, so the press probably can't keep up!