Williams look quick in testing
Discussion
I read very little into pre-season testing these days. Cosworth have somthing to prove. Sadly I do not think that Webber and Rosberg will be able to hold a fight with the front of the grid. Webber has never impressed me so far in F1 and Rosberg will need at least a season. Alonso was lucky and had his first season at a lesser team, Rosberg will find it tough. The BMW engine was one of the most powerful in 2005 but he never seemed to find a set up in 2005 that seemed to do it justice.
Massa was topping the timesheets at one point in winter testing so i presume they are all taking it in turns to run light and give the sponsors something to be happy about.
IIRC Honda had a V8 on a dyno in the summer and were rumoured to be seeing 20K rpm and 700 bhp from it.
when the flag drops, the bullshit stops?!
Massa was topping the timesheets at one point in winter testing so i presume they are all taking it in turns to run light and give the sponsors something to be happy about.
IIRC Honda had a V8 on a dyno in the summer and were rumoured to be seeing 20K rpm and 700 bhp from it.
when the flag drops, the bullshit stops?!
There's an interesting Mark Hughes column in this week's Autosport. Apart from pondering McLaren or Ferrari turning up at Bahrain with restricted V10s, he mentions that Midland have done back to back tests with a V8 Toyota and restricted V10 Cosworth. The V10 was 0.7s faster. However Toro Rosso's team principal Franz Tost suggests that comparing the V8 and V10 Cosworths, "The V8 is in front by far". Whilst based on speculation, there is a hint that the Cosworth V8 has a significant advantage over the Toyota V8, itself believed to be one of the more powerful of the V8s...
I still reckon Williams Cosworth will be a dark horse for the two titles this year. Purely on the basis that Williams always seem to build a damn good chassis when they have their backs to the wall and no one has built a more successful V8 racing motor in the past than Cosworth... As has been said, they've forgotten more about V8's than the rest of the manufacturers have learned.
If Webber actually buckles down and starts to perform, he could shock many people.
Bahrain will be very interesting.
If Webber actually buckles down and starts to perform, he could shock many people.
Bahrain will be very interesting.
and there in lies the problem. the car might be great, the engine might be great but i still dont think Webber could slug it out in a straight fight with Alonso, Kimi and Herr Schumacher. take Massa for example, this years ferrari will be capable of winning races but Massa will be fighting for top six finishes.
It's all done with smoke, mirrors and voodoo chilli.
It's a way to change gear without the engine electronics having to blip the throttle, so it's an instantaneous gearchange. Very similar in effect to the CVT gearboxes which were banned, but because this still uses gears (between 4-7 as per FIA regs) it's still a normal gearbox. The time gained in the gearchange might be a fraction of a fraction of second (quite small then) but it means the driver will be on the power in the next gear earlier and at the end of the next straight will be going quicker, a car travels a long way in 0.1s so small gains made here and there do count especially with the tight technical regulations in force.
It's a way to change gear without the engine electronics having to blip the throttle, so it's an instantaneous gearchange. Very similar in effect to the CVT gearboxes which were banned, but because this still uses gears (between 4-7 as per FIA regs) it's still a normal gearbox. The time gained in the gearchange might be a fraction of a fraction of second (quite small then) but it means the driver will be on the power in the next gear earlier and at the end of the next straight will be going quicker, a car travels a long way in 0.1s so small gains made here and there do count especially with the tight technical regulations in force.
FourWheelDrift said:
Oh forgot the other bit, BAR, McLaren and Renault believed to also be using (or at least tested) a seamless gearbox, Ferrari tried it a few years back IIRC but nothing came of it.
McLaren and Renault both used it last year - not sure, but I think Toyota may have done too ?
BAR (now honda) were the first team to use the seamless shift technology in races last year in their highly impressive all carbon G'box, with renault just behind i believe mclaren introduced theirs quite late on in the season.
renault and Honda are looking mighty strong in testing at the moment with williams and BMW and toyota all around each other with ferrari and mclaren needing to sort out reliability problems
renault and Honda are looking mighty strong in testing at the moment with williams and BMW and toyota all around each other with ferrari and mclaren needing to sort out reliability problems
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