F1 2014 thread

[thestaggy]

Well, they would have had a whole year reverse engineering the Mercedes engine that McLaren currently has... .

I highly doubt their engineers would have been allowed anywhere near the Merc powerplant. As far as I understand engine deals, Mercedes would have its own engineer(s) implanted within McLaren, so there would be no fiddling about without them knowing.

 

[Polish]

I think Marussia are coping, but Lotus, Sauber and Caterham may not be on the best footing.

Lotus is a sad case. Since Kimi left they've been going downhill, and since Kimi left them he's been going downhill.

Should have stayed or unavoidable ?

 

[Polish]

I highly doubt their engineers would have been allowed anywhere near the Merc powerplant. As far as I understand engine deals, Mercedes would have its own engineer(s) implanted within McLaren, so there would be no fiddling about without them knowing.

I am convinced there would still be a flow of information, somehow.

 

[Dave]

I highly doubt their engineers would have been allowed anywhere near the Merc powerplant. As far as I understand engine deals, Mercedes would have its own engineer(s) implanted within McLaren, so there would be no fiddling about without them knowing.

I'm not that naive, I doubt Mercedes have staff guarding all the power plants in McLaren's possession, remember there will be spare engines stored in Woking. Honda staff wouldn't even need to get possession of a physical engine, McLaren's engineers could just copy the plans and supply them to Honda.

 

[Agent_Smith]

Golf on Sunday. I can't believe I'm missing this!

/grasps at straws

Does anyone know of a site that rebroadcasts sports events?

 

[Polish]

Golf on Sunday. I can't believe I'm missing this!

/grasps at straws

Does anyone know of a site that rebroadcasts sports events?

I know kickass usually has the race up within a day or two

 

[Polish]

Haas confirms Ferrari as "technical partner"

Haas F1 has confirmed a technical partnership with Ferrari as it looks to enter the FIA Formula One World Championship in 2016.

"There is no team in Formula One more accomplished than Scuderia Ferrari, and no team with more history," said team founder Gene Haas, thereby ending months of speculation. "They've been a part of Formula One from the beginning, and now they'll be a part of Haas F1 Team's beginning.

"Formula One is the pinnacle of motorsports. It showcases the latest technology and is the most competitive form of racing in the world. Aligning Haas F1 Team with such a tenured and successful company in Scuderia Ferrari provides our team with the greatest opportunity for success in 2016 and beyond."

"We're delighted to announce this important strategic partnership with Haas F1 Team and to welcome an American player as a new entrant in Formula 1," confirmed Ferrari in its own statement. "A few months ago we joined forces with Gene Haas on a commercial level and this is the natural next step of our growing relationship. While our objective is to reinforce our power unit development program for all our customer teams, we believe this new partnership has the potential to evolve beyond the traditional role of supplying our power unit and all related technical services.

"The United States continues to be one of the most important markets for Ferrari and it offers many interesting opportunities. We look forward to supporting Haas F1 Team in its efforts to become a competitive player on the Formula 1 grid."

"These are exciting times for everyone at Haas F1 Team and we are honoured to have a partner in Scuderia Ferrari supporting our efforts," added Haas F1 Team Principal Guenther Steiner. "When it comes to Formula One, no one matches Scuderia Ferrari's knowledge, technical expertise and sheer determination. We understand there is some heavy lifting ahead of us, but know that with their technical support, we will develop a team of talented people at an exceptional pace so that we're ready to race competitively in 2016. We are focused on the future and look forward to what's ahead for Haas F1 Team."

www.pitpass.com

 

[vinodh]

Honda has already been involved with cheating in F1 previously when they did the fuel ballast thing. They blew a truckload of cash on F1, had very little to show for it except for some Earth Dreams. I don't think they would risk being banned by just copying a Mercedes powerplant.

They did well in the Prost/Senna era as an engine builder but sucked as a constructor. Hopefully they can build a kickass powerplant and take the fight to Mercedes.

 

[Polish]

Honda has already been involved with cheating in F1 previously when they did the fuel ballast thing. They blew a truckload of cash on F1, had very little to show for it except for some Earth Dreams. I don't think they would risk being banned by just copying a Mercedes powerplant.

Yeah I remember that, was a stupid move from them, or rather from BAR. They should have been much heavier punished back then.

 

[Polish]

Vital Statistics - the Italian Grand Prix

Did you know that Fernando Alonso has taken six podiums - but just two wins - from 12 starts at Monza? Or that Sebastian Vettel could move ahead of Juan Manuel Fangio - and level with Nelson Piquet - in Italian victories should he triumph this weekend? Ahead of this weekend's Formula 1 Gran Premio d'Italia 2014, we present all the need-to-know facts, stats and trivia...

Circuit: Autodromo di Monza

Circuit length: 5.793 km

Number of corners: 11 (7 right, 4 left)

DRS zones: 2

Race laps: 53

Race distance: 306.720 km

2014 tyre compounds: Medium, hard

Circuit lap record: 1m 21.046s - Rubens Barrichello, Ferrari, 2004

First world championship Grand Prix in Italy: 1950, Monza (won by Nino Farina, Alfa Romeo)

Number of races: 64 (63 - Monza; 1 - Imola)

Number of races at Monza with at least one safety-car appearance: Five of the last 14

Longest race: 1950 (2h 51m 17.4s)

Shortest race: 1978 (1h 07m 4.54s)

Last year's pole position: 1m 23.755s, Sebastian Vettel, Red Bull

Last year's podium: 1 - Sebastian Vettel (Red Bull), 2 - Fernando Alonso (Ferrari), 3 - Mark Webber (Red Bull)

Most appearances (current field): 14 - Jenson Button; 12 - Fernando Alonso; 11 - Kimi Raikkonen; 10 - Felipe Massa; 8 - Nico Rosberg; 7 - Sebastian Vettel, Lewis Hamilton; 6 - Adrian Sutil

Most Italian Grand Prix wins (driver): 5 - Michael Schumacher; 4 - Nelson Piquet; 3 - Juan Manuel Fangio, Stirling Moss, Ronnie Peterson, Alain Prost, Rubens Barrichello, Sebastian Vettel; 2 - Alberto Ascari, Phil Hill, John Surtees, Jackie Stewart, Clay Regazzoni, Niki Lauda, Ayrton Senna, Damon Hill, Juan Pablo Montoya, Fernando Alonso; 1 - Nico Farina, Tony Brooks, Graham Hill, Jim Clark, Ludovico Scarfiotti, Denny Hulme, Peter Gethin, Emerson Fittipaldi, Mario Andretti, Jody Scheckter, Rene Arnoux, Gerhard Berger, Nigel Mansell, Johnny Herbert, David Coulthard, Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Lewis Hamilton

Most Italian Grand Prix wins (constructor): 18 - Ferrari; 10 - McLaren; 6 - Williams; 5 - Lotus; 3 - BRM, Brabham; 2 - Mercedes, Maserati, Vanwall, Renault, Red Bull; 1 - Alfa Romeo, Cooper, Honda, Matra, March, Benetton, Jordan, Toro Rosso, Brawn

Most Italian Grand Prix wins (engine manufacturer): 19 - Ferrari; 8 - Ford/Cosworth, Renault; 7 - Mercedes; 6 - Honda; 3 - BRM; 2 - Maserati, Vanwall, Climax, Alfa Romeo, TAG/Porsche, BMW; 1 - Mugen-Honda

Most Italian Grand Prix pole positions (driver): 5 - Juan Manuel Fangio, Ayrton Senna, 3 - Jim Clark, John Surtees, Michael Schumacher, Juan Pablo Montoya, Sebastian Vettel; 2 - Alberto Ascari, Stirling Moss, Jacky Ickx, Niki Lauda, Rene Arnoux, Mario Andretti, Nelson Piquet, Jean Alesi, Fernando Alonso, Lewis Hamilton; 1 - Stuart Lewis-Evans, Phil Hill, Wolfgang von Trips, Mike Parkes, Jochen Rindt, Chris Amon, Ronnie Peterson, Jacques Laffite, James Hunt, Jean-Pierre Jabouille, Riccardo Patrese, Teo Fabi, Nigel Mansell, Alain Prost, David Coulthard, Damon Hill, Mika Hakkinen, Rubens Barrichello, Kimi Raikkonen

Most Italian Grand Prix pole positions (constructor): 19 - Ferrari; 11 - McLaren; 7 - Williams, Lotus; 3 - Renault; 2 - Alfa Romeo, Mercedes, Vanwall, Brabham, Benetton, Red Bull; 1 - Cooper, Honda, Matra, Ligier, Toro Rosso

Most Italian Grand Prix pole positions (engine manufacturer): 20 - Ferrari; 11 - Renault; 8 - Mercedes; 6 - Honda; 5 - Ford/Cosworth, BMW; 3 - Climax; 2 - Alfa Romeo, Vanwall, Matra

Number of wins from pole: 21 from 64 races (33 percent); eight of the last ten races (80 percent)

Lowest winning grid position: 11th (Peter Gethin, BRM, 1971)

Laps led (current field): 147 - Sebastian Vettel; 78 - Fernando Alonso; 68 - Lewis Hamilton; 59 - Jenson Button; 26 - Kimi Raikkonen; 5 - Sergio Perez; 2 - Felipe Massa

Most podium places (current field): 6 - Fernando Alonso; 4 - Jenson Button; 3 - Kimi Raikkonen, Sebastian Vettel; 2 - Lewis Hamilton; 1 - Felipe Massa, Sergio Perez

Number of Italians to have started at least one Grand Prix: 82

Number of victories for Italian drivers in the Italian Grand Prix: Four (2 - Alberto Ascari; 1 - Nino Farina, Ludovico Scarfiotti)

Percentage of 2014 season complete: 63 percent

Maximum number of world championship points still available to a single driver: 200

Significant running sequences going into this weekend: Ferrari - 79 consecutive races in the points - the longest run in F1 history; Fernando Alonso - 15 consecutive points finishes; Nico Rosberg - 4 consecutive poles

Fascinating fact: Monza's crumbling old banking is one of the venue's most iconic features, but it was actually only used in four world championship races - 1955, 1956, 1960, 1961

Potential record breakers: Mercedes have scored six one-two finishes this year. They need four more over the remaining seven races to tie McLaren's 1988 record for the most one-twos in a season, and five more to eclipse it.

Turbo history: If a Ferrari-powered car wins the race it'll be the first Ferrari turbo win since the 1988 Italian Grand Prix.

www.formula1.com

 

[thestaggy]

I'm not that naive, I doubt Mercedes have staff guarding all the power plants in McLaren's possession, remember there will be spare engines stored in Woking. Honda staff wouldn't even need to get possession of a physical engine, McLaren's engineers could just copy the plans and supply them to Honda.

There are limits to the amount of engines teams can use and I'd go as far as to say Woking will have no more than 4 engines at anyone time with Mercedes releasing a unit - and reclaiming a unit - when McLaren are due to replace an engine that has blown up or passed its mileage. And it also isn't a case of guarding an engine, but a case of Mercedes having one of its own technical advisors/engineers on McLarens' staff. If McLaren want to do a dyno test then a Merc engineer will no doubt be present. Merc engineers will be at the race to assess telemetry as well.

Also, copying and handing information over, that would be industrial espionage and I'm sure McLaren has already had trouble with that. McLaren have no doubt shared basic information with Honda (its characteristics, power figures, etc) but I highly doubt Honda would have enough to copy-paste the internals of a Mercedes engine.

 

[thestaggy]

I am convinced there would still be a flow of information, somehow.

Yes. Engine weight, power figures, fuel consumption figures, general characteristics, etc, but there is no ways that Honda will know what that engine looks like inside. Aren't parts of the the engine even sealed as part of F1 engine regulations?

 

[Polish]

Kobayashi retains Caterham drive for Monza

Kamui Kobayashi will be back in his Caterham race seat for the Italian Grand Prix after being replaced by Andre Lotterer in Belgium.

Kobayashi took no part in proceedings at Spa-Francorchamps and there was speculation he would be replaced again this weekend. But Caterham confirmed on Thursday morning Kobayashi would return this weekend - though he will hand his car over to Roberto Mehri for FP1 - but did not state whether he will remain in the car for the rest of the season.

"I am working for Caterham F1 Team and I always respect team decisions," Kobayashi said. "Now I am back in the car and looking forward to going racing again! We have worked hard as a team and added performance to the car as well as bringing new updates since I last drove in Hungary before the summer break, so I'm looking forward to feeling the updates on track here in Monza.

"I always enjoy the Italian GP, not only because of its high-speed nature; I also like the Italian fans, they are always very enthusiastic and a very big part of the Italian GP weekend. They create a very special atmosphere."

http://en.espnf1.com

This is great news. Imo. he is a very underrated driver, I would love to see him in a better car.

 

[Polish]

Kobayashi retains Caterham drive for Monza

Kamui Kobayashi will be back in his Caterham race seat for the Italian Grand Prix after being replaced by Andre Lotterer in Belgium.

Kobayashi took no part in proceedings at Spa-Francorchamps and there was speculation he would be replaced again this weekend. But Caterham confirmed on Thursday morning Kobayashi would return this weekend - though he will hand his car over to Roberto Mehri for FP1 - but did not state whether he will remain in the car for the rest of the season.

"I am working for Caterham F1 Team and I always respect team decisions," Kobayashi said. "Now I am back in the car and looking forward to going racing again! We have worked hard as a team and added performance to the car as well as bringing new updates since I last drove in Hungary before the summer break, so I'm looking forward to feeling the updates on track here in Monza.

"I always enjoy the Italian GP, not only because of its high-speed nature; I also like the Italian fans, they are always very enthusiastic and a very big part of the Italian GP weekend. They create a very special atmosphere."

http://en.espnf1.com

This is great news. Imo. he is a very underrated driver, I would love to see him in a better car.

 

[Polish]

Todt advised to act on Russian GP

FIA president Jean Todt has been advised to cancel the forthcoming Russian Grand Prix for fear of the sport sending the wrong message.

The advice came from Ari Vatanen, who fought a bitter campaign against the Frenchman for the FIA presidency in 2009, but who has since resolved his differences with him and even been appointed to head the FIA's Closed Road Commission in addition to his role as president of the Estonian Autosport Union.

It is understood that personally Todt is against the forthcoming Grand Prix in Russia but that as president of the FIA his "hands are tied", he is unable to take a stance - a situation that echoes the sport's governing body's dithering over Bahrain a few years back.

However, the Frenchman is being advised by Vatanen who is urging him to make a stand as F1 heading to Russia at this time will be seen by many as condoning events in Ukraine and eastern Europe.

However, whilst Todt remains silent, following Bernie Ecclestone's mantra that 'F1 doesn't do politics' (huh!), Vatanen has spoken publicly of his opposition to the race going ahead.

www.pitpass.com

WTF, I hope not.

 

[VinoG]

impossible -

 

[Polish]

F1 tiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiime

 

[Polish]

FP1 in 10 mins

Smoke, coffee, back......

 

[Polish]

I see for the first time a green light flashing at the back of the cars. Normally its red. And its not a break light, flashes quickly and constantly.

Weather dependant ? Anyone else noticed this ?

 

[Polish]

Button on top in FP1

Must be something wrong with the F1 live timing system