F1 - General discussion and 2016 Season

[Polish]

Driver Stress

We touched on this earlier but it’s worth spending a bit more time to understand the stresses that an F1 driver’s body is under during a race. Never doubt that they are serious athletes – the days of them turning up with a hangover, smoking a tab just before, and celebrating with a pint of beer afterwards are long gone.
Their heart rate will nudge 200 beats-per-minute at times, and will average 150 for long periods. They will lose over 3 litres of fluid during a race (sometimes urine too, peeing where they sit, which must take some practice) and their blood pressure will rise by 50%. The toll that a typical race takes on their body is reckoned to be the equivalent of running a marathon, burning 1,200 calories.
It might take 800 lbs/in of effort to press the brake pedal, the cockpit temperature can exceed 50 degrees Celsius and you need to concentrate continually for 300kms because a split-second loss of concentration means that you might exceed the car’s capabilities by 1%, which is the difference between a blistering lap time and a spin.

http://www.carvaluation.com/

 

[Polish]

Temperatures

Carbon brakes need to be at a minimum temperature of 500 degrees Celsius before they will work effectively and they will top 1,000 degrees under braking. If the pace car is out then the driver will brake frequently to try and keep them working properly, otherwise he’ll have a dead pedal when the race restarts. (Incidentally, the energy needed to slow the car from 315km/h to 185km/h is the same amount needed to make an elephant jump 10 metres in the air.)
Did you know that the temperature of the oil in the gearbox will reach over 150 degrees when racing and the exhaust will touch 950? By way of a comparison Max Mosley’s arse will only reach a laughably poor 50 degrees during a decent spanking session.

http://www.carvaluation.com/

 

[Polish]

Eeeeek, just no.

View attachment 158602

 

[Agent_Smith]

Eeeeek, just no.

View attachment 158602

Link appears to be broken...

 

[Polish]

Link appears to be broken...

wekks ok for me

 

[Agent_Smith]

wekks ok for me

Weird...

 

[thestaggy]

James Hunt, you beauty.

[video=youtube;QEbVrjLDMTk]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEbVrjLDMTk[/video]

 

[Willie Trombone]

Weird...

View attachment 158658

Ditto

 

[Polish]

Ditto

Ok gonna try again.

 

[Willie Trombone]

Ok gonna try again.

View attachment 158906

Uhglee!

 

[Polish]

Some interesting F1 trivia

1 Formula 1 cars have around 800bhp but only weigh 640kgs including the driver. That means they have similar power to a Bugatti Veyron in a car that has around half the weight of a new Mini.

2 A driver’s steering wheel isn’t like the one in your average road car: it costs around £20,000 alone and has a multitude of buttons to control absolutely everything. This season the drivers have a new button which, when pressed, will help them to overtake the car in front – as long as they’re no more than a second behind it.

3 While aeroplanes use their wings to lift them into the air, F1 cars use theirs to create downforce – the force that pushes them onto the track and helps them corner faster and have more grip. It’s said that at upwards of 150mph, a Formula 1 car will create so much downforce that it could be driven upside down on the ceiling of a tunnel.

4 Before the Monaco Grand Prix, manhole covers are welded down. That’s because the downforce created by an F1 car has enough suction to rip them off!

5 F1 helmets are among the toughest things in the world. Some of the tests they have to pass to be deemed legal to race in are being subjected to an 800 degrees C flame for 45 seconds (without the heat inside the helmet exceeding 70 degrees C) and a visor that has projectiles fired at it at around 300mph. If any of these make dents deeper than 2.5mm, the helmet also fails.

6 The front suspension of a Formula 1 car is so strong that it can withstand two tonnes of pressure. That means that those carbon fibre rods that connect the wheels to the main body could have an adult bull on top of them without breaking.

7 When a driver has his foot to the floor and the engine is revving at 18,000rpm, the pistons will be travelling down the bore and back in three thousandths of a second.

8 When a car is driving in the wet, the tyres get rid of 250 litres of water per second – enough to fill a large bath.

9 The chassis – the car’s main structure – is incredibly strong, being made from over a thousand different parts of Kevlar, carbon fibre, metal and various honeycomb structures.

10 The safety of modern F1 cars means drivers can withstand huge crash impacts. The biggest crash impact on record was suffered by David Purley at the British Grand Prix in 1977, where he had an impact that was estimated as 197.8g – meaning his car went from 108mph to a standstill in two seconds. He recovered and went on to race again.

11 Formula 1 drivers are subjected to forces of up to 5G when racing – meaning that in a very high-speed corner, their body will experience pressure five times greater than their body weight.

12 Monza in Italy is renowned as the hardest track on brakes. When drivers brake for the first corner they go from 200mph down to 60mph in just over two seconds.

13 Under extreme braking, some drivers have said that this force is so great that their tear ducts squirt water into their visors.

14 Formula 1 brake discs are made from a special, indestructible form of carbon fibre. A set costs several thousand pounds and takes a month to make, but the most impressive thing about them is that when a driver stamps on the brakes the discs heat up to around 1,200 degrees C – typically the average temperature of molten lava.

15 Even after a race has been completed, a car’s tyres will be about 120 degrees C – hot enough to cook an egg on

http://f1pulse.com

 

[Polish]

F1 wheel nuts explained by Brundle

[video=youtube;PeIqXgaoSNM]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PeIqXgaoSNM[/video]

 

[Polish]

Some other interesting F1 facts

 A Formula One car can accelerate from rest to 100 kilometer per hour in just 2 second. With an additional second and half, the car will be doing a speed of 160 kilometers per hour. It can hit 300 km/h (186 mph) in less than 8.6 seconds. During acceleration, the car generates an acceleration force equaling 1.45 times earth’s gravitational pull, i.e. 1.45 g.

 With power to weight ratio typically over 1200 horsepower per tonne, a Formula One car would be theoretically able to accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in just one second. However, the limited grip provided by car is not sufficient to utilize all the power under acceleration without breaking its grip and causing wheel spin.

 An F1 car consumes nearly 75 liters of fuel for traveling 100 kilometers, giving it a fuel economy of 3.1 mpg. The engine sucks in about 650 liters of air per second.

 The engine in an F1 car is about 20% more efficient than a hypothetical, road car engine that would provide the same power.

 The Brakes in an F1 consistently reach over 1000 Degree Celsius in every lap of a race. It produces a braking force of up to 5.5 g (more than 5 times what normal cars are capable) on a particularly fast track like the Monza.

 An F1 car can decelerate from 200 km/h (124 mph) to a halt in just 2.9 seconds, traveling just 65 meters.

 An F1 transmission can change gears within just 0.05 seconds, i.e. one in twentieth of a second. An F1 driver does more than 3100 gear changes in a single race in tracks like Monaca.

 The highest recorded speed of an F1 car on a race is 369 km/h (229 mph). The top-speed of the car on different tracks varies according the level of ground force the car generates. It varies between 300 km/h on a high-down force track to 360 km/h in a low down force track.

 The unofficial speed record for an F1 car was set by Honda on 6 November 2005 at 413 km/h (257 mph). The FIA ratified speed record for an F1 one car is 400 km/h (249 mph) which is surprisingly slower than road cars like the Bugatti Veyron.

The F1 car is designed for high-speed cornering. An F1 can take a low-speed corner (between 80 and 100 km/h) with lateral acceleration of 2 g. At high-speed corners, F1 cars have been recorded to generate lateral acceleration of 6.0 g during cornering at the Suzuka circuit. Even the best road legal sports cars cannot produce cornering acceleration more than 1.1 g.

 As a result of the forces involved and fluids lost by perspiration, an F1 driver loses between 2 and 4 kilogram of weight during a single race. The drivers are provided with on-board supply of fluid.
 The fueling machine in an F1 pit stop can pump in as much as 12 liters of fuel every second.

http://www.nitrobahn.com/

Flip, that is an impressive speed record.

 

[Polish]

Las Vegas wants an F1 race - Ecclestone

Bernie Ecclestone's latest plan is for a grand prix to be hosted in Las Vegas on the world-famous strip.

Although a race in New Jersey has fallen through in the past two years, Ecclestone has successfully expanded the calendar to Austria and Russia this year and 2015 will see the return of Mexico before a street race in Azerbaijan's capital Baku in 2016. He said Las Vegas is now pushing for its own grand prix.

"Vegas say they are ready to go and it would be on The Strip for sure," Ecclestone told The Independent.

In 1981 and 1982 F1 races took place in the car park of the Caesars Palace hotel in Las Vegas, but the on-track action was far from popular due to the uninspiring track layout. Ecclestone says Las Vegas is not alone in wanting to host an F1 race in the future.

"In the end there's a million countries that would like to have an F1 race but they can't afford it."

However, with Formula One's calendar already at bursting point, it is not yet clear how all the proposed new races will fit in the future.

http://en.espnf1.com/f1

Now this i like, i can see this competing with Monaco, not for the track originality but for the glitz and glamour.

 

[Polish]

F1 weeeeek

NOOOOOOOOOOOT

Two more weeks to USA

 

[Polish]

F1 return possible with surgery and luck - Kubica

Robert Kubica still has hopes of returning to Formula One, but would need further surgery to his arm to make it possible.

Kubica's right hand was partially severed in a rallying accident in early 2011, forcing him to quit Formula One. After a long recovery he returned to motorsport via rallying and this year competed at the very highest level in the World Rally Championship.

Kubica has always maintained that a return to F1 is his ultimate goal, but says even after three years of recovery and further surgery there is no guarantees his hand would be back to normal.

"Formula One would be a dream to come back but we have to stay realistic," he told the BBC. "If I decide to try and come back I will have more surgery this winter and maybe with the help of the doctors, and with some luck, it will be possible."

However, surgery may disrupt Kubica's rallying season, which runs from mid-January to mid-November.

"The arm and hand are okay. From a mobility point of view, there have been some improvements. From a limitation point of view, it's pretty much the same. So I need to have more surgery - and there are possibilities - but it's a tight season, there are many rallies and they are long events."

http://en.espnf1.com

I reckon this would be a hellova gamble. A fantastic driver but after such a long absence and some limitations the chances are slim.

 

[Polish]

Brawn, Domenicali and Fittipaldi on FIA panel reviewing Bianchi crash

Ex-F1 team principals Ross Brawn and Stefano Domenicali are among the members of a new FIA Accident Panel, which will carry out a full review of Jules Bianchi's crash at the Japanese Grand Prix.

Bianchi remains in intensive care in a Japanese hospital after crashing into a recovery vehicle two weeks ago at Suzuka. The new Accident Panel, headed up by the president of the FIA's Safety Commission Peter Wright, will start investigating the incident this week ahead of a presentation of their findings to the World Motor Sport Council on December 3 in Doha.

"The group will carry out a full review of the accident to gain a better understanding of what happened, and will propose new measures to reinforce safety at circuits, with recommendations to be made for the FIA President," read an FIA statement.

The FIA Accident Panel also includes two-time F1 champion Emerson Fittipaldi and head of the Grand Prix Drivers' Association Alex Wurz.

FIA Accident Panel

Presidency

Peter Wright, President of the Safety Commission
Members

Ross Brawn, former Team Principal of Mercedes F1 Team, Brawn Grand Prix and former Technical Director of Scuderia Ferrari
Stefano Domenicali, former Team Principal of Scuderia Ferrari
Gerd Ennser, Chief Stewards' representative
Emerson Fittipaldi, President of the FIA Drivers' Commission, F1 Steward
Eduardo de Freitas, WEC Race Director
Roger Peart, President of the Circuits Commission, President of the ASN of Canada, F1 Steward
Antonio Rigozzi, Advocate, Judge at the International Court of Appeal of the FIA co-opted by the teams
Gérard Saillant, President of the FIA Institute and President of the Medical Commission
Alex Wurz, President of the GPDA, drivers' representative

http://en.espnf1.com

This is now quite interesting, an accident panel made up of ex-heavies. This could be most beneficial going forward.

 

[Polish]

Hulkenberg to stay with Force India for 2015

Nico Hulkenberg will remain with Force India for the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship, the team have confirmed.

The 27-year-old German is enjoying his best season to date in 2014, having scored points in all but three Grands Prix. He currently sits eighth in the drivers' standings.

"It's good to confirm my plans for next season," Hulkenberg said. "This is a team I know extremely well and we've enjoyed a great year together with some special results.

"The team has big ambitions and I believe we can have a competitive package once again next year. We have a strong partner in Mercedes and everyone in the team is motivated and hungry for more success.

"I have a good feeling for 2015 and there is a lot to be excited about as we try to build on the results we have achieved this year."

Force India team principal and managing director Vijay Mallya said retaining Hulkenberg was a major boost, adding: "Everybody in the team is delighted to see Nico remain a Sahara Force India driver for next season. We rate him very highly and he has done a tremendous job this year by consistently picking up crucial championship points.

Hulkenberg raced with Force India in 2011 and '12 and, after a one-year spell at Sauber, returned ahead of the 2014 season. He has scored 76 points over the opening 16 races - compared to team mate Sergio Perez's 47 - and has helped keep Force India in the hunt for fifth in the constructors' championship. The team currently trail McLaren by 20 points

www.formula1.com

 

[Datura]

I just read this thread from start to finish. I grew up with a very hardcore enthusiast, my father, and reading through this thread and seeing some of the older 80's and 90's pics so many stories I had forgotten came flooding back and reading someone post about one of the greatest, Jimmy Clark, brought a tear to my eye. I became crazy about bike racing from late 80's on and slowly stopped watching the cars but this thread really brought back that long lost fascination I once had both with the evolution of the drivers and the machines!

Best thread I have read here in years.

Thanks!

 

[Willie Trombone]

I just read this thread from start to finish. I grew up with a very hardcore enthusiast, my father, and reading through this thread and seeing some of the older 80's and 90's pics so many stories I had forgotten came flooding back and reading someone post about one of the greatest, Jimmy Clark, brought a tear to my eye. I became crazy about bike racing from late 80's on and slowly stopped watching the cars but this thread really brought back that long lost fascination I once had both with the evolution of the drivers and the machines!

Best thread I have read here in years.

Thanks!

Welcome
I agree!
Though I get your fascination with the bikes these days... somehow it's more like real racing. Hopefully F1 gets back to it's roots somehow.