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The Official 2010 F1 Thread!


Alex

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I'm hoping that Williams' "clean sheet" design springs a surprise...

 

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81003

 

/from the eternal Williams optimist.

 

"The FW32 is a clean-sheet design from front to back," he said. "It's pretty much brand new from an aerodynamic point of view.

 

According to Michael, the radical new regulations for 2009 gave the Grove-based squad the opportunity to bridge the gap to the front-running teams, and he believes that Williams's consistency last season is a strong platform to move forwards.

 

Don't those two statements kind of contradict themselves? If the car was a good base why is it not an evolution, rather than a revolution?

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Is that correct, All the new adverts are with Lewis in them and the title sponsor on the Santander site is still Mclaren??

 

McLaren has confirmed that it will continue to be sponsored by Santander for the 2010 season, after agreeing an extension with the Spanish bank.

 

http://www.forumula1.net/2009/f1/f1-news/santander-renew-mclaren-sponsorship/

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Don't those two statements kind of contradict themselves? If the car was a good base why is it not an evolution, rather than a revolution?

 

Yes, without context.

 

F1 cars are designed to hit certain Lift (inverted to downforce) to Drag ratio's. Last year the FW31 had way too much drag in an attempt to extract maximum lift/downforce. It was too focused on DF and wasn't slippery enough.

 

The FW32 is designed aerodynamically for 2 key differences; narrower front tyres and a heavier car (no refueling). They will be attempting to reduce drag significantly so that the weight gain does not stunt the car as much as it would have if it was just a progrssion of last years car.

 

The FW31 was slow in a straight line....I think the Cosworth engine will be a screamer in a straight line but will need more fuel to get it to the finish line. So it would be a good idea to focus on drag reduction more than ultimate downforce. As lower drag = better mpg and better straight line (overtaking).

 

Clean sheets don't exist anyway, it's always a development based on previous knowledge. I think it would have been better to say that they replaced the FW31's deisgn focus with one that was more drag efficient...but then clean sheet is far easier to say :)

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Unchanged.

Bridgestone don't currently offer a compound that would last a full race anyway. Certainly not on a full fuel load at the start.

 

Hi Tony is my understanding of what Williams are doing reasonably accurate or complete tosh?

 

Hoping the FI car is a screamer :)

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Don't those two statements kind of contradict themselves? If the car was a good base why is it not an evolution, rather than a revolution?

 

Hi Tony is my understanding of what Williams are doing reasonably accurate or complete tosh?

 

Hoping the FI car is a screamer :)

 

I think Sam's talking about the aero package being all new, but basing the mechanicals on last years designs.

Of course they will be developing everything, taking weight out of components, making the chasssis lighter yet stronger, the same things every team does.

 

I can't really say much on the aero package, but obviously narrower tyres has an effect on the front wing design, which they would have looked at. I also hear they've gone for a particularly low rear bodywork. It all should be very interesting to see what the cars look like over the coming few weeks. Am most interested in seeing what the new teams come up with...

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Cheers Tony, I too am really looking forward to the releases and love the fact that all the cars are coming out in fairly quick succession and we know that they will all be modified before Bahrain :D

 

A Williams with a tight, low rear end would certainly go along the drag reduction at all costs route.

 

I am expecting a lot of tight and low rear ends this year...some educated artistic guesses at the new Ferrari had it down as a near carbon RB5 copy, and that came from the pen of THE Formula 1 artist.

 

I'm looking forward to the CFD only Virgin car, will be interesting to see what that produces.

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New tyre rules - Not 100% certain yet.

 

Autosport Text

Formula 1 teams have agreed to introduce an extra strategic element to races this season by forcing leading drivers to start races on the same tyres that they qualified on, AUTOSPORT can reveal.

 

With the ban on refuelling for 2010 already forcing a big change in tactics compared to how grands prix have run in recent years, the new rule looks set to have an impact on how teams approach qualifying as well.

 

Although the tweak has not yet been committed to the regulations, sources have revealed that last week's meeting of the Sporting Working Group agreed to the change as a way of improving the show.

 

It is understood that the majority of teams present voted in favour of a rule that will require the top 10 cars that make it through to the final session of qualifying to start the race on the same tyres that they set their fastest Q3 time on.

 

This will open up the possibility of teams gambling on sacrificing the best possible time in Q3 by running a more consistent but less quick tyre so as to have a better chance in the race. Alternatively, teams may choose a tyre that is better over a single lap to secure a good grid position, even if it runs the risk of compromising race performance.

 

The teams hope that the rule tweak will serve to mix up the tactics throughout the grid and therefore lead to more exciting races.

 

The change still needs to be voted on by the Formula 1 Commission and the World Motor Sport Council next week before passing into the regulations, but this is likely to be a formality.

 

The refuelling ban this season has brought about mixed opinions about whether it will improve the racing - with some suggesting that the difficulties in overtaking will result in races turning into pure processions.

 

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said on Monday that he hoped the ban would prove a positive for F1.

 

"Inevitably, when you make a change, there are pros and cons," he said. "Regarding the pros, it arguably makes qualifying purer because the fastest car/driver combination will be setting the fastest times, and the public can understand that.

 

"Secondly, in the race itself, overtaking was often being planned and implemented to occur as a consequence of strategy, and therefore happening in the pit lane and not the circuit.

 

"In the absence of that effect, drivers will have a greater incentive to overtake. There have been occasions in the past where a driver hasn't had that incentive because he knows he will be running longer and can get past the car ahead strategically through the pit stops.

 

"Additionally, the fact that drivers will qualify on low-fuel, and then the next time they drive the car in anger into the first corner will be after a standing start with cold tyres and cold brakes and 160kg of fuel.

 

"That will be very challenging for them, not just in terms of getting round that first corner, but in terms of how they look after their tyres and how the balance of the car will alter as a consequence of that. And there will be drivers who are able to deal with those changes better than others.

 

"Those are all the positives. On the negative side, it's possible that if all of the above is managed equally well by every driver, then we'll have lost one of the strategic campaign interests that the more avid fans enjoyed in the sport. Hopefully the former points will outweigh the latter."

 

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/81069

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Seriously what is the problem with the idea of swapping the grid from the finishing positions of the last race? Nobody even entertains the idea!! There are no cons as far as I can see, they just need to find something to do on Saturday to keep the punters interested.

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Seriously what is the problem with the idea of swapping the grid from the finishing positions of the last race? Nobody even entertains the idea!! There are no cons as far as I can see, they just need to find something to do on Saturday to keep the punters interested.

 

Qualifying is an event in itself. I probably enjoy that more than the race. Quali is a duel between the drivers, the race is a strategic game...both are good entertainment.

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Qualifying is an event in itself. I probably enjoy that more than the race. Quali is a duel between the drivers, the race is a strategic game...both are good entertainment.

 

But the race would be a million times more interesting if the best drivers started at the back and the slow crap ones were at the front!

On Saturday you could replace it with whatever you wanted, you could still have qualifying and just have the top 10 drivers getting prizes - maybe 'pole position' on Saturday fun day gets you 5 championship points and 10th place gets allowed an extra gearbox change during the year.

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Seriously what is the problem with the idea of swapping the grid from the finishing positions of the last race?

The race before every street circuit especially Monaco you would have 16 cars( all of the cars out of the points) doing their best to finish last . :eyebrows:

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The way Whitmarsh explained it sounds like they're not having any pit stops and the consequent "strategic overtaking".

I thought they were still having to stop for tyres though? If that's the case then pitstop strategy comes back into the race, surely?

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The way Whitmarsh explained it sounds like they're not having any pit stops and the consequent "strategic overtaking".

I thought they were still having to stop for tyres though? If that's the case then pitstop strategy comes back into the race, surely?

 

They are having stops, but each time will be stopping around the same number of times, for the same amount of time - negating each others stops (unless there's a pit-lane error).

 

Where it might help someone like Jenson over Lewis is the amount of stops they need to make. Example:

 

It's a 60 lap race. Lewis is 0.3s a lap faster than Jenson. However, Jenson is less brutal on his tyres. Given no stops, Lewis would be 20s ahead of Jenson.

 

Now, if Jenson might get away with making one stop (obligatory for the tyre compounds), Lewis might have to make a secondary stop, negating his 20s lead.

 

It's still strategy this year, with a focus on driver race-craft and tyre managment.

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The race before every street circuit especially Monaco you would have 16 cars( all of the cars out of the points) doing their best to finish last . :eyebrows:

 

So at the start of the Spanish GP the lights go out and everyone just sits on the frid for a few seconds then very slowly edges away. :D It'd be the slowest GP in history and an Engineering race to see who's got the best cooling on their cars. :cool:

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No tyre in the Bridgestone range can last a full GP. They are engineering overtaking by putting the people behind the top 10 at an advantage. Racecraft and strategy will be very much jointly required to win, as opposed to just strategy of late.

 

Edit...bit late, snap with Johnny.

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I thought the rule was brought in this year, whichever tyres you qualify on you start on (maybe only top 10 cant remember). thats the issue!

 

after top 10 likely to be on hards at first to make them last. A few of top 10 will qualify on softs for track position and so will have to start on softs for the race, whish will be bad for people like hamilton but good for button who can make them last.

 

what other advanatages giving to outside top 10 anyone know?

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Also cold tyres after pitstops with no tyre warmers should spice things up!

 

Smearing grease all over the driver's visor should spice things up too. Or perhaps enforcing that the wheel nuts can only be tightened by hand.

 

Is that the death knell for F1 I hear...

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