2017 Formula One Season ***Possible Spoilers***

Pathetic, isn't it?

 

Australian Grand Prix circuit tweaked for faster 2017 F1 cars - F1 - Autosport

 

Honda changing Formula 1 engine configuration for 2017 - F1 - Autosport

 

Formula 1 peaked in 2000s, not Senna/Prost era, Alonso believes - F1 - Autosport

Formula 1 reached its peak in the 2000s and the Ayrton Senna/Alain Prost era would be considered boring now, reckons Fernando Alonso.

The 2005/06 F1 world champion believes the 1980s championship battles are viewed over-generously with hindsight.

A stern critic of recent F1, Alonso reckons many of the 2014-16 regulations' problems also compromised what many consider as the championship's halcyon period.

"Formula 1 at that time, it was very boring," he said of the Senna/Prost era.

"If you see a race now from '85, '88 or '92, you will sleep through the race because it was two McLarens, the fourth guy was lapped and there was 25 seconds between each car.

"There were 10 cars DNF because the reliability was so-so.

"Television figures, spectators are going down [now], like it was in these boring years in the '80s where Senna, Prost and these people were saving fuel, saving tyres and things like that, so it's exactly the same boring as it was at that time."



By contrast, he rates the manufacturer boom of the 2000s as F1's high point.

"I think Formula 1 grew up a lot," Alonso said of that period.

"A lot of manufacturers came into Formula 1 in the 2000s - BMW, Toyota, and there were many people coming.

"Television figures and the spectators were at the maximum.

"We opened Formula 1 to new countries - we raced in Korea, we raced in India, we raced in Singapore, two races in Spain - and that was the maximum.

"And we didn't understand that situation, probably. The costs were very high, technology was very high, some manufacturers pulled out."

Alonso also believes it is common for drivers to be reassessed more favourably after they retire.

"When you stop racing you transform into an idol, when you are racing you are criticised," he said.

"When you stop racing you are fantastic, it happened with Felipe [Massa], with [Mark] Webber.

"The people of the '80s - they're great champions, they are idols. And now in this generation [Lewis] Hamilton, [Sebastian] Vettel, they will be idols for the kids in go-karts now."



He added that his frustration with recent F1 regulations was that the performance available from the technology could not be fully exploited.

"The resources, the budgets of these teams, the technology we are using allows these cars to be fantastic machines and probably beyond any physics that the human being respects," said Alonso.

"Now we don't have that feeling. We have a car that is way too slow with no grip.

"So we are sitting in a single-seater but with the feeling of a GT."

But Alonso remains optimistic that the increased performance of the 2017 designs - which are intended to lap four-to-five seconds faster due to improved aerodynamics - will make F1 more to his taste.

"I think this will make that excitement of driving and this joy of driving, because we'll feel the grip and we can push in the corners," he said.

 

Another Lewis sycophant?
Image Unavailable, Please Login

 

How the cars have evolved........

1950 | Scuderia Ferrari

1960 | Scuderia Ferrari

1970 | Scuderia Ferrari

1980 | Scuderia Ferrari

1990 | Scuderia Ferrari

2000 | Scuderia Ferrari

2010 | Scuderia Ferrari

2014 | Scuderia Ferrari

 

Honda is poised to adopt the Mercedes philosophy of a split turbine and compressor with its 2017 Formula 1 engine as part of a revamp, sources have revealed.

The Japanese manufacturer and partner team McLaren have been tight-lipped about what was changing with its power unit for the season ahead as it uses the lessons of its first two years back in F1.

McLaren technical director Tim Goss did confirm last week that there would be a new layout and architecture for the season ahead, as Honda takes advantage of unlimited modification scope following the end of the development token system.

"The new power unit takes much of the learning from the past two seasons, but has been specifically redesigned for this season," he said.

Although no details of the redesign have been revealed, sources have confirmed that Honda's F1 chief Yusuke Hasegawa has given the green light to move away from the compact 'size zero' concept that has been used for the past two years.

That design - aimed at making the engine packaging as tight as possible - featured a split turbine and compressor situated within the confines of the V-bank of the internal combustion engine.



Honda now believes the drawbacks of that concept outweighed the advantages, so will now adopt the Mercedes-style route of the compressor being situated at one end of the engine while the turbo is located at the other.

The two elements of the turbocharging system will be joined by a connecting shaft that runs between the inside of the V-bank, also mirroring Mercedes.

As well as that, the water intercooler will be located in a niche between the chassis and the engine - which will significantly lower the power unit's centre of gravity.

Despite the dimensions of the engine being slightly larger than before, it is understood McLaren is still able to keep rear-end packaging of its new MP4-32 very tight.

Honda has also been focusing efforts on improving the internal combustion unit element of its package, having felt it made good energy recovery gains last year.

It is expected that Honda will adopt a multi-jet injector system to spray fuel inside the combustion chamber - similar to the turbo jet ignition system that Ferrari has put to good use.

 

https://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/127728/brundle-had-minor-heart-attack-in-monaco-gp

 

Toil?

 

Valtteri Bottas issues immediate title challenge to new Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton