Hahaha. Nico Rosberg said in an interview that the cars are going at gp2 speeds and that it would be impossible to go faster around any circuit than the 2013 car... Bernie must be ragin' right about now.
Agreed. However, I will try to keep an open mind. Honestly though, if it turns into endurance fuel saving 'racing', I hope it fails spectacularly and they have a complete re-think.
The way the fuel flow rate is structured coupled with the stiochiometric AFR there is essentially rev limit. Reving any higher would only make a more lean charge.
With fuel flow being limited above 10.5k rpm I suspect peak bhp can be made right around 11k rpm if that, but is it not optimal to shift when maximum torque is in line with where the next gear falls ie. if shifting at 15k rpm, one would want the next gear selected to be at max torque as it's engaged, so 10.5k rpm or thereabouts. Unless of course these new gearboxes have very short gears allowing max torque to be engaged minus ever needing to rev the engine beyond 13k or so.
They are now 8 speed gearboxes rather than the previous 7 speed so that theory might hold some water. I wonder if any of the drivers have been caught out yet by forgetting that they've still got another gear to go once they hit 7th?
They have 8 gears because the gear set is "homologated" for the WHOLE (!!) season and must cater to Monaco as well as Monza, so possibly they are not using 1st (except for starts) and 8th gear at Jerez. I would presume self-imposed limitations are at play here.
I'd think Merc ran closer to full power than Ferrari for the simple reason they ran a full race sim. It would be fairly stupid IMO to run a full race sim and miss out on the critical fuel use validation data. Also, LaGazetta has said the Ferrari engine was held back at Jerez and will be given an upgrade for Bahrain. They also said there will be new front wing (no surprise there) new rear wing and body as well as the abovementioned dt upgrade. They call it a B-spec car.
Oops! - My bad! - I forgot about that one! I brushed up on it here: 2014 Rules | ScarbsF1.com It seems that for this season only they can change the ratio's once at any time but for next season there can be ratio change. It is also suggested in that link that with the extra torque of the engine, they may only actually use 5 or 6 gears in races, so going into 8th gear as I'd previously suggested could actually prove to be a bit embarrassing for drivers at some circuits!
Trackside reports indicate that no team ran at full power. The focus was on set up and reliability. We will see mor representative times at the upcoming Bahrain test.
+1 I think it was JB who noted that 1st/2nd gear corners were now being done in 3rd or 4th because of the torque they've now got. I also wonder if they could 'jump' gears by messing with the 'box ECU? Some tracks may be, say, 1,3,5,7,8 while Monaco would be a straight 1-6 for example. I guess they'd always want 1st for the start, but after that it could be very circuit dependent. Cheers, Ian
I know Lewis and Nico both confirmed the same. The hairpin a Monaco for example will be a 3 or 4 gear corner where it was 1st before.
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wNnuNRMceM]Ferrari testing 2014 Turbo V6 F1 Engine on a LaFerrari chassis in Fiorano! - YouTube[/ame] I thought the Ferrari would sound like when they tested it in the La Ferrari. Listen towards the end of the video. It has that high pitched sound, which I like. Maybe Ferrari is still limiting the RPM?
I think the teams are just making sure everything is in check before going a 100% with the engines and system. Just to check everything is working, etc. Maybe we will get better sound by the time Melbourne comes around. I've heard and watch some clips, and gotta admit...they sound horrible! Like the engine is constipating or something. But, i prefer to watch them live and make a judgement. Can't wait for Sepang this year.
Nico thinks that f1 this year will not be about speed as the cars are slower but that it will involve more "in race" thinking. Massa says that he believes Fred will beat kimi as Fred is more intelligent. I'm not going to panic yet but between the ugly cars, lack of engine noise and speed, and potential fuel economy runs this may be the year I take a sabbatical.
slower cars? with more torque..will this translate into better lap times? or with they be about the same as last year?
I'm very excited by the video's of seen from Jerez. The sound is great, and the car's look a lot better in motion than they do in "release" photos. Rear traction is gonna be at a premium, it will be interesting to see how the team's develop their cars over the season. Cars with less rear downforce + no traction control + more power means driver's will be a much bigger part of the equation.(As will engine/recovery system mapping) This will be like getting a little time machine to the late 1930's when tires couldn't keep up with the massive power the Grand Prix teams were coming up with in engine development. I'm looking forwards to it. ^^
sounds like a turd to me... [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIZiB9KaYWM]Fernando Alonso jerez 2014 - YouTube[/ame] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I1_TrtqRLo8]F1 test día 3 jerez 2014 - YouTube[/ame]
Sounds like the mid to late 80s to me. Love it. Can't wait for Monaco, talk about a toss up of a race this year
