2017 rules / changes

You would think with their budget... the extra 100mm or whatever they get... they should... or at least could... be the frontrunners. Ferrari is and has been proof that management and organization can ruin the most well-funded enterprises. It's a study all on it's own.

 

I think the way it generally works is that a team does stuff and everything is fine. This is, until Charlie declares it illegal. To avoid tears, teams typically tend to send him their concepts for clarification. Charlie then issues something like a recommendation or so, a non-binding interpretation of sorts.

Now, Ferrari can ask Charlie the same question. Is Mercedes' system legal. Of course they know the answer. In view of the inspectors that investigate the car at every GP it is. What they can do is bring a different view into play, saying that they believe the system is against rule xyz etc... That is where I understand they are stuck because they have nothing they can take aim at. So they struggle to make an argument against it.

 

sounds like we're behind the 8 ball again. sigh...

 

I'm going to predict williams and ferrari will be very close this year, and Vettel will go to Mercedes for 2018

 

Wow, you are surely thinking ahead!

2017 season hasn't stated yet, and may be full of surprises, who knows?

But you may be right in your predictions, for all I know.

I can see 2 drivers at the end of their tether this year if their team don't improve: Alonso and Vettel, who will surely consider a move if they have to suffer an other year of bad performance.

 

I'm in the same thought process myself, Vettel will more than likely move to MB, sorry VB, but Alonso I'm still trying to figure out where to go???

 

FEBRUARY 13, 2017

Dallara hits out at F1's radical new rules



F1 car designer Gian Paolo Dallara has hit at out the sport's 2017 rules revolution.

The 80-year-old, whose company is involved in collaboration with the Ferrari-linked American team Haas, doubts the much faster cars this year will actually make the F1 'show' better.

"As an engineer I do not know why they decided to focus on higher downforce," Dallara told the well-known Italian blogger Leo Turrini.

"Technically it will make it almost impossible to overtake, because no one will be able to follow the one in front of him. We complain about the lack of 'show' in F1 and then go in the opposite direction," he added.

Like many, Dallara suggests the 'Americanisation' of formula one in the new Liberty Media era could change the sport.

"As you know, we (Dallara) are very present in America, where there is an obsession to level the competition in every way.

"But F1 follows a different philosophy -- they even invented the virtual safety car to maintain the gaps between the cars. It's almost a cultural clash," Dallara said.

"Do not ask me what is better, I would be partisan," he added.

Turrini also asked Dallara about Ferrari's chances for 2017, but he answered: "You know much more than me and I know that you are extraordinarily cautious.

"Let's say it like this: when you start playing with a pack of completely new cars, who was losing has a better chance," he said.

 

Couldn't agree more. Less aero, not more. It's been an engineering championship for years now, not a driver's championship, and it's going to get worse......

 

Here is the half-zip sweater livery: it will have the historic F1 cars listed in the livery print.


and here is the 2017 cap:

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FEBRUARY 14, 2017

Suspension dispute still raging before test



A question mark continues to hang above the legality of the fastest two cars ahead of the 2017 season.

Although the new Mercedes and Red Bull cars are yet to be launched, it is already known that they will feature the same 2016-style suspension concept that some are comparing to outlawed active suspension.

Ferrari has already challenged the concept's legality, and at the latest meeting of F1 technical bosses last week, the matter was discussed at length again.

But for now, the FIA is declaring that the system is legal.

Some teams, reportedly led by Ferrari, have argued that Mercedes and Red Bull - or the FIA - should at least explain how the system works, but Auto Motor und Sport correspondent Michael Schmidt reports that "the campaign has been unsuccessful".

So Schmidt said the risk of a formal protest in Melbourne remains.

A report in Italy's authoritative La Gazzetta dello Sport agreed: "The meeting last week did not result in an agreement about what is allowed and what is not.

"Many proposals were on the table, but the position of the teams is very far apart."

However, Gazzetta said one possible outcome before the Barcelona test is that Charlie Whiting will issue a new technical directive regarding suspension legality.

"For the teams it would give enough time to review their projects and adapt, if not in time for Barcelona then for the start of the season in Australia," it added.

 

The self-driving car project at Google-parent Alphabet (GOOGL) paid some workers so much that they built a nest egg and ditched the company, according to a Bloomberg report.

Maybe F1 should develop this technology to eliminate drivers all together. (just joking)

 

Seen it.....Yeeeeeeaaaaahhhhh, but they still race the horse and I don't see that going rider-less.

 

That's because horse racing hasn't come under the clutch of engineering ... yet.

But I hear some camel racing is done with robot jockeys?

 

Biggest Ferrari fan but this isn't looking too good at all. Wonder if it would be better Ferrari was sold away like Ducati.

 

As I'm not hearing much about McLaren (my missus' team) and Ferrari are not looking that good I am probably having another year off F1

I get more done this way

 

Feb. 15, 2017

Paul Hembery says there will be no point complaining if the move to lower degradation tyres makes Formula 1 grands prix less exciting because Pirelli is doing what was asked.

Pirelli has overhauled its tyre concept to reduce degradation for 2017, as requested by the new rules, allowing drivers to push harder in a philosophy that is a departure from the policy it has followed since it became F1's tyre supplier in 2011.

Pirelli motorsport chief Hembery has previously said F1 could end up with processional racing this year because the rules shake-up, which includes significant tweaks to aerodynamics, will spread the field out.

Speaking at an event in Turin to mark Pirelli's 110th motorsport anniversary, Hembery told Motorsport.com that if the new tyre concept does not deliver a good show, the blame should not lie with the Italian company.

"You can't please everyone and you can only go in one of two directions," Hembery said. "We did something from the outset which was desired, then there was a decision to go in another direction.

"We're just following what the sport asks us. All we ask is that they tell us what they want. There's no point in complaining that we deliver what we have been asked to deliver.

"As a sport we're moving in a different direction, and if it works as people say then we should get good racing."

While the modified 2015 mule cars Pirelli used for testing failed to deliver the required amount of downforce expected in 2017, the tyre supplier was able to fall back on simulation data.

"The biggest challenge is if you don't have downforce, you might not be able to get the tyres working as intended, because we worked to a level of downforce given by the simulation," he said.

"It's true the mule cars were some way off in terms of performance levels, but we do have the simulation data.

"That's the question, how close will the cars be to that data – maybe they will have more and go much quicker."

Hembery feels while there may be fewer pitstops, the change in the rules should create a situation where overtaking possibilities are increased.

"We'll see fewer stops," he said. "That comes with less degradation. You come into the pits either because of performance loss [due to degradation] or wear, and in this case we are reducing both.

"We'll see a lot more one-stop races but if we deliver with the aerodynamic package cars that are closer together, and the tyre's not overheating on the surface, drivers will be able to push and lead to a scenario where overtaking is improved."

source: Pirelli: Don't blame us if F1 races are boring

 

When it comes, and it will it will be sold as a combination of technology and safety. Jules Bianchi would still be alive if he had been sitting at a sim console in the pit.

 

True but many of us take that risk when we go out on the road ourselves. JB's incident might still be alive IF: 1.) it was not raining 2.) they called a SC instead of VSC 3.) they called a red flag and stopped the race......

 

This is why I love auto-translations! I will surely make very good use of this maxim.

 

We need this:

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/21Y2v-nPK0g/maxresdefault.jpg


A 12 cylinder revving to 25k. Yes please!

 

+1 to above.
People will still step over each other to get to drive racing cars, no matter the danger!