So Mercedes found a dozen horses in their 2019 PU. Now Ferrari found a "massive" push in their 2019 PU. I believe this has more to do with Ferrari's battery system setup (the tme the FIA put in a second sensor knowing now that development went downhill(4months of upgrades)) in the 2nd half of 2018 plus the oil fuel mixture with SHELL. Ferrari engine receives massive boost ahead of 2019 season https://thesportsrush.com/ferrari-engine-receives-massive-boost-ahead-of-2019-season/
Formula 1's 2019 rules changes cost "a few seconds of lap time" and produced "the worst possible outcome" when the Racing Point team completed its first simulations. Simplified front and rear wing regulations will be introduced for 2019 with the aim of improving on-track action by reducing front wing sensitivity in turbulent air and minimising the difficulty of following another car closely. While the jury is out on whether this will result on better racing and more overtaking, Racing Point technical director Andy Green said the "relatively small" rules change impacted the car's performance and balance "a lot". "It's been a big hit," he told Autosport. "And when we first put it in the tunnel a few months ago, we're talking a few seconds of lap time, and a poorly balanced car as well. "It was the worst possible outcome. "Hopefully, it has some positives with respect to closer racing. "We, like everyone else, have been trying to crawl our way out of the hole that we jumped into with these new regulations. "It's significant and it's right up there with, not-quite a complete change of car, but it's pretty close." Teams have predicted a development race at the start of 2019 specifically in a bid to recover the downforce lost by simplified aero components. Green argued that the development curve is "really steep" and that during the design of the 2019 car they have been "bringing updates all the time to try and keep on top of the change in performance of the model". Racing Point is the reincarnation of the Force India team that fell into administration last summer, and Green is not sure that the team would have coped well with the rule changes in its under-resourced previous guise. "It's a big challenge," said Green. "I wonder if old Force India would have really struggled. "Significant architectural changes would need to keep being developed throughout the season, we would be struggling. "We're in a much better place now, it's going to help us." While the impact on car performance has been clear to see during development work, Green warned that F1 will "struggle to see a big difference following another car". "I hope I'm wrong, I hope all this work will result in some positives in following another car," he said. "But for the analysis we've seen, it looks relatively small." https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/141042/f1-2019-changes-made-worst-possible-outcome
So far everybody is saying that the new rules cost a lot of money but won't improve overtaking. Another FIA **** up? I had some hope in the new Liberty crew.
It's Ross Brawn who led the team looking to improve overtaking in F1. So the blame should land on his doorstep; he is the expert. I don't think the FIA as a whole was involved in this, apart from rubber stamping his findings.
That´s why I thought that this time could be different. Whiting and friends are hopeless but I expected something better from Brawn.
It wouldn’t be genuine FIA rules unless they were able to be factored to favour Merc, let’s face it. If they found it was detrimental to the Merc and favoured the rest, there would be a protest and change to the rules before the first race.
[AMuS] Monte Carlo considered changing the track layout (extending the lap length) recently using roads on reclaimed land. But FIA run-off area regulations & limited space made them abandon the plans. Apparently cars would have been too quick.
Typical FIA mindset. "We allow 1000hp cars, but we don't want them to go too fast !!!" Hence the chicanes and other artificial gimmicks to slow the cars.
Ferrari approved: the red 670 chassis has passed the crash tests By: Franco Nugnes 37 mins ago The Red 2019 yesterday passed the crash tests to the CSI of Bollate obtaining from the International Federation the homologation of the body: the tests were present the technical delegate, Jo Bauer. Meanwhile, McLaren also accepted the chassis ok after the Cranfiel tests. The chassis of the Ferrari 2019 was approved yesterday by the FIA. The Maranello team has passed the last crash tests at the CSI in Bollate yesterday in the presence of the technical delegate of the International Federation, Jo Bauer. At the moment only Toro Rosso had officialized to have passed the 2019 tests, but as far as Motorsport.com is concerned, McLaren in Cranfield would have had the federal ok to the body that should re-launch the fate of the Woking team after a disastrous season. The Scuderia Ferrari, then, proceeds with the construction of the single-seater signed 670 in view of the presentation of the Red which was set for February 15 in Maranello. From what we know it will not be just a web launch, but the first single-seater of the management of Mattia Binotto will be shown to a small number of journalists. The Cavallino technicians now having the FIA placet can also start the construction of the second body, the one that will be brought to the second winter test session in Barcelona, while the first will make its debut on the track on February 17 on the Montmelò track for a filming day that will precede the first day of collective testing. Although every information on the car is kept in the strictest secrecy, it seems that the simulation data of the 670 are encouraging: even the Red, like Mercedes, would have already reached the wind tunnel last year's aerodynamic load values, recovering how much it is was lost with the new aerodynamic rules that simplify the front wing in an attempt to facilitate overtaking between two cars in the wake. https://it.motorsport.com/f1/news/ferrari-omologata-il-telaio-della-rossa-siglata-670-ha-superato-i-crash-test/4325682/
No place left to hide for Stroll in 2019 -- https://www.planetf1.com/news/no-place-left-to-hide-for-stroll-in-2019/
https://www.planetf1.com/news/vettel-must-regain-his-head-in-2019/ Former Ferrari team manager, Romolo Tavoni, has called on Sebastian Vettel to “regain his head” in 2019 or a decision will have to be made. Vettel has spurned two very good chances in 2017 and, in particular, 2018, to end Ferrari’s long title drought as well as add a fifth trophy to his own cabinet. Ferrari have been going through some major changes following the sad passing of chairman Sergio Marchionne, with the axing of Maurizio Arrivabene the most recent to be confirmed. But Tavoni, who has a long affiliation with the team having worked alongside Enzo Ferrari in the 1950s and 1960s, thinks Vettel’s role is amongst the most decisive if the glory days are going to come back to the Scuderia. “I sincerely believe that the departure of Arrivabene is just the first shock,” Tavoni told Italy’s Autosprint. “Let’s not forget that Vettel did a bad championship in 2018. I believe the immediate future of Ferrari rests on the situation with Vettel. “We saw some unacceptable mistakes, and now we just have to see what will happen. “In other words, Ferrari has a new boss but it is also necessary that Vettel, the spearhead on the track, regains his head.” Tavoni also welcomed the appointment as Mattia Binotto as new team principal, but feels he will need further help to ease the demand of the job.
https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/141077/honda-aims-to-start-19-with-thirdbest-engine Honda's target for the start of the 2019 Formula 1 season is to establish itself ahead of Renault and then try to catch Mercedes and Ferrari during the year. The Japanese manufacturer has been the fourth-best in F1 since returning to the grid in 2015, enticed by the current V6 turbo-hybrid regulations. Honda struggled to make progress with McLaren but last year made a strong step forward with Toro Rosso, to the point where it convinced Red Bull to switch to its engines for 2019 and was declared to have surpassed Renault's performance level. Asked where Honda would be able to start 2019, given its development in 2018, the company's motorsport boss Masashi Yamamoto told Autosport: "We will make a big effort during the winter, and [up until] now of course. "At least we would like to start from third within the manufacturers, then try to catch the frontrunners up during the season." Honda remains optimistic it will make further performance gains in time for the start of the 2019 campaign, although it is still trying to improve its reliability. Neither Honda nor Red Bull, which has publicly stated it expects to take tactical engine changes and grid penalties at some point in 2019, expect flawless reliability this year.
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https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/141103/why-longer-wheelbase-cars-could-be-2019-trend Formula 1's top teams could converge towards longer wheelbase concepts with their 2019 designs as an unintended consequence of a higher fuel allowance. In a bid to allow drivers to push harder for longer in races, rather than being held back by fuel conservation, a rule change has been introduced for this year to increase the fuel limit from 105kg to 110kg. The extra five kilos should assist with minimising fuel saving at some of the marginal races, and help rid F1 of the lift-and-coast tactics that both drivers and fans hate so much. But the extra fuel does not come without some downsides - because if teams want to use the maximum amount possible, they will need to increase the size of their fuel tanks and that means taking up some of the valuable space in the middle of the car. Teams cannot simply make their fuel tanks taller, because F1's technical regulations are strict that fuel must be kept no more than 400mm from the longitudinal axis. The only solution then, with FIA rules stipulating a specific location in the centre of the chassis, is a longer fuel tank - which means either trying to cram in the components that sat behind the old fuel tank into a smaller space, or going longer. Last year, there was a significant different in the wheelbase concepts of the top three teams. Red Bull was the shortest at 3550mm, with Ferrari coming in at 3621mm (both were an increase on 2017), while Mercedes had stuck with its 3726mm length from the previous year. Mercedes is likely to be reluctant to go longer with its car, having maintained that concept for the past two seasons. It may well try to simply better package things at the rear of the design. Even if the champion team has to increase the length of the car itself, it could still opt to stick with the same wheelbase so it heads into 2019 with a known concept. Red Bull and Ferrari have some room to go longer - with estimates suggesting that packaging another kilogramme of fuel will require an extra 7mm. That means teams could be forced to go more than 30mm longer - and some may choose to go for as much as 50mm. The other factor that will come into play is that if teams are forced to extend the wheelbases of their cars, they may be tempted to fully adopt the Mercedes route and go very long.
