Bugatti V16 is 1000bhp and 8.3 liter. K20 with a turbo yes... Back in mid-late 1990s F1 cars where at around 260hp per liter at 17000 rpm. add half a liter or so at same rpm, there is no way with all development we have now engines would develop less than 1050 hp reliably. Simple kers system at 200hp and we're at serious power. reduce car length and width, and I see no way that cars have to weigh any more than 660 kg including HALO.
I said naturally aspirated. The whole discussion about V10s making a come back will be that they are N/A just as they were.
Stop teasing forget where i was but i did hear this beast fire up once and it was "noisy" but certainly raised the heart beat. Thats what i call a racing car ...period
They dont seem to run long when they do, but it does sound amazing! I saw Nick Mason's car at Goodwood back in 2011 ... the Revival. I think it was like a 1.5 L engine...
The BRM sounds so damn good. Orgasmic. I love that Bugatti has thrown in a V16 in the Tourbillion. It sounds like an angry NASCAR
HALO doesn't bother me so much. Yes cars without look much better but the safety aspect is quite significant. Grosjean and Zhou sans HALO would've had s significantly worse outcome. DRS however, that **** can absolutely **** off.
The halo does makes the cars impossibly ugly. But at least for me, it's more than that. If engine regulations that emphasize efficiency are antithetical to what I think F1 should be, so are closed cockpits. When I was a kid, I had a poster of Damon Hill driving the '93 Williams, similar to this picture. To me, it captured what made F1 so cool. I was captivated by the idea of doing battle at 200mph while so completely exposed. This is what drew me to the sport and kicked off a decades-long obsession. If the cars looked then like they look today, I'm not sure I'd have given them a second glance. Once I'd been drawn in, I learned that there were so many other things that I loved about the sport. But even when I started racing myself in the mid-90s, the risks remained a big part of the appeal. When did society become so soft that even racing drivers need to be protected from themselves? Racing should be dangerous. Not 1970s dangerous. But more dangerous than today. The halo is a bridge too far.
I do agree with you, to a point...but such a big safety aspect is impossible to go back on. I really liked being able to see the drivers at work but I do prefer to see the racing drivers alive.
Impossible to go back on, yes. But if it had been up to me, it never would have been introduced. Racing was safe enough. Now it's too safe.
You and Stirling Moss shared the same thinking. However as a racer too I think safety is a good thing. the cars from the 90's compared to today are probably just as safe when you look at the performance they produce. The halo is ugly, sure but it helps keep the sport going. If you look at a Lotus 49 compared to a Lotus in 1990... the people who drove the 49 would say the 90 is way too safe... its a matter of perspective.
Speeds today aren't that different vs the early 90s. And the tracks are vastly safer. But the comparison to 2017 is more relevant anyway. The sport was plenty safe then. Not riskless (nor should it be) but safer than any other era of F1 to that point. If Jean Todt hadn't made this a passion project, we'd still have open cockpits and few would give it a second thought. Halo was only necessary to keep the sport going because he made it an issue. As for your point about the Lotus 49, I agree, it's a matter of perspective. What is safe enough? Everyone will have a different answer. I would say considerably safer than the 1960s (I think most drivers from that era would agree, Jackie Ickx aside), but the goal should not be to eliminate mortal risk entirely.
Jules Bianchi's family lawsuit(undisclosed and settled out of court) made the Halo an issue. There's a separate thread here of the lives saved by the Halo.....and not just F1 either. That's my 2 cents.
Jean Todt wanted the halo. He used Bianchi's accident to garner support. Perhaps its existence made it inevitable in our litigious world. Ironically, my understanding is that the halo would not have helped in that particular accident. But I am not debating that the Halo has and will save lives. I questioning the premise that eliminating mortal risk is the right goal. I don't think it is.
Yeah, I don't think the Halo would have helped Bianchi's situation either--> "When an immovable object meets an unstoppable force......" if you know what I mean with regards to mass of the tractor versus the mass of an F1 car
I'm a member, but yes it is expensive especially when you don't live in the UK... We go ever 3 - 4 years... my wife does like the dress up part.
Invited to the members enclosure which added some nostalgia to the weekend. Yep the other half liked that bit as well. I still remember the sea food selection, awesome food. The racing was a bonus! Last time i went, i bumped into Ross Brawn in the enclosure paddock, nice chat over his 275gtb ( if i remember correctly)!
