Winter testing 2014

It could really be the case, Newey did hint at this in that interview.

However he did also state funding/budget is or can be a issue, I think lack of time spent on this years car is probably the main reason.

If they are not strong early season I reckon they will be before the end, but it should bode well for the rest, I really don't want to endure another season like the last one.

 

Of course, but hurrying things up would lead to imperfections here and there, most likely lots of them. Not a car that does not drive at all. And as we can see, it's not only RB who's struggling, it's the whole Renault powered teams. I stand by my theory from above!

 

+1

Kravitz saying 'it's the ERS system' isn't terribly enlightening either!.... Seems 'something' is getting way too toasty, but surely they stress tested these thing on the dyno under *way* worse conditions than they expect under the engine cover? Vibration coupled to the heat maybe?

Seems these batteries (specifically, controlling them I guess) is a very difficult task - Another Boeing 787 'caught fire' again recently, and that's with the FAA involved!

FWIW, in Boeings case the battery supplier is, basically, saying, 'our batteries are good as long as you stay within specs'. Seems the weak spot is the control/monitoring stuff?

Cheers,
Ian

 

So you reckon Renault have said you need X Y and Z for this engine and electronics to work properly, and they haven't done that, or there is a fault with the engine and battery units.

 

I happen to disagree with you, but I stop short of "hating" your comments.

 

FWIW;

16:09 Day 3 results:

1. Kevin Magnussen (McLaren-Mercedes) 1m23.276s, 52 laps
2. Felipe Massa (Williams-Mercedes) 1m23.700s, 47 laps
3. Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes) 1m23.952s, 62 laps
4. Jenson Button (McLaren-Mercedes) 1m25.030s, 40 laps
5. Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) 1m25.495s, 58 laps
6. Nico Hulkenberg (Force India-Mercedes) 1m26.096s, 17 laps
7. Jean-Eric Vergne (Toro Rosso-Renault) 1m29.915s, 30 laps
8. Adrian Sutil (Sauber-Ferrari) 1m30.161s, 34 laps
9. Robin Frijns (Caterham-Renault) No time, 10 laps
11. Max Chilton (Marussia-Ferrari) No time, 5 laps
10. Daniel Ricciardo (Red Bull-Renault) No time, 3 laps

Forza Felipe!

Cheers,
Ian

 

Turbo cars never could push all the race at 100% and always had to save fuel. Do you remember when Prost had to push his car to cross the line in 1986?

I see this just as an oportunity to add another strategy element and spice the races.

 

http://gifrific.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Jennifer-Lawrence-ok-thumbs-up.gif

 

I worded that poorly, sure they had some restrictions earlier, but this is not even close to comparable to what they had in '88 (one of the most boring seasons in F1 history outside of Prost/Senna I may add) and they were allowed 55 more kg of fuel per race than they will be this year!

Bottom line is, you're absolutely in the minority on this. Run a poll on any racing forum and see how many fans are excited about the concept of F1 drivers nursing their cars, saving fuel. You will get your answer - F1 fans don't want this.

 

Forza Williams! I hope that they have their acts together this year…I've always liked the team. They have been one of the more consistent teams this week, that much is clear.

The Mercedes power unit looks like the class of the field so far (Not looking at the times, looking at the number of completed laps among all of their teams). This testing session is all about reliability, and they seem to be doing well (after McLaren's day one hiccup). I think either McLaren or Mercedes will come out of Bahrain topping the time sheets, but Ferrari won't be far behind.

Red Bull appears to have some real problems to deal with. For the record I reject the notion that they sacrificed development of this year's car to focus on the 2013 championship. They had that thing wrapped up well before the summer break. Mercedes and Ferrari were probably in the position to push longer because they still had a mathematical chance to compete. It's better to just say that something in their design is not working on the track and they need to reexamine it.

 

I'm not sure it's completely a Red Bull problem. The other Renault powered teams aren't exactly doing well either.

I hope 2014 is a LONG year for the Red Bulls. Only a fool would write them off but I would love it if they had a terrible year. Schadenfreude is my middle name

 

Maybe 1988 was boring, but that was because McLaren won all the races but one, not because the fuel restriction. The comparison between the fuel loads allowed in 1988 and 2014 is irrelevant, as modern cars have vastly different fuel efficiency and hybrid technology.

And of course being in the minority doesn´t mean that I´m wrong. We´ll see at the end of the season if it has been interesting or not, not now. So far, the only thing we can be sure about is that the last season without fuel restriction was crap.

 

Should be fun seeing Vettel in the midfield being taken out by Maldonado every other race.

 

Last year they actually had 160 kg per race, more than 1988. This year they have 100. That is a HUGE decline in the span of a year, hybrid systems be damned. The team bosses and drivers have been vocal about it.

Not for sure, but you're well on your way. F1 fans don't want economy runs. They have tin tops endurance racing for that.

And the season prior to that was great, so what? To use your argument from earlier, "last season being crap had nothing to do with a lack of fuel restrictions."

You strike me as one of those "F1 is immune to criticism" types, which is fine. You enjoy watching drivers cruise around saving fuel, I enjoy watching them push to the limit. I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree.

 

As you know, test bed technology is one of my favourite topics. I'll post another thread as soon as my food is ready and try to shed some light on it!

One difficulty to face here is keeping the different cells in order. You need pretty sophisticated algorithms to keep the cells balanced, all at the same temperature etc. to use the battery as intended.
Getting the waste heat away is another major issue, and most likely the most acute one here. Then, I suppose F1 uses high performance cells which might not be as stable as the production ones found in normal cars.

Yes, but with a question mark. It would be plausible, that's all. Let's say they specified a temperature range in which their battery and power electronics worked, i.e. up to X degrees the batteries work as intended, and up to Y degrees the power electronics are able to put out Z Watt.
But now it turns out that X and Y are not X and Y but 40 degrees less, and everyone is in trouble, but RB the most because they went pretty close to X and Y by their design.

But again, that's speculation.

 

I would like to see Williams have a strong year.

 

Some footage from yesterday.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s99QFe6htJ4]Formula 1 test Jerez 2014 [HD] pure V6 turbo sound - YouTube[/ame]

 

Not looking forward to hearing "you must save fuel" on radio calls, that to me is not what makes F1 exciting. F1, being the pinnacle should be about cutting edge technology & outright speed, right at the limit of failure (in fact I like it when they're less restricted and do fail).

I can see how the current rules (favoring development of road car tech) could bring back manufacturers (Toyota, BMW, Porsche & Honda) as crazy investments at least have applicable payout downstream. My guess as to why the "green" approach has legs, nothing to do with F1 racing, more to do with funding/saving the sport.

 

Any more Intel on marussia? Just curious as they are F powered

 

It can work both ways, drivers that save fuel at the start of the races may well come into play towards the end and start hunting down the drivers that are in a fuel saving mode, this could make the ends of races rather exciting.

 

In looking at videos on YouTube, Ferrari, Mercedes, McLaren and Williams all seem to have 'come to grips' with the higher torque engines pretty well. They are really throwing their cars into corners and look very stable from entry to apex to exit. It could be a driver thing or design, but the cars don't look twitch at all and probably accounts for the big gaps in lap times.

Regarding the quality of racing this season, I'll reserve judgement until the first Grand Prix. While fuel limits and the like seem count-intuitive to racing, we've dealt with other rulings that seemed to change things over the years. The one set of tires rule back in the mid-00's was as pointless a rule as there could be...really it was dangerous as we saw when Kimi's flat-spotted McLaren virtually exploded down a high-speed straight. I never was a fan of all of the electronic aids that changed racing, some of which are an integral part of the sport now.

I share many of the concerns that are being voiced about this season, but if these changes somehow result in a more exciting brand of racing then I'll be able to deal with it. Anything is better than the last couple of seasons.

 

There was a one minute interview with Lowden yesterday on Sky with him saying the collaboration had so far gone better than expected with ten Ferrari people seconded

The five laps today were in/out systems check only

 

As promised: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/f1/436287-renaults-problems-engine-test-beds.html