I happen to agree with you, but that is opinion. On the other hand, McLaren 8 WCC Williams 9 WCC is fact
Really? OK. Colin for his "involvement" with DeLorean? Ron? Presumably for "stealing" some Ferrari data? I don't know the Colin/DeLorean story, but to me at least the only one that should have gone to jail is Flav. At least the other two never ordered a driver to put his and potentially many other lives in peril. Cheers, Ian PS - Colin may have been an egomaniac, but he was an designer & engineer in ways Ron can only dream of.
Yep, really. Couldn't agree more on Flav. He should be properly held to account IMO. As a Ferrari and Massa fan I was gutted by the injustices of 2008. Flav's crime did risk lives and effected the race result which clearly effected the driver championship result. McLaren being allowed to benefit from the stolen goods they knowingly received and at every turn lied about is an injustice that was never corrected. Correct
Also known as "catsup" in various places here in the States I've learnt. In our context, - catching up - While I get the argument, I don't think the others are as "hamstrung" as they'd like us to believe. Sure, running cars almost 24x7 speeded development - But, at ludicrous cost. Would I like to see more testing? Hell yeah. But a lack of it is not the reason Merc are blowing everyone's doors off right now IMO. Cheers, Ian EDIT: Or, conversely, the reason Honda are struggling.
Has anyone thought what Mclaren is going to do when Honda fails to make an engine that is somewhat decent in 2016? They've criticized Mercedes quite a bit since last year, Ferrari sure as hell won't give them an engine. Renault would be their only alternative and they haven't exactly made a good engine either so far...
Why "when" instead of "if"? I still think that they can´t be so moronic as they look now. Once they get it running they will be fast.
The cost of CFD, Simulators, wind tunnels and the personnel to run all that as well as the software and hardware .... There isn't a great deal of difference, in fact, you might mount a case to argue that running real cars on a real test track might well save money.
True - only now that they have invested in all the CFD and Simulator stuff, you can bet your bottom dollar they will keep it and add real testing - it's not or the other. Costs would be astronomical and hence he with the biggest $$$s wins. Still a rubbish solution! I think they should just light the afterburners on allowing engine dev for all teams this season and be done with it. Clamp down again once all teams have reached an acceptable level of reliability (note - NOT performance). Simples.
Yap, more power, more mechanical grip and less aerodinamics...we all know this is the way to go.....except the guys in charge...
I beg to differ. I'm very much out of touch, but while their "IT departments" running all that stuff are no doubt much bigger than prior, and the 'puters aren't cheap, it's still a long way from dragging half a dozen trucks & who knows how many people all over Europe all the time. Throw in flights, hotels etc and it adds up fast. At it's height, I'd bet the big budget operations were spending a further $50-100MM on testing every season. The days of putting it on a flat bed behind a transit van with a couple of spanner guys are *long* gone. They need a substantial IT department at the circuit to just to get the things started. I haven't seen it for a while, but recall Hammonds little "joy ride" in Fred's Renault a few years back? That was not much more than a stunt, but there were, what, 30 guys in attendance? For a fun day out. Get serious about it, and I reckon that number probably doubles. +1 Although, it can be argued that he with the biggest budget generally, almost always, wins in all forms of motorsport. I could go with that! Give 'em all a bunch more tokens to use, this year, as they choose. However, what then happens in, say, 2016 if Honda (!) are way ahead ala Merc? Do they then allow further development for the other poor darlings? Having said that, they've all got quite a few tokens left right now - Maybe not enough to "start over", but enough to make plenty of changes if "spent" wisely. If Merc can do it, there's *nothing* stopping the others doing it too..... Cheers, Ian
With all due respect, it's "easy" for us here in the peanut gallery to make such assertions. They may be down on power some, but they have oodles of torque and indeed wheelspin is a big "problem" for them right now. [Especially Kimi it seems! ] More mechanical grip & less aero? Would almost certainly make them slower yet IMO! I like that they're talking about getting back to 900-1000HP - There's a "wow factor" there, and as noted, "more power is always good". On aero - It would be nice if they could run in "dirty air" without destroying their tires, but they've been trying to tweak that for years now. No easy fixes IMO. Cheers, Ian
Complicated hasn't worked all that well. Time to give simple a shot. If the fans see some real driving the absolute speed won't matter.
One issue is that, while other teams might catch up to Mercedes' current engine performance with their tokens, Mercedes is also able to spend tokens to increase their own performance and thus maintain the gap. I don't realistically see anyone catching Mercedes under this format of the engine regulations. With the Mercedes teammates taking points off one another, someone on another team might pull a miracle and challenge for a WDC, but the WCC is gone for the foreseeable future. All the best, Andrew.
On aero - It would be nice if they could run in "dirty air" without destroying their tires, but they've been trying to tweak that for years now. No easy fixes IMO. Cheers, Ian[/QUOTE] This is to me the main issue, cos if they could run in the "dirty air" it would be a lot easier to overtake (an ditch that drs crap) since you could follow the car in front in fast corners without loosing downforce as well, as you said not destroying tires......i also thing it's essencial that drivers can choose wich tires to use, if they prefer softer with more pit stops or harder with less pit stops, this will vary strategies mixing things up and alowing drivers to drive acording to thayr own styles and abilities...
LOL at "IT departments" and 'puters Suffice to say wind tunnels alone, without the 'puters are so expensive they have proposed a ban on those as well. It's a fair point that it would be hard to put the genii back in the bottle now the big teams are hooked on petaflops, but the fact is, staying extra days at circuits with your existing crew would be a drop in the ocean compared to "IT departments" "puters", wind tunnels and simulators.
+1 there! Personally, I'd like to see Pirelli bring all 4 compounds and "let 'em at it". A bit of a logistical problem for them, but surely solvable? Then we may really see if, eg, JB and/or Ferrari are as "light" on their tires as claimed etc. Even a free choice from 3 compounds would be better than a mandated switch between 2 - Use whatever you want..... Incidentally, after being slated for making tires that fall apart, Pirelli are now being slated for making them too durable and encouraging "just" one stop! Talk about a no win scenario! Cheers, Ian
Indeed! But that's a slightly different debate to opening up unlimited testing. Many have said for years now (me being but one) that they should have two or three days after most races. Don't want to or can't afford to run? Fine, go home, but don't whine about it! It was the excess of dedicated test teams that killed it for all IMO. Cheers, Ian
Agree, i believe that unlimited test run it's absurd and too costly but, to give the teams a couple of days let's say from each other race would be very good, and since everyone was already at the track, i'm pretty sure costs would be nothing that stupid, this way you could develop a car during the entire season...and as ian said, if you don't have the money, just go home
If it's about anything, F1 is about excesses. Finding a sensible balance about most anything seems to be impossible for these guys. Which is why they need a responsible independent authority managing such things.
