2017 rules / changes

The three key variables aerodynamics, larger tires and carbon brakes all contribute to the problem. Whenever the efficiency of any one of those is increased, the immediate impact is that braking distances are reduced. When the efficiency of all three is increased at the same time, it sounds like a formula to greatly reduce passing under braking. Add to that the fact that new aerodynamics will likely make following closely impossible and you have a trifecta.

To me, it seems that the obvious solution is to, first, greatly reduce aerodynamic aids. Make front and rear wings smaller and eliminate all of the little add-ons. Larger tires could stay. But, going back to steel brakes or reducing the size of carbon brakes would lengthen the braking zone and offer more opportunity to overtake.

None of this will happen. The designers are convinced that they can solve the problem of having their cake and eating it too. They should drop the notion of PUs and focus on powering F1 with perpetual motion engines.

 

I want to give Brawn a bear hug.

 

MARCH 22, 2017

More downforce makes F1 boring says Stuck



As excitement builds for the new era of F1, German official Hans-Joachim Stuck thinks the sport has taken a wrong turn.

Amid criticism of the spectacle in the last few years, the teams have arrived in Melbourne for the 2017 season opener with much faster cars in their luggage.

"This idea was proposed by Bernie Ecclestone and approved by the strategy group," the retired Williams technical chief Pat Symonds is quoted by L'Equipe.

"The idea was to make it much harder for a 17-year-old to make his debut and be successful, but the facts show that young drivers can cope with the new cars."

The 2017 cars were given their 5 second per lap boost thanks to wider Pirelli slicks and - for the first time in F1 history - aerodynamic rule changes that actually deliver significantly more rather than less downforce.

But former driver and German motor racing official Stuck thinks speeding up the cars with better aerodynamics was the wrong route.

"It's not just the cost, aerodynamics just makes the races boring," he told the German business magazine Sponsors.

"Fans want to see real motor sport with real overtaking, not some senseless technical innovation like the folding wing," Stuck added.

He is referring to 'DRS', because even though F1 chief Ross Brawn wants to eventually ban the artificial overtaking aid, there are rumours a lack of overtaking in 2017 will mean DRS is actually revved up within a few races this year.

 

Bring back steel brakes, refueling & fuel strategies. A two second pit stop for tires gives no opportunity for the one perusing to make up any significant ground.


IMHO

 

This. Simple wings. Raised ride heights.

 

You don't need to be an engineer or an F1 insider to know that !

The FIA has gone the wrong way in redrawing the rules.

Cars need to be difficult to handle to be spectacular.

 

Ferrari’s Sergio Marchionne to resign

Italian sources are reporting late on Thursday evening that the boss of Ferrari, Sergio Marchionne will be resigning.

The news was confirmed by John Elkhann – chairman and CEO of Exor, an investment company controlled by the Agnelli family who controls Ferrari and other interests including Juventus F.C. Elkhann also chairs and controls the automaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). It appears that Marchionne will be completing work during 2018 but will step down by 2019.

The most likely candidate for Marchionne’s replacement is FCA’s Chief operating officer for Europe, Middle East and Africa – Alfredo Altavilla. Born in Taranto, Italy the 53 year old is favoured by Elkhann within FCA.

In light of this change, perhaps we will finally see an end to the tobacco sponsorship that continues to linger on with Scuderia Ferrari. Marchionne is a board member of the Philip Morris International Inc., owners of Malboro Cigarettes, long term sponsor of the team.

source: https://thejudge13.com/2017/04/07/ferraris-sergio-marchionne-to-resign/

 

So part of that April Fool's joke I saw was true.

 

APRIL 21, 2017

F1 looking for new German GP home says Carey



The German grand prix could move away from its traditional venues at Hockenheim and the Nurburgring in the future.

That is the claim of new F1 supremo Chase Carey, who told the German news agency DPA that the German market is important for the sport.

"Last year, a German driver won in a German car, so it's a very important market," the American said.

"It is certainly one of our goals to be represented in the German market," Carey added. "We are just about to investigate how best to manage this.

"We don't have any answers yet," he said. "I have already met with some German representatives, and naturally we are talking about the two race tracks that have held the German grand prix in the past.

"But we are also looking at other options. Ultimately, however, it is too early to make concrete statements," said Carey.

Carey said another priority for Liberty Media is a second American race, to complement the existing US grand prix.

"We have a great partnership with the circuit in Austin," he said, "but we believe we can add a race in a 'destination city', as I call it. I'm talking about New York, Miami, Los Angeles or Las Vegas.

"These are cities that are best suited to create a one-week event and attract people from all over the world. The race will remain the centre of the event, but overall it will be more than just a formula one weekend."

 

Thanks for posting!

Good news on Germany.

Interesting they mention Miami. They could get Homestead up to grade 1 pretty easily I would think. The oval already has safer barriers, so they would just have to upgrade the impact zones on the infield. It would have the added benefit of making it safer for everyone else also. It would be cool to see the F1 cars on NASCAR 3 and 4. Of course, NASCAR owns the track, so would take some negotiation.

 

Your Welcome

 

Not a bad idea because this is a difficult technical challenge that doesn't have a simple answer. It's more complex than just cutting back on the aero.

Perhaps more reliance on underside effects would reduce the disruptive wake effects and have less sensitivity to dirty air.

Perhaps Brawn's working group should consider more applications of movable aero effects that would mitigate a leading car's wake effect.

Though the article writer disparaged things like DRS as "artificial measures", DRS does allow for more attacking and off line passes. Brawn's working group shouldn't be dismissive of it as a way to increase the ability of a trailing car to attack and pass a leading car.

Actually, active aero is becoming more common in performance road cars. Maybe F1 should play a little catch up.

-F

 

Serve the [German] customers. Everything else will fall into place.

-F

 

The problem with DRS passes is that it ''feels'' artificial, it's simply a pass on the straight...****ing boring, not memorable.

Craig Scarborough wrote an excellent (and lengthy!) article recently, basically saying the same thing I've been saying though with a better insight than myself: Get rid of the towers of elements on wings, allow small venturi tunnels, make the wings ''larger'' (not in width but length) and less angle of attack...which basically means they'll still have the same (if not more) downforce than currently, but closer following (which is what creates a real spectacle as it'll take genuine skill to pass another driver, not pushing a button that gives you an artificially created higher top speed, or an ''extra power'' by means of push to pass). Different brakes to create a longer braking zone is also important...

Wake deflectors for the front tires would be helpful as well, but an elegant solution is difficult to achieve...

IMO Brawns ''overtaking group'' should take a couple of old GP2 cars and attach such wings and small venturi tunnels to them. I fear by now it's too late to get this done for 2018 already but 2019 could be a real posibility. Quite why they haven't done this earlier is beyond me, though. It's like F1/FIA waits too long to act between many of their decisions. Things like this could have been solved much quicker in time for 2018.

 

And yet they'll "knee-jerk" on some other decisions, coming up with something so obviously bad as to be comical.

 

It's still a little early for any final decision for me, but, based on what I've seen over the first 3 races this year I think the new regs are shaping to be a huge success.

It's only three races, but we have already seen some epic battles, excellent defense and great passing. Seb on Dan in China, it will take a long time for me to forget that one. Nando with Ocon and one of the Renaults in Melbourne was awesome. And Bahrain served up a real feast of attacking aggressive driving.

Perhaps all the aero effects that were feared are what is driving this resurgence of drivers actually having to find ways to make a pass and have it stick.

I don't care if this is by accident or design, I for one just hope that the FiA leave things alone. It's working, don't fix it

 

APRIL 24, 2017

F1 could scrap engine rule tweak for 2018



F1 could be set to scrap a scheduled tweak to the engine regulations for 2018.

Currently, while drivers are limited to four engines for the entire season in 2017, that 'long life' allocation is set to drop to just three engines next year.

But Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said the Strategy Group is set to discuss the future of the 'three engines for 2018' rule during a meeting on Monday.

The drop from 4 engines to 3 engines next year is designed to cut costs.

But F1 officials are tipped to argue that costs will in fact not go down. Manufacturers will have to re-design engines so that they are more reliable, and there could also be a performance trade-off with less power and weight.

Correspondent Michael Schmidt explained: "Mercedes, Ferrari, Renault and Honda have concluded that longer running life (for engines) means more development and more test cycles on the test bench."

A Mercedes official confirmed: "It's going to cost a lot of money."

So the Strategy Group will reportedly propose that the drop from 4 to 3 engines be scrapped, but the EUR 5 million price-reduction to customer teams be passed on anyway.

"That way, everybody wins," said Schmidt. "For the private teams, the engine costs are reduced, while the manufacturers do not have to reinvent their power units."

 

I agree that more organic on track passing would be spectacular to add the event but I have to also admit that the first races this season have been way better than almost anything the past 3 years. I actually like watching again.

 

APRIL 26, 2017

F1 bans shark fins for 2018



F1's strategy group has voted to ban the unpopular 'shark fins' and 'T-wings' for the 2018 season.

That is the claim of multiple authoritative media sources, including Germany's Auto Motor und Sport and the DPA news agency, and Italy's La Gazzetta dello Sport.

The appendages are unpopular for aesthetic reasons, and some 'T-wings' suffered notable on-track failures recently.

The FIA confirmed after the Paris meeting on Tuesday that from 2018 "designs incorporating the 'T-wing and 'shark fin' will be strictly limited".

It also emerges that the controversial cockpit protection system 'Halo' has been ruled out, with "priority" to now be given to the development of the transparent so-called 'Shield'.

"The FIA aims to carry out track tests of this system during this season in preparation for implementation in 2018," said the governing body.

And finally, teams have been told to improve the visibility of driver numbers and names on the cars, effective from next month's Spanish grand prix.

 

I saw this. Good news on the ugly fins and the potential dangerous T-wings.

Good to see the fat-lady-thong also die. However, the new shield is also pretty ugly. I wish they could make the RB Aeroscreen safe if they are fixated on head protection.

 

MAY 4, 2017

F1 eyes pay-TV switch for Germany



F1's new owners are considering switching coverage of the sport within Germany to a pay-only platform.

The free-to-air deal enjoyed by the broadcaster RTL runs out this year, and new F1 commercial chief Sean Bratches was quoted by DPA news agency as admitting that pay TV is "where the money is".

But he added: "There are markets where the penetration of pay TV is low compared to free TV. This is especially true for Germany compared to the UK, where there are significantly more customers for pay TV.

"This makes it a bit more difficult, but we're working on it," Bratches said.

RTL has already said that it is seeking a new contract for 2018 and beyond.

 

MAY 4, 2017

London admits talks for F1 car showcase



Plans are afoot for a demonstration of F1 cars in London ahead of this year's British grand prix.

It is over a decade since the last such event took place in the capital, but the idea is now being championed by the sport's new owners Liberty Media.

New F1 chief Chase Carey recently told the Times newspaper that he is alarmed by the lack of promotion of the Silverstone race.

"You could walk though London and not even know the grand prix was on," he said.

London's Westminster City Council confirmed that talks are taking place about a potential "showcase event".

"Discussions are at a very early stage and as such nothing has been agreed," said a spokesperson.

If the event does go ahead, it will re-fire speculation that Liberty could be looking to run a world championship race on the streets of London.

"London is a great city, and there is no question when you think (about) where are the cities you want to be in," Carey recently told the Telegraph.

"We are talking to a lot of people. Realistically I have got a page-long list of places that would like to have races," he added.

 

Cool.

 

I'm probably not typical of the UK. I do have Sky TV but only a basic package. About £40/month which I still think is too much. I do not subscribe to Sky Sports which would add another £20+/mth to my bill. I watch F1 on Freeview TV which means most are only highlights (there are several live races on Freeview).
Should F1 totally leave free-to-air in the UK then I simply won't bother to watch it.
IMHO it's not worth paying to watch it on TV.