2023 Miami GP: Post Race Analysis

^^^^ Even with DRS they could barely make any headway. Could barely tell the difference with DRS open or not. Really Charles drove his ass off to get the car to make the passes that he did.

 

Not at all !! I don't agree with that comment.

The race was very interesting. How can you call the Miami GP a snooze fest, when the winner started from 9th on the grid and had to make his way through the pack to hit the front. Max Verstappen certainly didn't "cruise" to a win ! It was a sensational drive; pity you didn't appreciate it.

Also, did you miss all the duels that went on in the field? The battle between Hamilton and Magnussen at one point? You must have been asleep if you didn't see the many passes that took place.

 

Maybe the point comes from a expectation of the 1-2 and then getting it.
I imagine once Ford is under the hood instead of reliable high quality Honda power, the other teams will have great opportunities in F1.

 

Ford is just going to stamp their name on a psuedo-Honda engine. Fords engineers will take this "psuedo-Honda" technology and pass it on to their production cars.

 

Exactly, Red Bull will be powered by Red Bull Powertrain engines (ex-Honda), sponsored by FORD.
FORD contribution will only be financial, I guess; they never made racing engines before anyway.

 

So the Cosworth Ford engines with 176 F1 wins don't count? Only Mercedes (212) and Ferrari (243) have more wins. That said....Ford can't get out of its own way building cars now so Red Bull will just take their money and put their name on the car.

 

Ferrari has power...it's just the aerodynamics not as efficient that's hurting them. The RB is like a well oiled fish whereas the Ferrari is like a brick with parachutes.

The "special DRS" people keep talking about is nowhere near as deep, there is no trickery. It's quite simply the RB being so aerodynamically efficient they can run more wing, therefore when the wing opens, the effect is enhanced. For the same reason we see DRS being quite inefficient on tracks like Monza. Everyone has very little wing there, so opening it won't do so much.

 

The Cosworth DFV V8 F1 engine was never created by Ford; it was designed by Keith Duckworth, him of the Costin and Duckworth partnership. Cosworth was an independent engineering company that subcontracted for Ford, GM or Mercedes.
The DFV engine was badged Ford in exchange for paying £100K for its development, in a deal brokered by Walter Hayes of Ford UK.
Ford never built racing engines in house, it subcontracted them to Cosworth, Zakspeed, Weslake, Holman&Moody, Roush, etc ...

 

While I appreciate the internet research....the fact remains it was Ford Cosworth or a Cosworth Ford engine. Without the Ford funding it would have never existed. Further the other companies that you mentioned modified Ford's 289 and 427 for LeMans. These were Ford engines cast in Dearborn. Ford has a long legacy in automotive racing. Unfortunately.....other than financial sponsorships they aren't in the game any more.

 

Internet research ? I was already following F1 at the time, well before the internet even existed !!
Ford contribution to racing has mostly be one of badge engineering, and subcontracting programs to independent firms.
Nothing wrong with that approach of course, but the real contributors to its success shouldn't be ignored.

 

Thank you for clarifying Ford’s role
If we can believe the public talking points Ford will have involvement in the eMotors and engine management stuff
Won’t that be enough to set them back?

 

I thin you are giving the race more credit than it deserves......

No, these cars are supposed to be better/easier to FOLLOW, not pass, if they wanted passing, they would institute a 96" wheelbase maximum.

Except Max....

 

The over the top driver introduction stuff is drawing heat (no pun intended) from the drivers. My opinion is it's completely unnecessary. We already know who these guys are. Let them stay with their teams until national anthem time, then back into the cars to get on with it.

 

I was there and it was a snooze fest. The Porsche Cup Challenge, which was right before the actual race, was 10x better than the F1. I also noticed a lot of empty seats.

 

Yes, it was very tedious. I expect it will be repeated at COTA, and Las Vegas will be like the Oscars, probably.
Too much razzmatazz ...

 

There is always closer racing in a one-make series because the cars are identical. That's not rocket science.

 

Ford's Farley has said the benefits from the association are aerodynamics; Ford's to provide "battery cell and electric motor technology as well as power unit control software and analytics”.

 

Interesting
So is Ford building the flat plane crank v8 in its Shelby GT350 and GT500 or are they being subcontracted too ?

 

I only repeat what one Ford executive said once in an interview.
All their programs like Indy, Le Mans, World Endurance, IMSA, rallying, NASCAR, F2, F1 were trusted to independent teams and subcontracted to specialist workshops according to him.
He explained that small outfits offer more flexibility, lower cost and are geared for small quantity.
Apparently Ford started a trend in the early 60s, that became the norm in motor sport.
BMW, Mercedes, Jaguar, Toyota, or Nissan soon followed, even Ferrari !

 

Just going from memory here - wasn't the Mercedes engine derived from them buying Ilmore? Weren't Ilmore somehow from Cosworth? I am not sure anyone wants to get into a purity argument here...

All I can say is the Honda engine was just a complete embarrassment until its final season! They had all that time to analyze the current "state of the art" performance and their historical knowledge and came up with a complete dud and then bailed out (again!) immediately after achieving success. I would hate to see the Honda name in F1 ever again!

Whatever happened behind the scenes, when Red Bull began managing that motor development until today is no less than remarkable for an energy drink company! The management at RBR is worth what they are getting paid because the results speak for themselves. Their power unit is not their weakness... You can't help but respect their success, they had no options!