Kubica

As much as I dislike the turn of events you're correct.
MB's relationship with Kubica would seem to have more to do with PR and car sales in Poland than anything else.

 

At the risk of repeating myself, I just cannot understand all this interest in Kubica.

The guy is just an "has been" now, and I doubt very much if he should still be talked about.

Kubica is now crippled, and has been out of F1 for many years.
I can't see why he is still considered F1 material now!

His rallying wasn't so good either; he crashed many times!

 

+1

He was hyped a lot when he drove. In reality he was a one hit wonder.

Is anybody praising Maldonado on here?

 

Ermm yes a bit harsh but true I suppose, I'll never forget his horrendous crash in F1, I thought he was a gonna in that.

I suppose we never know if he would have turned out to be a F1 star, rallying I read recently he was back at it.

 

I know it was a harsh comment but given all the (still) fan boys it was due.

I liked Kubica and was happy that he won in "my" Sauber. Well done, but to conclude from that he was on the Alonso/Hamilton/Vettel level is more than far fetched. Particularly given the way he won that race. Unlike eg. Vettel in the Minardi in Monza.

I remember being at the Turkish GP and some crazy fans put up signs that Kubica was THE best driver of all. Ridiculous. Being a fan is cool, but lets be realistic.

 

Kubica may never have reached anything like greatness in F1 but he was always a popular driver. Adversity and misfortune have a way of disproportionately enhancing one's reputation but in the cutthroat world of F1 I'm reluctant to complain about any good feelings.

 

I've been reading this "weight" BS (IMO) "everywhere" recently.... Not so much about dear ol' Bob, but in general - "Big" guys aren't gonna get the gigs?

I'm not buying - They're increasing the minimum weight next year (for the KERS stuff mainly I believe.) Yet, they're all running movable ballast right now. I'd bet (a little ) right now that they're doing the same next season. Give 'em a minimum weight and they'll build below it & add ballast. Been that way for a long time.

"Aero" impact of a "bigger" cockpit is *maybe* a little harder to solve - But, again, as critical as aero is, I'm not buying; I'm sure the CFD could compute alternatives........

Sorry man, wrong!....

Simulating aero effects is a major part of any worthwhile sim! OK, the air isn't "rushing by", but it's affect on the car is very much modeled.

Cheers,
Ian

 

While I agree in general teams still like to have as much ballast as possible since it allows them to trim the weight distribution.
Drivers are already on the small size and I can see horse jockey sized pilots in the future.

Ask Eddie Gaedel. Ask Bill Veeck.

 

It's not just that a larger cockpit is needed, it's a larger and much wider cockpit. I just don't see a team designing a wider bodied F1 car to accommodate for an injured driver. That does pose an aerodynamic challenge that teams are not going to want to throw resources and funds at - it will detract from developing other aspects of the car.

As for the weight, it's not just weight in absolute figures, it's where it is located. A bigger cockpit also means more weight higher up, rather than placed lower down in ballast positions.

Sorry man, but you're not reading my post properly!

Obviously, a simulator's program will be modelling all aspects of the racecar, including the effects of the aerodynamics - I never implied that this was not important. However (and this is what I was actually talking about), it doesn't matter if the simulator's hardware and the driving seat is enclosed in a cockpit to make it more realistic/tactile for the driver or left open for cost or comfort reasons - it's just sitting in a room with no wind. Leaving it open gives Kubica the room his injured arm needs to drive the simulator.

Given that there's no real world testing, as far as I know the other test drivers in F1 don't get to drive the real cars anyway, all of their feedback is relative to the simulators as well. The disadvantage to having Kubica as a test driver is that he cannot fulfil the role as short-notice replacement for an injured race driver.

All the best,
Andrew.

 

"Larger"?

OK, he's one of the taller (& hence heavier ) dudes, but he isn't *that* big!.....

"Much wider"? Didn't he "admit" he'd want ~10cm (4") for his elbow? Throw a NACA duct into the tub and move on!.....

+1

Another "+1", but;

- Maybe the day of the lardass jockey is about to come!... "Get that weight down low!"
- A marginally bigger cockpit is not going to change anything weight wise IMO - The lump, black boxes, radiators, etc are much more significant, no?

"The dangers of "context".

+1

Changes a little next year.

You got me there!

Cheers,
Ian

 

Update:
He will not race in F1 again but he is becoming a force in rallying definitely.
Recent Tour de Corse (Rally of Corsica),he won first 2 Special Stages and was leading the 3rd with 20s advantage when his fuel pump disintegrated.
He is already rated as one of the top drivers in WRC.

 

He's WRC2 champion and will move to WRC next year.

Very happy for him. His hand is still healing. Maybe next year he can test an F1 car (F150 for instance).

 

Wow, really? Good for him.

 

He has got guts, no doubt about it. Having had a serious if not life-endangering moment he continues to drive in rally car as he cannot drive in F1 and doing well. Good luck to him, fantastic attitude of "never give up".

 

Currently leading by over 19 seconds in the monte carlo rally, after a very difficult stage.

Seriously impressive. Proper WRC too.

 

That's leading by such a margin over Sebastian Ogier. The only one that was sort of able to keep up with Loeb. This is ****ing incredible!

 

it's more due to the fact that the conditions are very difficult and varying and Kubica has had the most luck with tyre choice... Too early to judge anything.

 

After SS2:
1. Kubica
2. Ogier +36.8s
3. Meeke +39.3s
4. Bouffier +41.8s
5. Ostberg +42.6s
6. Sordo +1min15.3


absolutely incredible.

 

Perhaps. But that's all part of the game is it not?

He judged the right tires, and as you say...conditions are difficult.

Also he quite convincingly won WRC2 last year, winning all but 2 of the races he entered.

 

He lost almost 1,5 minute in the next stage, so it seams choosing the right tires is the most important factor here...

 

Yip... he's on slicks and the snow came back .

 

He's just crashed out on the first special stage this afternoon.

All OK but a very broken car apparently.

Cheers,
Ian

 

What's that old adage he still needs to learn?.........Ah yes!:

"To finish first - first you need to finish!"

He's like a modern Gilles Villeneuve of the rally World: Scarily fast but just a few too many crashes!

 

Who?

Kimi?

 

To his credit though a lot of other well seasoned rally drivers were caught by the icy road conditions in Stage 1.