Why F1 is not the Pinnacle

I have no idea how you came up with that, from what he said.

 

Actually the most that fighter pilots deal with is around 9 G's and those are vertical G forces, not horizontal. Even with the G suit, intense physical and mental preparation, and a reclined seat the pilots can only take a few seconds of those forces at a time without blacking out. 7 lateral G's multiple times over the course of a race would be amazingly hard on the human body.

 

Well, that certainly is a valid point but I would also like to include Red Bull in my assessment. While not a dominant team, I think that their driver development program, while not flawless, has proven successful in Vettel AND Newey has penned IMHO a brilliantly designed car. This type of innovation and competition is very healthy for the sport and keeps the big boys on their toes.

 

There is a big PR/marketing prize waiting to happen if someone built a full ground effects/vacuum car, outfitted it with a 1500 HP engine, monster slicks, and mongo wings and went around shattering lap records everywhere. It could be built relatively cheap as there are no constraints and one could use "cheap" technology as in turbo'd big blocks and older Indy car tubs.
Sponsorship should be simple if an unemployed Indy/F1 driver who wants his name in the paper again would pilot the machine.
Full body for max billboard area.

Attach it to a road race series like ALMS or ? who are looking for any additional draw; "Come see a new lap record attempt Saturday".

 

Well a huge engine is hardly breaking the boundaries of technology is it.

 

Oh ok, fair enough i thought it was more than that but i believe you.

 

Yeah, but now you're kind of assembling your own parameters with the assumption that the result will be faster than the current parameters. The only F1 cars that will go faster than the current chassis would be the current chassis minus a few of the restrictions you've mentioned. Remember that every time the FIA has attempted to slow the cars down, the engineers have continued to make them faster. So while the general thought that the cars aren't allowed to realize their full potential is true, I don't think it's feasible to outpace them with something from yesteryear or Joe's garage.

Along the same note, they used to run a CART race just outside Chicago on a converted horse track. It was flat, short, dull and shaped like a paper clip. It made little sense to me to take these open-wheel cars designed to compete at 200+ and race them on such a restrictive track.

 

It made a lot of sense to me, which is why I took one there for some laps.
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Same concept of the Formula USA motorcyle series. Fun to watch and see who would try what at each different track.

"It followed the "anything goes" WERA motorcycle roadracing class of "Formula USA" from track to track across the USA (with one race in Canada). The event was unique in that there were no rules- you could ride whatever motorcycle you wanted. As Bill Huth (the originator of the series) said, "You can run a Chevy engine in the bike if you want to!" The racing series attracted the best racers and teams from the country, including teams fielded by racing legends Kenny Roberts (who in the first year ran 250cc GP race bikes with nitrous oxide to try to make up for the lack of horse power against the big 1100cc superbikes) and Wayne Rainey. Racers like Rich Oliver, Robbie Petersen, Chuck Graves, Kenny Roberts Jr. Scott Russell, Doug Chandler, Mike Smith, Kurt Hall, Donald Jacks, and many others displayed their skills for the the racing fans and cameras. In the second year, Team Kenny Roberts showed up with a pair of 500cc GP race bikes and dominated the field."

 

Yeah, but you liked "Driven"

 

Confused ... low profile tyres do NOT make a car faster. Low profile tyres are for posing on the street and to improve steering feel on cr@p road cars.

What many forget is that for a tyre to grip it needs to be on the road. Low profile tyres require dead flat and smooth road surfaces all the time to have this. Hit a bump and the low profile tyre looses much of its contact with the road, while the higher profile tyre will distort and maintain more contact. Also once you start running a car with the proper negative camber for cornering and that low profile tyre is not making full contact with the road anyway.

So I think you will find that the profile that modern F1 has and always has is about performance not rule restriction. You need the right profile on a tyre to corner fast ... even a road car will eventually start lapping slower if you kept changing tyres for lower and lower profiles.

Best
Pete

 

Is that Eddie Irvine's old helmet? Do you own that as well has Kimi's?

 

it would sober up Kimi if he saw GD headin for his yacht.

 

Well like the Kimi helmet it is also a replica of the Irvine helmet. My two fav Ferrari drivers.

And I'm very proud of it, because it has the Marlboro logos as well. But I had to retire it eventually as it doesn't have the Snell2005 rating, that's required nowadays.

PS: And like the Kimi and Schumacher helmet (another one in my collection), the visor is signed by the driver. Not the visor I use of course, but a 2nd one for display.

 

Agreed. Ladies and gentlemen, it is NOT as "easy" at it looks to build a championship winning Formula 1 car. There is a reason the top teams in recent years have spent as much as $400 million/season. To think some garage hack is going to come along and pummel them is wishful thinking, considering this year's cars are ever FASTER than last year's less limited cars.

 

It's common sense. Take a wheel with a rediculously low profile of say 25mm, it would be so stiff that the side wall would not be able to deform and thus any road surface change would make much of the contact patch leave the road. Now of course 25mm sidewall is silly but I'm trying to make a point. A F1 tyre is very wide and thus if you scaled it to say a 225 width, the profile would probably be like 55 ... thus as low a profile as you want.

Here is one site I found: http://autospeed.com/cms/A_108915/article.html?popularArticle

Thus my point is you CAN have too low a profile for performance, and low profile tyres are sold on road cars to improve steering response NOT to improve grip and lap times. I do not infact think a low profile tyre would improve lap times much at all, just make it easier to be consistent (ie. accurately place the car) and also the tyre would last longer due to less heat.

On a slight tangent, we must remember also that 90% of the cr@p advertised in speed shops is simply cr@p, but the go faster kids love to buy the stuff. Excessively low profile tyres are grouped with this, as are 20" wheels as I'm sure you would agree. Real performance does not come from brand names, but engineering the right solution for the race series and the car chosen. If you go to a club race meeting the real quick guys usually are the guys that make most of the car themselves in their shed with a lathe, etc.
Best
Pete

 

Wow, very cool. Did you have them specially made or can you just buy them as replica's?

Thanks.

 

Irvine's helmet was available from the manufacturer as a replica (originally with Marlboro logos, later on without).

Schumacher's helmet was a replica I bought at Goodwood and took it to Ferrarichat's own Michael Charness (he is a mod on here) for improvement (adding Marlboro logos etc).

Kimi's helmet was completely custom made by Mike. It was a white Zemp helmet and he did the entire paint job including the intricate gothic details and the Marlboro logos.

Mike is simply the best when it comes to helmet painting. I say that as a friend and very happy customer:
http://www.helmet-painting.com/

Gallery 3 has more pics of my helmet.

In all 3 cases I got a 2nd visor and had the driver sign it. When not using the helmets, I display them at home with the signed visors.

PS: You can find F1 replica helmets on ebay. There are some older versions of Prost and Wurz around, however if you plan on using it at track days, you gotta make sure it has a modern Snell rating (like 2005).

 

Being the pinnacle of motorsports means .. that they can make a 2.4 litter engine .... that can rev at 18k rpm and not break !!
means having a transmission that can change a gear faster than you could blink ... means using exotic material that we could no even pronounce ...
and that to drive the whole package fast you must be like a god sent from heaven .... and correct me if i am wrong ... but non of the guys that drive in any american series could even put a quick lap in an F! car .... MONTOYA ... CANNOT EVEN DRIVE A NASCAR BOAT, SCOTT SPEED ..... ?, MICHAEL ANDRETTI ??? , SEBASTIAN BOURDAIS ..... CHAMPION IN INDY CARS ...... ???? DA MATTA .... CHAMPION IN INDY ????? ......... C'MON .... that is why it is the pinnacle of motorsports ... because is a rare thing not enyone could build it and much less drive it fast !!! if that is not the the top of the mountain ... then what is. ??
it has been like that since the beginning of times .... they race around the world .. and drivers from all over the world have tried it and champions from all over the world have emerged ....
SAY WHAT YOU WANT .... BUT F1 WAS , IS AND IT WILL ALWAYS BE THE TOP OF THE HILL. !!!!

 

All the drivers you mention were and are exceptional or else they never would have made it to the grid.
It's often the circumstances/team which is beyond their control as to how they will fare.
Last year Button was a laughing stock. This year Superman. Same guy. Different circumstances.
That said Pickit Jr. still sucks He wouldn't be there if he didnt; circumstances. Go figure.

 

Michael Andretti was hopeless in a car that actually won several races.

And I have the feeling the same could be said about Scott Speed.

It isn't just the car as Vettel has shown at Monza last year.

 

Agreed, however rain is a great equalizer, where true talent can shine.