I thought webber had more downforce than vettel, that is why he was on a 3 stop.
Formula 1 - 2013 Season
- Thread starter Dave Baumann
- Start date
tongue_of_colicab
Veteran
The commentators mentioned webber was running a skinnier rear wing. Not sure if that was in general or compared to vettel but I think vettel probably was running more downforce. I don't think more downforce means more stops. Less downforce can equally hurt I believe, with the car sliding around more etc. Plus vettel has always been better with the tires than webber.
I think I might go to Suzuka next year.
I think I might go to Suzuka next year.
Today's Martin Brundle comments during race (laps 23-25?) about N. Hulkenberg future seat casts doubt he's going to Lotus. After the race Martin stated Hulk signed contract, but not with Sauber, ruling extension out.
Now BBC is reporting that according to Eddie Jordan Nico is going to drive for Force India next season.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/24512559
This leaves Massa as obvious candidate for Lotus seat, but there were rumours he might sign for Sauber. Swiss team needs one experienced driver to help develop car and Monisha Kaltenborn deemed Gutierez to be too inexperienced for that role. Obviously Sirotkin is even less qualified for this position.
At McLaren Perez seems to be a place holder for Alonso (or similarly skilled driver) and he might yet get extra year.
Few more weeks and it should clarify a bit more.
BTW cracking race! I would love to go to Suzuka F1 race just to enjoy atmosphere!!
Now BBC is reporting that according to Eddie Jordan Nico is going to drive for Force India next season.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/24512559
This leaves Massa as obvious candidate for Lotus seat, but there were rumours he might sign for Sauber. Swiss team needs one experienced driver to help develop car and Monisha Kaltenborn deemed Gutierez to be too inexperienced for that role. Obviously Sirotkin is even less qualified for this position.
At McLaren Perez seems to be a place holder for Alonso (or similarly skilled driver) and he might yet get extra year.
Few more weeks and it should clarify a bit more.
BTW cracking race! I would love to go to Suzuka F1 race just to enjoy atmosphere!!
That's just utterly bizarre if Hulk ends up back at Force India having been passed up at all the top teams. I can only assume that both Red Bull and Ferrari were too concerned about him being too fast for Vettel and Alonso. McLaren must be worried about losing face by admitting they got the wrong driver last year. As for Lotus, what are they thinking?
Rurouni
Veteran
For RB, they probably need to choose someone from their program. If they were to choose someone from outside, they probably want to pick a more experienced and proven driver. Right now they don't really need Hulk service.
Ferrari did choose Kimi, so I fail to see why they afraid of choosing fast driver. What I see is Ferrari probably needs someone that can push Alonso because lately he becoming more vocal to the team and he might go to another team.
McLaren should really pick Hulk instead of Perez, but probably choose Perez for financial reason (not as Perez being a pay driver but to attract sponsor like Alonso and Santander).
And Hulk is probably one of the biggest driver and next year it will be harder to manage the car weight since the limitation is very tight, which probably also one of the consideration from McLaren when they eventually choose Perez (Perez has similar height to Hamilton with lesser weight).
Not seen any credible reports concerning Newey so far. The one credible "big scalp" rumour is that its Brawn - he's somehow going to be a technical liaison between McLaren and Honda, so says the scuttlebutt.
While they may have come up with clever engine management maps to effectively have, so called, "legal" traction control. The above observation is no evidence at all that traction control was operating. When Kers fails, it completely screws up the brake balance & also impacts the power delivery. When Kers fails the driver has to totally change the brake bias and in a one run qualifying lap situation can also cause issues with getting the balance right of getting the tyre\brakes up to (and maintaining) the correct tyre temperature; that could easily explain loss of traction coming out of a corner.
I agree though if they have found a loophole then the FIA should close it in regulations.
I just wish that they had put a truly competitive driver alongside Vettel for next year, I am firmly of the belief that Vettel is overrated and has largely benefited from having measurably the best car for 4+ years. I also hope the big rule changes for next year will act as a big reset button on the relative teams performance so we can get back to exciting championships. Perhaps the moves of the chief aero guy from Red Bull to McClaren will help to offset the "Newey" effect...
tongue_of_colicab
Veteran
Yesterday Sky mentioned RBR first thought there was something wrong with the battery on Vettels car so I don't think they are using super capacitors. Don't know how big these things are but I suppose there is pretty much no room for them either. It's probably just the kers powertrain that they put inside the gearbox.
I seem to recall Martin Brundle talking about this recently in that the packaging for KERS is extremely tight, fitting it within the body of the car and allowing for room with the driver. He was speculating that one possible reason why Mark Webber seems to have had many more KERS issues than Vettel overall is that he is one of the tallest drivers and literally to allow room for him in his survival cell means that things are just a little tighter in packaging around the cockpit area meaning there is less room to adequately cool the KERS batteries and they often overheat.
Supporting this idea somewhat is that Adrian Newey was not a fan of KERS when it came into the sport and pretty much said, "well if we have to use it, we will have to make it fit within my design, I am not going to compromise the aerodynamics by changing the bodywork to accommodate it."
It was funny actually looking at the podium on Sunday, Marks' head was almost level with Sebastian's even though he was a step down. Martin Brundle was also talking about that they should do more in the regulations to stop tall drivers being disadvantaged versus the smaller ones on these issues by making minimum cockpit sizes and vehicle weights such that it makes no difference whether you are tall or short. Obviously it should be about driver talent, not whether you are really small..
I know that Kubica, Hulkenberg & Button have all had issues in the past due to their height.
Supporting this idea somewhat is that Adrian Newey was not a fan of KERS when it came into the sport and pretty much said, "well if we have to use it, we will have to make it fit within my design, I am not going to compromise the aerodynamics by changing the bodywork to accommodate it."
It was funny actually looking at the podium on Sunday, Marks' head was almost level with Sebastian's even though he was a step down. Martin Brundle was also talking about that they should do more in the regulations to stop tall drivers being disadvantaged versus the smaller ones on these issues by making minimum cockpit sizes and vehicle weights such that it makes no difference whether you are tall or short. Obviously it should be about driver talent, not whether you are really small..
I know that Kubica, Hulkenberg & Button have all had issues in the past due to their height.
The rumour is they have KERS coupled to the suspension. When the suspension is compressed, you have more grip and more power is delivered, when the suspension is depressed less is delivered.
There is nothing in the current regulation forbidding this.
Cheers
Honestly that rumour sounds extremely dubious to me. Only two reasons why suspension would be compressed, downforce or weight. By definition both will aid traction but that is irrelevant to kers operation as kers affects neither in its operation. So yes more downforce will help to get the extra KERS torque down but that would apply to all cars. Or are you saying the operation of KERS itself is delayed until the suspension compresses a certain amount due to downforce? My problem with that is that it takes the decision to apply KERS out of the hands of the driver turning it into an automatic system. This itself arguably would be illegal as these systems are supposed to be driver operated.
I think he is suggesting that the amount of power delivered is moderated based on the suspension compression, so KERS is only applied by the driver pressing the button, but it doesn't deliver power at the full rate if the conditions aren't optimal.
If that is the case then the best spin you can put on it is that it is a semi-automatic system. In my mind that is no different to when they banned the semi-auto gearboxes a few years back. It takes away from the skill required by the driver. The whole point of having no traction control was that it was down to the drivers skill with the throttle to avoid spinning up the tyres, not having some system taking the digital button push and sensing how much actually gets applied..
