Formula 1 - 2009 Season

[d-f-b]

No refueling is the plan for 2010. http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?id=44761

didn't they bring refueling back years ago,, due to a couple of start line crashes... or will the cars be so fuel efficient by 2010 that they won't be 'bombs on 4 wheels' ..

refueling is great, disrupts the flow, creates mayhem !

[edit]
nuts, my wrong account ... again....

 

[Bludd]

didn't they bring refueling back years ago,, due to a couple of start line crashes... or will the cars be so fuel efficient by 2010 that they won't be 'bombs on 4 wheels' ..

refueling is great, disrupts the flow, creates mayhem !

[edit]
nuts, my wrong account ... again....

1993 was the year they brought back refueling in the race. My gut answer to your "bombs on wheels" comment is that the fuel tanks/bladders/whatever in use now are very advanced and that there is a crushable structure around it.

Edit: PS, multiple accounts is bad, mmmkay?

 

[Dave Baumann]

FI wont run it because they cant fit it in their car yet.

No, it fits, they are just taking a cautious approach apparently:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73801

Q. What is the progress on your KERS system?

SR: The car is designed to run exactly the same system as McLaren. It is literally plug and play. We had a system on the car this week at Silverstone, although it wasn't live, just to double check the installation. That went very well.

What we think is that as the season develops, KERS will become something of a performance differentiator. Early on I think it will be a bit of a mixed bag as teams learn the systems, the advantages, the disadvantages, and they will debug all the unreliability.

So we are not intending to race it in Australia, but we would think that by the time we get to the European season then we will start introducing it. But it will be used as a performance device, depending on the circuit, the weight of the drivers and the weight of the package. Then some races we will definitely use it, and some others we definitely won't.

 

[d-f-b]

its okay though,we've purged our memories from all those previous accidents and near misses !

[ot]
yeah, i had this problem once before, its coz when i entered the email i normally use, it gave me this one , instead of the one i previously used .. i didnt realise till i posted something

and i dont seem to be able to access the other email account ( double doh!) , hopefully i can get onto it back at home

 

[Dave Baumann]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73809

Looks like that the new points system may not be quite as settled as the FIA would like.

 

[Bludd]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73809

Looks like that the new points system may not be quite as settled as the FIA would like.

Interesting. So we're stuck with 10-8-6 for 2009? Can FIA WMSC have an extraordinary meeting to input the "Bludd points system" (12-9-7) as Dr Evil so graciously called it?

 

[Dave Baumann]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73810

In light of complaints from leading figures, the FIA has now said that if the teams are unhappy then the introduction of the wins systems will be delayed until 2010.

The statement said: "On 17 March, the FIA World Motor Sport Council unanimously rejected FOTA's proposed amendment to the points system for the Formula One Drivers' Championship. The 'winner takes all' proposal made by the commercial rights holder (who had been told that the teams were in favour) was then approved.

"If, for any reason, the Formula One teams do not now agree with the new system, its implementation will be deferred until 2010."

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Oh FFS Its unbelievable. Everytime the FIA comes up with a dick plan they just force it and on the rare occasion they come up with something good they start giving in...

 

[Bludd]

I think the teams should just accept it. It will be introduced in 2010 anyway since Bernie is so damn horny for it.

 

[DJ12]

Make a 4 point gap (or more) between first and second like their used to be and there won't be a problem.

Although I'm sure teams wouldn't play underhand you cannot deny it's quite easy to do so with the the rules they proposed.

 

[davefb]

Personally , i've always felt they should run points all the way to last place , as long as you are marked as 'finishing' . Often the best racing has been to get that last point for a team ( note how the team championship hasnt been changed) , if this racing meant something all the way down, then surely you'll get that 'midfield battling' going all the way back. Better for the viewing/paying public , surely?
however, i do think fota was right to consider making the differences larger for 1st/2nd/3rd... thats a no-brainer.

but 'just wins' thats mad, recently we've had some amazing ends to the seasons, why would we want that removed?

 

[tongue_of_colicab]

Oh sure we had close finishes, but did you actually see hamilton or massa fight? Atleast I cant remember. Besides that if we had the winner wins system than we would still have had that. Massa 6 wins, hamilton 5. Took untill the last race.

 

[Bludd]

And Hamilton would have gone into the last race with a totally different mentality.

Edit: Ferrari will run KERS in Australia too.

Confirmed KERS for Australia:
Renault
Ferrari
McLaren
BMW but only fitted on Heidfeld's car


Definitely not:
Brawn

Unknown:
Williams
Force India
Red Bull
Toro Rosso
Toyota

This is just off the top of my head, please post if you have a link where a team says something definitive.

 

[Dave Baumann]

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headlines/news/detail/090324100552.shtml

It seems that McLaren have confirmed they intend to use KERS.

 

[Bludd]

Thanks, Dave. I updated my post.

Red Bull are now saying they will protest the Brawn car if the diffuser passes scrutineering in Melbourne.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73876

It's a big mess, the FIA should have made an official statement as to the legality of the diffuser design, but Mosley deferred the whole matter to the Stewards in Melbourne.

 

[Dave Baumann]

It's a big mess, the FIA should have made an official statement as to the legality of the diffuser design, but Mosley deferred the whole matter to the Stewards in Melbourne.

I know, and whats stupid about this is that the FIA are saying they are all about trying to cut costs and if they had made a decision before the seaon opener you wouldn't have had 7 other teams post Australia trying to accelerate development an equivelent diffuser should they rule the other three teams solutions are fine.

 

[Bludd]

Apparently the disputed diffuser design may be worth 0.5 seconds, while KERS is between 0.1 and 0.3 or something, so if this is true, Brawn has an advantage even without KERS.

 

[Bludd]

BMW will run KERS but only on Heidfeld's car. I updated my post.

Btw, Ferrari, Renault and Red Bull have protested the Williams, Toyota and Brawn cars' diffuser designs. BMW protested too but theirs was thrown out because of a technicality (apparently, they lodged it too late or something).

Annoying, this should have been straightened out weeks ago.

 

[DJ12]

It was, there designs are legal

they are just have read the regulations unlike the others. Ferrari and Renault certainly only complained because they didn't think of it first and know they are going to get beat and red bull because they cannot use it even if they wanted to because of the way they've designed their backend.

I read a story today on the BBC website saying that the complaint is now that while it's legal it's not in the spirit of the raft of changes to slow the cars down.

What a load of crap. Only under the FIUA (F**k It Up Authority) would that even be a valid complaint. Fact is the laws are written and these cars are legal under those laws, the teams complaining need to suck it up, go back to the drawing board, add it to their cars quickly and accept they've been out thought and embarssed on this occasion by a few of the minnows.

 

[Bludd]

It was, there designs are legal

they are just have read the regulations unlike the others. Ferrari and Renault certainly only complained because they didn't think of it first and know they are going to get beat and red bull because they cannot use it even if they wanted to because of the way they've designed their backend.

I read a story today on the BBC website saying that the complaint is now that while it's legal it's not in the spirit of the raft of changes to slow the cars down.

What a load of crap. Only under the FIUA (F**k It Up Authority) would that even be a valid complaint. Fact is the laws are written and these cars are legal under those laws, the teams complaining need to suck it up, go back to the drawing board, add it to their cars quickly and accept they've been out thought and embarssed on this occasion by a few of the minnows.

Yep, it's a spirit of the law vs. the letter of the law kind of thing.

It's the FIA's fault, they should have made a ruling with regulatory value.