Formula 1 - 2010 Season

[DJ12]

I guess some of you are not aware of the link between Schumacher and Mercedes. (Nor was I until I watched the video)

Mercedes paid for Schumacher's break in F1 so the ties run deep not only that I'm sure Schumacher would love a title run in a "German" car (even though it's British like most other cars in F1)

How can his reputation be tarnished in a one season "thanks and I'm gone" deal fair enough Hamilton and maybe Alonso (if Ferrari make a decent car) might beat him but where is the shame in that when you are a 41 year old man?

At worst I see Schumacher finishing 3rd.

 

[V3]

If you look at the publicity that was generated with his temporary comeback, I think F1 needs a Schumacher comeback. I think when he retired he gave up his seat to Massa. It was either Massa or him paired with Kimmy.

 

[Kaotik]

Schumacher? No!

It really would tarnish his reputation if he went back to racing. At 40+ he simply would not be a match for the likes of Alonso, Hamilton and Vettel.

Poor guy... he should try the Indy 500

He's just fine at 40+ as long as he doesn't have to race against Kimi

 

[infinity4]

If you look at the publicity that was generated with his temporary comeback, I think F1 needs a Schumacher comeback. I think when he retired he gave up his seat to Massa. It was either Massa or him paired with Kimmy.

He did say at Monza 06 that he didn't want Felipe to reconsider his career that he walked away, otherwise I reckon he would have wanted to stay at least one more year...

 

[Dave Baumann]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article6926826.ece

Thats a good analysis of why the regs next year can favour Buttons driving style.

 

[Bludd]

I think it is very strange that Timo Glock chose to go to Manor (which should become Virgin GP soon) instead of going to Renault. He will be going to a team with a big unknown in terms of aerodynamics and car performance and a Cosworth engine which no-one knows much about except that it was unreliable the last time it raced in F1, though downtuning and reliability work can cure that. The reality is, though, that all of the new teams won't really be able to compete against the top teams right away. Most likely it will take years before they are able to do that, if ever.

I can only see 3 possibilities of why he did that:

1) Renault are leaving the sport. Then what is Kubica doing there and why isn't he chasing every seat he can get, especially the Brawn seat?
2) Renault are chasing someone else, like Kimi but no-one except me seems to think that is even a possibility, or Heikki is going back there as a cheap alternative. He can be fast, but he can buckle under pressure as we've seen many times this year.
3) Renault F1 is being wholly or partially sold and the new partner(s) have a driver preference and that is not Timo Glock.

I don't know what is most likely, but I hope it is not 1. The team is sound; Flav is gone - this is good, though I liked his colourful personality, I hated his silly politicking - and Pat is gone - this is bad, he was one of the good ones, but he made a huge mistake and he's paying for it. He's lucky he didn't get banned for life. The Renault engine, when installed correctly is reliable and fuel efficient.

One thing, though: if Renault do pull out, they most likely won't pull out as an engine supplier. There is not much to gain by shutting it down because it is not very expensive relatively speaking. Before the engine freeze, engines were super-expensive. Firstly because they developed the hell out of them but secondly because they used so damn many each race weekend.

 

[Bludd]

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article6926826.ece

Thats a good analysis of why the regs next year can favour Buttons driving style.

It is interesting about pit-stops for next season.

With refuelling, the cars are almost empty when coming into the pits after a stint. That means the car is faster to accelerate and brake. Next year, none of the pit-stops are comparable to the pit-stops with refuelling because while the mass of fuel is progressively going down, it will never reach the point when the cars enter the pits with no to almost no fuel left except if someone pitted for new tyres with 2 laps left of the race to go.

So, how much faster will pit-stops be next year? They will be progressively faster, but how much? Will it matter?

 

[Dave Baumann]

I think pitstops are expected to be up to 6 seconds quicker, dependant on fuel load. IIRC the expectation is a tirechange will be in the 3-4 second range, while two stop fuel fill was around 9 seconds.

 

[Bludd]

I think pitstops are expected to be up to 6 seconds quicker, dependant on fuel load. IIRC the expectation is a tirechange will be in the 3-4 second range, while two stop fuel fill was around 9 seconds.

Is that 6 seconds at the last stop or at the first?

 

[DuckThor Evil]

Is that 6 seconds at the last stop or at the first?

I don't think the extra 50 kilos or something like that what the car has during the first pit stop will basically make any significant difference to the time. You'r talking about a tenth of a second or few tenths at maximun. I don't really see the relevance there.

edit: and of course the time Dave was talking about was the time when the car stands still, so the amount of fuel in the car will make no difference at all, unless you want to calculate some weight resistance to the car lifting equipment

 

[Bludd]

I don't think the extra 50 kilos or something like that what the car has during the first pit stop will basically make any significant difference to the time. You'r talking about a tenth of a second or few tenths at maximun. I don't really see the relevance there.

edit: and of course the time Dave was talking about was the time when the car stands still, so the amount of fuel in the car will make no difference at all, unless you want to calculate some weight resistance to the car lifting equipment

I am talking total time, from when the car brakes to put on the pit-lane speed limiter to when they exit the pits and turn it off. Accelerating that weight is going to cost something.

I don't know if that is significant, though.

 

[Dave Baumann]

Sorry, when I said dependant on fual load, I meant 2009 fuel regs load. I'm not convinced that the deceleration and acceleration to the pit limit will make that much time difference overall. So I think, the entire thing, may be around 5-6 seconds quicker overall, in comparison to a 2 stop strategy in 2009.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I am talking total time, from when the car brakes to put on the pit-lane speed limiter to when they exit the pits and turn it off. Accelerating that weight is going to cost something.

I don't know if that is significant, though.

Well my response before the edit was for that. I don't understand why you concentrate on that. It's one time brake and acceleration, when the whole race has that going on all the time. Like I said it might matter a tenth of an second, but the race speed will be lower because the cars will be heavier until the final pit stop.

 

[Bludd]

I see, I am just thinking out loud, trying to understand the impact of no refuelling.

 

[DuckThor Evil]

I see, I am just thinking out loud, trying to understand the impact of no refuelling.

Well one impact might be that, Kimi won't be on fire at the pits if he is driving that is
I haven't really paid attention to the new season rules, are there anything else besides no refueling?

 

[Bludd]

Well one impact might be that, Kimi won't be on fire at the pits if he is driving that is
I haven't really paid attention to the new season rules, are there anything else besides no refueling?

Narrower front tyres, minimum car weight increased to 620 kg and wheel fairings to be made illegal are the most significant ones except for the refuelling ban.

 

[Dave Baumann]

And a "FOTA agreed" removal of KERS.

 

[Davros]

from a british newspaper

Speculation that Mercedes is to link up with Michael Schumacher is denied by both camps. A Schumacher spokeswoman says: "Michael is enjoying his life very much...a return would therefore be very unlikely."

 

[nutball]

Sometimes I hate my brain, this is what it read first time through that sentence...

Speculation that Mercedes is to link up with Michael Schumacher is denied by both camps. A Schumacher spokeswoman says: "Michael is enjoying his wife very much...a return would therefore be very unlikely."

 

[Bludd]

from a british newspaper

Speculation that Mercedes is to link up with Michael Schumacher is denied by both camps. A Schumacher spokeswoman says: "Michael is enjoying his life very much...a return would therefore be very unlikely."

Yeah, but that same spokeswoman got the Ferrari return this year very wrong indeed.

In other "news", Rosberg has officially joined Mercedes.