Wow. Outright pace appears to have gone up 2.5-3 seconds in comparison to last years times, and that may not even be 100% representative of qualifying fuel loads.
Formula 1 - 2015 season
- Thread starter Kaotik
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Likely the changes that come in the future will bring less downforce rather than more. Moving the reliance to mechanical grip is a way of reducing the gap across the entire field, especially when there is a single tire supplier.
Anyway, it seems from testing that Mercedes have an entire tire compound advantage over the whole field, and the drivers were complaining the setup was poor!
Anyway, it seems from testing that Mercedes have an entire tire compound advantage over the whole field, and the drivers were complaining the setup was poor!
According to Auto Motor und Sport Mercedes thinks Ferrari has made the biggest leap forward.
They got some numbers from Mercedes, which say that Ferrari has moved from 1.9 sec behind them (last season) to just 0.8 sec behind them now. Mercedes also calculates that Ferrari, Williams and Red Bull are within 0.1 sec of each other without any particular order mentioned.
They got some numbers from Mercedes, which say that Ferrari has moved from 1.9 sec behind them (last season) to just 0.8 sec behind them now. Mercedes also calculates that Ferrari, Williams and Red Bull are within 0.1 sec of each other without any particular order mentioned.
Nothing a great driver can't overcome on more technical tracks ... oops! forgot Mercedes has 2 great drivers which makes my point moot!
Still, it will be fascinating season because chasing pack is a lot closer and McLaren can and will catch up at the end
Time to bring in some Golf Handicap in F1 RACING!
WELL, ok maybe not, the good thing is that we will have plenty of racing to watch, just not the battle for the Championship
Alonso may have to skip the first race. According to spanish AS, Alonso visited hospital in his hometown Oviedo and that the doctors suggested at minimum 3 weeks of rest before racing. According to AS he has already changed his flight plans accordingly.
edit:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/03/03/alonso-to-miss-first-race-of-2015-in-australia/
McLaren confirms Alonso will miss the first race
edit:
http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2015/03/03/alonso-to-miss-first-race-of-2015-in-australia/
McLaren confirms Alonso will miss the first race
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I suspect Mercedes is if anything sandbagging and while right now they would suggest a 0.8 difference is the margin I would take that with a huge pinch of salt. My personal belief is that the margin is more like 1-1.2 seconds, albeit there will be a fair bit of variation in that depending on precisely which track and weather conditions etc..
That said to be honest I don't really have a problem with one team being out in front so long as they do allow proper competition between their drivers for the WDC. Last year for me was still exciting despite Mercedes' dominance and it was a far cry from some of the Red Bull/Ferrari dominated seasons over the last 10 years+ where there was clearly a number 1 & 2 driver.
F1 goes in cycles of dominance and Mercedes will not hold the advantage forever. In the mean time it will make the other teams hungrier and ultimately more competitive while the top team always, in the end, (no matter how hard it tries) always seems to succumb from a certain amount of complacency.
According to news piece, without actual link to original story from spanish magazine La Repubblica, even Alonso doesn't know the actual reason for the crash. The report says that Alonso is demanding thorough explanation from McLaren on why he crashed and won't drive before he's given one.
Also, at http://www.wheels24.co.za/FormulaOne/Ex-F1-driver-Alonso-took-a-600W-hit-20150304 former F1 driver Rene Arnoux says that the crash doesn't explain the damage Alonso got from it, it was more like a "glancing blow" according to him. He also says that the wind is nothing but excuse.
Another former F1 driver, Fabrizio Barbazza says that Alonso was in fact hit by electric shock.
Also, at http://www.wheels24.co.za/FormulaOne/Ex-F1-driver-Alonso-took-a-600W-hit-20150304 former F1 driver Rene Arnoux says that the crash doesn't explain the damage Alonso got from it, it was more like a "glancing blow" according to him. He also says that the wind is nothing but excuse.
Another former F1 driver, Fabrizio Barbazza says that Alonso was in fact hit by electric shock.
Curious, how do these drivers know?
As noted by some news reports, at the time of recovery there were no ERS warning lights on the car, and the marshals and medical folks recovering him were not using any electrical safety equipment when they extracted him (which they are issued with). Vettel subsequently backed off on the comments that were attributed to him, pointed out that he was too far away to even see the how the incident began, he only saw the result. The photos of the tire mark are actually an indication that he was controlling the breaking as best he can, and Brundles comment concerning downshifting is not necessarily true for modern drivers with significant energy recovery systems in the engines (downshifting will put more revs through the engine and recovery systems which increases engine braking effect). Drivers are also pointing out that there is very little in the way of deformable structuring for lateral impacts so a lot of the force of the impact ends up on the driver.
Even the report you link to above says "broadcaster made it clear that Alonso did not say specifically he was shocked". I'd put more weight to the notion of these being click bait articles.
As noted by some news reports, at the time of recovery there were no ERS warning lights on the car, and the marshals and medical folks recovering him were not using any electrical safety equipment when they extracted him (which they are issued with). Vettel subsequently backed off on the comments that were attributed to him, pointed out that he was too far away to even see the how the incident began, he only saw the result. The photos of the tire mark are actually an indication that he was controlling the breaking as best he can, and Brundles comment concerning downshifting is not necessarily true for modern drivers with significant energy recovery systems in the engines (downshifting will put more revs through the engine and recovery systems which increases engine braking effect). Drivers are also pointing out that there is very little in the way of deformable structuring for lateral impacts so a lot of the force of the impact ends up on the driver.
Even the report you link to above says "broadcaster made it clear that Alonso did not say specifically he was shocked". I'd put more weight to the notion of these being click bait articles.
Latest rumour from the Spanish magazine AS says that Alonso suffers from major memory loss too. When he woke up in the hospital, he reportedly was living in the year 1995 in his head. They say that he doesn't remember anything from the past 20 years and when he was first asked who he is, he answered "Fernando, I drive karting and want to become F1 driver"
Meanwhile German Sport Bild claims that many teams are considering boycotting Australia's GP until every detail of Alonso's crash are clear
Meanwhile German Sport Bild claims that many teams are considering boycotting Australia's GP until every detail of Alonso's crash are clear
That BBC report, while not settling the matter absolutely definitively, seems to pretty much point to that this was most likely a normal loss of car control by a driver trying to push the limits to get a better lap time. Then from the resulting crash receiving a significant concussion from which under medical advice it is deemed safest to ensure no possible impact repeat within a month thus ruling Alonso out of the first race. Given the car was being braked hard up until the point of impact it seems to rule out, pre impact loss of consciousness, seizure or electric shock and honestly some mechanical failure seems unlikely. Hopefully Alonso will suffer no lasting effect and can be back racing by round 2 and we can get back to all talking about the relative performance of the teams/cars.
Especially concerning his cheating last time he was at mclaren
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