1148 replies to this topic

[Enron]

mclaren2, on 29 July 2012 - 22:39, said:

ferrari clearly has the fastest car again

No.

[Javik]

Mephistopheles, on 30 July 2012 - 10:58, said:

Alonso has the same quality Schumacher used to have in the 1990s: He can consistently score points and win races in an inferior car. So no mclaren2, it's not luck, it's skill which moved Alonso into the #1 spot of the WDC ranking.

Man of the race yesterday for me: Kimi Räikkönen. He would have deserved to win.
Reject of the race: Pastor Maldonado.

Mephistopheles, on 30 July 2012 - 10:58, said:

Alonso has the same quality Schumacher used to have in the 1990s: He can consistently score points and win races in an inferior car. So no mclaren2, it's not luck, it's skill which moved Alonso into the #1 spot of the WDC ranking.

Man of the race yesterday for me: Kimi Räikkönen. He would have deserved to win.
Reject of the race: Pastor Maldonado.

]SK[, on 30 July 2012 - 11:41, said:

Alonso is the best driver on the field. I'm following McLaren so this isn't a bias view.

Reject of the season: Pastor Maldonado. He's a good driver when there's no one around him, shame.

I agree with this. Crashtor Maldonado isn't just reject of the race, he's the reject of Formula 1 full stop in my opinion, it's an insult to everything Williams used to stand for that they let someone like that drive one of their cars.

[+Mephistopheles]

Formula 1 teams agree to ban double DRS for 2013

Double DRS will be banned for 2013, AUTOSPORT has learned, after Formula 1 teams agreed to a change of rules that will outlaw the concept for next year.

Mercedes led the way at the start of this season with a radical design that feeds air via a hole in the rear wing endplate, all the way through the car and out the front wing - which is then stalled when DRS is activated. This helps provide a straight line speed boost.

Rival team Lotus lodged a protest against the concept at the Chinese Grand Prix, but it was rejected by the race stewards who were adamant that channelling air through a hole that is opened when DRS is activated was not against the regulations.

Despite being disappointed at the time about the failure of the protest, Lotus duly set about developing its own version of double DRS, which it tested at the German GP and is set to race in Belgium next month.

Other teams have not pursued the idea yet, and there have been concerns among some of them that work on double DRS could become the subject of an expensive development race.

Following discussions at F1 rules think-tank, the Technical Working Group, sources have revealed that a majority of teams agreed for a change in regulations that will ensure they cannot incorporate double DRS into their cars for 2013.

Although Mercedes did not support the change in rules, because it had made such a headstart in the area, it could not stop the ban going through as it only needed a majority of teams to agree.

It is understood the changes to the rules will be made official by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council later this year.

Despite rivals claiming that double DRS was an expensive avenue of development, Mercedes team principal Ross Brawn was always adamant that it was cost-effective.

Speaking earlier this year he said: "People talk about the huge cost, but there isn't really a huge cost. You all know that there are a couple of carbon pipes running down the car, and the man on the street will tell you that they cost a few thousands pounds – they are not millions of pounds."

Source: Autosport

[MightyJordan]

...now what is the point in banning progress? It wasn't even majorly helping Mercedes; they're 5th in the constructor standings, a massive 83 points behind Ferrari in 4th, and Rosberg's 6th in the driver standings, 39 behind Raikkonen.

[+Mephistopheles]

I fail to see the reasoning behind the double DRS ban as well. It's not a very expensive solution and would have been easy enough for other teams to implement. Ah well.

In unrelated news, Autosport are about to shoot themselves in both feet:

AUTOSPORT introducing metered access

Our commitment to quality journalism

We're introducing metered access to AUTOSPORT which will ensure that the majority of our visitors can continue to view the site for free. But we think that is worth a small investment from those who use it most, so that we can continue to send the leading experts in their field to motor racing paddocks all over the world to break the latest news and produce the most compelling interviews and race reports.

From August 1, every visitor gets 50 free news stories per month. Once you reach the 50-story limit you can choose one of our great subscription packages to continue viewing and to get additional access to a range of features including:

• Unlimited access to AUTOSPORT with news and views from the paddock
• Enjoy AUTOSPORT+: subscriber-only analysis, comment and top-quality pictures
• Get AUTOSPORT magazine in a digital format on your computer or iPad every week
• Full access to FORIX - the world's best motorsport statistics website

For over 60 years AUTOSPORT has been at the pinnacle of motor racing journalism, offering breaking news, unrivalled analysis and the most informative race reviews. We promise to keep investing in the highest quality writers, the best-informed experts and the most up-to-the-minute news service.

Thank you for your support and we look forward to welcoming you as a new subscriber.

Andrew Van de Burgt,
Editor in Chief

Source: Autosport

Why yes, going behind a paywall is going to be popular with your audience.

[MightyJordan]

Hopefully it'll start a mass exodus onto other sites.

[+Lovell]

Di Resta & Hamilton Snr off to court

Paul di Resta's split with Anthony Hamilton has taken a turn for the worse after the latter filed a case for 'wrongful termination' and 'loss of earnings.'
The Scot and his manager, who is also the father of Lewis Hamilton, parted ways earlier this season although neither was willing at the time to give an explanation.
"I think everything's been said that had to be said. I'll confirm we're not working together," di Resta said in early July.
Asked to expand on that the Scot said: "I think it's been reported that we're no longer working together and that is the matter at the moment."
However, the dispute is now set to go public after Hamilton reportedly brought a case of "wrongful termination of contract and loss of earnings."
According to the Daily Telegraph, di Resta responded with defence papers in which he "alleges that he dismissed Hamilton after learning he had been misled over a multi-million pound deal with the Energy Drink company Go Fast, which never came to fruition."
The newspaper states that the Force India driver alleges that "he took the deal, set up by his friend Jordan Wise and worth €5.5 million (£4.3 million) less commission, to his former manager late last year."
"Hamilton allegedly said it would make sense to buy Di Resta's sports drink rights from Force India so that they could proceed with the deal, telling the 26-year-old they were worth €2 million (£1.56 million). After hearing nothing for some time, Di Resta allegedly went to his team at the Chinese Grand Prix earlier this year to ask them what the situation was.
"Force India allegedly told him that the rights were worth only €1 million (£800,000). At this point, Di Resta allegedly decided to terminate his contract with Hamilton."

http://www.planetf1....nr-off-to-court

[+Lovell]

Pastor Maldonado showing his skill.

!

[i11usive]

Lovell, on 13 August 2012 - 10:22, said:

Pastor Maldonado showing his skill.

Love it ... he shouldn't be on the racetrack!!!

[+Lingwo]

The guy doesn't catch a break haha

Rule 1 of doing a demonstration is don't mess up. To be fair, i don't think he could have gone any slower round that corner.

[JoeC]

To be fair, it's not his fault. Lewis parked his McLaren just on the other side of the roundabout, out of shot.

[i11usive]

Couple more Pastor Maldonado vids in GP2:

[Dan~]

He's fine, he reminds me of Sato and Raikennen, just Raikennen can do it cleanly.

I like someone who gives it all to get round, and most times he does get round without a problem just he'll make a mistake then eeveryone makes him out to be a danger, but for all the other overtakes he does it's real excitement.

To be honest, I also congraulate anyone who takes out Hamilton, he brings it on himself and is basically a chav, remember Hamilton and Massa last year, Massa did cause one of the acidents, all the others were Hamiltons fault!

[+Mephistopheles]

[+Mephistopheles]

Adrian Newey says blown diffusers ban has hurt Red Bull in 2012

Adrian Newey has put his Red Bull team's failure to recapture its dominant 2011 form down to the winter rule changes designed to outlaw exhaust blown diffusers.

Red Bull was the first team to harness the concept in 2010 and last year optimised it to a degree that allowed it to dominate both the drivers', with Sebastian Vettel, and the constructors' championship.

Despite working to recreate such an effect in a limited way, which led to a rules clarification that forced Red Bull's Renault engine partner to modify engine maps designed to extract the most downforce available from blowing exhaust gases at aero-profiled brake ducts, Red Bull has won only three times this season.

While it leads the constructors' championship by 53 points, after 11 races last year it was 103 points clear.

"It's pretty much as we feared before the season started," Newey told AUTOSPORT.

"Having explored exhaust blowing technology quite heavily for two seasons and then having that taken away together with other changes like the front wing flexibility [test rules], hurt us quite a lot.

"Probably [it hurt us] more than other people because we had been exploiting it for longer. It has taken a while to try to understand what we need to do and to recover."

Newey also hinted that Red Bull has yet to re-adapt its car to the engine mapping rule change introduced ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix at the end of July.

While Vettel was able to finish fourth at the Hungaroring, he struggled to match the race pace of McLaren and the Lotuses and the car was flattered by running on fresher rubber relative to the top three late in the race.

"We've been working with Renault and were suddenly faced with a clarification that was a different interpretation to what we thought we were operating to.

"That's where we are and we've got to go back and have a fresh look."

Source: Autosport