nascar should never be used in a sentence with f1.
Any Formula 1 Fans ?
- Thread starter Sai
- Start date
ogc said:
Next show will start at 0100...Malaysia. Wew. I still might get up for it, no guarantees that I will STAY up for it though. I think Speed will do one of their Encore presentations later in the day, probably 2000 or so.
Mother Nature got the best of Schumacher and a lot of other qualifiers, plus he had an issue with his engine so there was an engine change. He started from the back of the grid, only turning a single lap in the second day of qualifying. He DNF'ed, taking advantage of a loophole in the regs for the next race.
I did well in F1Pick6/8 last race, except I did not count on that upstart Webber. Alonso did much better than I would have expected, but I still thought he would make the top 8. I am 34th out of around 700 something entries from twenty something countries.
tang350 said:
I was pulling for Ferrari in the beginning, as they were the "Atlanta Braves" of F1...worst to first. Ferrari in F1 in the eighties was a total joke and the early nineties was not much better, until Schumacher. Now that it's total dominance for such a long time it needs to change up a bit.
ESC...how about electronic suspension? The Camel Lotus 99T:
...this car had incredible capabilities. When you take a sharp right hander, which way does your car lean...to the left. With active suspension, this car could realize which way it was leaning and compensate. IOW, it had the capability to lean *right* in a sharp right hand turn! Under braking it could stiffen the front suspension to mitigate the mass shift, and also change the crossweighting in the car to allow for changing fuel loads and unfortunate changes in tire stagger. Not to mention that the vortex generators require a certain height off the deck to function efficiently to generate downforce, and the active suspension would allow absolute control over this variable. This proved to be so much of an advantage it was made obsolete by the rules. Of course, that generation's "Schumacher" was at the controls...Ayrton Senna. He was THE human modification for F1 in the late eighties early nineties.
If the manufacturers were allowed to implement electronic controls to the extent that they wanted, the cars would essentially have drivers only for acceleration, braking, and steering. And I am sure the constructors would find a way to eliminate that weak link eventually.
Interesting cars to watch around a GP circuit...let's say it was the late sixties early seventies cars, before they had really figured out aero and before they had effective race tire technology to cope with the greater load imposed by the aero. Those cars weren't really driven...they were *guided* from apex to apex.
Least interesting race of all time: the race in the parking lot around the hay bales in Las Vegas in 1981 or 1982. Yes, F1 in a parking lot. It was about the same as watching a bunch of high powered go karts race, or perhaps Solo II. What a change from Watkins Glen in the seventies. I did enjoy watching Phoenix in 1989, although it was comical that they had to weld the manhole covers to keep the cars from sucking them off as they went over. Most interesting: the crown jewel of F1, or Monaco, with every single passing year. It just gets better and better because the circuit never changes, just the cars.
Also...Ford isn't truly gone from F1, they just aren't fielding a team, per se. Jaguar was sold to Red Bull, who did their own testing and are designating the car as the RB1, or ostensibly Red Bull One. The powerplant is the Cosworth V10, now produced by the same group under Kalkoven/Forsythe but having been developed under the auspices of Ford/Cosworth is actually being called the Ford V10 by the color announcers for some reason. 18000 RPM now, can you hear it.
Also, to call Jaguar's entry with a Cosworth powerplant in F1, Ford involvement...really is a stretch. In like vein, Honda had a SUV before the Ridgeline named the Pilot but all they did was re-badge an Isuzu...
On to Malaysia. It will be interesting to watch the long shots of the two long straights on either side of the main sheltered grandstands, and will probably be where much of the overtaking will happen. Only a little over 12 days from now...
(Edited for terrible spelling and grammar.)
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28 said:
Yes, and orange "ownz" apple too
Actually going to a race and seeing it in person is truly awe-inspiring. I went to the US GP at Indy a couple of years ago and had a great time. The race was interesting because it started to rain midway through which added to the drama. Once the "wets" were on those guys didn't seem to slow down too much. Seeing those big rooster tails were cool. Montoya and Raikonnen were still in the hunt for the championship at that time as well, as the race was towards the end of the season.
Our seats were at the start/finish line on the long front stretch and I must say that hearing those engines scream was thrilling. :rockon: They didn't sound as high pitched as they do on TV but had a more growling and menacing sound. Seeing those mechanical beasts launch at the start in a mass of metal, chaos, speed and sound was jaw dropping!
BTW, I think Red Bull Racing could have a good year. Coulthard had a great race and brings a lot of experience to the team. Personally I am a BMW fan so I hope they have a good season with Webber and Heidfeld. They should have a lot of horsepower but for some reason we don't see that power in the straights against the other teams. I guess they have more work to do on their aero package.
A friend of mine has gone to the Monaco GP a couple of times and he says it was an amazing experience. I hope I get the chance to do that one day!
Our seats were at the start/finish line on the long front stretch and I must say that hearing those engines scream was thrilling. :rockon: They didn't sound as high pitched as they do on TV but had a more growling and menacing sound. Seeing those mechanical beasts launch at the start in a mass of metal, chaos, speed and sound was jaw dropping!
BTW, I think Red Bull Racing could have a good year. Coulthard had a great race and brings a lot of experience to the team. Personally I am a BMW fan so I hope they have a good season with Webber and Heidfeld. They should have a lot of horsepower but for some reason we don't see that power in the straights against the other teams.
I guess they have more work to do on their aero package.A friend of mine has gone to the Monaco GP a couple of times and he says it was an amazing experience. I hope I get the chance to do that one day!
Sai, you had seats at start finish? The last US F1 that I attended was in 2000 at the inaugural. Maybe because it was so new the spectator areas were woefully inadequate and in order to get into the spectator areas in the pits it was a mind-numbing $200 US per person on top of what we already paid for our tix. We were at start-finish in the paddock penthouse. We were frozen to our bones by the end of the race, I bought several shirts and jackets to take home to pass out and wound up wearing every single one of them in layers! It warmed up by the end of the day and by then it was a futile exercise in crowd control (meaning there wasn't any). I was thoroughly unimpressed and, owing to other expenses like renting a house for $850 just for the race weekend since there were no hotels available in any direction for 200 miles at any price, I just haven't gone back. Other venues have been much better run and the spectator areas were much better than what Indy offered.
However, I'm with you...the spectacle of an F1 start just made all that other stuff worthwhile. I also live for the sound of a Grand Prix motor at full chat from a slow bend blowing up the gears to the next turn, when I can hear each motor individually. It brings tears to my eyes. Nothing else compares really.
In that vein the McLarens (in 2000 at least) used some type of power valve technology they had developed that supposedly increased the low level torque of their powerplant, and made a noise in person at that GP that was not adequately translated through television coverage. The noise that engine made was absolutely medieval. Glorious...
However, I'm with you...the spectacle of an F1 start just made all that other stuff worthwhile. I also live for the sound of a Grand Prix motor at full chat from a slow bend blowing up the gears to the next turn, when I can hear each motor individually. It brings tears to my eyes. Nothing else compares really.
In that vein the McLarens (in 2000 at least) used some type of power valve technology they had developed that supposedly increased the low level torque of their powerplant, and made a noise in person at that GP that was not adequately translated through television coverage. The noise that engine made was absolutely medieval. Glorious...
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ogc said:
Yeah, just to clarify how qualifying works now - there are 2 qualifying sessions held on consecurtive days. In the first session, the order that the cars finish in determines how they will go out in the second session. The new twist to it all is that both sessions count. They take the best time of each car over both sessions, average them and come up with the grid positions.
This was especially important at Albert Park as the weather kept changing drastically. Sunshine and a dry track one minute, rain, hail and even sleet the next. Schui got caught up in a heavy downpour in the first session which had him 30 seconds behind the leader's time. There was no way possible that he could drive his way back to a front row position on the 2nd session.
I disagree with the tires having to last the full race as I believe that the compromises they make in the tire will ultimately put drivers at risk that is avoidable. The engines lasting 2 races rule has already been tested by 3 cars pulling in with "trouble" on the last lap, hence allowing them to fit new engines for the next race. Watch how fast they change that rule.
During the coverage of the event on the Saturday, they went through some specs. Apparently with the aero reductions that had to be made for 2005, the teams started with a 25% deficit in downforce at the start of testing. This has been clawed back to a mere 3% through greater efficiencies and some good old-fashioned time in the wind tunnel. Pretty impressive.
They also talked about Williams. 500 employees of which 400 are devoted to R&D! All information data logged from the cars (over 200 points of data origin now) is sent back to Williams for overnight processing and review for the next day. Can't remember the exact numbers but they started talking in Terrabytes. By the end of the season, if you were to place all of the drawings side by side on those cars alone that will be generated, they would reach half way round the world...
Then they got onto engine specifics. At 19,000RPM, the crankshaft turns over 300 times a second generating loads on the pistons of 140G's. The brake discs go from 0 to 600 degrees (celcius) in 1/100th of a second. There was a heap more info but it all got spat out in one go. You just end up sitting there trying to relate the numbers to reality.
The support races here include our local V8 tour. Race versions of the 4 door Ford & Holden road cars we drive. These things are quick in their own right but they were still lapping 30 seconds slower than race pace of the F1 cars.
At least with a non-Ferrari win, some life has been injected back into it at the start of the season. If it helps mix things up a bit, I say bring it on and keep the two day qualifiers. They should be allowed to change tires though. It adds to the spectacle of watching a full pit team at work and will ultimately be safer for the drivers.
I love F1. I stopped rooting for Schumi after the JV incident in Suzuka. I thought it was a crappy deal then and still do to this day. Renault floors me. They didn't have a right to be as good as they were last year and this year they are even better.
I stopped following NASCAR when I figured out more NASCAR fans could count carbs, than rebuild one. To me, it's become WWF on wheels.
I stopped following NASCAR when I figured out more NASCAR fans could count carbs, than rebuild one. To me, it's become WWF on wheels.
RagTopSnake said:
The ultimate in stupidity has to be that KFC commercial..."the only carb I care about is under my hood". Never mind that every car produced nowadays is EFI for emissions regs. These people wouldn't know a carb even if one jumped up and bit them in the ass anyway.
CarpetCityCobra said:
Actually nascar cup cars are carburated. So are busch cars and the craftsman trucks. So maybe they do know a little about carburators
CarpetCityCobra said:
Yeah, I got lucky with the tickets. A guy I was working with usually goes every year. He's driven in the pre-Ferrari races as well and he usually gets tickets sent to him every year. It's kinda like "season tickets" or something like that. Anyway, he didn't go that year because of family issues. His only request was for me to bring him back a program so he didn't charge for the 4 tickets he gave me!
Tickets in hands, I had a road trip with 2 other friends to Indy from Maryland. I bought another ticket and met up with 3 of my best friend's from college who live up there (went to Purdue Univ.) and stayed with one guy who lives in Indy (he couldn't make it to the race). Also saw Purdue beat up on Notre Dame for Homecoming ! :rockon:
Big Ten Football, F1 racing, old college buds- All in all a great time! :beer:
Kurt Busch said:Yes, and orange "ownz" apple too
The point of my statement was that eventhough Nascar gets 100 times more attention than F1,the racing is uncomparable....I know they are totally different types of racing...Just wish F! got as much attention as Nascar did... :read:
Kurt Busch said:
Agreed. However the fans aren't driving the cars, and therefore don't work on them since they aren't the pit crews. So, my statement still stands. NASCAR has turned into a boutique shop.
It is now apparent that "Kurt Busch" is picking a fight in the thread because we're not talking NASCAR, evidenced by the two above responses. I'm going to keep my comments on F1 only from here forward...I'm sure there are half a zillion NASCAR threads on here and everywhere else for Kurt to peruse.
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CarpetCityCobra said:
Sorry, I didn't realize I wasn't allowed to participate in this thread about F1.
The last thing I wanted to do is pick a fight, beleive me.
I just wanted to contribute, but obviously I'm a moron and all I can do is pick a fight.
Word
Kurt Busch said:
We welcome your participation if you could keep it on topic. Nobody called you a moron, or even a hipster doofus like in your sig.
So, what do you think about the new aero regs and their effects on the qualifying order so far? Any comments on which teams were able to engage resources most effectively to combat the loss of downforce?
Been watching F1 since about '91. I've always been an open wheel fan, gone to every Phoenix Indy race from '82-'96. College kinda put a curb on that streak.
I think F1 is going to be incredibly competitive this year. That Toyota team is going to suprise some people I think!
I think F1 is going to be incredibly competitive this year. That Toyota team is going to suprise some people I think!
50 BMG said:
Mika :bowdown: was the best interviewee in F1. Kimi tries hard but he just doesn't have the complete lack of emotion and body language that Mika had. He was the last guy to prove that MS could be beaten - regularly. The McLarens were awesome no doubt, but MS won a championship in a Benetton (I can never spell that) so "MS didn't have the best car" doesn't really apply. MS can flat out drive.
Go Renault :banana: :banana:
50 BMG said:
Agree 100% about the rule changes... :thumbsup: I started watching last season with all sorts of anticipation only to quit half way through it...Got tired of seeing Ferrari win all the time...Eventhough R.Barichello is my favorite F1 driver... :rockon:
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