Formula1

[Cuky]

Italy, Q

 

[Cuky]

Italy, Race

 

[Jamezinho]

F1 is getting rather boring again.

 

[Milanista]

So apparently Raikkonen has signed with Ferrari.

 

[The_Special_One]

 

[Cuky]

Korea, FP1

Korea, FP2

 

[Cuky]

Korea, FP3

Korea, Q

 

[S-NipE]

So, Seb about the WC sooner or later, doubt it'll be in Suzuka, but definitely the races afterwards.

But the best today was Hülk! Awesome race in that car and great result as fourth and infront of so many drivers in faster cars.

 

[Dazzlà]

don't get why none of the bigger teams sign up Hülk, would like to see him in a mclaren, (they'l be decent next year).
i was pissing myself when random truck came to the track and was leading the GP after mark webber fire wtf was he doing...

 

[Jamezinho]

But the best today was Hülk! Awesome race in that car and great result as fourth and infront of so many drivers in faster cars.

He's a fantastic driver but just needs that chance at a 'big' team. I think McLaren should have signed him up instead of Perez but I believe the Mexican brings some serious financial backing to the team.

The logical move would be to replace Kimi at Lotus.

I hope he does get a move. As much as I admire Sauber for the impressive job they do with limited resources, he is never going to achieve anything there. With the right car I think the Hulk could push for a championship in the future.

 

[Cuky]

i was pissing myself when random truck came to the track and was leading the GP after mark webber fire wtf was he doing...

First of all: It was very good thing that it came on track. No SC was planned in that time as Webber's car was on safe place, but it came because of that car and made race interesting until the end.

As for that car..it was firefighter's car and it was sent on track by chief firefighter without permission from Charlie Whiting. Usual procedure is to have SC deployed and than any other vehicle that is needed.

On the less amusing note: If Vettel wins in Japan and Alonso finishes 9th or lower Vettel will mathematically secure another title

 

[Jamezinho]

Someone needs to break the Vettel/Red Bull dominance otherwise F1 is going to enter another dull period. Viewers will simply switch off.

Hopefully the new engine regulations for 2014 will shake-up the pack.

I don't wish to downplay Vettel's achievements but he is getting an easy ride in F1 because his car is that good. Lewis Hamilton is a better driver in my opinion, and I believe Alonso and Raikkonen could push Vettel but they simply haven't got the cars to compete in every race.

 

[S-NipE]

As a Vettel fan I have to admit that it gets a bit boring now, I want him to win another title, but the dominance is taking a lot of the tension of the races. Also hope that next year brings us more interesting races, but I have doubt, because I predict there will be three or four top teams and the rest will be very weak. And that is a pity, because there are so many talented drivers on the grid, Hamilton, Alonso, Kimi, Nico, Hülk, and the one, who has the "roundest" driving style, but sadly not the fastest car, Jenson Button, don't forget him. In a competitive car he's a candidate to end races on the podium. Yet the weak performance of many of the "classical" teams like McLaren, Sauber or Williams this year (plus Force India and Toro Rosso and the two weak teams and the end, Caterham and Marussa) won't change much next year.

 

[Jamezinho]

Three or four top teams competing with one another would at least be better than what we have now i.e. Red Bull dominance with Ferrari, Lotus and Mercedes fighting for podiums.

More competition in F1 will only come with tighter regulations that reduce operating costs to the teams. That is already happening in F1 and other series across motorsport. Smaller engines, restrictions on how many engines and gearboxes can be used in a season, etc...

The problem is, F1 has always been the most high-tech, high-cost series in motorsport and that has always been part of its appeal. If that is restricted then perhaps F1 loses its identity.

Personally I would like to see more competition and more teams entering F1. Currently I'm not sure where the next new team is going to come from. I have so much respect for Sauber and what they achieve on such a small budget but they are the exception to the rule. When great teams like McLaren and Williams are struggling it demonstrates how hard it is to stay at the top in F1.

Agree with you on Jensen - he's an excellent driver and one of the good characters in F1 (like Webber). I don't think he has the same raw talent as the likes of Hamilton, Raikkonen, Alonso and Vettel, but he is a very intelligent, consistent and trustworthy driver. He may need to leave McLaren to get back on the podium unfortunately.

 

[Dazzlà]

Maria de Villota found dead in hotel after losing her eye, so sad. r.i.p maria.

 

[S-NipE]

Yes, read that too, police said it was a "natural death with no sign of a crime or suicide". Tragically, how fast her star fell down after that crash...

Another article about Adrian Newey was released where he says that the new RB for 2014 will look ugly due to the new aerodynamic rules. The same article states that cars will have the ugly "step"-nose again. Haven't we had a picture in this thread here showing that these should have been eliminated for next year?

Edit: Found it, Post #815.

 

[Cuky]

About next year...yes, they could make them look nice. But, as esthetics aren't that important like performance is...there seems to be a loophole in rules that allows teams to place nose as high as they can and than use that vanity panel (which is introduced to cover the step) to actually have nose tip as low as rules mandate. That will than have cars with wide nose high up and close to the front of the tub (the part where driver sits) with long, thin vanity panel stretching in front of it to place nose tip down where it is mandated by rules and to connect wing to the car. And all that to have as much air under the car as possible.

Japan, FP1 - Sorry for not having nice Live Timing screen as for FP2, but I fell asleep few minutes before the end of FP1 and when I woke up during FP2 there was FP2 Live Timing and no FP1 to take screen of.

Japan, FP2

EDIT: This is how, following rules to the letter, noses should look like in 2014

Others are saying that noses will look very close to what McLaren noses in 2006/07/08 seasons have looked like

While other say that this is very close to how will noses look from profile

 

[Jamezinho]

Martin Brundle on Sky F1 said they could look like the Brawn GP car from 2009:

 

[S-NipE]

What is Newey talking about then? How could he include a step in a such a nose?

(Always given the thesis that those news reporters didn't make a translation mistake.)

 

[Jamezinho]

I hope the stepped-nose is consigned to the rubbish bin forever. F1 cars have been getting increasingly ugly over the last 15 years or so. They are far from the beautiful machines of the late 80's and early 90's.

My view is that F1 cars should be aesthetically pleasing. It's part of the appeal. I expect the various sponsors also want to see their logos on good looking machines. I know it's hard to legislate against ugly cars but it's something the FIA should consider so that the situation that gave rise to the stepped-nose never happens again.

I've always thought the GP2 car looks much prettier than F1 cars.

 

[Cuky]

well, current GP2 cars are roughly what F1 cars looked like in 2011, just a bit smaller with simpler exhaust and wings.

Japan, FP3

 

[Cuky]

Japan, Q

 

[S-NipE]

I've always thought the GP2 car looks much prettier than F1 cars.

This. And I also think the new Indycar generation looks nice with their aggressive look and spoilers. At least better than those tiny spoilers and ugly noses that F1 cars have nowadays.

 

[matherto]

I think the current cars would be a lot nicer if the wings were completely different. The basic shapes are nice but the massive front wing and tiny rear makes them look awful.

Nothing for me will beat the cars in the era I grew up though. The 90's with simple shapes and great tobacco/alcohol liveries will always be the best looking.

Rothmans WIlliams cars being personal favourites.

 

[Cuky]

I am still very much in love with cars from 2007 and 2008. Yes, they were overrun by all those wing, winglets, deflectors, cutouts etc. but they were the thing of beauty. They were really engineering at its best.

FIA has thought that reducing width and increasing the height of rear wing with doing the opposite at the front would lessen the turbulence coming from rear of the car and enable them to follow the car in front much closely to promote overtaking. But, teams wouldn't just sit there and accept lower downforce at rear. So they did the easiest thing to do, they made rear wing's angle of attack much steeper to produce more downforce and than used F-Duct in 2010 and DRS after it was allowed in 2011. to reduce drag and bring back top speed on straights that was lost with higher angle on rear wing. And with that change in philosophy of designing rear wing air coming from rear of the car is even more turbulent than it was before.

 

[Jamezinho]

I am still very much in love with cars from 2007 and 2008. Yes, they were overrun by all those wing, winglets, deflectors, cutouts etc. but they were the thing of beauty. They were really engineering at its best.

Not for me, sorry. I think the cars of that time were quite ugly.

I think the current cars would be a lot nicer if the wings were completely different. The basic shapes are nice but the massive front wing and tiny rear makes them look awful.

Nothing for me will beat the cars in the era I grew up though. The 90's with simple shapes and great tobacco/alcohol liveries will always be the best looking.

Rothmans WIlliams cars being personal favourites.

Agreed, there were some nice looking cars around the mid-90s.

In my opinion it's the cars around 1990-1992 that were the true beauties before the raised nose designs took hold. Much simpler looking cars with clean lines.

For instance the 1992 Ferrari and McLaren:

Proper formula one cars. Stunning. Beautiful.

 

[Cuky]

Japan, Race

About nice F1 cars...I am not start to argue about personal preference as I see no point in that. You like this, I like that...each to their own

Although I like those late 80s and early 90s cars (even if I hold early 80s cars even higher) those 3 are real beauties for me:

Ferrari F2008

BMW F1.08

McLaren Mercedes MP4-23

So many aero parts on them and all of them working in almost perfect unity to produce blazingly fast cars. Add to that nice paint schemes that worked well with all those details on the car...

 

[S-NipE]

Agree, those were beautiful.

 

[Cuky]

Just to make things boring a bit ahead of next race....

Vettel wins the title if:
- Alonso wins, and Vettel finishes P5 or above
- Alonso finishes P2 and he finishes P8 or above
- Alonso is out of the top 2

Alonso finishing P3 means Vettel clinches the title on countback

 

[Cuky]

Found some rumors regarding drivers changes posted by David Croft from SkySports and re-posted by Johnny Herbert. He siad that he got it from credible source

@johnnyherbertf1

Yes @CroftyF1 I concur...Alonso - McLaren, Hulkenberg - Ferrari, Massa - Lotus, Chilton - Force India, Magnussen - Marussia #crediblesource