The 2014 Formula One Season

Incident 2k9 Wrote:
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> smoglessbutton4 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> >
> > Random commenter, can't help but agree with
> him:
> > "I am no aero engineer but the front portion of
> > the nose/tub which is angled down front to rear
> > must be producing a up-force? Can't see it
> working
> > (which means it's probably going to be
> stunningly
> > successful) to me?"
>
> No, there's a slight "lump" on the bottom of the
> wedge section, which eliminates the effects of
> lift on the nose by creating a lower pressure
> environment underneath. Force India used it a few
> years back on the VJM04.


Ah, OK, I'll take the word of someone who knows what they're talking about!


> The one thing that worries me about that Caterham
> is NOT the nose section; that looks okay. However,
> the sidepods are very bulky, and other teams do
> appear to have packaged the whole rear end a lot
> more tightly.

I noticed that as well. Caterham looks slow....

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GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager

Quote
Incident 2k9
The one thing that worries me about that Caterham is NOT the nose section; that looks okay. However, the sidepods are very bulky, and other teams do appear to have packaged the whole rear end a lot more tightly.

Probably not a bad thing. Reliability is going to be key this year, particularly early on, and if a little less complexity under the skin means Caterham finish a few more races than they otherwise wouldn't, they've a good chance of picking up some points.

Given the problems far bigger teams are having, it's been relatively trouble-free for Caterham... they just haven't got many laps under their belts. Perhaps that Renault really is having issues.

Damn, from far away that noses look almost bearable, like the ones of the 80s. Atleast this is what I just thought when starting the vid. Obviously most are fugly.

Renault's reliablility, or at least Red Bulls, has gone to pot

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GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager

Marussia MR03 ladies and gentlemen!

They sure did a great job hiding the nose thingy. One of the best looking for sure.



Stats: 139 Starts / 7 Wins / 9 Poles / 5 Fastest laps

Much better sidepods than the Caterhugly, it seems
Otherwise a pretty conservative-looking design :P

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GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager

Ross Brawn has announced his permanent retirement from F1, thereby putting an end to speculation about his future. Read more…

[www.gpupdate.net]


" Perfection is not a gift ....... it comes with practice."

Member of R.S.C.T Group

A shame in one way that he's retiring at such a relatively young age, but he's had an exceptional career and made his mark on F1 history with Brawn GP, and went out on a high by helping Mercedes secure runner-up position in the Constructors.

A remarkable guy.

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Does anyone have any high res images of the Red Bull nose tip? It's quite strange.

Quote
Laton
Does anyone have any high res images of the Red Bull nose tip? It's quite strange.

Not especially high-res, but I saw this a few days back - very clear: Red Bull RB10 - Racecar Engineering

don't know if any of you got a chance to watch any of the test coverage on sky, but Ted's roundups have been really good, they're repeating them a lot so you can still catch them or find them on youtube. he had a particularly good long chat with Remi Taffin from Renault which explained the engines in much more detail.

he also spoke to Mark Smith of Caterham, about the nose design of his car, which he demonstrated using a banana and a bag of sultanas:





you may already know this (i haven't read the whole thread) but the banana bit is the crash structure and to fulfil the regulations, the flat bit is just a faring and for good aero. the rules want the nose low, but the engineers want the nose as high as possible for clean air underneath. so this is their striking solution. and of course the cars we'll see racing in melbourne will likely be a lot different to what we've seen so far, and what we will see in bahrain.

Taffin explaining the engine:

[youtu.be]

[youtu.be]

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RIP Jules, never to be forgotten. #KeepFightingMichael

So who else think's these cars are actually pretty cool?

I love that for the most part the nose designs are all quite different. I love how the Mercedes looks, I love the Ferrari, I love the Mclaren, I LOVE LOVE the Williams, well I quite like them all actually, even the Caterham!

Shame about Renault's problems. I think we all expected Mercedes (the team) to be strong this year but the question is, how close are Mclaren and Ferrari.

I'm bored of Vettel being the best. I want RBR to have a relatively poor car and let's watch Mclaren, Mercedes and Ferrari duke it out!

Look's like Williams have a strong base for development and I was surprised about the change from Renault power to Merc, but so far it's the right decision.

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"Trulli was slowing down like he wanted to have a picnic" LOL

its like 2004 & 2009 where we had radically different designs from various teams ('04 the Walrus Williams, Renault with large square engine cover, then '09 with the needle nose red bull compared to the fat nosed renault for e.g.)

I think once you get over the initial shock, and past the *cough "appendages" the cars in themselves with very few exception are actually very good looking. Of course some views are helped by a decent photographer finding the best composition and angle to take pictures but like with any change in the past you soon get used to the difference.

I think in no particular order that the Merc, McLaren and Williams are the prettiest.

I'm also feeling very positive in general about Williams. It would have been so easy to self destruct like "Lotus". But they've come out fighting, despite poor on track results they've held on to (PDVSA excepted) their partners and secured new ones, they've gone on a big recruitment drive, they've restructured, they've made what could turn out to be an inspired engine choice and so far the FW36 is showing every sign of being a dependable car.

This time last year, I felt despair regarding Williams' prospects and this was borne out by the results.. I'm feeling the complete opposite this year.. I think they're set to be revitalised and perhaps the most improved team.

About the noise, I did a personal experiment yesterday. A very close friend of mine, who's not into racing whatsoever, came over. So, to see how "appealing" different F1 eras are to a person who has never sat to watch a race, I showed him videos of different F1 cars (with different engines) and asked him to rank the noise. The results were:

1st - Benetton B186 (V6T)
2nd - Ferrari 412T1 (V12)
3rd - Williams FW25 (V10)
4th - Toyota TF106 (V8 @ 20k RPM)
5th - Red Bull RB9 (V8 @ 18k RPM)
6th - Assorted 2014 cars (V6T)

I think that tells a lot of what will happen when F1 tries to bring in new fans. Try to do the same. Bring a friend or relative not used to F1, and show him/her an 80s turbo car, a V12, a V10, a V8 with high and lower RPM, and the new V6s. You can also ask them to rank the looks of the cars. My friend preferred the Toyota



Stats: 139 Starts / 7 Wins / 9 Poles / 5 Fastest laps

F1 TV audience falls in 2013

[www.gpupdate.net]

I wonder what 2014 will bring .....?


" Perfection is not a gift ....... it comes with practice."

Member of R.S.C.T Group

[www.crash.net]

Go home Bernie, you're drunk.

...seriously (and I'm sorry that I have to resort to mentioning such a thing), just throw him in jail already, he's gone barmy with old age

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GPGSL -
GPGSL-3 - Pizza Party Racing manager and driver
Nations Cup - Team Scotland manager

Carlitox Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> About the noise, I did a personal experiment
> yesterday. A very close friend of mine, who's not
> into racing whatsoever, came over. So, to see how
> "appealing" different F1 eras are to a person who
> has never sat to watch a race, I showed him videos
> of different F1 cars (with different engines) and
> asked him to rank the noise. The results were:
>
> 1st - Benetton B186 (V6T)
> 2nd - Ferrari 412T1 (V12)
> 3rd - Williams FW25 (V10)
> 4th - Toyota TF106 (V8 @ 20k RPM)
> 5th - Red Bull RB9 (V8 @ 18k RPM)
> 6th - Assorted 2014 cars (V6T)
>
> I think that tells a lot of what will happen when
> F1 tries to bring in new fans. Try to do the same.
> Bring a friend or relative not used to F1, and
> show him/her an 80s turbo car, a V12, a V10, a V8
> with high and lower RPM, and the new V6s. You can
> also ask them to rank the looks of the cars. My
> friend preferred the Toyota



You know, only a few days ago I was thinking of trying the same thing. I see you've gone and done the hard work for me! but I may still give it a go, just to see if the results are any different. In fact, I might try it with a different selection of cars, so we can get an idea for different sounds.

I'm going to admit that I was surprised at the 2014 V6T coming 6th and last - I thought it would rank higher than the V8s, at least.

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You know you want to. [judgegrudge.mybrute.com]

I just tested it on a friend that knows nothing of F1 and the results were this:

1) v12 (Ferrari 412T2)
2) v8 at 20k rpm (Midland Toyota M16)
3) v10 (Williams FW24 BMW)
4 v8 at 18k rpm (Mercedes W04)
5) v6 turbo 80's (Lotus 98T Renault)
6) v6 turbos 2014

It seems to be that anyone not used to F1 choose V12 as they favourite (or 2nd), maybe is because they sound (or scream!) so different compared to another series. I like the new sound, but as Hulk said it sounds a lot like a DTM, its nice but nothing special

Yeah, I expected the V12 to come up first. Personally I adore that hellish howling which is unique to that engine. And I also adore the whistling turbo engines make, which is why I can somewhat cope with the new ones. My complaint is that they are way too quiet, compared to all the other engines ranked, even the low-rev V8 could still blow your ears. But these have something wrong. I expected something like IndyCar but (ironically) the fact that those only hit around 12k RPM makes them sound more like 80s F1 cars.

For me, the best change would have been making the V8s less powerful and then add the ERS. Or even better, keep them as they were and add the ERS so that they hit 800+bhp. Oh well...



Stats: 139 Starts / 7 Wins / 9 Poles / 5 Fastest laps