F1 cars are 8 seconds slower than 10 years ago.

[Gianlu27]

https://twitter.com/Gianlu_DAle/status/ ... 9837751296 F1 cars are 8 seconds slower than 10 years ago. Why?

I. The engine
While the V6 Turbos aren't that weak and produce more than 800hp (~860 next year), they are a far cry from glorious V10 power and their close to 1000hp output. Also, the V10s had a constant power output, while the V6 is relying on the electric batteries giving temporary boost to get up to 800+ hp. And then there's the issue of RPMs: 12000 now against 19000 back then.

It's not that the manufacturers don't want unwind the engine, it's the fuel flow regulations that let the RPMs (and power output) drop so much for example.

II. Tires
There once was a tire war. It wasn't great for racing as it decided championships by simply having the right brand of rubber and because of the politics behind it, but it forced the manufacturers to go to great lengths to gain an advantage. The result were tires that seemed to last forever but also offered great amounts of grip. Michelin keeps innovating until this day, but the tires are mounted on LMP1 cars instead where they perform insanely well (Quadruple Stints at Le Mans anyone?). André Lotterer described it perfectly during his Spa weekend for Caterham when he said that you just can't "lean" so much on the Pirelli tires compared to the loads he was able to comfortably pull on Michelins behind the wheel of the R18.

III. Aero regulations
The downforce level has been cut down progressively. Brawn managed to escape the loss of downforce by implementing a double diffuser in 2009, but after that was banned cars got slower and slower, until they lost another 10% of downforce for this year. Just look at how Verstappen did physically in his first F1 outing at Suzuka, and then think about how Vettel described his first BMW test where he couldn't see after a few laps because he wasn't able to keep his head in an upright position.

Also huge fuel cells required thanks to the ban of refueling during pitstops didn't help with the design and aesthetics of F1 cars (and as pointed out by some readers, they of course have to carry all the fuel around during the race).

IV. Parc Ferme
No more qualifying-only setup and an over-night rebuild to race spec. Parc Ferme ruled all of that out, so that teams have to find a mix between the two disciplines, compromising both of them.

In total, it all sounds very tragic, but fear not, F1 is still the fastest way to go around corners. LMP1s need 10 seconds more in Spa and achieve 30 kp/h less in top speed, and the GP2 is 8 seconds away.


Source: http://formulafreak.kinja.com/f1-cars-a ... ct_map=%7B

[diffuser]

That isn't fair..... They had refueling in 2004. In 2014 you got to carry enough fuel for the whole race.


Only 2.5 seconds from 2014 to 2004 if you compare Quali in Canada... 2 seconds in Monoco. Many different Races ... Austrailia it rained during Quali.

[Facts Only]

I remember F1 being insainly boring 8 years ago, I'd take 2014 over 2004-2006 anyday of the week. People specs are getting very rose tinted.

[strad]

how about say 1976, or in the 80s? 8 years is a blink of the eye.

[Writinglife]

Don't forget that in the modern era, there is a more emphasis on reliability. Teams used to engineer cars solely for performance, with engines designed to fall apart after the race was over. They'd strip engines completely after every race etc. Refuelling meant cars ran lighter during the race, tyres had more surface area and aero was virtually unchecked.

[Pierce89]

how about say 1976, or in the 80s? 8 years is a blink of the eye.

Yeah I sure loved the races where there were 2 cars on the lead lap and 45 seconds between each place. Formula 1 has always run to a set of arbitrary constraints. F1 is just entertainment regardless of the decade.

[Just_a_fan]

2014 is the first year with a totally new set of tech regs. 2004 was a mature set of regs and the teams had a whole lot of testing in the years before so the cars were very heavily developed. 2014 cars are "first guesses" at the new regs.

I have no doubt that in a year or two we'll see the lap times dropping and we'll wonder why they needed a 900bhp V10 to do the laptimes...

[Jersey Tom]

F1 cars are 8 seconds slower than 10 years ago. So what?

Can't think of F1 as being cutting edge / technological advancement / whatever. It just isn't, never has been. The rules and performance envelope are completely arbitrary. Could make the cars seconds a lap faster or slower at the proverbial snap of a finger.

Whether that makes the racing better or worse is an entirely different subject.

[bhall II]

This just hurts my feelings.

2014 F1 Spanish Grand Prix


2014 GP2 at Barcelona

[Cold Fussion]

2013 Australia was a wet qualifying session, why did they leave that on the list?

[hollus]

https://twitter.com/Gianlu_DAle/status/ ... 9837751296
F1 cars are 8 seconds slower than 10 years ago.

No, they are not. Just because yo copy from a (nice) article, it doesn't mean that you have to copy its sensationalistic headline.

Then the numbers showed (with much less than a 8 second difference in average) suffer from so many sins:
Nitpicked seasons (one can forgive that).
Nitpicked races (sensationalistic and skewed).
Australia 2014? Really? Is that fair in any way?
And then, the fastest lap in the race is the most fickle statistic one could think of. Some times drivers push, sometimes not. We have rules in 2014 that mean that they are set towards the end of the race, in a situation where many people might not be pushing anymore, on worn tires which are the hardest in the selection, and possibly in fuel saving mode. So in only few races of 2014 the fastest lap in the race is the fastest that car can do, while in 2004 it often was an in or out lap in the middle of the tactical battle where one could only pass in the pits.So, if you are then going to pick only 5, it is an easy game.

[rayden]

That cherry picked data is not fit for analysis.

[hollus]

Ahora mismo hay muy poca diferencia con el F-1. Y cuantas menos rectas y más curvas, más cerca estamos. En carga aerodinámica y neumáticos tenemos más prestaciones pero luego, claro, nos sacan 200 CV de potencia y eso en recta marca la diferencia

Auch! Fresh from Diario As, that's the current champion of the Formula Renault 3.5 series comparing his current car with the current bred of F1's, which he has driven in the simulator,I guess...
He says that right now there is very little difference with F1, and even less the less straights and the more corners there are. He literally says that they have more downforce and better tire performance, and that they lose out because of the 200CV difference.
I think he is exaggerating (any numbers?), but... auch!

[rohit1594]

This just hurts my feelings.

2014 F1 Spanish Grand Prix
http://i.imgur.com/2QJ57Xp.png

2014 GP2 at Barcelona
http://i.imgur.com/Y5Ulfk9.png

Interestingly, ALL GP2 cars were within the Q1 107% time of 1:32.837!

Last year, the Q1 107% time was 1:27.448...

[SectorOne]

Austria is pretty close,

1:08.759 - 2003

1:07.908 - 2014