2017 Tyres revealed

[Formula Wrong]

Thank you...

Excepted more than that from the mercs

Interesting that only Ferrari had major changes!?
That might be something good or the opposite

I don't think Ferrari is the only team with major changes, they probably just have the most obvious (=the huge rear wing)

[Edax]

Jolle:
Of course noise is/was part of the experience. So was fire, deathly crashes, almost naked pit girls and smoking drivers.

strad:
So what's the problem?

Could not agree with you more !! Well said Sir !! =D> =D>

Edit: Sorry could not resist

Don't forget the sparks .

And the engine blowups. We used to have a competition on live television where every blowup received a rating based on the amount of smoke produced, flames, and spilled engine parts. I miss that.

But for now I'd settle for the sparks and the badass tires.

[carisi2k]

While I like the "retro" aspect of these "barn doors" (an old AJ Foyt reference to wide rubber)...I think its time the pinnacle of motorsport evolves to low profile type tires.

Formula E's spec tire has been successful and makes for some interesting yaw at times...and looks good. Also, I see little prospect for broad usage of such wide rubber in the future of automotive activities.

However, I suspect the cost of a total redesign of the car (likely required by low profiles) will keep us on 1960's profiled rubber fore some time.

Formula 1 is not production car racing. It is the pinnacle of motorsport for technology and driver talent. The reason why Formula 1 was becoming less popular is because rules were following what the mass market was doing instead of doing something which pushes technological and driver boundaries.

[Juzh]

Some new info on the 2017 tire testing so far:

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 78262.html

While Mercedes struggled with bad weather and rain during the 2017 tyre tests in Barcelona, Red Bull's Pierre Gasly enjoyed far smoother running in Abu Dhabi at temperatures of up to 38°C - with good results.
According to Red Bull's team principal Christian Horner there are a number of promising and one perfect compound among the batch of Pirelli's 2017 testing tyres, "Even during multiple fast laps in succession, this compound did not overheat and degraded in a very predictable, controlled manner despite the track conditions. Lap times were surprisingly consistent."
A contact patch 25 percent larger works wonders here. An employee of Pirelli revealed that the company is making progress on implementing a 'cliff' into the tyres. Using two layers of rubber this year has not produced such a pronounced loss of grip from one lap to the other that forces a driver to pit.
Red Bull's RB11 mule car provided Pirelli with the most relevant data. According to sources within Red Bull, the mule car has approximately 10 to 12 percentage points more downforce than the current RB12. Mercedes' mule car is reported to have 3 to 5 percent more downforce than the W07 whereas Ferrari failed to make any downforce gains when modifying their 2015 car altogether. The side-skirts do not work and there is no spare capacity at the Scuderia to modify the mule further.
Ferrari's current F1 drivers are the most active, however, with Sebastian Vettel racking up 1,100 km and Kimi Räikkönnen putting in 520 km. Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen will only step foot into the mule cars and try out the wider Pirelli rubber at the last test in Abu Dhabi. Among the other current F1 drivers, Nico Rosberg tested for 220 km in Barcelona with weather conditions interfering.
At the very top of the table of test and junior drivers is Pascal Wehrlein (current F1 driver, but tests for Mercedes) with 2,700 km followed by Pierre Gasly (1,600 km), Sebastien Buemi (1,200) km, and Esteban Gutierrez (500 km).

[ME4ME]

whereas Ferrari failed to make any downforce gains when modifying their 2015 car altogether. The side-skirts do not work and there is no spare capacity at the Scuderia to modify the mule further.

Ferrari

[Formula Wrong]

whereas Ferrari failed to make any downforce gains when modifying their 2015 car altogether. The side-skirts do not work and there is no spare capacity at the Scuderia to modify the mule further.

Ferrari

Shouldn't the larger rear wing already produce a lot more downforce?

[FW17]

[BanMeToo]

whereas Ferrari failed to make any downforce gains when modifying their 2015 car altogether. The side-skirts do not work and there is no spare capacity at the Scuderia to modify the mule further.

Ferrari

Shouldn't the larger rear wing already produce a lot more downforce?

Yea that doesn't really make sense....

[zac510]

The gains might be relative to the 2016 car. Then again the whole article reads like pure speculation.

[godlameroso]

You can quote me on this, next year will be similar to 2010, except Mercedes will be more competitive. The race pace will be similar, but qualifying is going to be on another level to anything we've seen so far. And if regulations don't change much between 2017 and 2018, the race pace will be at the same level in 2006, but we'll do so without having to re-fuel which is going to seem insane.

In Barcelona 2016, the best the Mercedes could do would have been high 27's, Kimi's Ferrari was doing mid 28's at best. In 2010 the cars started out that fast, and finished the race doing 24's. Or in other words the end of race pace was as fast as last year's(2015) pole lap. I expect something similar next year.

[FW17]

You can quote me on this, next year will be similar to 2010, except Mercedes will be more competitive. The race pace will be similar, but qualifying is going to be on another level to anything we've seen so far. And if regulations don't change much between 2017 and 2018, the race pace will be at the same level in 2006, but we'll do so without having to re-fuel which is going to seem insane.

Still we will not see the true pace of the car on a Sunday because of the fuel load

LMP1 race pace and qualifying pace is almost same, The fastest lap in the race

There are some races in the calendar where there is a difference of 6 seconds between qualifying and the race

On top of it we see that being done for a maximum of 3 laps before they back off

In comparison in 2006 the driver was on maximum attack lapping within 1 second of the fastest lap for every lap of the race

[godlameroso]

Why do you think the fuel load will be such a problem? Even with the fuel limit the power units still produce more power over a broader range than their 2010 counterparts, furthermore, the extra grip from aero and tires will allow drivers to push much harder in the corners.

[BanMeToo]

It's a lot of weight!

[PlatinumZealot]

Why do you think the fuel load will be such a problem? Even with the fuel limit the power units still produce more power over a broader range than their 2010 counterparts, furthermore, the extra grip from aero and tires will allow drivers to push much harder in the corners.

Weight. A good example to see how fuel weights affected the times is the 2009 season.

[godlameroso]

Why do you think the fuel load will be such a problem? Even with the fuel limit the power units still produce more power over a broader range than their 2010 counterparts, furthermore, the extra grip from aero and tires will allow drivers to push much harder in the corners.

Weight. A good example to see how fuel weights affected the times is the 2009 season.

This is true, it's definitely a hard balance to strike. On the one hand, weight makes everything better, on the other hand the drivers will have to become dangerously thin in order to maintain a competitive advantage.

A lot of people, myself included, believe that Massa was so good in qualifying back in 2006-2008 precisely because he's the closest compared to the other drivers, of having the body of a horse jockey.

I thought the weight increase wasn't just because they expected the new power units to have quite a bit more mass than their predecessors but also to mitigate the effect of driver weight from the equation.