2014 Australian Grand Prix - Melbourne

[mikeerfol]

@ mikeerfol I apologize for mispelling your alias.

It's fine

[Steven]

All discussion specific to the fuel flow meter and the reason for Ricciardo's DSQ have been moved to a separate thread
http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... 13&t=18600

[thomin]

I made a lap time comparison chart with Rosberg, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Bottas and Alonso which I thought was quite interesting. For one it shows how utterly dominant Rosberg was, kinda like Vettel in the second part of last year. But it's also interesting to see for example that Alonso, once he had a clear road was pretty much on par with everyone else, save Rosberg. Or how Bottas posted good lap times despite having to battle his way through the field twice. Anyway, here it is:

[stuartpengs]

does anyone know why under braking sometimes the rear light flashes sometimes? Sure it never used to happen

It was something that was picked up on BBC, something to do with indicating that the car isn't harvesting correctly, IIRC.

[beelsebob]

does anyone know why under braking sometimes the rear light flashes sometimes? Sure it never used to happen

It was something that was picked up on BBC, something to do with indicating that the car isn't harvesting correctly, IIRC.

It's the deceleration warning light. It's shown when harvesting is taking place, but not breaking, to indicate that the car may have a significant speed differential to the driver behind.

[stuartpengs]

does anyone know why under braking sometimes the rear light flashes sometimes? Sure it never used to happen

It was something that was picked up on BBC, something to do with indicating that the car isn't harvesting correctly, IIRC.

It's the deceleration warning light. It's shown when harvesting is taking place, but not breaking, to indicate that the car may have a significant speed differential to the driver behind.

That's the fellow.

[Timbit]

I made a lap time comparison chart with Rosberg, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Bottas and Alonso which I thought was quite interesting...

Is there any explanation for the 'S-curve' in lap times for the drivers shown in the 2nd stint? Seems like all the drivers reduced their times to a certain amount between laps 18-22, after which lap times got slower to about lap 27-31, after which they got a bit quicker (or leveled off) before the 2nd round of stops. Can this be put down to tyre graining and the act of ;driving through it'?

[beelsebob]

I made a lap time comparison chart with Rosberg, Ricciardo, Magnussen, Bottas and Alonso which I thought was quite interesting...

Is there any explanation for the 'S-curve' in lap times for the drivers shown in the 2nd stint? Seems like all the drivers reduced their times to a certain amount between laps 18-22, after which lap times got slower to about lap 27-31, after which they got a bit quicker (or leveled off) before the 2nd round of stops. Can this be put down to tyre graining and the act of ;driving through it'?

My explanation would be that we're seeing drivers trying to push out a gap after the safety car, and then returning to fuel/tyre save mode.

[MOWOG]

My explanation would be that we're seeing drivers trying to push out a gap after the safety car, and then returning to fuel/tyre save mode

Yup.

Some people call that racing. Those people are simply misinformed. It is not racing. It is a pale imitation of racing. Racing, by definition, is going as fast as possible from the time the lights go out until the checkered flag drops. Anything else is just a stage managed entertainment product, like wrestling or roller derby.

During the Winter Olympics, did you see the downhill racers slow down half way down the mountain to catch their breath? Did you see the speed skaters mail in a couple of laps in the middle of a heat? Did you see the hockey teams take the second period off so they could skate harder in the third? No? Me neither.

If you want to "spice up the show", initiate reverse grids, add weight penalties for the fastest cars as they do in BTCC, determine starting grids by lottery or simply require the drivers to switch cars from race to race. Wouldn't you love to see Kimi in a Marussia? Or Max Chilton in a Mercedes? All of that would be entertaining.

But don't call the current version of Formula One racing. It's not. It's a travesty of what the likes of Stewart, Hill, Senna, Prost, Lauda and so many others risked their lives for. Personally, I am disgusted by this pale imitation of racing.

The promoters are right to complain. But ultimately it is we fans who pay the bills. It is our eyeballs that sponsors and advertisers covet. If we stopped watching, we could force a return to real racing. But we won't. We will continue to pretend we are passionate about racing when in fact we just want to be entertained. So sad on so many levels.

[beelsebob]

My explanation would be that we're seeing drivers trying to push out a gap after the safety car, and then returning to fuel/tyre save mode

Yup.

Some people call that racing. Those people are simply misinformed. It is not racing. It is a pale imitation of racing. Racing, by definition, is going as fast as possible from the time the lights go out until the checkered flag drops.

Yep, and that's exactly what's happening here. The fastest possible way to drive from lights to flag is to stretch out a gap, and then save some fuel and tyres. Just like the fastest way to drive a lap is to slow down for corners.

[Phil]

Hey hate to agree, but there are different forms of racing. Bringing up the Winter Olympics and their athletes, the sprint sessions (full out) and the marathon/cross country skiing/10km skating. The latter require some form of "energy management" or you'd see the ahtletes crashing down after a short burst because they've used up all their stamina. F1 is in that sense perhaps similar, as it requires a type of management to get quickest from A to B. That being tyre and fuel management.

But I agree. I don't like it one bit (and in fact, miss the refueling era more where this seemed to be a lot less severe).

Having said that though, I thought the race was quite good. I at least have high hopes that this new formula will produce better racing [than the last few years under refuel-ban]. I also got the impression that cars were able to follow closer to other cars without suffering too much. Perhaps this was because of the Melbourne track but I am somewhat hopeful this had also something to do with the cars producing less downforce. I also like that you potentially have stronger cars (aerodynamically) like the Redbull seems to be, yet with a weaker engine and other teams with stronger engines but less downforce. I think this could make for interesting results/races, considering that under certain conditions (tracks, weather) things might level out. Ignoring Mercedes for now of course.

[zoro_f1]

for the same incident Romain Grosjean just like Kobayashi hitting Massa from behind, he got a one race ban and still there is no punishment for Kobayashi and/or Caterham

"SAFETY FIRST" is not an issue for this season...

Belgian Grand Prix crash: Romain Grosjean banned for one race
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19458954

[thomin]

for the same incident Romain Grosjean just like Kobayashi hitting Massa from behind, he got a one race ban and still there is no punishment for Kobayashi and/or Caterham

"SAFETY FIRST" is not an issue for this season...

Belgian Grand Prix crash: Romain Grosjean banned for one race
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/19458954

Are you trolling? Kobayashi's brake didn't work. You can't ban a driver for a malfunction of his car. If you want to punish anyone, you have to punish the team, but even then you'd have to prove negligence first.

[zoro_f1]

Are you trolling? Kobayashi's brake didn't work. You can't ban a driver for a malfunction of his car. If you want to punish anyone, you have to punish the team, but even then you'd have to prove negligence first.

I am not trolling!

Why no one is still waiting and watching. If it is a team error rather than driver's, than the team deserves a punishment. This issue will go away without any movement for giving a priority of "safety first". I mention this earlier... i don't know why you cant see that.

This is not a trolling, it is a opinion which obvious no one wants to discuss.

[djos]

99% of your posts have "safety first" in all caps, looks like trolling to me!