Brawn and the success ballast

[Chuckjr]

Brawn talks about a "success ballast" in this article as a possible resolve for a dominant team. I'm intrigued at this idea in F1.

Where would something like this be placed on an F1 car? Each chassis is so sensitive to any weight gain/loss -- especially to where the weight is shifted. A 5 pound ballast placed under bottom of the engine may cost the Merc chassis .25 seconds per lap, but that same weight and location may penalize the Ferrari more like .40 seconds per lap (completely arbitrary time guesses). So this would not be in the spirit of what they are trying to accomplish with a ballast--which is to level the playing field fairly.

How can this idea be implemented, and what kind of material and placement is likely? Is this idea in keeping with F1 racing philosophy?

Liberty is fortunate to have Ross Brawn on their side. There's not a trick he does not know, and he invented many himself. Team bosses must know the jig is up and we will likely see teams like Williams return again to their winning ways -- maybe even as soon as next year with an idea as "heavy" as this.

https://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view ... to_an_end/

[PhillipM]

The ballast is delivered in the form of Maldonado.

[roon]

The ballast is delivered in the form of Maldonado.

You know, it's funny you should mention that because Mal- is a latin prefix for 'bad,' and -donado is Spanish for 'donation.'

...

[krisfx]

Maybe they could put a restrictor plate in as opposed to physical ballast, either that or place mass under the seat, as it's generally in the same place because of the rules

[roon]

How about an actual monkey for to fill the monkey seat. A ballast monkey. It will have to wear a flame retardent suit given the current exhaust pipe location. Winners will recieve progressively larger monkeys depending upon their points position. The monkey will also hinder the aerodynamic performance of the rear wing, so it is a form of aero-penalty as well.

But even within such penalization, innovation could thrive. Depending on the monkey's level of training, it's rapport with the driver, etc., the monkey, as an agile tree-dwelling creature, could become a moveable form of balance a la sidecar racing. Running to the back during braking, leaping to the front during acceleration, hanging out from the inner bargeboard during cornering. The T-wing facilitating its swinging about during all this.

[The_table]

How about more testing/practice time for less successful teams, at least that would be a bit less direct?
(Or more wind tunnel time or something like that?)

[jagunx51]

Brawn talks about a "success ballast" in this article as a possible resolve for a dominant team. I'm intrigued at this idea in F1.

Where would something like this be placed on an F1 car? Each chassis is so sensitive to any weight gain/loss -- especially to where the weight is shifted. A 5 pound ballast placed under bottom of the engine may cost the Merc chassis .25 seconds per lap, but that same weight and location may penalize the Ferrari more like .40 seconds per lap (completely arbitrary time guesses). So this would not be in the spirit of what they are trying to accomplish with a ballast--which is to level the playing field fairly.

How can this idea be implemented, and what kind of material and placement is likely? Is this idea in keeping with F1 racing philosophy?

Liberty is fortunate to have Ross Brawn on their side. There's not a trick he does not know, and he invented many himself. Team bosses must know the jig is up and we will likely see teams like Williams return again to their winning ways -- maybe even as soon as next year with an idea as "heavy" as this.

https://www.gptoday.com/full_story/view ... to_an_end/

How about a "Drag Trophy"

The top three finishers get a drag generator device for the next race, such as:

- DRS deactivation during a race
- Half-opening DRS
- Or, somekind of aero-brake to reduce the lap time

Nascar roof plate / “cowl flaps”



air brake on airplanes

[Chuckjr]

These responses to my inquiry are fantastic! Can't wait to see what Brawn comes up with to level the field. Should make for a much better show. If we have another year of domination, F1 is going to suffer, and my guess is Liberty Media will not be as passive in their response....maybe Paddy saw the writing on the wall and knew with changes like this coming Williams could return to splendor. He could make history for himself if he brought Williams back to championship form--and who would not want to see Williams win a championship...or two??

[FrukostScones]

Brawn seems to have lost the plot big time.

[i70q7m7ghw]

The ballast is delivered in the form of Maldonado.

You know, it's funny you should mention that because Mal- is a latin prefix for 'bad,' and -donado is Spanish for 'donation.'

...

Which also sums up his relationship with his sponsors.

Back on topic though, in previous years teams that finished below a certain position in the WCC used to be able to field a third car in practice during the race weekends. This had the benefit of allowing younger drivers participate in a race weekend, and also gave the teams a small development advantage. I think something like this should reinstated as a way of giving teams finish in the bottom half of the championship a small boost.

[riff_raff]

The top teams will simply calculate the optimum finishing position for their cars on a race-by-race basis. They will run their cars at the best position possible for all the race laps except for the last one or two. Then they will "adjust" the car's finish position to optimize their chances of winning manufacturer/driver titles.

[roon]

The top teams will simply calculate the optimum finishing position for their cars on a race-by-race basis. They will run their cars at the best position possible for all the race laps except for the last one or two. Then they will "adjust" the car's finish position to optimize their chances of winning manufacturer/driver titles.

Is this something you've observed in other series? What do you mean by "...'adjust' the car's finish position..."

[riff_raff]

The proposed "success ballast" will be applied to each car based on their previous race performance in order to "level the field". During a race, each team should be able to calculate what finish position will provide the optimum combination of points and "success ballast'. Then they can do whatever it takes to achieve that finish position.

[SunsAnvil]

Anything which artificially slow one car or increases the speed of other teams is wrong.
The only solution is to reduce the impact of one car upon another so they can race more closely.

[wuzak]

These responses to my inquiry are fantastic! Can't wait to see what Brawn comes up with to level the field. Should make for a much better show. If we have another year of domination, F1 is going to suffer, and my guess is Liberty Media will not be as passive in their response....maybe Paddy saw the writing on the wall and knew with changes like this coming Williams could return to splendor. He could make history for himself if he brought Williams back to championship form--and who would not want to see Williams win a championship...or two??

The show?

It's racing prototype cars. If one team does a better job than the others then it should win/dominate.

Doing things like success ballast would be like getting on a slippery slope. And we would on the way to the bottom.

If Paddy Lowe brings the championship to Williams, then all power to him. If he does it when Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes have 50+kg of extra ballast on board then it would not mean a lot. And I'm sure Sir Frank would not like to win it that way either.

Also, Liberty has no direct say in the rules. The FIA could actually just say piss off.