2018 whopping car weight

[drivinhard]

As I said before, despite all this added weight lap times are faster than ever (not that that's the be all and end all for exciting races) as the downforce on these modern cars is monstrous and power output is exceeding 1000bhp (when the ERS is outputting).

The lap times are only quicker in qual where the PU's are turned up and the fuel is really light and they can just do a few hand grenade laps. The race lap times are much slower, the fastest race lap time in Melbourne this past weekend was almost 2 secs slower than Schu's 2004 best race lap time (which was 3 tenths quicker than his Qual time).

I certainly miss the blistering race lap times and the fuel load strategies.

I think the car formula needs a shorter wheelbase for starters, they have gotten almost ridiculous.

[jjn9128]

The lap times are only quicker in qual where the PU's are turned up and the fuel is really light and they can just do a few hand grenade laps. The race lap times are much slower, the fastest race lap time in Melbourne this past weekend was almost 2 secs slower than Schu's 2004 best race lap time (which was 3 tenths quicker than his Qual time).

I certainly miss the blistering race lap times and the fuel load strategies.

I think the car formula needs a shorter wheelbase for starters, they have gotten almost ridiculous.

You'd be hard pressed to find many circuits on the calendar with the same track layout since 2004 - my count is 7 of 21 (only 5 present every season in those 14 years). That's not much of a basis for comparison - even re-surfacing can have an impact on lap times. Since refuelling was outlawed fastest race lap has consistently been 3-6s slower than the pole lap (excluding wet races), refuelling means the cars run lighter on newer tires so of course fastest race lap is going to be closer to qualifying - we still sometimes see the really quick laps near the end of a race if a front runner has to pit late on.

I don't care if lap times are slower in qualifying or in the race, if the racing is better. Which unfortunately it is not ATM. IMHO faster lap times are also detrimental to competitive racing - less braking and faster cornering means there is less opportunity for a following driver to get alongside or ahead. Then there's the big aerodynamic wake which means they can't follow through corners anyway.

I agree shorter cars would look better though.

[godlameroso]

As I said before, despite all this added weight lap times are faster than ever (not that that's the be all and end all for exciting races) as the downforce on these modern cars is monstrous and power output is exceeding 1000bhp (when the ERS is outputting).

The lap times are only quicker in qual where the PU's are turned up and the fuel is really light and they can just do a few hand grenade laps. The race lap times are much slower, the fastest race lap time in Melbourne this past weekend was almost 2 secs slower than Schu's 2004 best race lap time (which was 3 tenths quicker than his Qual time).

I certainly miss the blistering race lap times and the fuel load strategies.

I think the car formula needs a shorter wheelbase for starters, they have gotten almost ridiculous.

Fastest lap this year was a 1:24.9 so 8 tenths off, the safety car and VSC slowed the race down by ~5 minutes. There were no safety cars in 2004 and the race completion time was 1h 24m 15 sec. In 2018 the race completion time was 1h 29m 33 sec. This means that without safety car the overall race pace is very similar to 2004 cars, with some more in season development the pace will increase and beat the 2004 cars. The fact they do it without refueling is all the more impressive.