How can they change ratios and not be penalized? Montreal is always next to Monaco on the calendar and I cannot imagine that the gear ratios are anywhere near the same for both tracks. How does the need to change ratios fit in with the new 4-race transmission rules?
Innovation over refinement is the prefered path to performance. -- Get rid of the dopey regs in F1
From what I heard on the practice commentary, teams are allowed to make gear cluster changes between races. Just the gears, nothing else, and only once between each event. I checked the regulations, and I can't find any reference to this action. But under 9.5.2 of the '08 tech regs, some components may be changed.
Racing should be decided on the track, not the court room.
Ratios can be changed between races, but only once meaning that if you blow 3rd gear, it cannot be replaced with an identical gear without being penalised.
At least that is what I got from Steve Matchett's pracrice 2 commentary...
Teams are allowed to change the gear ratios and the dog rings between races, nothing else. The ratios must be different, if you want to run the same first gear ratio for example, the previous races ratio must be fitted.
This fits in with the 4 race gearbox rule as the huge amount of other parts (gear shafts, selectors forks\drums, the gearcase, differential and all the bearings) are still subject to the rule. To include the ratios in the rule would create the impossible situation that you describe where a fast race follows a slow one. This seems sensible to me?
Its also sensible that the team can change a gear or dog ring if they are damaged over a race weekend, as these parts are historically fragile.
I somehow forgot it in the exitation of the week end, but I remember hearing on TV during saturday practice that teams were not running their seamless gearboxes this year, because of the relialility stress imposed by the 4 races rule.
Indeed, while hearing the shifting sound of some cockpit cams during practice, it was obvious shifting time have lenghtened again, like in pre 2007 seasons (albeit Honda I think who had their in 2006).
Then, I forgot to check again during qualy and the race. The presentator's comment was ambiguous, because he insinuated that the teams were running their gearboxes in "normal" mode (as opposed to a "seamless" one, like if they could switch modes at their will...), instead of saying they had come with the two types (independently).
It left me wondering if the seamless shift gearboxes are gone, or just "adaptable" (in terms of shifting time), to whistand the new reliability constraint?
-Does it really makes sense to say the same technology used last year would see its life time lenghtened if the synchro is a bit slower? (ie does greater shifting time necessarly means less stress on the gears ?)
-Also, how much of this change is down to the standart ECU's intrinsic limit? (maybe the new hardware imposes limitations on potential synchronisation speed?)
