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Post by René on Dec 2, 2021 17:25:05 GMT
Well here we are, Saudi Arabia. A lot has been said and a lot more will be said about racing in a country with such a poor human rights record. But dealing with questionable regimes has never been an insurmountable problem for F1, not in the past and not in the future. And looking at this week’s banner image, it shows taking money from the Saudis was never an issue... Anyway, the Jeddah track is almost ready (…) and they say it is very, very fast. An average speed of 250 km/h between the walls!
Max could seal the title in Jeddah if he wins and Lewis finishes 7th or lower. If Max takes also fastest lap then Lewis needs to finish in the top 5 to stay in the race. If Lewis has a DNF and Max finishes 2nd Max is champion. But of course if Lewis wins or finishes on the podium, then we will have a showdown in Abu Dhabi. |
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Post by chrisb on Dec 2, 2021 19:48:41 GMT
I see Tiff needell is cautioning the dangers of the first corner expecting some problems here.
The Saudi regime simply doesn’t care about human rights and it was wonderful to see Seb organising a kart race for women and wearing lgbt slogans and Lewis is also making comments that are challenging the regime
As for the race I suspect it will be survival of the walking wounded and
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Post by mikael on Dec 3, 2021 8:08:22 GMT
It's getting exciting ...
René, the whole of the Netherlands must be holding their breath ... I have found it interesting to read about the opinions (or guesses) of the F1 stars of the past as to who (Hamilton or Verstappen) will prevail, eventually. The useful site "grandprix.com" has posted such (typically short) articles for some time now. The distribution (in favor of one or the other) seems to be 50/50, and that's probably also how the situation actually is. It's my impression that both of them only become stronger under intense pressure.
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Post by charleselan on Dec 3, 2021 14:56:30 GMT
The cynic in me suggest it will go down to the last race, got to keep everyone interested and onboard, what a season don't you know.
Interesting features in some UK newspapers this morning about the outrage concerning Mercedes Benz having a prominent sponsor on the car who is associated with the cladding that was fitted to the terrible tragedy at Grenfell Towers. Not going down well in some quarters.
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Post by mikael on Dec 4, 2021 9:06:15 GMT
There has been a lot of writing and talking about Hamilton's so-called "rocket engine". What it comes down to, as I see it, is that if the factory builds, say, five engines and test them all on the dyno, then there is a significant spread/variation in performance (with the "rocket" being the best of the five). Having normal production engines in mind, it would not be surprising with some variation, but with engines built and assembled so carefully as F1 engines are, I find it a bit surprising - but interesting.
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Post by robmarsh on Dec 4, 2021 10:24:06 GMT
There has been a lot of writing and talking about Hamilton's so-called "rocket engine". What it comes down to, as I see it, is that if the factory builds, say, five engines and test them all on the dyno, then there is a significant spread/variation in performance (with the "rocket" being the best of the five). Having normal production engines in mind, it would not be surprising with some variation, but with engines built and assembled so carefully as F1 engines are, I find it a bit surprising - but interesting. I read an article that Merc have taken advantage of the replacement engine rule. Normally the teams are allowed three ICE units per season which means they have to run for approximately 3000 miles each. To ensure reliability the engines cannot be run at full power for too long. If you take a new engine you get a 10 place grid penalty for the first one but only a five place penalty for any subsequent ones. With Merc's performance advantage over most of the field a ten place penalty would at worst case restrict them to third and a five place could even put them in with a chance of winning. However, if you take a new engine four races from the end of the season that means at most it will only have to run 1200 miles therefore allowing you to run it a full power for nearly three times longer than any one of the original three engines. This I think could explain the Merc rocket engine. |
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Post by charleselan on Dec 4, 2021 12:34:26 GMT
Some very interesting information on Hamilton's "rocket" power unit Mikael and Rob. I am not sure about the physics of this but I wonder how much of a power advantage one needs to be able to have such a speed discrepancy as Mercedes Benz held in Brazil.
From my own observations it looked to me that the biggest advantage Hamilton, in particular, had was in the sheer power advantage in acceleration onto the start/finish "straight". He was visibly quicker and by some margin than the cars that were in front of him as they accelerated onto the "straight". According to some his overall top speed wasn't the quickest of all the cars running, but if you get up to top speed quicker you therefore are running for longer at that velocity, hence his advantage.
There can be little doubt that MB have found "something" that has given them a big advantage in this late part of the season, and as Rob mentions it could be partly if not wholly down to them gaming the system, something they have been very good at since the beginning of this era of the sport.
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Post by René on Dec 4, 2021 13:27:08 GMT
It's getting exciting ...
René, the whole of the Netherlands must be holding their breath ... Yes Mikael, it is in the daily news and for once F1 seems more important than football on the sports pages and websites. It is of course the first time that a Dutchman can win the Formula 1 world championship. Max was already the first Dutch Grand Prix winner and now maybe the title. I think it’s comparable to Schumacher in Germany or Alonso in Spain back in the days. Formula 1 is a big sport on a world stage so people know this is big, even when they are not race fans. |
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Post by René on Dec 4, 2021 13:32:41 GMT
There has been a lot of writing and talking about Hamilton's so-called "rocket engine". What it comes down to, as I see it, is that if the factory builds, say, five engines and test them all on the dyno, then there is a significant spread/variation in performance (with the "rocket" being the best of the five). Having normal production engines in mind, it would not be surprising with some variation, but with engines built and assembled so carefully as F1 engines are, I find it a bit surprising - but interesting. I read an article that Merc have taken advantage of the replacement engine rule. Normally the teams are allowed three ICE units per season which means they have to run for approximately 3000 miles each. To ensure reliability the engines cannot be run at full power for too long. If you take a new engine you get a 10 place grid penalty for the first one but only a five place penalty for any subsequent ones. With Merc's performance advantage over most of the field a ten place penalty would at worst case restrict them to third and a five place could even put them in with a chance of winning. However, if you take a new engine four races from the end of the season that means at most it will only have to run 1200 miles therefore allowing you to run it a full power for nearly three times longer than any one of the original three engines. This I think could explain the Merc rocket engine. Yes this is what I also read. They are running this engine on full power because it only has to last a few races. They are in full attack mode now and I think that is a very clever move. The Mercedes dominance has lasted long enough but there is a lot of brain power behind this project so they are not that easy to beat. |
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Post by René on Dec 4, 2021 19:55:52 GMT
Wow, that was an intensive qualy! Seeing the cars going at immense speed between the walls is mesmerizing.
Max’s final lap was completely on the limit and in the end unfortunately over it. This could be a very costly mistake.
And what about Charles, oh man that must’ve been a super lap. I am always so impressed by the way he recovers from bad luck or a mistake. After his crash yesterday he said he was going to pay the team back for all their hard work and then he puts it on P4! Amazing.
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Post by Carl on Dec 4, 2021 23:46:08 GMT
Some very interesting information on Hamilton's "rocket" power unit Mikael and Rob. I am not sure about the physics of this but I wonder how much of a power advantage one needs to be able to have such a speed discrepancy as Mercedes Benz held in Brazil. From my own observations it looked to me that the biggest advantage Hamilton, in particular, had was in the sheer power advantage in acceleration onto the start/finish "straight". He was visibly quicker and by some margin than the cars that were in front of him as they accelerated onto the "straight". According to some his overall top speed wasn't the quickest of all the cars running, but if you get up to top speed quicker you therefore are running for longer at that velocity, hence his advantage. There can be little doubt that MB have found "something" that has given them a big advantage in this late part of the season, and as Rob mentions it could be partly if not wholly down to them gaming the system, something they have been very good at since the beginning of this era of the sport. I suggested shortly after the Brazilian Grand Prix that Mercedes may have borrowed an idea from Roger Penske's compendium of unfair advantages. Toto Wolff may already have received a bill from Penske or a cease and desist from his lawyers. "As some prone to doubt have suggested, it seemed almost too easy for Lewis Hamilton in both races, troubled only by Max Verstappen. No doubt the team's storyline is that he reached deep into his reserves of character to triumph against adversity, conceivable because of his immense talent. Skeptics may wonder if Mercedes did at least some of the reaching for him, into the deep reserves of its research and development department, and provided the sort of subtle but distinct advantage Roger Penske always sought and never revealed."
I was pleasantly surprised by the challenging track design. Clearly expense was no object for Saudi Arabia in its quest for stature on the world stage.
Turn 13 seems like a supercharged fastlane version of the Karussel. Very cool!
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Post by mikael on Dec 4, 2021 23:55:48 GMT
Yes, the track actually provides a very spectacular show. Watching (just now) the qualifying highlights, somehow I came to think of Disneyland's "Space Mountain" (a space travel-themed roller coaster). And for the first time ever, somehow, I though that David Croft's style (of screaming out every single word) was not completely out of place.
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Post by charleselan on Dec 5, 2021 12:21:11 GMT
No argument about the speed around this place but to me it looks a soulless venue and the track is like many Scalextric slot car tracks one sees on YouTube. All those bendy bits are not going to be conducive of any overtaking even with the "High tech" DRS in position, at least with a Scalextric track cars run side by side.
I thought that Max was very unlucky but he was pushing like mad, probably he and Charles were the two who took their cars to the very maximum. Have to laugh at SLH who keeps on harking about how fast the Fizzies are when in fact it is the driver making the difference, but it is so difficult to give your opponent any credit isn't it.
The best laugh after qualifying was SLH saying that "Bottas was the greatest team mate of all time", what the blazes is the guy on about, he just keeps coming out with nonsense like this.
Shame there was no footage of Charles' lap as that must have been spectacular, and yet there are still idiots on other sites who try to make out he is overrated and one fool even suggested that Leclerc's 2019 season wasn't very good! If ever Ferrari wanted a new Gilles Villeneuve then they have finally got their wish, smashes the car to smithereens one day and comes back the next faster than ever.
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Post by René on Dec 5, 2021 13:08:46 GMT
If ever Ferrari wanted a new Gilles Villeneuve then they have finally got their wish, smashes the car to smithereens one day and comes back the next faster than ever. Quote of the day!
"I will drive flat out all the time … I love racing."
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Post by charleselan on Dec 5, 2021 16:45:49 GMT
That is absolutely brilliant René, and exactly what I had in mind. I have not previously seen any images of Charles accident and am shocked at the damage to the car far more so than what appeared from the quick film footage I saw on Friday evening. Your reward is in the members only area, I think you might like it  . |
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