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Post by Carl on Jul 11, 2022 0:56:05 GMT
While not all F1 races are even interesting, this one was amazing! It was difficult even for his own team to clearly fathom the depth of difficulty through which Charles Leclerc had to drive. And maintain a precarious lead! This triumphant victory in the face of major difficulty made me think of Jim Clark's 1963 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa, during which he had to hold the gear lever in place when in fifth gear, essentially driving one-handed much of the time in heavy rain on a high speed track. A stupendous effort by Charles and an amazing win! I suspected that changing my vote would benefit Ferrari and bring bad luck to George Russell, and he was rudely bumped and banged throughout the early laps. Next race I'll choose "...or someone else".  I thought Max received leniency from the stewards at the start of yesterday's sprint and, in a coming together today that looked close, I wonder if Sergio got the same at Turn 4. The cheap sentiment that all is fair in love and war defines both barbarism and the approach to racing of Helmut Marko. Could Red Bull enjoy special treatment at the Red Bull Ring? Some drivers are known for rough tactics and some who are prone to dirty driving learn to perfect nuance and subtlety to avoid penalty. Dario Franchitti was a great driver with a remarkable ability to gently nudge someone into the wall and escape notice. As much as I admire his talent, Sergio Perez has often driven underhanded, most remarkably in 2017 against his own young teammate, Esteban Ocon, in Canada, Azerbaijan and with stunning recklessness, twice on the approach to Eau Rouge at Spa!! I don't know what reputation he had in the junior series, but has George Russell ever driven other than clean? |
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Post by René on Jul 11, 2022 10:39:54 GMT
A stupendous effort by Charles and an amazing win! It was Carl, one for the history books. It's this kind of races that characterize the exceptionally good drivers and Charles certainly has all the skills to become one of the all time greats. I actually had to think of another, (relatively) more recent race. The 1994 Spanish Grand Prix where Michael Schumacher's Benetton developped gear selection problems which finally got stuck in 5th for the last 20 laps and he somehow managed to finish second. That was an amazing drive and I remember being very impressed. |
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Post by Carl on Jul 12, 2022 18:14:11 GMT
One highlight was the close competition midfield among what could be called, with no apology to the silly American television show, the A-Teams. Alpine, Alfa-Romeo, Alpha-Tauri and Haas fought a great back and forth for sixth place over several laps, at one time 5 cars approaching Turn 3 closely grouped managed impressively to sort themselves out.
The drama intensified, especially for Ferrari fans, when the inevitable pass into second by Carlos Sainz in the final laps faded immediately when the power of his engine instantly changed from internal to external, almost blowing out the sidepods. A huge disappointment for Ferrari that made everyone more nervous for the tenuous lead of Charles Leclerc. Austria certainly needed no dramatic enhancements.
I've wondered before about the clouds of orange and red smoke and would be surprised if no-one in the Turn 6-7 grandstand had trouble breathing. The heavy clouds of smoke can't be harmless.
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Post by René on Jul 13, 2022 16:10:40 GMT
I've wondered before about the clouds of orange and red smoke and would be surprised if no-one in the Turn 6-7 grandstand had trouble breathing. The heavy clouds of smoke can't be harmless. Given the reports of misbehaviour by some fans it's very likely they sustained brain damage while inhaling orange smoke!  |
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Post by Carl on Jul 13, 2022 17:02:19 GMT
I've wondered before about the clouds of orange and red smoke and would be surprised if no-one in the Turn 6-7 grandstand had trouble breathing. The heavy clouds of smoke can't be harmless. Given the reports of misbehaviour by some fans it's very likely they sustained brain damage while inhaling orange smoke! I suspect pre-existing brain damage was made worse by the smoke  |
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Post by René on Jul 13, 2022 17:30:45 GMT
Given the reports of misbehaviour by some fans it's very likely they sustained brain damage while inhaling orange smoke! I suspect pre-existing brain damage was made worse by the smoke That sounds even more likely!  |
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Post by mikael on Jul 17, 2022 9:16:50 GMT
A stupendous effort by Charles and an amazing win! It was Carl, one for the history books. It's this kind of races that characterize the exceptionally good drivers and Charles certainly has all the skills to become one of the all time greats. I actually had to think of another, (relatively) more recent race. The 1994 Spanish Grand Prix where Michael Schumacher's Benetton developped gear selection problems which finally got stuck in 5th for the last 20 laps and he somehow managed to finish second. That was an amazing drive and I remember being very impressed.
Very interesting - and very impressive indeed. Schumacher must have felt a bit like being transformed back to his karting days, running in one and the same gear. But of course, a 100 cc racing kart was constructed to run with one and the same gearing on any track; and the tracks were designed to make that possible as well. Not quite the case for a Formula One car ...
I came across the video below, with onboard footage from a recent, international classic 100 cc competition. Nice to see some have interest in keeping this old category alive - a bit like full-scale classic car/formula racing. (I would love to have an old 100 cc kart to play with, if I had the time ...)
A few words about how the 100 cc karts can run without a gearbox. There are some adjustments that make this possible. First and foremost, for any specific track, the gearing is chosen such that the engine runs with max revs on the main straight - but not for too long. (Thus, if one runs (ran) on several track, an investment in a variety of gear wheels is (was) necessary.) Following this, one can change a part of the exhaust pipe (a small length of flex-pipe) such that mid-range torque hits a maximum in the slow corner(s). The exhaust pipe is quite ingenious, with a double (two-in-one) resonance chamber, such that the torque curve has two maxima; one at around 5,000 rpm, and another at around 10,000 rpm. (On the main straight, the revs typically approach 20,000 rpm.)
Michael Schumacher in the mid-1980's.
Here's another one, with (what appears to be) a significantly better driver. (It appears to be a newer, water-cooled engine, though; but still, it's a 100 cc single-gear engine.)
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I thought Max received leniency from the stewards at the start of yesterday's sprint and, in a coming together today that looked close, I wonder if Sergio got the same at Turn 4. The cheap sentiment that all is fair in love and war defines both barbarism and the approach to racing of Helmut Marko. Could Red Bull enjoy special treatment at the Red Bull Ring?
