F1

foofly

I know a few of you are fan's of motor racing myself included. I thought having a thread dedicated to the king of them all Formula 1.

Also, is the news that F1 will split into two different divisions (including the return of Williams and Force India) I figured that it'll be on the lips of people at the moment.

Also, British GP tomorrow. Yay.

So my question is, what do you think of the news? Also your thoughts on F1 and motor sports in general?

Apreche

F1 has had these problems for years. It was just a matter of time until something like this happened. If they can't fix the sport while still being associated with the F1 brand, then maybe this is the only way to escape the stupidity of Ecclestone and Mosely. Let's just hope it makes better racing and live Internet HD streaming video.

...

Also, British GP tomorrow. Yay.

I never liked Silverstone. Give me Montreal and Hockenheim over any other circuit anytime. Blame that on me being nostalgic about my 1998 formula 1 game for the N64. Fucking loved Montreal race track.

As for the news, the something similar occured in 2006, only with Ferrari being bribed which kept off a break away. Either way, if I get to see awesome formula racing, I'm happy.

konistehrad

if I get to see awesome formula racing, I'm happy.

True story, and as Scott says, the sport will be best served by getting as far away from Mosely as physically possible. Pretty excited about the future of Formula racing, actually.

BrutishSaucer

I've been out of the F1 loop for a couple years now, but I do love me some controversy. A lot of the major problems in sports seem to stem from a common mistake. A sports league needs to define exactly what is being tested. Is this a competition based on physical skill, or resources, or strategy, or any number of things? If it's solely about skill, then equal everything else out. If your goal is to push technology to the limits, then don't go Harrison Bergeron on your teams.

I'm getting into motorcycle racing and on one hand you have SuperBike where the bikes are all pretty uniform, and MotoGP where the teams are free to put out their best stuff. Both approaches have their advantages and disadvantages, but I'm glad to have the division instead of a more wishy-washy combination.

Apreche

Hooray! Mosely stepped down, and there will still be only one F1. It's a win for everybody! Now we'll wait to see what Mosely's replacement can do about Ecclestone.

Luke Burrage

I love formula 1, if only for the fact my girlfriend often works for the company that builds the race tracks. Now, if only more countries want new circuits they might have more work and employ her more often.

Apreche

I love formula 1, if only for the fact my girlfriend often works for the company that builds the race tracks. Now, if only more countries want new circuits they might have more work and employ her more often.

OMG can we interview her or some other race car track person that has cool things to say?

Luke Burrage

I love formula 1, if only for the fact my girlfriend often works for the company that builds the race tracks. Now, if only more countries want new circuits they might have more work and employ her more often.

OMG can we interview her or some other race car track person that has cool things to say?

She works there as a freelance graphic designer, so really has no say in any of the architecture stuff, that is way above her level. Her job is to make the designs look good so big development corporations buy them. For example, when the first plan for the Singapore street circuit was sent to Ecclestone, it was her job to do the layout design on all the documents. All the important decisions are made way over her head, mainly by the boss, Herman Tilke. That said, I am good friends with the person who designed the circuits for the Bahrain and Shanghai tracks. On wikipedia it states of the Shanghai circuit: "The track layout was inspired from the Chinese character shang (?) the first character in the name of the city Shanghai, meaning "above" or "ascend"." That the track shape looks like a Chinese character was actually a coincidence, but when the Chinese clients mentioned it (German architects not being familiar with written Chinese) Herman Tilke just said "Of course!" and moved with the presentation.

Anyway, my girlfriend is doing less work there now, due to the current economic crisis, but I'll ask about to see if anyone wants to do an interview.

Andrew

Apreche

Red Bull Engineering

THOSE CNC MILLS

Casa Vino

Starfox

This is my car.


Could I beat, say, Kimi Raikkonen over one lap if we traded?

Apreche

No you couldn't beat him. You would probably not even get the F1 car to move. If you somehow got it to move, you would crash and die.

Dr. Timo

Not easy.

Churba

No you couldn't beat him. You would probably not even get the F1 car to move. If you somehow got it to move, you would crash and die.

While Scott is typically blunt about it, he's kinda right. F1 cars are not easy to get moving if you don't know what you're doing, let alone the difficulty driving them. They're incredibly fast, incredibly responsive machines, they're delicate, and they're ridiculously unforgiving.

Assuming you could get it moving, and keep it moving, and didn't crash? Probably still not going to beat him in anything but a drag race, on most F1 tracks.

The big difference is that yeah, you can drive that fast car fast. Anyone can drive a fast car fast, that's what they're made to do. But Kimi can not only drive the fast car fast, but he can drive a slow car fast. You've got WAY more straight line speed, but he's going to make it up in every corner, every pit, every mistake you make. He won't beat you by out-powering you, he'll beat you with the racing equivalent of a death of a thousand cuts.

Now, you'll note I said "Most F1 tracks", and that was for a reason - On certain tracks, the F1 is going to be at a severe disadvantage. Make it a rally race, and the F1 car is getting nothing but a DNF. You put an F1 car in a city street, and ask them to get to another location within the city, a point to point race between your car and the F1 car, even if it's Kimi driving the F1 car? You're going to win by a fucking mile, F1 cars are not built to handle city driving. Just pick a spot with speed-bumps between you and the destination, and they're never even going to finish.

Remember, and F1 car is an incredibly specialized machine, only run on tracks that suit them. Take them out of their element, and they're an expensive, impressively engineered joke. So, therein lies the lesson - if the opportunity ever does come up, make sure you challenge the F1 driver somewhere that F1 cars are gonna suck. Like, anywhere but an F1-suitable track.

Starfox

I figured as much. I guess if dude what drives fast cars for a living can't do it, no chance for me.


You're wrong about one thing though: I would crash and walk out of the wreckage unscathed.


Haha Timo, nice ninja!

Churba

Yep - The saftey features of those cars are so over-engineered that it's crazy. Because, as an F1 driver, it's not a matter of if you crash, just when and how bad. Not even F1 drivers can always handle F1 cars, they can just handle them better than your average person.

Starfox

So, therein lies the lesson - if the opportunity ever does come up, make sure you challenge the F1 driver somewhere that F1 cars are gonna suck. Like, anywhere but an F1-suitable track.

Question: do they do anything special for the track in Monaco? I thought it was just like they shut down the city streets.

Churba

So, therein lies the lesson - if the opportunity ever does come up, make sure you challenge the F1 driver somewhere that F1 cars are gonna suck. Like, anywhere but an F1-suitable track.

Question: do they do anything special for the track in Monaco? I thought it was just like they shut down the city streets.

Yes and no. It's not a specialty built track like some others, but it's laid down with rumble strips, saftey walls, signage, lights, etc, etc when the race is on. Six weeks just to set the track. You can bet your ass they check every inch of asphalt, and they keep the asphalt in perfect repair. Seriously, that length of road is probably one of the best maintained roads in the world.

They also heavily modify the cars, altering radiators, gear ratios(to the point of having whole separate gearboxes and transmissions that are set up specifically for that track, select particular tyres, heavily modify if not outright replace their aerodynamics, change up their brakes, modify or replace their suspension, etc, etc.

Starfox

They also heavily modify the cars, altering radiators, gear ratios(to the point of having whole separate gearboxes and transmissions that are set up specifically for that track, select particular tyres, heavily modify if not outright replace their aerodynamics, change up their brakes, modify or replace their suspension, etc, etc.

Huh. I just assumed they did this every time. They really have the same gear ratios and downforce for pretty much every race?

Churba

Huh. I just assumed they did this every time. They really have the same gear ratios and downforce for pretty much every race?

They alter it slightly for conditions, different circuits, etc, but Monaco is a very different beast to most other tracks.

Apreche

http://wtf1.co.uk/what-a-dick-nurburgring-closes-after-someone-draws-huge-penis-on-track/

Apreche

A car I never knew existed before today. The Ligier Matra v12.



I have never heard a car sound that perfect ever in my life.

Also, the video looks just like Pole Position.

Victor Frost

It's a beautiful sounding engine, but I don't know if I'd call it perfect.

Dromaro

Wait. Scott said it's perfect so it's prefect. All your "disagreement" means is that you're not awesome enough to see it and thus less awesome.

Apreche

Churba

Hey, who does Schumacher ram to win this one?

George Patches

Starfox

Since Monaco is coming up. The gang needs a getaway driver after all.

Apreche