Formula One 2011

[2jayzgte]

But they are 50hp down

Go figure that,they must have a serious aero advantage or something as there straight line speed was average at best I think the most I saw from a RBR was about 322 odd where as everyone else was 335-340 odd.

They were saying they used shorter gear ratio's to get them upto speed quicker but that means longer on the limiter but I guess when there murdering that middle sector the others could'nt get near down the straight I'm guessing but to be honest once Vettel was in front game over.

[2jayzgte]

Now that basically RBR have this championship in the bag and Vettel has the drivers title in the bag,it makes me wonder when teams like Mclaren Ferrari and others pull the pin on development of this years car and start work on developing for next year..

[Mr Revhead]

Ferrari already have.

[Adamal]

I doubt they'd just give up on the season. Development brings them more data to better develop the car for next season.

[2jayzgte]

I doubt they'd just give up on the season. Development brings them more data to better develop the car for next season.

They still collect data but I think the factory stop making parts for the cars and just concentrate on next years campaign.

[Mr Revhead]

It's quite common for teams at a certain part of the season concentrate resources on next years car instead of this years car. Ferrari have already stated that they are doing that.

[Mr Ree]

All of them have been working on next years car, since the first weekend of this years calendar. When they announce it is something entirely different. Given the regulations are essentially the same for next year, apart from the ban on EBD, they have a known box size to build their car within.

Over the next 6 races, expect to see lots of different parts being tested during FP1, in preparation for 2012. Teams like Mercedes will use this to a much greater extent as they know they cant make any positions in the constructors, or drivers championships so will focus heavily on new floors, sidepods, exhaust placement etc to try and get a bit of a jump on the field.

As you already mentioned, Ferrari have said publicly that their focus is on next year, but dont for a second think they wont still be fine tuning what they have to try and get second in the CC.

Given that RBR are the clear class of the field, and didnt seem to suffer as much as Mclaren with the banning of EBD, I would suspect they will still be the head of the pack come next year, and until a big regulation change happens, its going to be hard for the other teams to really put a challenge down.

By 2012 though, the other top teams will have so many RBR parts on their cars that it might bring them closer to the top, but what joker card will Mr Newey have up his sleeve, saving it until the first race to expose??

[Mr Ree]

So Singapore is here and thunder storms and lightning have been forecast...

Nobody has run on the track with water being thrown up into the face of the following cars yet, so it will be interesting to see whether it hinders visability as much as they are worried it could.

For a street race, I think they have done a spectacular job and its a great visual extravaganza to watch on TV. It will be a great race too given the tyre compounds on offer, and the nature of the track causing high tyre wear. The gap between the compounds is exactly what we need to spince things up a bit.

Only 1 DRS zone this weekend so passing will be a bit harder than at Monza.

Lets see how many wheels are lost over the weekend??

Go Schuey

[thornz]

Its interesting, I always look forward to Singapore, I guess its the novelty of racing under lights which makes it such a spectacle. I do wonder though, if it werent for the lights, would it just be another Valencia?

But still, bring it on, especially if there wet weather, should spice things up a bit.

[Mr Ree]

I had that thought too, Thornz, but I honestly believe the track lends itself better to good racing, with better track layout, not to mention all the bumps on the track compared to the billiard smooth valencia circuit.

Oh and the lights

[2jayzgte]

Reith thats what I'm thinking also Adrian Newey obviously has the wood over all the other designers in F-1 and I'm also interested to see what he comes up with next year I got a feeling he still a little ahead of the curve with regards to designs of these cars.

Heaven help if Renault catch up with the supposed HP disadvantage they say they have man they add that with a designer like Newey at the top of his game it'll be really tough for everyone else to catch them.

[Mr Ree]

The hole in the floor that they had in monza is what is being discussed at the moment. It might not even be on the car for Singapore, but still even if its not another eureka moment, its still highly significant.

The teams must HATE it when the cranes pick their crashed cars up high in the air for all and sundry to snap pics of. With the cameras that most professional photographers would have had that were positioned by the Retafilio chicane, every single bit of detail was there for the taking when Marks car was hoisted high above.

Lots of teams will be having secret meetings with the photographers to buy the snaps off them, I bet.

Because most of the rules are styaing stable next year, theres only going to be evolutions for all the teams, meaing RBR will still be fine tuning an already brilliant base. Odds on for a hat trick of championships seems ominous, but history says its harder to do that it might seem.

[thornz]

What was the hole in the floor? Must have missed that.

[Mr Ree]

Apparantly the hole is a bespoke monza modification, that the FIA has since clarified was within the rules.

The other teams, I imagine, will be frantically running cfd models to see what numbers they come up with and whether they can combine it to feed their diffusers more air.

Pure speculation on my part though

[thornz]

Well, 61 laps here is far too long, what a snooze fest. I think I am going to go with my earlier opinion that Singapore is just Valencia under lights. Glad I mysky'd it and watched it this morning, spent most of the time with it on fast forward, and caught a bit of extra sleep.

[Mr Ree]

Yes Thornz, I will have to agree with you there, it was pretty lack lustre, but still stayed up. Its all about the LIVE feeling for me

In saying that though, all the corners and traction zones made for a huge gap in speed between new and old tyres, sometimes making it look like there were two classes of car on the same track. The DRS zone was utilised alot too (mostly by Lewis mind you)

Oh well, if only they could get rid of theat stupid chicane with the 3 sleeping policeman, its just NOT F1 and ruins the flow of the track.

Oh well if its any consolation, we have 4 absolutely stunning tracks up next...

Roll on Japan, Korea, (Abu Dhabi), India and Brazil

[thornz]

Yip, loooking forward to the end of the season tracks.
Hopefuly they get India all good to go, have been playing it F12011 and its a pretty cool tracks, some nice fast corners with switch backs, and elevation changes, should be pretty interesting. A massive straight and good overtaking oppurtunity as well.

Suzuka next which is still one of those epic tracks, love it!
Just wish they wouldnt rotate it with Fuji, needs to be a permanent fixture.

[2jayzgte]

It's lack lustre because know one is consistently putting the heat on RBR they turn up to quali get in front and can't be headed.I think vettel also is near if not at the top of his game also.

Ferrari and Mclaren to me have been diappointing especially Ferrari to me the last 3 years they have been to inconsistent and just have'nt had the out right speed I believe when they have been going well Alonso has been able to extract the performance but over a whole season in my view Ferrari just don't have it.

[Mr Revhead]

They both seem to start off a little slow whereas in previous seasons Brawn and RBR started at full speed.

[Mr Ree]

The problem with Ferrari currently IMHO, and I say this as a lifelong fan of theirs (but not while alonso drives for them) is that the Italian emotion is creeping back into the team, and its destabilising them.

When Schu galvanised the team around himself, they had very few italians at the helm, calling the big shots, and it showed, in the way they dealt with any issues along the way. Allowing humans to err, and keeping the team solid as a result.

Now as soon as the team makes a mistake, head roll, and thats why they didnt win consistently for so long through the 80s and 90s, until Todt, brawn, schu et al joined and got rid of that ugly culture of blame. Until that mindset goes, they wont be able to challenge for wins every sunday like they used to because their staff arent performing at 100%, due to the invisible sword of Damaclese hanging over their heads.

But to be fair, I dont think Ferrari and Maclaren are doing a terrible job, its just that RBR are doing such a fantastic job that it blur's our judgement. If RBR were performing at the same level as the other two, we would all be talking about how its such a great season, and how they are so close etc.

Everythings relative I guess