2013 Formula One

[Mr Ree]

Speaking of Dixon, hes starting 16th for the Indy 500, but of course that means nothing really over a race distance, but given Dario is next to him, maybe the cars pace in quali just wasnt there. Fingers crossed lady luck is on Scotts side this year

Either way, its going to be a very long night, with the porsche supercup at the moment, then superbikes until the F1 starts, then back to superbikes until the indy 500 at 3.45 lol

[2jayzgte]

Whats the story with the protest Ferrari have lodged with regards to the tyre test Mecedes were involved in after the Spanish GP??

Wonder whats thats all about.

[2jayzgte]

Yep I agree.
Except for your confidence on passing at Monaco

I should have prefaced it by saying all passing would be done solely in the pits Although obviously, nobody told Mitch this morning lol

Coryn, I have thought about that alot, and am of the opinion that its too much of a double edged sword. Its almost like if you dont win races at STR in 2 years then Helmut Marko thinks you are a waste of space and that mud sticks to your career. You only need to look at the highly talented drivers who have been dropped from the programme, and ultimately from F1, to realise its a one shot affair, then move over for the next kid.

If it is his only chance to get into F1 then I geuss its better than not being there at all, but I would just hate to see his rep ruined because a driver selector thinks driving an STR = should be able to win, cos Vettel did. Conveniently ignoring the fact that he did that in a 100% clone of that years newey designed RBR lol

Lets hope he has such a strong second season in GP2 that he gets picked up by Force India, Sauber, Williams, et al...just as long as its not a back marker where its impossible to show your true pace, short of trouncing your team mate 19-nil over the season

Well I guess like every sport at the top level you have to expect that cut throat type deal.I can understand the mentality and the financial implications of it.

F-1 teams don't want good especially a team like RBR they want GREAT and much like Vettel they have a very cut throat attitude toward getting it patience be damned.

[Jdawg]

RBR lodges the Protest. Ferrari just confirmed the existence of a tyre test aggreement, which Mercedes didn't follow.
What I don't get is how did Pirelli and Mercedes keep it secret. Awesome journalism.

Is it just me who wondered if Button deliberately blocked Perez from limping into the pits forcing him off into the runoff area. McLaren drivers are going to be an interesting watch this year.

[2jayzgte]

RBR lodges the Protest. Ferrari just confirmed the existence of a tyre test aggreement, which Mercedes didn't follow.
What I don't get is how did Pirelli and Mercedes keep it secret. Awesome journalism.

Is it just me who wondered if Button deliberately blocked Perez from limping into the pits forcing him off into the runoff area. McLaren drivers are going to be an interesting watch this year.

Yeah I saw that aswell.

I was actually glad Kimi drove him into the fence aswell while I like the idea of being aggressive and all Kimi just said enough's enough into the fence you go.

Also thought the move on Alonso while he left room I thought Alonso's move over the curb was the only place he could have gone so I thought he was hard done by there.

[Mr Revhead]

Nah Alonso was beat, he could have backed out of it or given the place back. Alonso knew that too hence the mark of respect given during the red flag.


Very odd the tyre test issue. Did Merc think Pirelli had offered everyone else? I doubt Merc knowingly went along with it.

[Mr Ree]

It will all come out in the wash over the following week, but so far, from what I have read, Pirelli have stated they invited all and every team to help them, RBR are claiming to have never been approached/not received an email, so it will be clear once all the other teams report on whether they were asked too.

It wasnt fully secret though, but I can see how it could be perceived as such by rival teams, given not a single media report was made about it until Monaco. Maybe they were too busy coming up with Vettel to Merc, and Kimi to RBR stories to have time with the important stuff?

The FIA have stated something along the lines of that while they received an enquiry about the test, they didnt realise it was actually accpeted by a team, and was going ahead. And that sanctions could be applied if it turns out that using the W04 was a contravention of the rules etc.

Pirelli are saying they think they did everything by the book and that the tyres they were testing were not this years rubber and Merc knew nothing of their make up or designation, as the tyres were only referred to by a code name.

Typical though, it wouldnt be F1 without a massive technical wrestling match mid season...

[Makaveli]

First F1 Turbo Engine finally revealed (Renault). Single Turbo set up with one large intercooler.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/06/21/r ... f1-engine/

[2jayzgte]

First F1 Turbo Engine finally revealed (Renault). Single Turbo set up with one large intercooler.

http://www.f1fanatic.co.uk/2013/06/21/r ... f1-engine/

They sound pretty tame to me...

[Mr Revhead]

And the worst kept secret is confirmed.

So, Kimi to RBR?

[Mr Ree]

Yeah, it was only a matter of time until it came out in the wash.

Good on Mark, I wish him well in his new car, and will be cheering him on as I always have.

With his exit, F1 has lost its only remaining straight shooter, and that is a huge shame for a sport so entrenched in PC media broadcasts.

Hmmm...It would be nice to see Kimi in the RB, but its possible that with Lotus'es recent investors coming onboard, their budget is markedly better, so who knows really.

It is good to know that there will atleast be some movement of drivers at the end of the year, as mixing things up always adds some excitement.

Regarding this weekend, I have my fingers firmly crossed for Mitch Evans to have a very strong weekend by following up his great showing at Monaco, and to haul himself back up into the pointy end of the points table. He was on the podium last year in GP3, so that bodes well for this weekend...do us proud Mitch with a couple of podiums, and hopefully 1 or 2 wins

It would be very fitting for Mark to take the top step again, and I hope he does. A nice podium would be Mark, Kimi, and Felipe

Also, its about time for Vettel to have some misfortune so that the points race tightens up a little bit, so maybe this is the weekend it happens?

I doubt the Mercs are going to be able to cope with the demands of the tyres at Silverstone, so a win looks very unlikely for them at this stage, but never say never.

It looks like it will be a pretty tough weekend for McLarens home race, but hopefully JB can drag some extra performance out of it due to all the union jacks flying in the stands

[2jayzgte]

Is'nt vettel just biding his time for a Ferrari seat in 2015.

[Mr Ree]

Some say its already signed, but others say it wont happen while Alonso is still there, which he will be in 15.

Musical chairs starts now

[2jayzgte]

Thoughts on the tire exploding issues at the British GP on the weekend it probably cost Lewis Hamilton race victory for sure.

[Mr Ree]

I think that there had to be a protruding piece of metal coming out of one of the ripple strips somewhere on the circuit, probably at T4 or T5. Its too much of a coincidence for so many rear left blow outs to happen on a track that is front left limited.

So lucky that Kimi didnt wear Jean Erics tread as that would have almost certainly been a fatality. Alonso was also very lucky to not wear Sergios exploding tyre too.

Anyway, Pirelli are reverting back to a Kevlar type construction to try and avoid a repeat of Sundays fiasco, but you can be sure this wont be the last we hear about it. The so called "young driver test" at Silverstone has now be turned into a full blown tyre test, running the full time race drivers so they can try and get to the bottom of it, so there will be some up and coming drivers crying into their pillows right about now

[2jz tt Aristo]

looks like Mercedes have their race pace and tyre managment sorted!

[Mr Ree]

Its a bit too early to say that conclusively, but yes, it has improved markedly. Silverstone isnt historically too hard on the tyres, so it will be telling to see what happens come this weekend, as Nurburgring is a little harder on the rubber.

Pirelli has stated that lots of the teams have been misusing the product against their advice, either not running high enough pressures, running too much camber, or running tyres designed for one side of the car, on the other etc...And the above is entirely believable given how RBR went completely against Pirellis advice at Spa a couple of years ago to eek out even more advantage.

And as I suspected earlier, the ripple strips at T4 were described by Ted Kravitz when he went to investigate them after the race, as "razor sharp" so Im sticking to my theory that it wasnt tyre failures caused by poor manufacturing techniques, but failure caused by external forces on the tyre.

[DRFTIN]

this "advice" pirelli gave them seems a bit silly to me
the teams will run the tyre pressure and camber that makes the car fastest, if you do what we say the tyre might not explode?
next they might ask f1 to restrict power to 100kw to make it easier on them?

[Mr Revhead]

Rubbish.
Its no different than the engine guys saying don't rev over X rpm

[blindnz]

Yes, but when you push something further then what the design parameters where it might break.