Mark Martin from http://www.moneysupermarket.com looks at the future of McLaren and the possibility of the Woking team making their own engines from 2013
McLaren is set to build its own F1 engines for the start of the new environmental era in 2013 according to the latest rumours.
The British team has enjoyed a sixteen year relationship with Mercedes prior to this. However, despite the huge success of the partnership there have recently been tensions on the back of the changing business direction of Ron Dennis’s empire.
The Break-up
Mercedes has had a long held ambition to own a F1 team and bought shares in McLaren near the start of their partnership. Allegedly, the original intention was to gradually increase its shares in the team and wrestle control from Ron Dennis.
However, Dennis had aspirations to create a road car division for McLaren to build on the success of the McLaren F1 sports car which had been built in the early 1990s. Dennis knew that Mercedes would block any such move if it had influence over the direction of the company as McLaren would effectively be a new competitor. He therefore decided to sell shares in the team to members of the Bahraini royal family rather than Mercedes to fund the expansion of McLaren’s facilities in order to make his dream a reality according to reports.
Mercedes were said to be highly displeased and their concerns grew when McLaren’s sporting conduct was brought into question by the FIA. Ferrari claimed that McLaren had gained unlawful access to their designs and the FIA fined the British team $100 million. This was followed up by a conviction of lying to race stewards following the 2009 Australian Grand Prix.
The final nail in the coffin was aerodynamic performance of the 2009 McLaren chassis, with claims that Mercedes blamed the poor performance on McLaren’s own design department and their unorthodox team structure. The potential of the Mercedes engines were confirmed by Brawn GP, who won the championship despite not gaining any financial support from the German manufacturer who decided to switch allegiance with Ross Brawn offering to give them the controlling stake in his team. Brawn were therefore renamed Mercedes GP and McLaren agreed to buy back Mercedes shares in its company over a phased period ending in 2012.
The 2013 Regulations
Car Manufacturers involved in the sport had been voicing their concerns over costs and the relevance of the sport to road car technologies for a number of years. The global recession gave the manufacturers the perfect excuse to abandon the sport with Honda, Toyota and BMW all withdrawing from the sport in close succession.
The FIA therefore took action in an attempt to bring the manufacturers back by making the sport relevant to the environmental revolution sweeping the industry. It was therefore announced that engine sizes would be reduced from the current 2.4 litre V8 units to 1.6 litre turbo charged motors. This move was supported by Renault who claims that 75% of their road car engines will be small capacity turbo units by 2015. This is due to the fuel saving potential of such engines, which is becoming an increasingly important point of differentiation with fossil fuel prices escalating and some car insurance firms starting to take into account fuel efficiency when calculating insurance premiums according to Moneysupermarket.com.
It was also announced that the capacity of the current 60kw KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) units would be doubled to 120kw. These will therefore have a much greater impact on lap times, forcing car manufacturers to devote more resources into the development of them. The expectation is that advances with these units in F1 will ultimately be applicable to hybrid road car development. FIA President Jean Todt is hoping that the combination of both of these factors will be enough to bring car manufacturers back to the sport.
The un-missable opportunity
It was rumoured that McLaren considered buying the old BMW F1 engine facility in German at the end of 2009 but ultimately decided that this would go against their aims of building everything under one roof in a similar fashion to Ferrari. It is said that McLaren believe that this would bring performance benefits due to better co-ordination between chassis and engine design departments.
This ultimately fits into Dennis’s vision to have McLaren become a British version of Ferrari. This process began with the opening of McLaren Automotive and the launch of the McLaren MP4-12C, which was the first car the company had ever designed an engine for. This was rumoured to be a trial to test the teams’ abilities before committing itself to building its own engines for its F1 team in 2013.
Building engines from this point not only coincides with the end of their agreement with Mercedes but would also enable them to enter the F1 engine industry at a time when prior experience would not be a huge advantage, with all engine manufacturers being forced to come up with new designs for the new formula. This coincidental timing is surely an opportunity that McLaren can not pass up; with many insiders surprised that Dennis has not attempted to become an independent manufacturer prior before now. Will this also see the end of the McLaren silver livery, and return to McLaren Orange from the 1960s which was used at the launch of the MP4-12C? Only time will tell.
Wednesday, 30 March 2011
McLaren to Build Own F1 Engines?
Mark Martin from http://www.moneysupermarket.com looks at the future of McLaren and the possibility of the Woking team making their own engines from 2013
McLaren is set to build its own F1 engines for the start of the new environmental era in 2013 according to the latest rumours.
The British team has enjoyed a sixteen year relationship with Mercedes prior to this. However, despite the huge success of the partnership there have recently been tensions on the back of the changing business direction of Ron Dennis’s empire.
The Break-up
Mercedes has had a long held ambition to own a F1 team and bought shares in McLaren near the start of their partnership. Allegedly, the original intention was to gradually increase its shares in the team and wrestle control from Ron Dennis.
However, Dennis had aspirations to create a road car division for McLaren to build on the success of the McLaren F1 sports car which had been built in the early 1990s. Dennis knew that Mercedes would block any such move if it had influence over the direction of the company as McLaren would effectively be a new competitor. He therefore decided to sell shares in the team to members of the Bahraini royal family rather than Mercedes to fund the expansion of McLaren’s facilities in order to make his dream a reality according to reports.
Mercedes were said to be highly displeased and their concerns grew when McLaren’s sporting conduct was brought into question by the FIA. Ferrari claimed that McLaren had gained unlawful access to their designs and the FIA fined the British team $100 million. This was followed up by a conviction of lying to race stewards following the 2009 Australian Grand Prix.
The final nail in the coffin was aerodynamic performance of the 2009 McLaren chassis, with claims that Mercedes blamed the poor performance on McLaren’s own design department and their unorthodox team structure. The potential of the Mercedes engines were confirmed by Brawn GP, who won the championship despite not gaining any financial support from the German manufacturer who decided to switch allegiance with Ross Brawn offering to give them the controlling stake in his team. Brawn were therefore renamed Mercedes GP and McLaren agreed to buy back Mercedes shares in its company over a phased period ending in 2012.
The 2013 Regulations
Car Manufacturers involved in the sport had been voicing their concerns over costs and the relevance of the sport to road car technologies for a number of years. The global recession gave the manufacturers the perfect excuse to abandon the sport with Honda, Toyota and BMW all withdrawing from the sport in close succession.
The FIA therefore took action in an attempt to bring the manufacturers back by making the sport relevant to the environmental revolution sweeping the industry. It was therefore announced that engine sizes would be reduced from the current 2.4 litre V8 units to 1.6 litre turbo charged motors. This move was supported by Renault who claims that 75% of their road car engines will be small capacity turbo units by 2015. This is due to the fuel saving potential of such engines, which is becoming an increasingly important point of differentiation with fossil fuel prices escalating and some car insurance firms starting to take into account fuel efficiency when calculating insurance premiums according to Moneysupermarket.com.
It was also announced that the capacity of the current 60kw KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) units would be doubled to 120kw. These will therefore have a much greater impact on lap times, forcing car manufacturers to devote more resources into the development of them. The expectation is that advances with these units in F1 will ultimately be applicable to hybrid road car development. FIA President Jean Todt is hoping that the combination of both of these factors will be enough to bring car manufacturers back to the sport.
The un-missable opportunity
It was rumoured that McLaren considered buying the old BMW F1 engine facility in German at the end of 2009 but ultimately decided that this would go against their aims of building everything under one roof in a similar fashion to Ferrari. It is said that McLaren believe that this would bring performance benefits due to better co-ordination between chassis and engine design departments.
This ultimately fits into Dennis’s vision to have McLaren become a British version of Ferrari. This process began with the opening of McLaren Automotive and the launch of the McLaren MP4-12C, which was the first car the company had ever designed an engine for. This was rumoured to be a trial to test the teams’ abilities before committing itself to building its own engines for its F1 team in 2013.
Building engines from this point not only coincides with the end of their agreement with Mercedes but would also enable them to enter the F1 engine industry at a time when prior experience would not be a huge advantage, with all engine manufacturers being forced to come up with new designs for the new formula. This coincidental timing is surely an opportunity that McLaren can not pass up; with many insiders surprised that Dennis has not attempted to become an independent manufacturer prior before now. Will this also see the end of the McLaren silver livery, and return to McLaren Orange from the 1960s which was used at the launch of the MP4-12C? Only time will tell.
McLaren is set to build its own F1 engines for the start of the new environmental era in 2013 according to the latest rumours.
The British team has enjoyed a sixteen year relationship with Mercedes prior to this. However, despite the huge success of the partnership there have recently been tensions on the back of the changing business direction of Ron Dennis’s empire.
The Break-up
Mercedes has had a long held ambition to own a F1 team and bought shares in McLaren near the start of their partnership. Allegedly, the original intention was to gradually increase its shares in the team and wrestle control from Ron Dennis.
However, Dennis had aspirations to create a road car division for McLaren to build on the success of the McLaren F1 sports car which had been built in the early 1990s. Dennis knew that Mercedes would block any such move if it had influence over the direction of the company as McLaren would effectively be a new competitor. He therefore decided to sell shares in the team to members of the Bahraini royal family rather than Mercedes to fund the expansion of McLaren’s facilities in order to make his dream a reality according to reports.
Mercedes were said to be highly displeased and their concerns grew when McLaren’s sporting conduct was brought into question by the FIA. Ferrari claimed that McLaren had gained unlawful access to their designs and the FIA fined the British team $100 million. This was followed up by a conviction of lying to race stewards following the 2009 Australian Grand Prix.
The final nail in the coffin was aerodynamic performance of the 2009 McLaren chassis, with claims that Mercedes blamed the poor performance on McLaren’s own design department and their unorthodox team structure. The potential of the Mercedes engines were confirmed by Brawn GP, who won the championship despite not gaining any financial support from the German manufacturer who decided to switch allegiance with Ross Brawn offering to give them the controlling stake in his team. Brawn were therefore renamed Mercedes GP and McLaren agreed to buy back Mercedes shares in its company over a phased period ending in 2012.
The 2013 Regulations
Car Manufacturers involved in the sport had been voicing their concerns over costs and the relevance of the sport to road car technologies for a number of years. The global recession gave the manufacturers the perfect excuse to abandon the sport with Honda, Toyota and BMW all withdrawing from the sport in close succession.
The FIA therefore took action in an attempt to bring the manufacturers back by making the sport relevant to the environmental revolution sweeping the industry. It was therefore announced that engine sizes would be reduced from the current 2.4 litre V8 units to 1.6 litre turbo charged motors. This move was supported by Renault who claims that 75% of their road car engines will be small capacity turbo units by 2015. This is due to the fuel saving potential of such engines, which is becoming an increasingly important point of differentiation with fossil fuel prices escalating and some car insurance firms starting to take into account fuel efficiency when calculating insurance premiums according to Moneysupermarket.com.
It was also announced that the capacity of the current 60kw KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) units would be doubled to 120kw. These will therefore have a much greater impact on lap times, forcing car manufacturers to devote more resources into the development of them. The expectation is that advances with these units in F1 will ultimately be applicable to hybrid road car development. FIA President Jean Todt is hoping that the combination of both of these factors will be enough to bring car manufacturers back to the sport.
The un-missable opportunity
It was rumoured that McLaren considered buying the old BMW F1 engine facility in German at the end of 2009 but ultimately decided that this would go against their aims of building everything under one roof in a similar fashion to Ferrari. It is said that McLaren believe that this would bring performance benefits due to better co-ordination between chassis and engine design departments.
This ultimately fits into Dennis’s vision to have McLaren become a British version of Ferrari. This process began with the opening of McLaren Automotive and the launch of the McLaren MP4-12C, which was the first car the company had ever designed an engine for. This was rumoured to be a trial to test the teams’ abilities before committing itself to building its own engines for its F1 team in 2013.
Building engines from this point not only coincides with the end of their agreement with Mercedes but would also enable them to enter the F1 engine industry at a time when prior experience would not be a huge advantage, with all engine manufacturers being forced to come up with new designs for the new formula. This coincidental timing is surely an opportunity that McLaren can not pass up; with many insiders surprised that Dennis has not attempted to become an independent manufacturer prior before now. Will this also see the end of the McLaren silver livery, and return to McLaren Orange from the 1960s which was used at the launch of the MP4-12C? Only time will tell.
Tuesday, 29 March 2011
Vettel begins title defence in style
The opening race of 2011 delivered a fascinating 58 laps rather than an all time classic but there was many discussion points afterwards. Here's my thoughts on some of the stories of the weekend...
Red Bull take KERS free approach: Sebastian Vettel delivered a stunning lap to take pole position on Saturday evening in Melbourne and followed it up with a controlled drive. It was the German's 4th win in the last 5 races. So all pretty straightforward for him but a different story for Mark Webber. He was nearly a second off in qualifying and was not quick during the race. The Australian also suffered with high tyre wear and Helmut Marko said that there may have been an issue with his chassis. The team will be looking for answers before Sepang in 2 weeks. Webber also stopped after the race and Christian Horner claimed this was due to being marginal on fuel. It may have been that some teams ran with less fuel than usual as they reckoned there would be a safety car at some stage. Red Bull, and especially Vettel, got good starts on Sunday despite no KERS after reliability worries on Friday. This could yet be an issue. Even if they lock out the front row they will be very vulnerable at some circuits off the line so the team will want to solve their issues quickly.
McLaren fast but Button makes unusual error: After a winter of problems, McLaren's radical new car produced the goods as they led the chasing pack trying to hunt down Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton took second whilst Jenson Button had an aggressive race and kept his tyres well. However his evening was compromised by a bad call. Frustrated behind Felipe Massa he was forced to cut a corner when side by side with the Brazilian. It was clear that he should give the place back but he argued he shouldn't and the pitwall didn't intervene. Jenson is one of the smartest drivers around so for him not to realise this was very surprising to see. He got a deserved drive through penalty but recovered to 6th. Very intriguing to see how close McLaren get to Red Bull in Malaysia and whether they can apply more pressure. Some wondered why Sebastien Buemi and Vettel didn't get in trouble for passing off track at turn 4. The reason for this was the drivers were told in their briefing that using the 'car park' area on the outside of the corner would be deemed ok and not be penalised.
Sergio surprises but Sauber stripped of points: I didn't know much about Sergio Perez before the weekend but had read a lot of good things about him so was looking forward to seeing what he could do. The Mexican didn't disappoint, stunning everyone with a 35 lap stint on options to finish 7th, ahead of team mate Kamui Kobayashi. The Sauber car in 2010 was kind to it's tyres and it seems to have carried this characteristic into 2011. It is one that will be very useful to the team. However a rear wing infringement meant that both cars were disqualified. A big error within the team and costly. Sauber have decent pace, 7th and 8th was more down to good strategy and the team will want to utilise their opportunities early in the season.
Mixed fortunes for Renault: It was a weekend of complete contrasts for Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld. The Russian did a good job of qualifying 6th, made an excellent start and drove a clean race to take a brilliant podium. He seems to be much more comfortable and confident after his debut season. For Heidfeld, Q1 involved an off track moment, KERS issues and traffic. He then suffered heavy sidepod damage and crawled home. He has a good record in Malaysia and will want to bounce back and show his worth in what is a competitive car.
'New' teams lose tag but fail to find speed: The new teams from 2010 enter their second season but it was all going wrong for them from Friday morning. Lotus reserve Karun Chandhok crashed 40 seconds into the opening practice session and the team struggled to get the tyres heated. Jarno Trulli claimed Pirelli have changed the tyres since testing. Virgin were 5-6 seconds off the pace and Timo Glock had his race affected by a loose wheel. I feel sorry for the German who is a good driver but the Virgin project is really puzzling me. You have to wonder whether this approach of CFD only is a bit of a fantasy and it's time to get a wind tunnel. The next months will tell a big story. Hispania barely got a lap in and failed to qualify. Vitantonio Liuzzi was 2 seconds off the 107% mark so with more running he should be able to improve but Narain Karthikeyan struggled albeit he had very little time to get up to speed. Still you would think they have more pace in the bag and they will need it just to qualify but they could yet find themselves battling with Virgin.
DRS gets mixed reviews: A lot of different opinions on the new DRS (Drag reduction system) on forums and Twitter over the weekend. I actually felt it worked ok. It added a new element to qualifying and caught out Adrian Sutil in spectacular fashion. In the race it allowed cars to get closer to others and we seen some overtaking into turn 1 but it was not a case of it being too easy. What was noticeable is that having KERS - whether to add to your DRS being open, or to defend from a DRS activated car - was very important. Malaysia will be very intriguing to see how it works with the combination of 2 long straights and 2 hairpins. I actually think that the gap you have to be within to another car should be increased to 2 seconds. This is not meant to be an overtaking gadget but rather something that makes up for the loss in turbulent air and 2 seconds behind is close enough to be affected by it. Cars wouldn't pass straight away but it would help a driver haul themselves closer to a rival and perhaps lead to a battle a few laps later.
Red Bull take KERS free approach: Sebastian Vettel delivered a stunning lap to take pole position on Saturday evening in Melbourne and followed it up with a controlled drive. It was the German's 4th win in the last 5 races. So all pretty straightforward for him but a different story for Mark Webber. He was nearly a second off in qualifying and was not quick during the race. The Australian also suffered with high tyre wear and Helmut Marko said that there may have been an issue with his chassis. The team will be looking for answers before Sepang in 2 weeks. Webber also stopped after the race and Christian Horner claimed this was due to being marginal on fuel. It may have been that some teams ran with less fuel than usual as they reckoned there would be a safety car at some stage. Red Bull, and especially Vettel, got good starts on Sunday despite no KERS after reliability worries on Friday. This could yet be an issue. Even if they lock out the front row they will be very vulnerable at some circuits off the line so the team will want to solve their issues quickly.
McLaren fast but Button makes unusual error: After a winter of problems, McLaren's radical new car produced the goods as they led the chasing pack trying to hunt down Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton took second whilst Jenson Button had an aggressive race and kept his tyres well. However his evening was compromised by a bad call. Frustrated behind Felipe Massa he was forced to cut a corner when side by side with the Brazilian. It was clear that he should give the place back but he argued he shouldn't and the pitwall didn't intervene. Jenson is one of the smartest drivers around so for him not to realise this was very surprising to see. He got a deserved drive through penalty but recovered to 6th. Very intriguing to see how close McLaren get to Red Bull in Malaysia and whether they can apply more pressure. Some wondered why Sebastien Buemi and Vettel didn't get in trouble for passing off track at turn 4. The reason for this was the drivers were told in their briefing that using the 'car park' area on the outside of the corner would be deemed ok and not be penalised.
Sergio surprises but Sauber stripped of points: I didn't know much about Sergio Perez before the weekend but had read a lot of good things about him so was looking forward to seeing what he could do. The Mexican didn't disappoint, stunning everyone with a 35 lap stint on options to finish 7th, ahead of team mate Kamui Kobayashi. The Sauber car in 2010 was kind to it's tyres and it seems to have carried this characteristic into 2011. It is one that will be very useful to the team. However a rear wing infringement meant that both cars were disqualified. A big error within the team and costly. Sauber have decent pace, 7th and 8th was more down to good strategy and the team will want to utilise their opportunities early in the season.
Mixed fortunes for Renault: It was a weekend of complete contrasts for Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld. The Russian did a good job of qualifying 6th, made an excellent start and drove a clean race to take a brilliant podium. He seems to be much more comfortable and confident after his debut season. For Heidfeld, Q1 involved an off track moment, KERS issues and traffic. He then suffered heavy sidepod damage and crawled home. He has a good record in Malaysia and will want to bounce back and show his worth in what is a competitive car.
'New' teams lose tag but fail to find speed: The new teams from 2010 enter their second season but it was all going wrong for them from Friday morning. Lotus reserve Karun Chandhok crashed 40 seconds into the opening practice session and the team struggled to get the tyres heated. Jarno Trulli claimed Pirelli have changed the tyres since testing. Virgin were 5-6 seconds off the pace and Timo Glock had his race affected by a loose wheel. I feel sorry for the German who is a good driver but the Virgin project is really puzzling me. You have to wonder whether this approach of CFD only is a bit of a fantasy and it's time to get a wind tunnel. The next months will tell a big story. Hispania barely got a lap in and failed to qualify. Vitantonio Liuzzi was 2 seconds off the 107% mark so with more running he should be able to improve but Narain Karthikeyan struggled albeit he had very little time to get up to speed. Still you would think they have more pace in the bag and they will need it just to qualify but they could yet find themselves battling with Virgin.
DRS gets mixed reviews: A lot of different opinions on the new DRS (Drag reduction system) on forums and Twitter over the weekend. I actually felt it worked ok. It added a new element to qualifying and caught out Adrian Sutil in spectacular fashion. In the race it allowed cars to get closer to others and we seen some overtaking into turn 1 but it was not a case of it being too easy. What was noticeable is that having KERS - whether to add to your DRS being open, or to defend from a DRS activated car - was very important. Malaysia will be very intriguing to see how it works with the combination of 2 long straights and 2 hairpins. I actually think that the gap you have to be within to another car should be increased to 2 seconds. This is not meant to be an overtaking gadget but rather something that makes up for the loss in turbulent air and 2 seconds behind is close enough to be affected by it. Cars wouldn't pass straight away but it would help a driver haul themselves closer to a rival and perhaps lead to a battle a few laps later.
Vettel begins title defence in style
The opening race of 2011 delivered a fascinating 58 laps rather than an all time classic but there was many discussion points afterwards. Here's my thoughts on some of the stories of the weekend...
Red Bull take KERS free approach: Sebastian Vettel delivered a stunning lap to take pole position on Saturday evening in Melbourne and followed it up with a controlled drive. It was the German's 4th win in the last 5 races. So all pretty straightforward for him but a different story for Mark Webber. He was nearly a second off in qualifying and was not quick during the race. The Australian also suffered with high tyre wear and Helmut Marko said that there may have been an issue with his chassis. The team will be looking for answers before Sepang in 2 weeks. Webber also stopped after the race and Christian Horner claimed this was due to being marginal on fuel. It may have been that some teams ran with less fuel than usual as they reckoned there would be a safety car at some stage. Red Bull, and especially Vettel, got good starts on Sunday despite no KERS after reliability worries on Friday. This could yet be an issue. Even if they lock out the front row they will be very vulnerable at some circuits off the line so the team will want to solve their issues quickly.
McLaren fast but Button makes unusual error: After a winter of problems, McLaren's radical new car produced the goods as they led the chasing pack trying to hunt down Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton took second whilst Jenson Button had an aggressive race and kept his tyres well. However his evening was compromised by a bad call. Frustrated behind Felipe Massa he was forced to cut a corner when side by side with the Brazilian. It was clear that he should give the place back but he argued he shouldn't and the pitwall didn't intervene. Jenson is one of the smartest drivers around so for him not to realise this was very surprising to see. He got a deserved drive through penalty but recovered to 6th. Very intriguing to see how close McLaren get to Red Bull in Malaysia and whether they can apply more pressure. Some wondered why Sebastien Buemi and Vettel didn't get in trouble for passing off track at turn 4. The reason for this was the drivers were told in their briefing that using the 'car park' area on the outside of the corner would be deemed ok and not be penalised.
Sergio surprises but Sauber stripped of points: I didn't know much about Sergio Perez before the weekend but had read a lot of good things about him so was looking forward to seeing what he could do. The Mexican didn't disappoint, stunning everyone with a 35 lap stint on options to finish 7th, ahead of team mate Kamui Kobayashi. The Sauber car in 2010 was kind to it's tyres and it seems to have carried this characteristic into 2011. It is one that will be very useful to the team. However a rear wing infringement meant that both cars were disqualified. A big error within the team and costly. Sauber have decent pace, 7th and 8th was more down to good strategy and the team will want to utilise their opportunities early in the season.
Mixed fortunes for Renault: It was a weekend of complete contrasts for Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld. The Russian did a good job of qualifying 6th, made an excellent start and drove a clean race to take a brilliant podium. He seems to be much more comfortable and confident after his debut season. For Heidfeld, Q1 involved an off track moment, KERS issues and traffic. He then suffered heavy sidepod damage and crawled home. He has a good record in Malaysia and will want to bounce back and show his worth in what is a competitive car.
'New' teams lose tag but fail to find speed: The new teams from 2010 enter their second season but it was all going wrong for them from Friday morning. Lotus reserve Karun Chandhok crashed 40 seconds into the opening practice session and the team struggled to get the tyres heated. Jarno Trulli claimed Pirelli have changed the tyres since testing. Virgin were 5-6 seconds off the pace and Timo Glock had his race affected by a loose wheel. I feel sorry for the German who is a good driver but the Virgin project is really puzzling me. You have to wonder whether this approach of CFD only is a bit of a fantasy and it's time to get a wind tunnel. The next months will tell a big story. Hispania barely got a lap in and failed to qualify. Vitantonio Liuzzi was 2 seconds off the 107% mark so with more running he should be able to improve but Narain Karthikeyan struggled albeit he had very little time to get up to speed. Still you would think they have more pace in the bag and they will need it just to qualify but they could yet find themselves battling with Virgin.
DRS gets mixed reviews: A lot of different opinions on the new DRS (Drag reduction system) on forums and Twitter over the weekend. I actually felt it worked ok. It added a new element to qualifying and caught out Adrian Sutil in spectacular fashion. In the race it allowed cars to get closer to others and we seen some overtaking into turn 1 but it was not a case of it being too easy. What was noticeable is that having KERS - whether to add to your DRS being open, or to defend from a DRS activated car - was very important. Malaysia will be very intriguing to see how it works with the combination of 2 long straights and 2 hairpins. I actually think that the gap you have to be within to another car should be increased to 2 seconds. This is not meant to be an overtaking gadget but rather something that makes up for the loss in turbulent air and 2 seconds behind is close enough to be affected by it. Cars wouldn't pass straight away but it would help a driver haul themselves closer to a rival and perhaps lead to a battle a few laps later.
Red Bull take KERS free approach: Sebastian Vettel delivered a stunning lap to take pole position on Saturday evening in Melbourne and followed it up with a controlled drive. It was the German's 4th win in the last 5 races. So all pretty straightforward for him but a different story for Mark Webber. He was nearly a second off in qualifying and was not quick during the race. The Australian also suffered with high tyre wear and Helmut Marko said that there may have been an issue with his chassis. The team will be looking for answers before Sepang in 2 weeks. Webber also stopped after the race and Christian Horner claimed this was due to being marginal on fuel. It may have been that some teams ran with less fuel than usual as they reckoned there would be a safety car at some stage. Red Bull, and especially Vettel, got good starts on Sunday despite no KERS after reliability worries on Friday. This could yet be an issue. Even if they lock out the front row they will be very vulnerable at some circuits off the line so the team will want to solve their issues quickly.
McLaren fast but Button makes unusual error: After a winter of problems, McLaren's radical new car produced the goods as they led the chasing pack trying to hunt down Red Bull. Lewis Hamilton took second whilst Jenson Button had an aggressive race and kept his tyres well. However his evening was compromised by a bad call. Frustrated behind Felipe Massa he was forced to cut a corner when side by side with the Brazilian. It was clear that he should give the place back but he argued he shouldn't and the pitwall didn't intervene. Jenson is one of the smartest drivers around so for him not to realise this was very surprising to see. He got a deserved drive through penalty but recovered to 6th. Very intriguing to see how close McLaren get to Red Bull in Malaysia and whether they can apply more pressure. Some wondered why Sebastien Buemi and Vettel didn't get in trouble for passing off track at turn 4. The reason for this was the drivers were told in their briefing that using the 'car park' area on the outside of the corner would be deemed ok and not be penalised.
Sergio surprises but Sauber stripped of points: I didn't know much about Sergio Perez before the weekend but had read a lot of good things about him so was looking forward to seeing what he could do. The Mexican didn't disappoint, stunning everyone with a 35 lap stint on options to finish 7th, ahead of team mate Kamui Kobayashi. The Sauber car in 2010 was kind to it's tyres and it seems to have carried this characteristic into 2011. It is one that will be very useful to the team. However a rear wing infringement meant that both cars were disqualified. A big error within the team and costly. Sauber have decent pace, 7th and 8th was more down to good strategy and the team will want to utilise their opportunities early in the season.
Mixed fortunes for Renault: It was a weekend of complete contrasts for Vitaly Petrov and Nick Heidfeld. The Russian did a good job of qualifying 6th, made an excellent start and drove a clean race to take a brilliant podium. He seems to be much more comfortable and confident after his debut season. For Heidfeld, Q1 involved an off track moment, KERS issues and traffic. He then suffered heavy sidepod damage and crawled home. He has a good record in Malaysia and will want to bounce back and show his worth in what is a competitive car.
'New' teams lose tag but fail to find speed: The new teams from 2010 enter their second season but it was all going wrong for them from Friday morning. Lotus reserve Karun Chandhok crashed 40 seconds into the opening practice session and the team struggled to get the tyres heated. Jarno Trulli claimed Pirelli have changed the tyres since testing. Virgin were 5-6 seconds off the pace and Timo Glock had his race affected by a loose wheel. I feel sorry for the German who is a good driver but the Virgin project is really puzzling me. You have to wonder whether this approach of CFD only is a bit of a fantasy and it's time to get a wind tunnel. The next months will tell a big story. Hispania barely got a lap in and failed to qualify. Vitantonio Liuzzi was 2 seconds off the 107% mark so with more running he should be able to improve but Narain Karthikeyan struggled albeit he had very little time to get up to speed. Still you would think they have more pace in the bag and they will need it just to qualify but they could yet find themselves battling with Virgin.
DRS gets mixed reviews: A lot of different opinions on the new DRS (Drag reduction system) on forums and Twitter over the weekend. I actually felt it worked ok. It added a new element to qualifying and caught out Adrian Sutil in spectacular fashion. In the race it allowed cars to get closer to others and we seen some overtaking into turn 1 but it was not a case of it being too easy. What was noticeable is that having KERS - whether to add to your DRS being open, or to defend from a DRS activated car - was very important. Malaysia will be very intriguing to see how it works with the combination of 2 long straights and 2 hairpins. I actually think that the gap you have to be within to another car should be increased to 2 seconds. This is not meant to be an overtaking gadget but rather something that makes up for the loss in turbulent air and 2 seconds behind is close enough to be affected by it. Cars wouldn't pass straight away but it would help a driver haul themselves closer to a rival and perhaps lead to a battle a few laps later.
Wednesday, 23 March 2011
F1 2011: Racing, Strategy and Tactics
After a winter of testing and speculation the 2011 season is almost upon us. A number of changes have been made since Abu Dhabi in November with KERS back and the adjustable rear wing introduced. F-Ducts and double diffusers have been banned and Pirelli have taken over as tyre supplier from Bridgestone. Racing is set to be different but what can be expect? Read on for my thoughts on what sort of racing we could well see throughout the season...
Tyres: 2010 was a season which seen very durable tyres, some compounds even capable of lasting an entire race distance. Pirelli have been given a mandate of producing tyres which will wear out quicker, forcing more pitstops and more variance in the strategies that teams will run. There are 4 dry compounds as well as an intermediate and wet tyre. They will be as followed:
Super Soft - Red
Soft - Yellow
Medium - White
Hard - Silver
Intermediate - Light Blue
Wet - Orange
Each weekend there will be 2 of these compounds available. Usually this will be either a combination of Super Soft/Medium or Soft/Hard. It's clear from testing that the degradation is quite high and we are set to see 2/3 stops from each driver in a race. One team has even factored in the possibility of a 5 stop strategy! It should be noted that the intermediate and wet tyres are much harder and so should be able to run quite a distance if required.
Strategy is going to be intriguing, difficult and hectic for the teams. Q3 will see the option tyre being the clear one to use if you want to get on the front row of the grid. However we could see some people going for the prime tyre and deciding to utilise a better race strategy. Qualifying will be quite intense because you will go into it with 3 sets of options and 3 sets of primes. We could see less running during qualifying as well as practice though the teams are getting an extra set of tyres at some weekends for the Friday sessions. So if we have a weekend where tyre degradation is very high and a 4 stopper is need for the race you will have to restrict yourself to using 1 set of tyres per qualifying session. The front runners will want to try and get through the first 2 sessions with 1 run on options or perhaps a set of primes which then gives you 2 runs on options in Q3 if it is needed. Then you start the race on one of those sets and use primes for the rest of the race. Note the rule of using both compounds in a race remain.
Lewis Hamilton commented that he had tyres destroyed after a 9 lap run during testing. However we have seen 20 lap stints as well so clearly the compounds vary. Much is made of the different styles of the drivers and how this may affect things but it is unclear whether the Pirelli tyres are affected by this or whether mileage alone is the key factor in their wear rate. Another noticeable aspect of testing was the amount and size of pieces of rubber and marbles coming off the tyres. If we have a dry weekend then race day could see a track which has 1 racing line and it extremely slippery offline and this could hurt overtaking moves but see more mistakes. The FIA may have to look at washing the track on Saturday nights if it became detrimental to the season
KERS: The Kinetic Recovery Energy System is back after it debuted with some teams in 2009. Now we have most teams utilising the system, only Virgin, Lotus and HRT have definitely ruled it out for now. Mercedes were considered to have the best KERS a couple of years ago which will please them and customer outfits McLaren and Force India. The likes of Williams have had teething issues and i feel that Ferrari, McLaren and Renault will benefit from their past usage of the system.
The start will again be key with it, using your energy as soon as you are not traction limited. More cars will have it now so there will be more of a cancelling out effect but if you can hold position and save a bit you can perhaps attack later on in the lap. I think the teams will make use of it regularly. It can bring 0.2-0.33 seconds per lap and with regulation changes stabilising the weight distribution teams will not be able to make this up as easy with revised ballast placement. Same rules apply as 2009, you can use it for 6.67 seconds per lap.
Adjustable Rear Wing: The Adjustable Rear Wing (ARW) or Drag Reduction System (DRS) as it is also being called is a new gadget for the drivers to use this season. Gone are the adjustable front wings after 2 seasons. Each rear wing will be capable of having a slot activated which opens it, reducing drag and increasing straight line speed by 8-12 km/h. This is opened by the driver in the cockpit with a switch or button and once open remains so until the driver next uses the brakes when it closes within 20 milliseconds of the brake pedal being pressed.
In practice and qualifying the use of the wing is unlimited and the driver can use it whenever they want. This should make qualifying laps quite interesting because as soon as they accelerate onto a straight or indeed go through a flat out corner which they can take with reduced downforce they will want the wing activated so the drag, and indeed the laptime, is reduced. Some drivers have complained about this but really it is not much different to having to operate a F-Duct last year so i can see them getting on top of it early on.
The races see a different situation for the ARW. First of all the use of the wing is not allowed on the opening 2 laps and on the 2 laps after any safety car period under any circumstances. For the other parts of the race the wing is only open to use in pre-determined overtaking zones. A timing loop will be set up at a particular part of the circuit. Then ahead of this will be a line on the track which will indicate the start of the overtaking zone. If you pass the timing loop within a second of the car in front you will be able to activate the ARW when you cross the line. For the opening races this zone is designed to be 600 metres before the braking zone for the next corner but the FIA can adjust the parameters surrounding this new device throughout the season based on what they see in the season.
From what i understand, the best way to maximise speed is to open the rear wing and then deploy KERS. So when you exit the last corner of your outlap you will want to do that in the right order to get the highest speed to start your lap. Another issue will be gear ratios. You will want your 7th gear set so it just maxs out with the ARW open and KERS being used. You could have it set lower and give yourself better overall top speed when running without the use of either but i feel the teams won't do this because it would be too costly to performance in qualifying and hence negatively affect your chances.
The race is going to be a bit different though because if you are trying to catch the car in front you will (depending on the relative pace of the cars involved) want to use the KERS to push yourself into the 1 second window to activate the rear wing. However if the car in front saves some KERS he can respond to the activation of the rear wing by deploying KERS so i think we will see some of that this season. In terms of the ARW improving overtaking i think with the current way it is being utilised a car will have to be within 0.5 seconds to have a chance of passing. What we will see is a car enter the zone and suddenly move towards the car in front quite quickly. This may not result in an actual overtake at the time but we may see some closer battles, times when the driver in front is forced more defensive and indeed more late lunges. Malaysia and China in particular will show better the advantage it gives.
Safety Car: Some slight adjustments regarding the rules surrounding the deployment of the safety car. The delta time which you have to not exceed when the safety car is first deployed now must be maintained for 2 laps instead of 1 lap. This seems minor but basically means for that period the race is neutralised. So if you are a team which has cars running closely and you want both to pit you can pit one immediately and the other car the following lap and should in theory not lose out. This will mean queueing will not be required in the pitlane and should ensure a calmer and hopefully safer pitlane. A note about the pitlane is that the fast lane is only wide enough for 1 car now so more space for the mechanics and no side by side racing in the pitlane. The green light will always be on at the pit exit so drivers can come out even if there is other cars close by.
So a lot of new aspects to Formula 1 this season. I think the tyres will be a massive part of the season. Anytime we have had a big change it has seen certain teams adapt better and the new rubber could suit some drivers better than others. It could be a very reactive situation in races. Perhaps a 3 stop strategy will be the plan at the race start. However if people start to feel their tyres go they'll pit to try and jump others on fresh tyres because of the difference in compounds. This will force other drivers to react even if their tyres are not totally finished. Teams will shift their pitstops forward and then perhaps leave themselves with a longer final stint. The dilemma then is whether you hang on to the end of the race or make an extra pitstop and try and recover the time with fresher tyres.
The adjustable rear wing will be an intriguing aspect and i think people who think that cars will be breezing past too easy shouldn't worry. KERS should keep the starts manic and busy but we could see a cancellation effect when the wing and KERS go into combat. In terms of strategy you are now more likely to pit even if there is traffic because on fresh tyres and with the ARW you can make your way through the field quicker so whereas the optimum strategy was generally stuck to last year, 2011 may see teams take more of a risk with an extra stop and on certain tracks it may be workable. Don't forget that with the double diffuser gone we should see cars able to run a bit closer with less turbulent air and the cars are a bit slower than before so should be slghtly easier to attack a car in front.
It promises to be an exciting, competitive and fascinating season and it all kicks off this weekend in Melbourne
Tyres: 2010 was a season which seen very durable tyres, some compounds even capable of lasting an entire race distance. Pirelli have been given a mandate of producing tyres which will wear out quicker, forcing more pitstops and more variance in the strategies that teams will run. There are 4 dry compounds as well as an intermediate and wet tyre. They will be as followed:
Super Soft - Red
Soft - Yellow
Medium - White
Hard - Silver
Intermediate - Light Blue
Wet - Orange
Each weekend there will be 2 of these compounds available. Usually this will be either a combination of Super Soft/Medium or Soft/Hard. It's clear from testing that the degradation is quite high and we are set to see 2/3 stops from each driver in a race. One team has even factored in the possibility of a 5 stop strategy! It should be noted that the intermediate and wet tyres are much harder and so should be able to run quite a distance if required.
Strategy is going to be intriguing, difficult and hectic for the teams. Q3 will see the option tyre being the clear one to use if you want to get on the front row of the grid. However we could see some people going for the prime tyre and deciding to utilise a better race strategy. Qualifying will be quite intense because you will go into it with 3 sets of options and 3 sets of primes. We could see less running during qualifying as well as practice though the teams are getting an extra set of tyres at some weekends for the Friday sessions. So if we have a weekend where tyre degradation is very high and a 4 stopper is need for the race you will have to restrict yourself to using 1 set of tyres per qualifying session. The front runners will want to try and get through the first 2 sessions with 1 run on options or perhaps a set of primes which then gives you 2 runs on options in Q3 if it is needed. Then you start the race on one of those sets and use primes for the rest of the race. Note the rule of using both compounds in a race remain.
Lewis Hamilton commented that he had tyres destroyed after a 9 lap run during testing. However we have seen 20 lap stints as well so clearly the compounds vary. Much is made of the different styles of the drivers and how this may affect things but it is unclear whether the Pirelli tyres are affected by this or whether mileage alone is the key factor in their wear rate. Another noticeable aspect of testing was the amount and size of pieces of rubber and marbles coming off the tyres. If we have a dry weekend then race day could see a track which has 1 racing line and it extremely slippery offline and this could hurt overtaking moves but see more mistakes. The FIA may have to look at washing the track on Saturday nights if it became detrimental to the season
KERS: The Kinetic Recovery Energy System is back after it debuted with some teams in 2009. Now we have most teams utilising the system, only Virgin, Lotus and HRT have definitely ruled it out for now. Mercedes were considered to have the best KERS a couple of years ago which will please them and customer outfits McLaren and Force India. The likes of Williams have had teething issues and i feel that Ferrari, McLaren and Renault will benefit from their past usage of the system.
The start will again be key with it, using your energy as soon as you are not traction limited. More cars will have it now so there will be more of a cancelling out effect but if you can hold position and save a bit you can perhaps attack later on in the lap. I think the teams will make use of it regularly. It can bring 0.2-0.33 seconds per lap and with regulation changes stabilising the weight distribution teams will not be able to make this up as easy with revised ballast placement. Same rules apply as 2009, you can use it for 6.67 seconds per lap.
Adjustable Rear Wing: The Adjustable Rear Wing (ARW) or Drag Reduction System (DRS) as it is also being called is a new gadget for the drivers to use this season. Gone are the adjustable front wings after 2 seasons. Each rear wing will be capable of having a slot activated which opens it, reducing drag and increasing straight line speed by 8-12 km/h. This is opened by the driver in the cockpit with a switch or button and once open remains so until the driver next uses the brakes when it closes within 20 milliseconds of the brake pedal being pressed.
In practice and qualifying the use of the wing is unlimited and the driver can use it whenever they want. This should make qualifying laps quite interesting because as soon as they accelerate onto a straight or indeed go through a flat out corner which they can take with reduced downforce they will want the wing activated so the drag, and indeed the laptime, is reduced. Some drivers have complained about this but really it is not much different to having to operate a F-Duct last year so i can see them getting on top of it early on.
The races see a different situation for the ARW. First of all the use of the wing is not allowed on the opening 2 laps and on the 2 laps after any safety car period under any circumstances. For the other parts of the race the wing is only open to use in pre-determined overtaking zones. A timing loop will be set up at a particular part of the circuit. Then ahead of this will be a line on the track which will indicate the start of the overtaking zone. If you pass the timing loop within a second of the car in front you will be able to activate the ARW when you cross the line. For the opening races this zone is designed to be 600 metres before the braking zone for the next corner but the FIA can adjust the parameters surrounding this new device throughout the season based on what they see in the season.
From what i understand, the best way to maximise speed is to open the rear wing and then deploy KERS. So when you exit the last corner of your outlap you will want to do that in the right order to get the highest speed to start your lap. Another issue will be gear ratios. You will want your 7th gear set so it just maxs out with the ARW open and KERS being used. You could have it set lower and give yourself better overall top speed when running without the use of either but i feel the teams won't do this because it would be too costly to performance in qualifying and hence negatively affect your chances.
The race is going to be a bit different though because if you are trying to catch the car in front you will (depending on the relative pace of the cars involved) want to use the KERS to push yourself into the 1 second window to activate the rear wing. However if the car in front saves some KERS he can respond to the activation of the rear wing by deploying KERS so i think we will see some of that this season. In terms of the ARW improving overtaking i think with the current way it is being utilised a car will have to be within 0.5 seconds to have a chance of passing. What we will see is a car enter the zone and suddenly move towards the car in front quite quickly. This may not result in an actual overtake at the time but we may see some closer battles, times when the driver in front is forced more defensive and indeed more late lunges. Malaysia and China in particular will show better the advantage it gives.
Safety Car: Some slight adjustments regarding the rules surrounding the deployment of the safety car. The delta time which you have to not exceed when the safety car is first deployed now must be maintained for 2 laps instead of 1 lap. This seems minor but basically means for that period the race is neutralised. So if you are a team which has cars running closely and you want both to pit you can pit one immediately and the other car the following lap and should in theory not lose out. This will mean queueing will not be required in the pitlane and should ensure a calmer and hopefully safer pitlane. A note about the pitlane is that the fast lane is only wide enough for 1 car now so more space for the mechanics and no side by side racing in the pitlane. The green light will always be on at the pit exit so drivers can come out even if there is other cars close by.
So a lot of new aspects to Formula 1 this season. I think the tyres will be a massive part of the season. Anytime we have had a big change it has seen certain teams adapt better and the new rubber could suit some drivers better than others. It could be a very reactive situation in races. Perhaps a 3 stop strategy will be the plan at the race start. However if people start to feel their tyres go they'll pit to try and jump others on fresh tyres because of the difference in compounds. This will force other drivers to react even if their tyres are not totally finished. Teams will shift their pitstops forward and then perhaps leave themselves with a longer final stint. The dilemma then is whether you hang on to the end of the race or make an extra pitstop and try and recover the time with fresher tyres.
The adjustable rear wing will be an intriguing aspect and i think people who think that cars will be breezing past too easy shouldn't worry. KERS should keep the starts manic and busy but we could see a cancellation effect when the wing and KERS go into combat. In terms of strategy you are now more likely to pit even if there is traffic because on fresh tyres and with the ARW you can make your way through the field quicker so whereas the optimum strategy was generally stuck to last year, 2011 may see teams take more of a risk with an extra stop and on certain tracks it may be workable. Don't forget that with the double diffuser gone we should see cars able to run a bit closer with less turbulent air and the cars are a bit slower than before so should be slghtly easier to attack a car in front.
It promises to be an exciting, competitive and fascinating season and it all kicks off this weekend in Melbourne
F1 2011: Racing, Strategy and Tactics
After a winter of testing and speculation the 2011 season is almost upon us. A number of changes have been made since Abu Dhabi in November with KERS back and the adjustable rear wing introduced. F-Ducts and double diffusers have been banned and Pirelli have taken over as tyre supplier from Bridgestone. Racing is set to be different but what can be expect? Read on for my thoughts on what sort of racing we could well see throughout the season...
Tyres: 2010 was a season which seen very durable tyres, some compounds even capable of lasting an entire race distance. Pirelli have been given a mandate of producing tyres which will wear out quicker, forcing more pitstops and more variance in the strategies that teams will run. There are 4 dry compounds as well as an intermediate and wet tyre. They will be as followed:
Super Soft - Red
Soft - Yellow
Medium - White
Hard - Silver
Intermediate - Light Blue
Wet - Orange
Each weekend there will be 2 of these compounds available. Usually this will be either a combination of Super Soft/Medium or Soft/Hard. It's clear from testing that the degradation is quite high and we are set to see 2/3 stops from each driver in a race. One team has even factored in the possibility of a 5 stop strategy! It should be noted that the intermediate and wet tyres are much harder and so should be able to run quite a distance if required.
Strategy is going to be intriguing, difficult and hectic for the teams. Q3 will see the option tyre being the clear one to use if you want to get on the front row of the grid. However we could see some people going for the prime tyre and deciding to utilise a better race strategy. Qualifying will be quite intense because you will go into it with 3 sets of options and 3 sets of primes. We could see less running during qualifying as well as practice though the teams are getting an extra set of tyres at some weekends for the Friday sessions. So if we have a weekend where tyre degradation is very high and a 4 stopper is need for the race you will have to restrict yourself to using 1 set of tyres per qualifying session. The front runners will want to try and get through the first 2 sessions with 1 run on options or perhaps a set of primes which then gives you 2 runs on options in Q3 if it is needed. Then you start the race on one of those sets and use primes for the rest of the race. Note the rule of using both compounds in a race remain.
Lewis Hamilton commented that he had tyres destroyed after a 9 lap run during testing. However we have seen 20 lap stints as well so clearly the compounds vary. Much is made of the different styles of the drivers and how this may affect things but it is unclear whether the Pirelli tyres are affected by this or whether mileage alone is the key factor in their wear rate. Another noticeable aspect of testing was the amount and size of pieces of rubber and marbles coming off the tyres. If we have a dry weekend then race day could see a track which has 1 racing line and it extremely slippery offline and this could hurt overtaking moves but see more mistakes. The FIA may have to look at washing the track on Saturday nights if it became detrimental to the season
KERS: The Kinetic Recovery Energy System is back after it debuted with some teams in 2009. Now we have most teams utilising the system, only Virgin, Lotus and HRT have definitely ruled it out for now. Mercedes were considered to have the best KERS a couple of years ago which will please them and customer outfits McLaren and Force India. The likes of Williams have had teething issues and i feel that Ferrari, McLaren and Renault will benefit from their past usage of the system.
The start will again be key with it, using your energy as soon as you are not traction limited. More cars will have it now so there will be more of a cancelling out effect but if you can hold position and save a bit you can perhaps attack later on in the lap. I think the teams will make use of it regularly. It can bring 0.2-0.33 seconds per lap and with regulation changes stabilising the weight distribution teams will not be able to make this up as easy with revised ballast placement. Same rules apply as 2009, you can use it for 6.67 seconds per lap.
Adjustable Rear Wing: The Adjustable Rear Wing (ARW) or Drag Reduction System (DRS) as it is also being called is a new gadget for the drivers to use this season. Gone are the adjustable front wings after 2 seasons. Each rear wing will be capable of having a slot activated which opens it, reducing drag and increasing straight line speed by 8-12 km/h. This is opened by the driver in the cockpit with a switch or button and once open remains so until the driver next uses the brakes when it closes within 20 milliseconds of the brake pedal being pressed.
In practice and qualifying the use of the wing is unlimited and the driver can use it whenever they want. This should make qualifying laps quite interesting because as soon as they accelerate onto a straight or indeed go through a flat out corner which they can take with reduced downforce they will want the wing activated so the drag, and indeed the laptime, is reduced. Some drivers have complained about this but really it is not much different to having to operate a F-Duct last year so i can see them getting on top of it early on.
The races see a different situation for the ARW. First of all the use of the wing is not allowed on the opening 2 laps and on the 2 laps after any safety car period under any circumstances. For the other parts of the race the wing is only open to use in pre-determined overtaking zones. A timing loop will be set up at a particular part of the circuit. Then ahead of this will be a line on the track which will indicate the start of the overtaking zone. If you pass the timing loop within a second of the car in front you will be able to activate the ARW when you cross the line. For the opening races this zone is designed to be 600 metres before the braking zone for the next corner but the FIA can adjust the parameters surrounding this new device throughout the season based on what they see in the season.
From what i understand, the best way to maximise speed is to open the rear wing and then deploy KERS. So when you exit the last corner of your outlap you will want to do that in the right order to get the highest speed to start your lap. Another issue will be gear ratios. You will want your 7th gear set so it just maxs out with the ARW open and KERS being used. You could have it set lower and give yourself better overall top speed when running without the use of either but i feel the teams won't do this because it would be too costly to performance in qualifying and hence negatively affect your chances.
The race is going to be a bit different though because if you are trying to catch the car in front you will (depending on the relative pace of the cars involved) want to use the KERS to push yourself into the 1 second window to activate the rear wing. However if the car in front saves some KERS he can respond to the activation of the rear wing by deploying KERS so i think we will see some of that this season. In terms of the ARW improving overtaking i think with the current way it is being utilised a car will have to be within 0.5 seconds to have a chance of passing. What we will see is a car enter the zone and suddenly move towards the car in front quite quickly. This may not result in an actual overtake at the time but we may see some closer battles, times when the driver in front is forced more defensive and indeed more late lunges. Malaysia and China in particular will show better the advantage it gives.
Safety Car: Some slight adjustments regarding the rules surrounding the deployment of the safety car. The delta time which you have to not exceed when the safety car is first deployed now must be maintained for 2 laps instead of 1 lap. This seems minor but basically means for that period the race is neutralised. So if you are a team which has cars running closely and you want both to pit you can pit one immediately and the other car the following lap and should in theory not lose out. This will mean queueing will not be required in the pitlane and should ensure a calmer and hopefully safer pitlane. A note about the pitlane is that the fast lane is only wide enough for 1 car now so more space for the mechanics and no side by side racing in the pitlane. The green light will always be on at the pit exit so drivers can come out even if there is other cars close by.
So a lot of new aspects to Formula 1 this season. I think the tyres will be a massive part of the season. Anytime we have had a big change it has seen certain teams adapt better and the new rubber could suit some drivers better than others. It could be a very reactive situation in races. Perhaps a 3 stop strategy will be the plan at the race start. However if people start to feel their tyres go they'll pit to try and jump others on fresh tyres because of the difference in compounds. This will force other drivers to react even if their tyres are not totally finished. Teams will shift their pitstops forward and then perhaps leave themselves with a longer final stint. The dilemma then is whether you hang on to the end of the race or make an extra pitstop and try and recover the time with fresher tyres.
The adjustable rear wing will be an intriguing aspect and i think people who think that cars will be breezing past too easy shouldn't worry. KERS should keep the starts manic and busy but we could see a cancellation effect when the wing and KERS go into combat. In terms of strategy you are now more likely to pit even if there is traffic because on fresh tyres and with the ARW you can make your way through the field quicker so whereas the optimum strategy was generally stuck to last year, 2011 may see teams take more of a risk with an extra stop and on certain tracks it may be workable. Don't forget that with the double diffuser gone we should see cars able to run a bit closer with less turbulent air and the cars are a bit slower than before so should be slghtly easier to attack a car in front.
It promises to be an exciting, competitive and fascinating season and it all kicks off this weekend in Melbourne
Tyres: 2010 was a season which seen very durable tyres, some compounds even capable of lasting an entire race distance. Pirelli have been given a mandate of producing tyres which will wear out quicker, forcing more pitstops and more variance in the strategies that teams will run. There are 4 dry compounds as well as an intermediate and wet tyre. They will be as followed:
Super Soft - Red
Soft - Yellow
Medium - White
Hard - Silver
Intermediate - Light Blue
Wet - Orange
Each weekend there will be 2 of these compounds available. Usually this will be either a combination of Super Soft/Medium or Soft/Hard. It's clear from testing that the degradation is quite high and we are set to see 2/3 stops from each driver in a race. One team has even factored in the possibility of a 5 stop strategy! It should be noted that the intermediate and wet tyres are much harder and so should be able to run quite a distance if required.
Strategy is going to be intriguing, difficult and hectic for the teams. Q3 will see the option tyre being the clear one to use if you want to get on the front row of the grid. However we could see some people going for the prime tyre and deciding to utilise a better race strategy. Qualifying will be quite intense because you will go into it with 3 sets of options and 3 sets of primes. We could see less running during qualifying as well as practice though the teams are getting an extra set of tyres at some weekends for the Friday sessions. So if we have a weekend where tyre degradation is very high and a 4 stopper is need for the race you will have to restrict yourself to using 1 set of tyres per qualifying session. The front runners will want to try and get through the first 2 sessions with 1 run on options or perhaps a set of primes which then gives you 2 runs on options in Q3 if it is needed. Then you start the race on one of those sets and use primes for the rest of the race. Note the rule of using both compounds in a race remain.
Lewis Hamilton commented that he had tyres destroyed after a 9 lap run during testing. However we have seen 20 lap stints as well so clearly the compounds vary. Much is made of the different styles of the drivers and how this may affect things but it is unclear whether the Pirelli tyres are affected by this or whether mileage alone is the key factor in their wear rate. Another noticeable aspect of testing was the amount and size of pieces of rubber and marbles coming off the tyres. If we have a dry weekend then race day could see a track which has 1 racing line and it extremely slippery offline and this could hurt overtaking moves but see more mistakes. The FIA may have to look at washing the track on Saturday nights if it became detrimental to the season
KERS: The Kinetic Recovery Energy System is back after it debuted with some teams in 2009. Now we have most teams utilising the system, only Virgin, Lotus and HRT have definitely ruled it out for now. Mercedes were considered to have the best KERS a couple of years ago which will please them and customer outfits McLaren and Force India. The likes of Williams have had teething issues and i feel that Ferrari, McLaren and Renault will benefit from their past usage of the system.
The start will again be key with it, using your energy as soon as you are not traction limited. More cars will have it now so there will be more of a cancelling out effect but if you can hold position and save a bit you can perhaps attack later on in the lap. I think the teams will make use of it regularly. It can bring 0.2-0.33 seconds per lap and with regulation changes stabilising the weight distribution teams will not be able to make this up as easy with revised ballast placement. Same rules apply as 2009, you can use it for 6.67 seconds per lap.
Adjustable Rear Wing: The Adjustable Rear Wing (ARW) or Drag Reduction System (DRS) as it is also being called is a new gadget for the drivers to use this season. Gone are the adjustable front wings after 2 seasons. Each rear wing will be capable of having a slot activated which opens it, reducing drag and increasing straight line speed by 8-12 km/h. This is opened by the driver in the cockpit with a switch or button and once open remains so until the driver next uses the brakes when it closes within 20 milliseconds of the brake pedal being pressed.
In practice and qualifying the use of the wing is unlimited and the driver can use it whenever they want. This should make qualifying laps quite interesting because as soon as they accelerate onto a straight or indeed go through a flat out corner which they can take with reduced downforce they will want the wing activated so the drag, and indeed the laptime, is reduced. Some drivers have complained about this but really it is not much different to having to operate a F-Duct last year so i can see them getting on top of it early on.
The races see a different situation for the ARW. First of all the use of the wing is not allowed on the opening 2 laps and on the 2 laps after any safety car period under any circumstances. For the other parts of the race the wing is only open to use in pre-determined overtaking zones. A timing loop will be set up at a particular part of the circuit. Then ahead of this will be a line on the track which will indicate the start of the overtaking zone. If you pass the timing loop within a second of the car in front you will be able to activate the ARW when you cross the line. For the opening races this zone is designed to be 600 metres before the braking zone for the next corner but the FIA can adjust the parameters surrounding this new device throughout the season based on what they see in the season.
From what i understand, the best way to maximise speed is to open the rear wing and then deploy KERS. So when you exit the last corner of your outlap you will want to do that in the right order to get the highest speed to start your lap. Another issue will be gear ratios. You will want your 7th gear set so it just maxs out with the ARW open and KERS being used. You could have it set lower and give yourself better overall top speed when running without the use of either but i feel the teams won't do this because it would be too costly to performance in qualifying and hence negatively affect your chances.
The race is going to be a bit different though because if you are trying to catch the car in front you will (depending on the relative pace of the cars involved) want to use the KERS to push yourself into the 1 second window to activate the rear wing. However if the car in front saves some KERS he can respond to the activation of the rear wing by deploying KERS so i think we will see some of that this season. In terms of the ARW improving overtaking i think with the current way it is being utilised a car will have to be within 0.5 seconds to have a chance of passing. What we will see is a car enter the zone and suddenly move towards the car in front quite quickly. This may not result in an actual overtake at the time but we may see some closer battles, times when the driver in front is forced more defensive and indeed more late lunges. Malaysia and China in particular will show better the advantage it gives.
Safety Car: Some slight adjustments regarding the rules surrounding the deployment of the safety car. The delta time which you have to not exceed when the safety car is first deployed now must be maintained for 2 laps instead of 1 lap. This seems minor but basically means for that period the race is neutralised. So if you are a team which has cars running closely and you want both to pit you can pit one immediately and the other car the following lap and should in theory not lose out. This will mean queueing will not be required in the pitlane and should ensure a calmer and hopefully safer pitlane. A note about the pitlane is that the fast lane is only wide enough for 1 car now so more space for the mechanics and no side by side racing in the pitlane. The green light will always be on at the pit exit so drivers can come out even if there is other cars close by.
So a lot of new aspects to Formula 1 this season. I think the tyres will be a massive part of the season. Anytime we have had a big change it has seen certain teams adapt better and the new rubber could suit some drivers better than others. It could be a very reactive situation in races. Perhaps a 3 stop strategy will be the plan at the race start. However if people start to feel their tyres go they'll pit to try and jump others on fresh tyres because of the difference in compounds. This will force other drivers to react even if their tyres are not totally finished. Teams will shift their pitstops forward and then perhaps leave themselves with a longer final stint. The dilemma then is whether you hang on to the end of the race or make an extra pitstop and try and recover the time with fresher tyres.
The adjustable rear wing will be an intriguing aspect and i think people who think that cars will be breezing past too easy shouldn't worry. KERS should keep the starts manic and busy but we could see a cancellation effect when the wing and KERS go into combat. In terms of strategy you are now more likely to pit even if there is traffic because on fresh tyres and with the ARW you can make your way through the field quicker so whereas the optimum strategy was generally stuck to last year, 2011 may see teams take more of a risk with an extra stop and on certain tracks it may be workable. Don't forget that with the double diffuser gone we should see cars able to run a bit closer with less turbulent air and the cars are a bit slower than before so should be slghtly easier to attack a car in front.
It promises to be an exciting, competitive and fascinating season and it all kicks off this weekend in Melbourne
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