Formula 1 Off Season, Launches and Testing thread 2019-20Formula 1

[Veinz]

I'm expecting this to be Merc's most dominant season yet. Can't see the status quo changing much in 2021 either since the big 3 teams are still using their massive budgets to develop that car.

 

[AshenGraey]

With that Pink W10 Mercedes Clone, Racing Point (S. Perez) look like they might be the dark horse of the season .

 

[Milouse]

There's currently a 25% off coupon code until 28th February on F1TV Pro subscription.
The code is EARLYBIRD25 and can be input on payment page. I'm not sure if it works in every country.
I was considering getting a subscription as the un-discounted price have been cut by three in my country since the service launch almost two years ago, and i ran into this by checking online if the service improved.

 

[AshenGraey]

There's currently a 25% off coupon code until 28th February on F1TV Pro subscription.
The code is EARLYBIRD25 and can be input on payment page. I'm not sure if it works in every country.
I was considering getting a subscription as the un-discounted price have been cut by three in my country since the service launch almost two years ago, and i ran into this by checking online if the service improved.
View attachment 894935

Thanks for posting this. In Canada F1 TV Pro wasn't available last year, because of your post I found out that it is available this year so I just signed up with that same discount 👍.

Guess I can give up that pointless cable package now

 

[LeGeNd-1]

Some more pics of Zandvoort's banking:



19 degrees at the steepest according to F1.com (for comparison, Indy was only 9 degrees). Apart from the old Monza and AVUS, is it safe to say this is the steepest banking ever raced by F1? Other tracks that came to mind are Mexico with its old Peraltada and Anderstorp's Karussel, but I can't find the number of degrees for those...

 

[Jimlaad43]

A banked corner with runoff? Isn't that a bad combination? Surely the whole point of walls on banked corners is that cars which get it wrong don't have time to twist to hit the wall at an awkward oblique angle? Walls either need to be right next to the cars or super-far away so they slow down before hitting a wall. This seems like a recipe for disaster. Walls in the opposite-of-sweet spot was one of the problems with Tamburello IIRC when Senna died.

 

[TenEightyOne]

A banked corner with runoff? Isn't that a bad combination? Surely the whole point of walls on banked corners is that cars which get it wrong don't have time to twist to hit the wall at an awkward oblique angle? Walls either need to be right next to the cars or super-far away so they slow down before hitting a wall. This seems like a recipe for disaster. Walls in the opposite-of-sweet spot was one of the problems with Tamburello IIRC when Senna died.

I agree - that was my first thought when I looked at it. Ensuring that the majority of accidents take place half-way across the track from the wall seems (to me) to guarantee that cars are already well into developing a revolving/flying attitude by the time they reach the wall.

I also feel that the corner looks neutered by having the cars run around the bottom, I'm very disappoints

 

[Milouse]

A banked corner with runoff? Isn't that a bad combination? Surely the whole point of walls on banked corners is that cars which get it wrong don't have time to twist to hit the wall at an awkward oblique angle? Walls either need to be right next to the cars or super-far away so they slow down before hitting a wall. This seems like a recipe for disaster. Walls in the opposite-of-sweet spot was one of the problems with Tamburello IIRC when Senna died.

What we see here is the naked wall. That will probably looks like Sotchi once prepared for F1.

 

[Touring Mars]

A banked corner with runoff? Isn't that a bad combination? Surely the whole point of walls on banked corners is that cars which get it wrong don't have time to twist to hit the wall at an awkward oblique angle? Walls either need to be right next to the cars or super-far away so they slow down before hitting a wall. This seems like a recipe for disaster. Walls in the opposite-of-sweet spot was one of the problems with Tamburello IIRC when Senna died.

I wonder if Pirelli have had anything to say about banked corners in F1. Wasn't this one of the reasons for the farce in Indianapolis?

 

[BrainsBush]

I wonder if Pirelli have had anything to say about banked corners in F1. Wasn't this one of the reasons for the farce in Indianapolis?

They have new special Zandvoort tyres in place. Will be tested soon and already first tests at Barcelona:

https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/...ests-in-barcelona.7l3hXIScig3wVqIxVuydDG.html

 

[Jimlaad43]

What we see here is the naked wall. That will probably looks like Sotchi once prepared for F1.

They'd be better with a close wall and SAFER than a load of Tecpro there. If someone goes in the Tecpro and rips bits out, they'll roll/slide down the banking and onto the racing line. Great...

 

[Milouse]

I wonder if Pirelli have had anything to say about banked corners in F1. Wasn't this one of the reasons for the farce in Indianapolis?

I remember it had to do with the texture of the road, which Michelin never had access to prior to the race.

 

[Jimlaad43]

The tyres won't need to be anywhere near as crazy as the Indianapolis ones. They went around that corner approaching at like 300kph. This one is just after a medium speed corner and is close to if, so they'll only be approaching at say 220kph at most in the way in. The only difference is that it's a lot steeper here. Plus this isn't a diamond ground surface which won't cause the issues seen at Indy

 

[Dennisch]

A banked corner with runoff? Isn't that a bad combination? Surely the whole point of walls on banked corners is that cars which get it wrong don't have time to twist to hit the wall at an awkward oblique angle? Walls either need to be right next to the cars or super-far away so they slow down before hitting a wall. This seems like a recipe for disaster. Walls in the opposite-of-sweet spot was one of the problems with Tamburello IIRC when Senna died.

There is about 20 cm of sand between the tarmac and the concrete wall.

Here is a lap, if it isn't region locked.

 

[Jimlaad43]

A banked corner with runoff? Isn't that a bad combination? Surely the whole point of walls on banked corners is that cars which get it wrong don't have time to twist to hit the wall at an awkward oblique angle? Walls either need to be right next to the cars or super-far away so they slow down before hitting a wall. This seems like a recipe for disaster. Walls in the opposite-of-sweet spot was one of the problems with Tamburello IIRC when Senna died.

It appears I was mistaken. These images are of the Hugenholz bend, turn 4, not the final corner. This one is relatively slow anyway so a bit of runoff isn't actually a bad thing.

There is about 20 cm of sand between the tarmac and the concrete wall.

Here is a lap, if it isn't region locked.

The big banking has a wall right at the top which will probably be covered in SAFER, which is the right solution.

We can ignore those last few posts of debate because they started from a misinterpretation of the photos.

 

[Dennisch]

I like the track so far but I really think that the track should be wider between 4, the Hugenholz and 8, the Scheivlak.

 

[Jimlaad43]

The wall at the exit of Scheivlak is quite close and seems to just be a low armco wall. At the exit of the fastest corner of the circuit that's not exactly going to be ideal. I can see that white bridge support being hit if anything goes wrong with a ballsy overtake or a tyre failure or something... It could really do with some catch fencing to stop cars flying into the bridge, the marshals post or up the bank.

 

[Dennisch]

The FIA will probably drive a couple of laps on the track to point out areas like that.

One bonus Zandvoort has is that parts of it is basically a streetcircuit with walls close to the action, so shenanigans should be punished by the track itself.

 

[andrea]

Verstappen trolling on the harder compound.

 

[Dennisch]

We won't say you guys were cheating, but do pay a fine.

 

[ProjectWHaT]

Lap time comparisons from last year

Each driver's best time from all 6 days

I wish they showed what tires were used for each lap time, because I believe Red Bull were using harder tires and were sandbagging when using the softer ones

 

[-Fred-]

It'll be interesting to see if Tracing Point's pace keeps up in Melbourne.

 

[Ether]

It'll be interesting to see if Tracing Point's pace keeps up in Melbourne.

If not, I'm sure their tracing department will be ordering lots of extra paper to help them find more....eh, things to trace.

 

[Josa]

The REAL fastest laps from all 6 days were 1.16.976 on C2 tires made by Hamilton on day 1 and today's 1.16.805 on C2 by Verstappen.
These times were the only close to the ones made on the 2019 Spanish Grand Prix.
Also, laps on C4 and C5 don't have that much value, since these tires won't be used on this track. The teams use them (I guess) to know their differences from the other tires and to test specific adjustements for a specific couple of corners (and not the whole lap).

 

[Milouse]

I wish they showed what tires were used for each lap time, because I believe Red Bull were using harder tires and were sandbagging when using the softer ones

Even if they had the same tires, these times wouldn't be significant since there were made at totally different times of day (from early morning to almost sunset), hence track conditions.

 

[twitcher]

I’ve been linked an article regarding Ferrari’s engine debacle, but it’s in German and I can’t figure out how to translate it on my iphone.

https://www.motorsport-total.com/fo...heimen-deal-zwischen-fia-und-ferrari-20022820

Anyone able to teach me how, or to read it and give a summary? I feel so computer illiterate and old right now

 

[UnkaD]

I’ve been linked an article regarding Ferrari’s engine debacle, but it’s in German and I can’t figure out how to translate it on my iphone.

https://www.motorsport-total.com/fo...heimen-deal-zwischen-fia-und-ferrari-20022820

Anyone able to teach me how, or to read it and give a summary? I feel so computer illiterate and old right now

Pretty much it goes over the whole FIA investigation into Ferrari being dropped even though there are obvious signs that they have lost engine performance compared to before. It mentions a few whistleblowers from within the team and the possibility of other teams pursuing further action. It takes note of prize pay-outs if Ferrari were not ranked in the points standings last year, even going as far to mention how much more money Williams could have received. Apparently Ferrari have settled with the FIA agreeing to work on engine regulations that would be more difficult to cheat moving forward as well as research and development into carbon emissions that the FIA would rather not have to fund themselves.

Not sure how iphones works. On mine a prompt at the bottom asks if I want to read in "insert language here" or english.

 

[Jimlaad43]

There was an interesting and plausible theory posted in the comments on Racefans that's about the only thing that makes sense in this Ferrari statement.

My best guess of how this unfolded: FIA suspect Ferrari have found a loophole with the fuel flow sensor based on GPS data, engine notes, etc… But after months of investigating can’t quite figure out how they are doing it. They test and test and test but can’t figure it out.

Both the FIA and Ferrari have to put the story to rest because it is making both of them look bad. Ferrari because it looks like they are cheating and the FIA because they look incompetent to regulate the series. FIA offers a settlement to Ferrari that if Ferrari tells them how they are doing it they won’t be punished but they can’t do it anymore and they have to provide the details so that the regulations can be tightened and more effective testing can happen.

This is similar to what happened in the US recently with the stolen pitch signs in baseball. Major League Baseball needed the players to co-operate to get the details so gave them all immunity from punishment. Only the managers and organisations received punishment.

 

[andrea]

We won't say you guys were cheating, but do pay a fine.

Ferrari not even being able to win whilst cheating is the most embarrassing part.

 

[Veinz]

Currently on episode 5 of drive to survive. It’s better than the first season, I’m really liking it. You don’t need to be an F1 newbie to enjoy it. It focuses on the human element of the sport.