[Gibbo]

It's the last week of testing at Barcelona before racing begins in 2 weeks time in Melborne. For 2011 we have a few big changes coming in.

Pirelli Tyres
Kers system
Movable rear wing

Tyres no big issue and all teams will have spent time working with the new manafacture. May have a different wear rate which could bring in new race tactics but no issue.

The other 2 ideas, kers, I never liked this a couple of years ago and thought it was naff and scrapped for that reason. Don't understand why its back and from memory only Mclaren got it to work in any useful way.

Movable rear wing and then a load of rules of when, where and how long you can use it. I may eat my words but what a load of rubbish and I am sure a handful of races will be decided on a steward decision based on if the wing and the kers were used at the right time. At the same time giving Brundle and his cronies endles opportunities to waffle on about the decision.

Last year was one of the best seasons in ages, close racing, team mates trying to outdo each other and a good ending to the season with a group of drivers in contention. Why change the formula it feels a bit dumbed down and I would like it kept simple without the gimmiks.

Good news it's finally in HD

[- Paul -]

I'm worried re the rear wings - what if the system fails - or driver forgets to put it back etc?

[effone]

Originally Posted by - Paul -

I'm worried re the rear wings - what if the system fails - or driver forgets to put it back etc?

well, as i've just spent 4 weeks getting ours to work...

they are opened by a hydraulic actuator, and also have a position sensor that can be seen via the live telemetry.

they have to open and close within a certain time otherwise an error will be flagged up (both for the FIA and us) - therefore we'll know straight away if something is going wrong.

if the ram fails (i.e no hydraulics) all that will happen is the wing will remain open - but the element won't fall out or anything like that...

it is up to the driver to open the wing, but it closes automatically under brake pressure, or if the throttle is lifted - so they only have to press the button once and then the software takes over !! just FYI, an LED comes on the dashboard to indicate that the wing can be used, again this is down to closely controlled FIA limits.

overtaking will be and always is difficult due to the aero on our cars, but atleast the chaps are trying something to try and liven things up a bit - it may not work out but if it doesn't be sure that more things will be put in place...

anyway, i could go on...

ian b

[- Paul -]

Always good to hear the inside story - thanks for the info!

[MEGA]

Thats great info ian cheers for posting!

[effone]

no worries gents...

FYI the wing goes from open to closed in 0.1 of a second...

i'd show some data on here... but i like my job too much !!

ian b

[RagingKileak]

Originally Posted by effone

no worries gents...

FYI the wing goes from open to closed in 0.1 of a second...

i'd show some data on here... but i like my job too much !!

ian b

I must have missed your big reveal mate. Good to know there is yet another 'proper' link to racing on our humble board.

Matt

[briers]

Yes thanks for the info Ian. Lotus?

Really looking forward to this season. Don't think you can judge pace on pre-season testing but it certainly looks like a lot of the mid field teams are a lot closer to the pace.

I'm a bit sceptical of the tyres. It will be interesting how each cars and it's downforce handles the wear rates. I think it's going to dominate strategies again this year. As much as i hated the fuel tactics and multiple stops it did make it more interesting than last seasons no refuelling which made for 50 or 60 laps of pretty much the same order.

I'm going to enjoy these last few seasons of the frozen v8 dev before the 1.6 engines come into play. I assume turbo charged, maybe even turbo/supercharged. Which may make it interesting at least.

[sheps]

Anyone got any plans to go and see a GP this year?
I'm going to try and do Abu Dhabi again this year, had an amazing time last year.

[Gibbo]

Originally Posted by effone

if the ram fails (i.e no hydraulics) all that will happen is the wing will remain open - but the element won't fall out or anything like that...

it is up to the driver to open the wing, but it closes automatically under brake pressure, or if the throttle is lifted - so they only have to press the button once and then the software takes over !! just FYI, an LED comes on the dashboard to indicate that the wing can be used, again this is down to closely controlled FIA limits.

ian b

So what you are saying is if it jams open the car will have to drive until the next pitstop with a low downforce car. I guess this can than be partially rectified by adjusting a bit of wing at the stop, but basically be in a compromised car to the end of the race.

In terms of when it can be used are you saying the FIA are monitoring every car with electronic timing equipment. They send a signal to the team of when the driver can press the button shown by a green light in the car? That is clever techonology especially when there are back markers, cars running say 3 or 4 in a line and other variables in the race like laps when all the leaders are pitting for tyres.

This could be interesting in a situation where 2 cars are fighting a battle at the front with 2 cars about to be lapped also fighting it could end up in a right mess.

[spandeli]

Originally Posted by effone

no worries gents...

FYI the wing goes from open to closed in 0.1 of a second...

i'd show some data on here... but i like my job too much !!

ian b

Wait a sec, Ian where do you work.. In an F1 Team if im right? Soooo jelous ..

[effone]

yup, team Lotus - i'm a systems engineer for Heikki K

couple of things -

if the rear wing fails you'll not be able to fix it in the pit stop - it's be a trip to the garage and a fair amount of time lost if it can be fixed. it's nowhere near as easy as it is to change the nose... it's quite simple how it works really... a solenoid is energised that allows a hydraulic ram to open, which opens up the main wing element. there is a mechanical restriction on movement, but no way of adjusting how much you want it to open (like we could on the front wing last year) our on car hydraulic systems run at around 200 bar, so any kind of failure means you're stopping pretty quickly...

and when you think our (as most other teams) hydraulics control the gearbox, steering, rear wing, diff and throttles... it's pretty important !!

all teams use a F1MS system (F1 marshalling system) on the car that transmits GPS and car data to the FIA and FOM (used for data on screen for tv (revs, speed, gear etc)) - it also receives data which can show a yellow light for an incident on track and a blue light to tell the driver to let a faster car past (so no excuses of not seeing marshalls flags !!) - it also receives an 'allowed' flag that lets you use the rear wing. if you don't have this you can press the wing button all you like but nothing will happen...!!! have a look at the cars... you'll see a reasonably tall antenna (taller than the others) with a small round ball... that's the antenna the F1MS uses (we use 5 in total !!)

as has been said, you're not really going to know where everyone is until after qualifying in oz. it's easy to get a good time with no ballast, low fuel and super soft tyres... but you don't learn much from that. pretty much all cars are built 'underweight' which means you can add ballast to help balance the weight distribution - this helps with tyre degredation and of course the way the car handles !!

cheers,

ian b

[Dr Dave]

Wonderful info, thanks effone

[effone]

Originally Posted by Dr Dave

Wonderful info, thanks effone

no problem doc...

i've worked in the btcc, wrc and f1 over the years... it's hard work and a huge sacrifice on your personal life... but it's very, very rewarding...

ian b

[Tunna_uk]

Originally Posted by sheps

Anyone got any plans to go and see a GP this year?
I'm going to try and do Abu Dhabi again this year, had an amazing time last year.

I'm going to Spa this year. (Road trip)

Originally Posted by effone

no problem doc...

i've worked in the btcc, wrc and f1 over the years... it's hard work and a huge sacrifice on your personal life... but it's very, very rewarding...

ian b

Great reading and insight. Thanks

[dxb335d]

There was plenty of great action last year!!

Sheps I did post up about the German GP, it's at the Nurburgring so could sneak off for a few laps of the Nordeschliefe LOL!!

[SteveC]

Like car racing with a rugby union rulebook. The whole show is defined by the rules rather than by the cars or drivers. I still watch it but the length of time it takes me to fall asleep has become a family joke. And the number of times I've switched off to do something useful when a silly rule changes the entire outcome of a race...like putting a driver 10 positions back on the grid because his gearbox fails. The FIA still have to wake up to the fact there's a driver's championship AND a constructors championship, so why penalize a driver for a construction error? On the whole, I find the whole show somewhat frustrating and farsical.

[effone]

Originally Posted by SteveC

Like car racing with a rugby union rulebook. The whole show is defined by the rules rather than by the cars or drivers. I still watch it but the length of time it takes me to fall asleep has become a family joke. And the number of times I've switched off to do something useful when a silly rule changes the entire outcome of a race...like putting a driver 10 positions back on the grid because his gearbox fails. The FIA still have to wake up to the fact there's a driver's championship AND a constructors championship, so why penalize a driver for a construction error? On the whole, I find the whole show somewhat frustrating and farsical.

this year the gearbox will have to last 5 races, instead of last years 4. this helps save money - not so long ago you'd use around 4 gearboxes per car per race weekend. the cost of this little lot would make your nose bleed, not to mention the cost of shipping them all over the world...

by adding this rule, it makes the gearbox designers raise their game - and when you consider we can change gear in a blink of the eye these days and run a gearbox in one of the most harsh, volatile environments around and still make it last... well it says a lot about the pool of talent we have here in the UK...

for sure, f1 isn't as interesting to watch as say the BTCC, but that is motorsport purely for TV - the contact wouldn't be allowed in any other type of motor racing... of course you can't have this in F1...

i often wonder though... what is it F1 critics are looking for from a race...?? would they be just as happy to see a few pile ups as they would be to see a wheel to wheel overtake at 200mph ?? not really sure on that one...

have to say that before my time in f1, i didn't enjoy it as much as i do now... i think when you get a better appreciation of what is going on from an engineering side it makes you realise just how awesome these cars are...

i deal with the data side of things mainly in my role... and the speed of inputs and reaction from pretty much any driver i've seen is just awesome...

anyway... enjoy it... you'll miss it when they're racing remote controlled solar powered cars...

probably...

cheers,

ian b

[jonsteele]

Originally Posted by sheps

Anyone got any plans to go and see a GP this year?
I'm going to try and do Abu Dhabi again this year, had an amazing time last year.

Going to the British GP - well I best be! She who must be obeyed got 2 tickets for her birthday, so there'll be trouble if I don't!

Tickets are for seats opposite the new pit lane, so looking forward to it (although not so much so with the traffic!).

[briers]

Originally Posted by effone

you'll miss it when they're racing remote controlled solar powered cars...

I'm going to miss the v8's when they bring in the 1.6 engines in 2013.

I'm a huge F1 fan, have been since i was old enough to understand. Like most others here, the Senna years were my favourite, because it was exciting to watch. Just like Walter Rohrl rallying in the 70's and 80's.

Back then the cars were simple and a 1.5 second P1 was entirely possible right down to driver skill. Now it still takes an incompressible amount of bravery and ability to drive an F1 car competitively but technology and design are etching away to margins of driver skill. And to the viewer we see a much closer field and a lot less overtaking and drama. Now i feel a drivers ability to win is largely influenced by how good the teams technical director is.

[Dannyrado]

Originally Posted by sheps

Anyone got any plans to go and see a GP this year?
I'm going to try and do Abu Dhabi again this year, had an amazing time last year.

Was in Singapore 2010, it was sensational. I'd love to go to a few this year but we have a bambino on the way, so that rather rules travelling the world out.

Maybe if i can get a cheap flight to Hungary or Monza maybe...

The noise the Mclaren makes on the downchange (Jenson's especially) is worth going to a race for alone. Made tears run down my face, now that's sad isn't it?!?

[effone]

Originally Posted by Dannyrado

Was in Singapore 2010, it was sensational. I'd love to go to a few this year but we have a bambino on the way, so that rather rules travelling the world out.

Maybe if i can get a cheap flight to Hungary or Monza maybe...

The noise the Mclaren makes on the downchange (Jenson's especially) is worth going to a race for alone. Made tears run down my face, now that's sad isn't it?!?

hungary wins for the social life in the evening... monza is great for history and cheap pizza but not much else going on...

if you can only do one... i'd choose hungary every time...

as for singapore... it didn't end very well for my driver...



ian b