THE 2017 SEASON STARTS HERE I realised we don't have a fundamental thread regarding next seasons massive technical overhaul, news and rumours, like we have for the previous seasons. If the moderators feel it necessary they could merge Sportista's "Driver Lineup Thread" into this one. So we have a complete 2017 thread. please log in to view this image TECHNICAL CHANGES IN A NUTSHELL (F1.COM) Nose length INCREASED another 20cm. Front width INCREASED 165cm to 180cm. New "Delta Wing" shape, sloped angle. Pirelli tyres WIDER; Front tread width INCREASED from 24.5cm to 30cm//Rear tread width INCREASED from 32.5cm to 40cm. Car FLOOR must not exceed a WIDTH of 180cm for all it's length// Thus a cut will be apparent at some point along the floor, the WIDTH of the floor should not be less than 160cm. REAR WING WIDER from 80cm to 95cm and LOWER, with GREATER OVERHANG towards the REAR OF THE CAR. INCREASED permitted HEIGHT of REAR DIFFUSER from 12.5cm to 22cm. LARGER TURNING VANES will be apparent. MAX WEIGHT INCREASE from 702kg to 722kg. Drivers won't be punished for being taller - Nico Hulkenberg etc. FORECASTED RESULTS Great increase in mechanical grip and ground effect. Increase in driver confidence when on the limit, more aggression will be rewarded without the penalty of crashing. Overtaking will become more of a challenge. In general laps should be around 3 seconds quicker than 2016, hoping to reach speeds attained during the mid-late 2000's. COCKPIT PROTECTION Halo device was tested by Ferrari early this season, to the general dislike of the fans due to it's poor aesthetic nature. Daniel Ricciardo's trial run in Russia with the RedBull "visor" was a sort of success. Fans and followers preferred this concept, a successful crash test was also recorded by RB. Questions will still be raised, issues such as lack of visibility (for the fans) of the driver. And whether wet weather conditions will cause problems, would tear off's be required? Would the pit crew be required to clean the screen during stops much like LMP1 WEC? An official mandatory rule/regulation is yet to be cemented. POWER UNITS FERRARI/MERCEDES/HONDA/RENAULT. A working committee gelled the four engine suppliers together to improve four key areas concerning power units. COST; will be reduced by 1 million euros for customer teams, in 2018 the cost will drop by 3 million euros. SUPPLY; engine suppliers will have to adhere to an 'obligation to supply' customer teams that face a no-show in the event of having no engine. - A scenario apparent before the start of 2016 with RB. PERFORMANCE CONVERGENCE; will attempt to bring power units together across the board, token system will be removed. SOUND; not high on the priority list but attempts will be made to research ways in which the sound of the ~1000bhp V6 hybrids can be improved by 2018. WHAT WE CAN EXPECT TO SEE MERCEDES; HAMILTON+ ROSBERG FERRARI; VETTEL+ RAIKKONEN REDBULL; RICCIARDO + VERSTAPPEN WILLIAMS; BOTTAS + FORCE INDIA; PEREZ + TORO ROSSO; SAINZ + RENAULT; HULKENBERG + MCLAREN ALONSO + VANDOORNE HAAS; SAUBER; ERICSSON + MANOR MERCEDES; ***FORCE INDIA and SAUBER are in financial difficulties and there is a potential of collapse*** Any tips, news or rumours? Any hopes, predictions or gossip? Anything you would like to add lets make this thread the home of 2017. Potentially a long-awaited return to pure Formula 1. please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image please log in to view this image
After a long flight a couple of days ago I had a concept for new qualifying (and potentially race weekend) as qualifying may change can I put it here, or somewhere else?
So, a suggestion for a potential new qualifying format. I started from the assumption that the aim of Qualifying should be to reward the driver who can produce the best lap, have potential for unpredictably and a format that is good for TV. The format is single lap qualifying, in a randomly determined order. It would work as follows: All drivers start the session in their cars. Shortly before the start of the session (say 1 minute or so), the first driver to run is randomly selected, they must leave the pits before a time limit after their notification expires, but once the pit lane is open. Once they leave the pit exit is closed. They do a warm up lap and a flying lap. Towards the end of the first driver's warm up lap, the second driver to run is notified. As with the first driver, they must exit the pits once the pit lane is open and within a time limit (the intention being that this will put them exiting the pits slightly behind the first driver who has started their flying lap) such that they will be out of the way, but will begin their flying lap around 30-40 seconds after the first driver driver finishes theirs so the action is basically continuous. Towards the end of the second drivers warm up lap, the third driver to run is notified and so the session continues until everyone has completed their flying lap. If you miss your exit window, the time you were late by is added to your qualifying time, so if a driver misses to leave the pits by 1 second compared to their allowed time, this second is added to their qualifying time. At some point (say 10 seconds after the window) the pit lane would be closed and the driver would not be allowed to set a time. Relative timings will need adjusting race by race, to account for different pit exit locations, speed limits etc. Benefits of the system in my opinion: Single lap format punishes mistakes Every car/driver gets TV exposure Guaranteed action all through the session Possibility for enhanced viewing, e.g. Picture in picture to track drivers leaving the pits in time or tying this aspect into the website/app Very occasionally very random grids will be produced, due to variable weather in qualifying, but not often enough for significant championship impact. Unpredictability of running order and drivers having to be ready at short notice, will increase mental challenge for drivers. Random running order means the narrative of each session can be different. E.g. Mercs may set their times early at one GP, will track evolution mean Ferarri can beat them to pole? At the next GP Vettel currently has pole ahead of Rosberg, can Hamilton who is running last and has been waiting in his car for 40 minutes produce the goods and snatch pole? At the next GP, Hamilton is on pole by 0.4s from Vettel and Rosberg is last to run having left the pits 0.5s late, can he beat Hamilton's time and get on the front row with him ahead of the Ferrari? Respects the purity of qualifying, the fastest single lap gets pole (excluding penalties). I'll have to come back to race weekend format changes another day, I think this stands alone and it will be interesting to get some feedback. I'll try and find time to write the rest of this up before the Spanish GP gets too close, otherwise I'll come back to it next week.
I think my biggest concern with single lap qualifying is that the track spends a lot of time quiet. Sure you've got 3 drivers on track (out lap, hot lap, in lap) at a time, but only one of those laps matters. For a fan in the stands you're only seeing a car on maximum attack once every 90 seconds or so. If you have a sequence of cars from the back of the grid in a row, then there can be several minutes without anything people really care about happening. From a TV point of view, one continuous 45 minute session with no idea when the "big names" are going makes it very hard to schedule ad breaks. I'd almost rather go the other way, and have a 10 minute, utterly frenetic shoot-out with all cars on track. Traffic would mix up the grid, and one mistake might cost you the chance at a decent lap. It would also maximise the bit of qualifying I think is best, those final moments after the chequered flag where the frontrunners are all finishing hot laps and the top spots are being decided. That cuts the length of the quali session down dramatically, so you could then introduce a sprint race on Saturdays and do something a bit different. Or actually give GP2 some of the coverage it deserves.
Italian publication Autosprint is believed to be the original source of the rumour, suggesting that Allison, currently Ferrari’s technical director, could replace Arrivabene at the end of the year with Mercedes’ Aldo Costa the leading candidate to take on Allison’s current role of technical chief.
Gasly on pole for the first GP2 race of the year. Carries on like this and he's nailed on for a Toro Rosso drive, could be next season or it could be next race knowing Red Bull.
I can't say I'm convinced by that. The current first chicane is clunky and arguably not that safe, but it's a decent overtaking opportunity and has created some classic moments over the years. The new T1 is going to be very quick and quite a good spectacle, but it'll probably require just enough downforce to make following through there a little difficult, neutering the new chicane as an overtaking opportunity. As someone in the comments on F1fanatic points out, it also looks like the new chicane is "fast in, slow out", which makes it harder to overtake into, and probably harder to close up out of for overtakes into the existing second chicane. That's one of the most important overtaking spots they risk ruining. If they ditched the second chicane and reprofiled Lesmo 1 to make it tighter, that could work.
The FIA have agreed to a 'Halo' device in 2017 with an 'aeroscreen' from 2018. Final designs for both are yet to be seen. #F1