Do you think other teams will complain about the Lotus nose tusks? http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/112265 AUTOSPORT technical expert CRAIG SCARBOROUGH explains the thinking behind Lotus's 'twin tusk' 2014 Formula 1 car and its distinctive front. The look of the nose of 2014's Formula 1 cars has already been a major talking point, but Lotus caused a fresh stir by releasing a rendering of its new E22, which features a very different philosophy. AUTOSPORT has learned that the aggressive 'twin tusk' arrangement caused problems for the team in completing crash testing. But this hurdle has been overcome and Lotus will be ready to go in time for the second pre-season test in Bahrain. The rules mandating a single nose tip, to be mounted far lower than previously and with a minimum cross section, were introduced for safety reasons. The other cars that have so far been revealed have featured the 'anteater' nose, which forms the nose tip with a finger-like extension. Gallery: 2014 F1 designs so far Lotus's twin tusk arrangement eschews this philosophy and stretches the wording of the rules to the limit. In order to meet the single lower nose tip regulation, the two tusks are of unequal length, so the longer one forms the mandatory nose tip, while the other is short enough to avoid being considered part of the nose tip by the regulations. This leaves each tusk to act as a crash structure, the front wing mounting pylon and then, as they slim narrow the rear of the car, also become turning vanes. This means the unavoidable obstruction of the mandatory nose tip is made into a multi-purpose device. The design may present slightly more total cross sectional area to the airflow, but places the obstruction in the most beneficial location.
Gptoday.com Red Bull denies secret test for troubled RB 10 in Spain 25 February, 2014 Struggling World Champions Red Bull have denied claims that they are secretly running the troubled Renault-powered RB10 between the two Bahrain tests. Spaniard Pius Gasso, a respected and reliable Formula 1 source and former racing driver, said that he believes that an RB10 is running at the Idiada facility in Spain, south of Barcelona, ahead of the resumption of official testing later this week in Bahrain. Gasso even tweeted a link to an audio file of the alleged ‘secret’ testing. Another source told Speed Week correspondent Matthias Brunner that Red Bull’s Idiada running would be contrary to the tight testing limitations. “They would only be able to drive at Idiada with a current car if they had declared it a ‘Promotional Event’ as stipulated by the regulations. And the rules say clearly that it would be purely for marketing and PR purposes,” said the source. A Red Bull spokeswoman said simply: “We are not at Idiada!” (GMM) Subbed by AJN. Read more http://grandprix247.com/2014/02/25/red-bull-denies-secret-test-for-troubled-rb-10-in-spain/
What actually is the punishment for breaking the testing ban? Do you lose days later in the year/next season? If Red Bull have decided it's fairly mild, they might have gone for it anyway. Pre-season is likely to be much more valuable this season than perhaps next season, or instead of a young driver test.
That's what happened to Mercedes last year, but as the rules regarding 'testing' were made clear, the punishment should be more severe if the teams will be breaking the rules, as opposed to exploiting a grey area.
Maybe this is Horner's way at getting Mercedes for last year? If this is true then red Bull must be desperate... In fact all the Renault powered teams must be very desperate. Maybe it makes sense as DHCanary said... break the rules now and get a few race bans and be better off later in the season and next year than risk several DNFs and get your ass whipped for good measure for the next couple of years. Maybe they were doing a filming day...showing off their new "COOL" body. NO MORE OVERHEATING!... Good job Red Bull.
Filming days are allowed and I know they can sacrifice these for straight line tests in moderation. Ferrari did this a lot in 2012 and there was talk in how they could keep doing it.
Well I guess a little cheating will be worth it after all.... it will certainly get Red Bull back in the game at a cost maybe of one or two GPs.
Well we will see if Red Bull is mysteriously "healed" after all the disappointing tests so far. at first I thought maybe they were trying to put off the other teams with the bad performances but now it seems like they are really up against it. As much as I wouldn't cry if they struggle this year I would like them to have a competitive car to compete with the likes of Ferrari, Mercedes and McLaren on a level playing field. I think that would be the ultimate in formula 1.
touché to the guy who took the picture. Seems a bit silly to do something dastardly in the passionate country of a rival driver Its like they want to get caught!. £10 says when they get questioned by the fia (If they ever will be) they will say it was toro Rosso who did it. Perfect crime!
Straight line test so I don't see how it's wrong in any shape or size, and the fact that Red Bull always wants to hold it's cards close to it's chest with detailed information about their car, unlike Ferrari for example who have about 20 actual people blabbing about it every GP and test. There's probably been an improvement with the Power Unit and Red Bull offered to get it out there for Renault to do a straight line test. Don't need telemetry for that, just the knowledge that it works! Anyway isn't this thread just leaning a bit too much of a fanboy just ranting and bashing against Vettel and Red Bull? I believed this kind of topic was going to burn out eventually for it's slight humour. So I'm not starting to be amused anymore with the constant updating and trying to label my favorite driver and his team a bunch of cheaters when the same for the others is not being applied. Maybe it would be best to have the title changed to: 'What if teams and their drivers were caught cheating?' but then that has a less provocative title because it's not signaling anybody out. + Pius Gasso is a massive Alonso fanboy who seems a bit sensitive with people who challenge his belief of Alonso being the best driver so no he isn't really respected when the guy has bigger blinkers than me. The guy weirdly blocked me for some reason, probably because of Brazil 2012 or something but I never remember all the arguments I won. He is reliable though in what he gives, but I'll always trust tobias and Scarbs over him any day as they don't act like massive fanboys on their twitter page with agendas. This with also working in tandem with lecterhanibal who is Alonso's BFF and doesn't like his dear friend being the center of a joke when I made a quick photoshop with that Lotus bunny picture and replacing it with 2 faces of Kimi and Alonso... Hopefully sooner or later I'll get blocked by all Alonso's BFF's and the tifosi so I don't have to read paranoid garbage anymore. ++ Pius Gasso didn't break the news about the Mercedes tyre test, some person who lived next to the track told him that an F1 engine was going round the track and took a picture for him. It wasn't even hyped up as breaking news because he thought it was a bloody media event rather than a test as they concluded before Monaco that it was the 2011 car because of it's paint job and figure. It didn't even go viral until it was revealed in Monaco a few weeks after when the truth came out that it was in fact the current car as Rosberg blabbed to Vettel. Same **** happens at Idiada, he just hangs around twitter for the little scoops from people who live there and then try to pass them off as his own with a little spin. I would know as I looked up the actual person who discovered it first hand before Pius pressed RT.
Dhel, I think you and I will get on like a house on fire. Cheaters!!!!!!!!! I've been saying it for years.
Theoretically I wonder how many changes would have to be made to make a 2014 car a test platform that would not comply with 2014 regs and thus be allowed to assist in developing the cooling and power unit?
