The Official 2014 Australian GP Chat and Predictions

Why did it take 5hrs to disqualify him?

 

The million dollar question. I would imagine that the car had to go through some form of formal post race scrutineering and they would have had to substantiate and collaborate any evidence to support their accusation. In addition I have a feeling that RB were deliberately awkward about it and have made their intention clear to kick up a storm.

 

tbh, the more I read about this case the more suspicious I am of 'race fixing' by those in positions of power at the FIA. That the FIA are insistent on sensors that have been proven to show faulty data is a ****ing disgrace imo. RBR's was showing 120kg/h, when the actual flow rate was not even 90, that's a difference of 1/3rd. It smells dirty to me.


Q. How do you slow down a car that's the class of the field?

A. lower the amount of fuel going in to the cylinders by altering the flow rate, that's how.

 

So how do you explain the sudden increase in pace RBR showed in Australia, compared to their frankly crap showing in testing?

If Renualt are so down on power as they keep sayin they are, how come Magnussen couldn't get close to him on the straights with his 'superior' Mercedes power. He should have breezed past when he got close towards the end of the race.

You're right, something does smell dirty.

 

The sport stinks of ****. Has been doing since Mercedes' illegal tyre test.

Can't wait till DTM/LeMan/MotoGP starts. Already into the WRC season.

 

Formula E cannot come soon enough for me.

 

I think the fuel-flow regulation should be scrapped and the teams just given a maximum tank size as before. I can see it causing endless problems through the season.

How they choose to use that fuel during a race is up to them.


We'll ignore the fact that everyother team altered their fuel flow when told to by the FIA, but RBR thought they were above that..........

 

I'm a bit out of the loop at the moment but is there much to suggest RBR and their sensors are more trustworthy than the FIA and theirs? It's a sticky situation, say they let RBR off, that's a precedent set. I feel for Ricciardo, and the situation is far far from ideal.

Also we're one race in, if I presented a opinion in work with a sample size of one I'd get laughed out of the room

 

Can one of you techie guys explain the "Air horn" changed on Kimi's car, please?

 

It was the same as the one on the General Lee. They made him take it off.

 

Stolen from an ice cream van?

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hC4SCC2geuM

... plenty of engine but no air horn, so ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zAKksqKR3pI

 

I think the air horn is just the 'tube' from the roll hoop to the engine. The air box so to speak.

 

Wondering what peoples thoughts are about the season so far?
Here are my thoughts....I'm unsure really but there's time for my mind to be changed

[video=youtube;zsI1bNXE_rA]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zsI1bNXE_rA[/video]

 

Boom boom tishh

 

Same, something stinks and I don't know who is to blame, RBR or the FIA.

 

I'd have more faith in RBR to get it right than the FIA tbh.

If all RBR had to do was change a fuel flow sensor to get some good testing miles in, I'm pretty sure they'd have done so.

 

Mercedes' advantage is essentially that they began work earlier than most. The power unit as a whole rather than just the internal combustion engine part of it, is one of their strongest cards and the way they have integrated ERS is probably better developed than with most other teams. In terms of downforce, Red Bull is still the pick of the bunch – and by some margin in my opinion.

You've noticed the McLaren tends to understeer. Due to weight transfer, this tends to be far more noticeable under power (when the front goes light) and is far less noticeable under braking, where weight transfer pushes front tyres into the tarmac, thereby giving them more bite. Alterations with set-up (especially differentials) can offset a chassis' inherent imbalance to some extent, but trying to achieve it like this is a compromise which a better balanced car avoids. McLaren appear to have made a leap forward, but it is not the best balanced car. Once again, that prize goes to Adrian Newey and his team at Red Bull. I was tempted to add that another point about McLaren is that they now have two very capable drivers, but this would be unfair on Perez; quick on his day but too inconsistent for a top team. (But I wasn't going to say that)

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Very true. The gap will diminish as other teams gain a better understanding of their cars.

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It's difficult not to conclude a certain arrogance in the way that Red Bull went about things; and it's very unfortunate for Ricciardo, who I am certain had full faith in his team's decisions…

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The 'air horn' is the full structure of the air intake (the big hole above the roll bar behind driver's head), all the way down to the business end at the engine; so described because of it's curved shape when viewed in section. BLS' description is good:

 

Anybody noticed the difference in hand movements between Red Bull drivers and Mercedes drivers going through corners? The Red Bull drivers were struggling with steering while the Mercedes were quite smooth. Another observation was that the McLaren cars were not bouncing up and down like previous years. I used to wonder if McLaren drivers wouldnt lose all their teeth with the front of the car bouncing up and down like it is on a vibrator...lol. Seems like they have sorted that out. I used to hate to see them in corners and bouncing like that. You could see the smoothness with the Mercedes and the Williams cars. I dont know if anyone else noticed that.

 

Well considering Mercedes have had roughly the best reliability during testing and Red Bull/Renault one of the worst it would be safe to believe that the reason for this steering instability for RBR is because they hardly had a chance to see what the car can do in Jerez and Bahrain and during that time, try to dial it in to get a foundation to work from. Give it another GP or 2 and you might see it on par with Mercedes or beyond if the car is that quick with considering hardly any testing it had being used in Australia. RBR will make the most gains in these next few weeks, they might already jump Williams and McLaren entirely and be right on Mercedes' coat tails.