Motors The Bit-Tech Formula 1 2014 Thread - Season Complete

Get in there son, do it for Papa Smurf!!

 

That would be an amusing first

 

i catching up on bbc F1s website dam the videos are such low res :/

 

Just for a giggle, I'll say there will be no powertrain-based failures during this weekend's race.

 

Just throwing this out there, but anyone else getting the feeling they may not even all make the start? *cough* Caterham *cough*

 

I'll take an optimistic 16

 

Fine by me. A car that doesn't start cannot fail during the race!

 

I don't think fuel will be a problem because I think it is very likely we will see a safety car. Looking forward for tomorrow as we will get to see the true colours.

 

Nope... thinking a team or two may not make it *cough*lotus*cough*

 

And we have rain

After Q1:

knocked out,
Chilton
Bianchi
Gutierrez
Ericsson
Grosjean
Maldonado (no time)

Surprise at the top with Ricciardo fastest so far, but Mercedes hasn't used soft tire.

Q2: Everyone changes to intermediates in last couple minutes, Raikkonen parks his car in the wall in the last minute.

Button
Raikkonen
Vettel
Sutil
Kobayashi
Perez

all knocked out

Pole for Hamilton
Ricciardo 2nd

Surprised to see both Williams beaten by both Toro Rosso.

 

Not really sure hoow much of this was down to the weatherconditions. Merc was basically the only one that looked fast for the whole weekend so far.

Alos very disapointed by Räikkönen so far, but that could've many reasons and isn't necessarily down to the driver, just aswell as with what we saw with Vettel vs Ricciardo, Button vs Magnussen, etc.

The teams sure have left alot of work to do, especially with the software and the engine-mappings, if we believe the comments from the drivers and teams.

Can't wait for the race to start tomorrow.

 

Just the start I was hoping for!

Highlight of the Quali though was martin brundles comment about the Ferrari nose after Kimi binned it

 

With these drive by wire brakes what is the likelihood of everyone piling into each other at the 1st corner tomorrow?

 

Maldonado's at the back without a time, so they're probably safe.

What's the betting that at least two Renault engine cars fail before the lights go out?

I'm betting a Lotus and at least one car with Red Bull sponsorship will pop on the warm up lap.

Also, unfortunate for Button to get gazumped by Kimi's wall chomping maneuvre, but 15th for Kamui Kobayashi, get in there!

 

It's not totally by wire, there is still the traditional mechanical link between the pedal and the brakes... IIRC the 'by wire' bit is to balance how much of the braking is done by the brakes, and mow much of it is engine braking from the ERS systems... It's designed so you still have brakes should the 'by wire' bit fail...

However it is prone to lock-ups if the 'by wire' isn't set up correctly [and even if it is]... so it causing a pile up at turn 1 is possible...

 

If its dry I expect a merc 1-2 they are so much faster in race trim than the rest. At least 0.5 seconds maybe more once the fuel goes down.

Quali is always about banking laps, if you take a risk and leave it till late you can get caught out as JB and Vettal did no guarentees either would of made Q3 though.

Some drivers have adapted better to the new engine regs some have not.

Kimi is a prime example of not adapting yet, alonso has done so.

Williams despite all the hype were pretty disappointing. As I said in earlier thread the RBR is quick in 1 lap but slow in race trim at the min not entirely to be unexpected.

They are not as far away as some think though.

 

So we didn't even get past the first race before the first mechanical related penalties [Bottas and Gutierrez's Gearboxes]... Maldonado didn't set a time, Grosjean may as well have not bothered either...

Whilst Raikkonen stuffing it into the wall didn't help him, I wouldn't have been surprised if Vettel hadn't made Q3, even in testing Ricciardo looks like he has had a better time with the RB10 than Vettel. Also the loud cheer from the crowd when Vettel got knocked out, it was almost as loud as when Ricciardo set his [what would become] P2 time...

Massa looks like he's enjoying himself in the Williams, even if it wasn't *that* quick. Kvyat and Magnussen weren't too shabby either, though it'll be interesting to see if they can keep it up.

Roll on tomorrow...

 

Big win for Rosberg, shame about Hamiltons engine.

In other news, looks like McLaren is back, Magnussen in 3rd and Button in 4th, however they had to manage fuel despite the safety car, so not too sure how sustainable their performance will be.

Not sure what to make of Ferrari, both cars in the points (even if its in the lower ranks) after nursing some electrical issue, so we may not have seen their full performance yet.

Great race overall though.

 

Good win backing my prediction for the season for Rosberg. Button better hope he keeps his drive next year with Honda

 

Actually a pretty boring race.