FI the new season

clinehall · **Posted:** Mon Mar 30, 2009 9:32 am

Thoughts on the first F1 of the season?

I haven't been following in the off season, new Honda was out but didn't know about the Brawn team so that was quite a surprise. Interesting to see different players in the mix.

What about Kers? Technology for technology sake? They say the weight disadvantage negates the hp bump.

I actually prefer the new cars, sure the wing looks funny but I hated all the wingy things all over the cars last years.

MarcusMcRae · **Posted:** Mon Mar 30, 2009 10:04 am

It does look like the racing might be a little closer this year. Other than that it is the same crap different year. Brawn is probably just cheating.

I think the cars look kind of silly. They look like the fomula bmw cars.

The KERS system sounds dangerous. Hopefully no one will get hurt because of it. Battery powered cars are dumb.

Richard Casto · **Posted:** Mon Mar 30, 2009 12:13 pm

I generally follow F1 pretty closely. Here are my thoughts…

• Why is BrawnGP so quick? First, the team had been very well funded and staffed for years. The 2008 car was really a dog, so Honda stopped any serious development on the car last year and focused heavily on the 2009 car. So many say that the BrawnGP car is the most developed car (time and money spent). Then you have the diffuser issue. Apparently they have done the best aero job of anyone. Then people are speculating that the 2008 Honda engine was down on HP by as much as 50 HP (that’s a lot). This year they are running the Mercedes engine which is not down on power. Then you have all of the other teams in which all of the stars didn’t align correctly. Result, you have BrawnGP that has a really fast and reliable car with competent and experienced drivers. Question is how long will it take for the other teams to catch up? Normally a well funded and organized team like Ferrari or McLaren would catch up quickly by throwing time and money at the problem. But now with no testing allowed and other limits in place, it may take them some time.
• I hate the wings, but like the looks of the cleaner cars. The entire idea was to allow cars to follow each other closer (to setup for pass). Previously the Qty of turbulence of the car in front made it hard for the following car to get close enough to setup a pass. Also, they wanted to reduce aero downforce and increase mechanical grip hence the move to full slicks. Time will tell if all of this has the desired effect.
• I sort of like the idea of KERS if it might create technology that can show up in production cars. I think the goal was to appear to be more “Green” as well as provide a way for the series to continue to be a technical tour de force. But the resulting solutions are probably not ones that lend themselves to production. For example I believe the batteries used in the electrical KERS are not long life at all, and may be “one race” units. KERS also doesn’t have to use battery either. It think at least one uses a high speed flywheel system. There also was some talk about KERS being used in other racing series (to allow manufactures to recoup some development cost), but I think that the other series that is looking into this (prototype racing) specified a slightly different KERS spec, so that didn’t work out. I like the idea of limited “push to pass”, but KERS may not be the right answer to that. Weight of the KERS system is a huge issue. The min weight is about 600 Kg or so, and the KERS package is about 80 Kg or so. So while they can put in KERS and still make minimum weight it hurts them on adjusting weight distribution via ballast placement. So some may have working KERS systems, but still not use them if they feel it puts the weight in the wrong place. Expect race by race decisions as to when to use KERS by teams.
• There is a lot going on with respect to keeping costs down. Limited pre-season testing, no testing in the middle of the season and other limits. BrawnGP/Honda was staffed at about 700 people last year. They just recently let go about 250+ to keep their costs down. Some teams had a full staff just for testing (race staff and testing staff). With the ban on extensive testing, they have shrunk or disbanded their testing teams. Bad news if that was your job, but good news for the sport if it helps keep some teams above water.
• The real problem with F1 these days in my opinion is the insanity brought on by the crazy decisions of Max Mosley and to a lesser degree Bernie Ecclestone. IMHO, Max is a insane tyrant and likes to continue to fiddle with the rules just to prove the existence of his power.

MarcusMcRae · **Posted:** Mon Mar 30, 2009 12:29 pm

Richard Casto wrote:

• The real problem with F1 these days in my opinion is the insanity brought on by the crazy decisions of Max Mosley and to a lesser degree Bernie Ecclestone. IMHO, Max is a insane tyrant and likes to continue to fiddle with the rules just to prove the existence of his power.

Amen.

It cracks me up when a race series talk about their efforts(KERS) to decrease their impact on the environment. Motorsports are never going to be "Green".

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