Draco-REX Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Has started! Qualifying tomorrow and the first race Sunday! KERS is back, Double-Decker Diffusers are gone, and the driver can lower the rear wing if he's within passing distance of the car ahead. This is in addition to the adjustable front wing too. Hopefully this will make for a lot more overtaking. Another blast from the past is the 107% rule. Qualifying is even higher stakes now. If a driver can't hit 107% of the lead time or better, he doesn't race. Should be another good year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ImUrOBGYN Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 I'm actually a bit excited for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco-REX Posted March 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 I'm watching today's practice right now (love DVR). Seems that in practice and qualifying the moveable rear wing is unrestricted, but in the race itself it'll only be useable on long straights and if they are within passing distance of the car ahead (1 sec or less). The wing will then revert to the high-downforce position when the driver hits the brakes. The cool thing is that it's clearly obvious what position the wing is in. It snaps up and down over 2" like a trap door. Very neat to watch. I forgot to mention that Bridgestone is gone and Pirelli is in as the sole tire manufacturer. This will change a lot. They still are using the 13" rim size though. And I was wrong, the moveable front wing is gone this year as well as the F-duct. As are the sharkfin engine covers that connect to the rear wing. I'm not sure why, but I guess it's to eliminate any possibility of an F-duct. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmonda Posted March 26, 2011 Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Huge Mclaren fan here. I've been to couple races. Can't wait. G Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco-REX Posted March 26, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 26, 2011 Huge Mclaren fan here. I've been to couple races. Can't wait. G 2012, Austin TX. I plan to be there! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WrxRcr Posted March 27, 2011 Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Nothing sounds better than listening to an F1 car at WOT. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco-REX Posted March 27, 2011 Author Report Share Posted March 27, 2011 Nothing sounds better than listening to an F1 car at WOT. If you want to hear a car scream, in 2013 F1 will switch to turbocharged 1.6L 4cyl engines that will spin to 12,000 rpm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey Posted March 28, 2011 Report Share Posted March 28, 2011 I'm excited to see the changes for this year. It was cool in the race to see the battle between Button and Massa when Massa would save his KERS usage till the straight in order to hold off Button when he was using the DRS. I understand that only the rear car gets the advantage of the DRS (wing), but what I can't figure out is what if you have a few cars in a row? Does only the last car get to use it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harmonda Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Hey all, what do you think so far? 3 races in and we seem to have real racing again. Somehow the combination of KERS, DRS and tires that degrade quickly have resulted in actual interesting racing. Strategy matters again. Mechanical grip matters. Driving skill or at least a driver's use of widgets seems to be a real factor too. I'm glad to see it coming together right before they return to the US next year. I'm also glad to see it be about something other than one team developing a rule-buster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwohio Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 The race on Sunday was crazy! Lots of passing, and action in and out of the pits....fucking rookie mistake by Button going through Vettel's pit box at the beginning....RBR team handled it like a boss though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CRed05 Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 Hamilton vs Vettel in the Chinese GP...awesome. Glad Hamilton came through in the end. It definitely seems to be more exciting. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sol/shared/spl/hi/motorsport/11/massive_pic/img/f1_big_picture_china.jpg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bmwohio Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 awesome shot ^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smokey Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 The race Sunday was great. Webber was hard charging for the front! Hard to ask for more. The tires have certainly added a great element for strategy. I really like that some teams run 2 stops and others 3, it makes it more interesting for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
El Karacho1647545492 Posted April 18, 2011 Report Share Posted April 18, 2011 ^^^ 15 spots is Senna-esque driving Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco-REX Posted April 21, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 Finally watched the race. Wow. Great job by Hammy, but Webber made everyone look like chumps. Incredible. Vettel did a great job too. But Adrian Newey and Red Bull Renault is still a dominating combination technically, with Vettel and Webber being two of the best drivers out there. The other teams need to work double-time right now. When Red Bull gets the bugs worked out of their KERS system, they are going to be unstoppable. So far I'm enjoying this year a lot. The different tires, the moveable rear wing, KERS, everything is adding up to make things a lot more exciting. I can't wait to see what the rest of the season will bring. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Littleguy Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 I can't wait until it comes to Austin next year, I definitely plan on attending. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AudiOn19s Posted April 21, 2011 Report Share Posted April 21, 2011 I think the Kers is still gimiky at best. it's like high tech NOS!. I do realize Indy does something similar with their push to pass but I don't like that either, they have no other equalizers though. We all saw KERS by itself didn't work like intended 2 years ago, I don't really care for it now either I like the rear wing, but make it moveable all the time, not just when you're trying to pass. I think the two combined gives almost too much of an advantage to the trailing car. Let everyone use that wing however they like and wherever they like. I realize all of these combined are to help with passing and to make the competition better, but honestly I think the shit tire is all that was really needed. There are enough people on differing strategies and different stages of tire degredation throughout the race to make most of the action happen without the other aids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Draco-REX Posted April 22, 2011 Author Report Share Posted April 22, 2011 I think the Kers is still gimiky at best. it's like high tech NOS!. I do realize Indy does something similar with their push to pass but I don't like that either, they have no other equalizers though. We all saw KERS by itself didn't work like intended 2 years ago, I don't really care for it now either I like the rear wing, but make it moveable all the time, not just when you're trying to pass. I think the two combined gives almost too much of an advantage to the trailing car. Let everyone use that wing however they like and wherever they like. I realize all of these combined are to help with passing and to make the competition better, but honestly I think the shit tire is all that was really needed. There are enough people on differing strategies and different stages of tire degredation throughout the race to make most of the action happen without the other aids. The problem with KERS is that they can use it any time they want. There are optimal points on the track to use it, and everyone will use it there. The only good spot to pass on most tracks is turn 1, which is at the end of a long straight. So every car always keeps some power in reserve for the last corner to get the best run down the front straight. And halfway down the front straight, everyone gets a recharge. So everyone's equalized, passing is no easier than without KERS. Opening up the DRS for the entire track will just do the same thing and passing will disappear again. What I would like to see is the DRS enabled for all long straights. So tracks like the last two which have both a back and front straight would have two DRS zones. That would give cars that are passed a chance to get the position back. It would have a double benefit by making KERS more relevant. The drivers would have to balance using it to defend on the back straight against having it available for the final corner and the front straight. Do they allow the pass on the back straight in hopes of having the power to overtake on the front? Or do they try to fight off the DRS car and continue the fight to the start/finish line? The problem with F1 is that they are pushing the limits of physics with these cars. So despite all of the difference in the cars, it means they are all very close in performance. There just isn't enough leeway to make passing a common occurance. So the FIA has to create differences in the cars so passing is possible. The moveable wing and how it's regulated in the race is a stroke of genius. Unfortunately, it's a sledgehammer fix for a scalpel problem. But it's working and just needs to be refined. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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