Just speculation, but what are the odds that both are essentially using the upper nose vent as a W-duct for the front barge board area to provide downforce there as well?

 

I haven't a clue. There must some advantage to it if more than half the field are running their cars in similar fashion.

 

Lotus pulling out of testing due to some chassis "problem" is being viewed by Boullier as a minor set back... but is it? To loose all this testing time, which is in short supply, suggests something more fundamental is going on that requires a major fix. One of the tech reporters speculates: "If it is the engine mounts, then I would have thought that either an error in the material or with the bonding or something like that has caught them out instead. But if it's, for example, a glue problem, then what starts as a small problem could become a big one because there might be 50 inserts all over the chassis...The problem isn't a huge safety issue, but if the car feels strange, as Romain Grosjean says it did, then it's only going to get worse." Either way this is a significant set back for Lotus the consequences of which we won't NO until Melbourne.

Later, Ken

technical note: earlier I was referring to the visble opening/vent at the immediate stepped portion of the nose which, I believe, RB is the only one that has same.

 

Somehow, I don't think the vented stepped nose of the RB8 is to cool the drivers

 

Yes, it fundamentally changes the suspension geometry and the camber curve.

 

Haha definitely not, Newey could've tried to come up with a better excuse than that, that vent is far too big just for driver cooling, and they also still have that little vent in the very front of the nosecone which is used for driver cooling, theres no way they are using two vents for driver cooling...

 

Does anyone know if it is possible to get the Sky F1 channel from the UK here in North America? I'd much rather watch that and pay for it then watch Speed Channels "we take a commercial break every 2 laps" coverage...

EDIT: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Pqen...l&noredirect=1

 

Newey is full of it. He is a pure aerodynamicist. If he could eliminate the driver because their big fat head is causing too much turbulence, he would.

 

Just goes to show how the times from testing don't mean a damn thing...

Day 2 = Hulk

Day 3 = Maldonado

Day 4 = Kobay


If any of these guys are on the front row in Melbourne I'll buy you all a .

 

It is difficult for me to B silent...that said, UR bet is not realy sticking the old neck out here...surely U can do better than that?...it is true, these times mean nothing for some R running on fumes and super softs but the times between these teams and the front will not be as great this year relative to last... there could be some surprises, let's hope so...dare I say Bansai....again?!

Later, Ken

 

What do you base that on? There were no major rule changes that I am aware of that would help any of the backmarkers close the gap between them and the front runners substantially. I personally don't anticipate any potentially drastic changes in the pecking order at this point until the new turbo V6's get implemented. That's when I think you might see one of the manufacturer backed teams that are also engine suppliers take advantage of their experience and familiarty with the new platform, since they designed and developed them.

 

No more blown diffusers. Red Bull was the only team that "really" had it developed properly, if you went to a GP live you could tell the difference; the exhaust blowing was much more constant on the Red Bulls than any other team. Some of the backmarkers weren't even running the system. That alone will close the teams up a bit.

 

I can't imagine it would be enough to make up for a 1+ second per lap difference though. And lets be honest, the elite teams are going to come up with other new innovations that regain the lost downforce in some form or fashion infinitely better than the middle/back of the pack teams. So I could see Mercedes and Renault being able to close the gap to be able to fight for the occasional podium place this season, but it's still most likely going to be the same three teams fighting for victories just like the last couple years, and the rest of the teams will just be fighting for dollars based on where they finish in the constructor's standings.

 

Yeah I agree, probably worth 0.5 seconds a lap but then again Red Bull was also using the blown exhaust to heat the rear tyres, thats why Vettel was always so fast at the start of GPs and why his tyre blew out in Abu Dhabi. I think banning it will close up the teams to Red Bull, might make it more of a 2010-ish season (which would be awesome because that was the best one I've seen in recent years). I think your right though, I can see Mercedes and Renault closing the gap, maybe scoring a victory, and the top teams being closer together, but the bottom teams will remain there. And Red Bull also has that random duct that nobody knows whats for...

 

^^Yes, it is true Toro Rosso or any of the mid-field cars of last year will not win the constructors...never suggested otherwise...rather, the differential between the top three teams and the rest will be smaller relative to last year, e.g., we will not see two to three laps up over the field, for the reasons V-man points out. I think the FIA has reduced the potential for major innovations resulting in a closer performance gap...yes, I am blowing some wind here the truth of which to be determined at Melbourne.

Update: To provide some # to above, last year with all the new DD and exhaust mapping, the pole at Barcelona was 1:20.981, tire was probably soft ...the fastest time at Barcelona testing this year was 1:22.312 on soft Pirelli...the differential is 1.331 sec...this, I believe, is significantly smaller than the differential between the midfield and pole at last years race in Barcelona...I shall check what the figure is...don't callme...I'll call U.
Later, Ken