Technical 2014 Technical Regulations

[sushifiesta]

The first ABS systems were actually mechanical not electrical, so not all ABS is "brake by wire" either.

Aside from that, it all has to be done through the centralised ECU so in theory it would be difficult for a team to abuse what brake by wire is for. We don't have traction control in F1 for example, and apart from the dubious rumours regarding Red Bull last year there have been no issues with teams trying to get around the regulations. I don't see why brake by wire is any different. It isn't and won't be ABS.

 

[Blog Zbod]

Auto Motor und Sport are predicting the ugliest noses are yet to come. The Lotus' walrus nose apparently revealed possibilities that most other teams had not considered, one that helps preserve the integrity of the airflow to the tea tray. AMuS's spies have told them there are new 'anteater' noses in he works with the single snout offset to either side.

Pirelli's Baghdad Bob has proclaimed that the 2014 tyres are producing far less clag than 2013's. Drivers are reporting that the new tyres have a much wider operating window but also say they will have to be more mindful of the rears, because the V-6t's prodigious torque could reek havoc on them. Injudicious application of the throttle will produce wheelspin anywhere through fourth gear.

My point in the prognostication earlier in this thread was that BBW is the gateway drug to throttle by wire and steer by wire. The more software/firmware-driven systems that are intercommunicating, the greater the opportunity for the clever code-writer to hide the Magna Carta within in the code without the FIA being able to suss it out.

 

[teabagyokel]

"The car refused to start until the barons' rights were protected!"
"Can't we load the US Constitution instead?"

 

[sushifiesta]

I find it a bit strange that everyone is proclaiming the wonders of the Lotus nose keeping a central hole for the airflow, but not the Ferrari and Mercedes noses which achieve the same thing. Granted the area of the central hole on the Lotus is probably bigger than the Mercedes/Ferrari equivalents.

 

[Blog Zbod]

Pirelli are experimenting with temperature-sensing stickers to prevent the teams pre-heating tyres too hot.

 

[Bill Boddy]

I do feel for the drivers having to control all that torque;they will have to learn that just putting your foot hard down doesn't work. Well, they have had to do this recently, although to a much lesser degree, and isn't human control one of the things we want anyway? So maybe the better drivers could have an advantage, wouldn't that be lovely.

 

[Blog Zbod]

I need to fess up and take my lumps.

Originally reading the 2014 TR, I assumed that the hourly fuel flow rate set forth in Article 5.1.4 was proportionally reducible, i.e, 10kg/6 minutes, 1kg/36 seconds, etc. But then I gave too much credence to bhp claims being speculated to in the preseason. The only way I could make those exaggerated numbers fit was if they were using a higher "qualies-only" boost pressure. Which gave me to believe 100kg/hr was not further reducible and was not controlling unless and until either of the thresholds (1 hour or 100 kg) had been met. Which means qualies would be exempted.

But the brouhaha over Ricciardo at Melbourne most certainly flew in the face of that logic. So I E-Mailed freelance F1 journo Craig Scarborough ("Scarbs"), set forth my dilemma, and asked for a clarification. To my astonishment, he replied. Here is the salient bit of his response, unedited:

The 100kg\hr fuel flow restriction was always instantaneous (down the10hz sampling frequency), to limit quali\ovetake maps with high boost and to let the teams focus on ERS.

I think the tales of 900hp for the merc are optimistic, the merc has dramatically better drivability, in the factory W05 car is better charge cooled and is reliable. Summed up this means the Merc PU is free to put all of its power down, unlike ferrari and renault.

In other words, when I thought I was wrong, I was mistaken. My original take on 5.1.4 was correct. There is no "qualies-only" boost pressure. And the TR should never be interpreted literally.



My apologies for having spread disinformation.

 

[sushifiesta]

Looking at practice times from Australia and Malaysia the cars seems to be about three seconds slower than last year at the moment, which is more than Bahrain testing seemed to suggest. We need dry qualifyings to be able to compare properly but I'm not so convinced that this years cars are going to be on the pace of last years by mid-season any more.

 

[Blog Zbod]

Earlier in the week, Button was quoted as saying some of the drivers deliberately were dehydrating before races to cut weight. The Sunday Times reported that one of them fainted at a publicity event before the race. Not named, but the three heaviest drivers, Sutil, Button and the Hulk, seem the likeliest suspects. One wonders whether this event escaped the attention of the FIA medical staff.

 

[Bushi]

Button was one of them:

We reported on Saturday that some drivers are deliberately dehydrating, even at sweltering Sepang, in order to get the weight of their car below the legal 692 kg limit.

“That is what I was going to do,” admitted Jenson Button. “Go in a sauna, steam room, not drink or eat until after Qualifying.

“It is a shame for the guys who have to do it.”

It appears, in fact, that Button has been toying with dehydration strategies in Malaysia.

“Morning run for Jenson,” his trainer, Mikey Collier, said on Twitter on Saturday, “with pre and post weight measurements to guide hydration strategies, taking driver weight loss to the extreme.”

Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton agreed that he has also heard that some drivers’ dieting has become hardcore.

“I heard someone was doing that, exhausting themselves,” said the Briton.



Read more http://grandprix247.com/2014/03/30/...passes-out-as-extreme-dieting-takes-its-toll/

Why don't they raise the min. weight and let the smaller more lighter drivers at ballast to give the heaviest drivers some breathing space? F1 Can't be safe enough for the FIA, yet they let something like this untouched, while it was well know before the season even began.

 

[Jen]

Dehydration is very dangerous, even in a young person. It compromises the kidneys and can lead to DVT, which is what happened to me 18 months ago.

 

[Slyboogy]

This is actually quite shocking really.

 

[Blog Zbod]

...Why don't they raise the min. weight and let the smaller more lighter drivers at ballast to give the heaviest drivers some breathing space?...

What I find absolutely incongruous is that they have raised the spec weight for 2015, and announced they were doing so before the 2014 season began. Which begs the question, "What was wrong with 2014?"

It is G-d's own mystery the way the FIA's minds' work (or don't).

Dehydration is very dangerous, even in a young person. It compromises the kidneys and can lead to DVT, which is what happened to me 18 months ago.

But it is routine in the pugilistic sports. Many fighters will lose 10kg (or more) in the last 24-48 hours before a weigh-in for a fight/match. Last year, UFC women's champ Rhonda Rousey (fighting weight: 135 lbs, walking around weight: 10 1/2 stone/67kg) lost >11% of her body weight in 24 hours, just to prove to a male colleague it could be done. But of course they rehydrate immediately after the weighing ceremony, and don't compete dehydrated.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

But that doesn't make it right...

 

[soccerman17]

While professional fighting is a little bit more out of control with the weight cutting because of the $$$, high school wrestling in America has put into place quite a few regulations on how much weight can be lost from pre-season weigh in to pre-competition, and how much can be lost based on body fat. I don't really know the specifics, but something like this may be necessary unless the FIA just do the sensible thing and add ballasts based on driver weight. But then I could see them trying to fatten up before the weigh ins for that, although that isn't quite as bad as cutting.

 

[Fenderman]

The minimum weight limit was raised to take account of the heavier power units - i.e. engine plus turbo, MUG-K and MUG-H. Although the V6's are slightly smaller it's the ancillaries that have added the weight. I'm sure folk's do recall that toward the end of last season there were complaints, not least from heavier drivers themselves, that the minimum weight increase was insufficient.

Quite frankly looking at how gaunt Button and Hamilton looked after the race on Sunday they did not look at all well.

 

[tonyw151]

I know the cars are stronger and heavier for crash protection but what was the weight limit pre Sienna's death? I can remember it rise steadily since.

 

[Blog Zbod]

The spec weight on the car Senna was killed in was 540kg, driver NOT included. From 1995 onward, driver weight has been rolled into car spec weight. Initially it was 595kg, meaning the FIA were allowing for an eight and one-half stone driver, 55kg.

AFAIK, the FIA have never provided for an increase to spec weight for the stated purpose of facilitating improved capabilities to the crash structure. Crash testing requirements change almost seasonally, but since driver and car weights were combined, spec weight only has changed five times. And one of the five was done specifically to allow for all the clag the disinte-Pirellis shed. It all has to come out of hide. The teams routinely are expected to poo miracles.

 

[Westy]

You can see on this chart how the minimum weight has changed over time. The cars have nearly doubled in weight since 1961.

 

[RasputinLives]

On the weight issues I alluded too over on the Sauber thread it is true that some of the drivers are looking unhealthy thin. You only have to look at Hamilton's face to see he's the thinest he's ever been and Kmag, Kyvat and Bottas are so pale they are almost translucent!

Its no wonder they are raising the weight for next year. They've really pushed it with the drivers. I think the new regs have focused on the cars so much they've forgot the health aspect.

Can you imagine Bertrand Gachot or Jos Verstappen getting in a car now days? Geez they struggled on the weight thing back in the old days.