Oh, no, it's going to be a Paffet-fest, isn't it?
Technical 2014 Technical Regulations
- Thread starter Brogan
- Start date
Should be good for the fans with more cars on track at the start of FP1 which has been very quiet at most races the last few seasons.
Should also give everyone a good idea who is in the frame for a 2015 seat.
Blog Zbod
Podium Finisher
According to numbers from Auto Motor und Sport's Michael Schmidt (as reliable a source as any journo I know of in F1), the 2014 engine suppliers each have spent near as makes no difference € 100M developing the 2014 formula engine. Leases are expected to be priced at € 21M, lump, bag 'o gears & CURSE, so the suppliers will need no fewer than two seasons to recoup R&D outlay. Lease price would increase to (probably) € 23M for six engines total in the event of a 22-race season.
That represents a ~50% increase for the teams currently sourcing power plants from Harrods (Needless Markup) and ~130% for those leasing from ASDA (Wal-Mart).
2013 Cosworth engines go for € 61,000 per copy, so for the same money as a 22-race 2014 power plant lease, both drivers could run a spanking new Cosworth engine every time they turn a wheel in anger -- every free practice, every qualie and every race -- finish it off with € 5M for gearboxes and another € 1M for CURSE and you'd have € 3.6M left over at season's end for one hell of a party.
That represents a ~50% increase for the teams currently sourcing power plants from Harrods (Needless Markup) and ~130% for those leasing from ASDA (Wal-Mart).
2013 Cosworth engines go for € 61,000 per copy, so for the same money as a 22-race 2014 power plant lease, both drivers could run a spanking new Cosworth engine every time they turn a wheel in anger -- every free practice, every qualie and every race -- finish it off with € 5M for gearboxes and another € 1M for CURSE and you'd have € 3.6M left over at season's end for one hell of a party.
Somewhat quietly the FIA has decided that going forward they will put out a tender for SIngle Oil Supplier. Paddock veteran Joe Saward has been all over this story and is warning of dire implications. As we know Ferrari (Shell), Mercedes (Petronas), McLaren (Exxon Mobil), Williams (PDVSA), and the other Renault (Total) runners have extremely lucrative deals with their "exclusive" oil suppliers, and those might be in jeopardy if the FIA actually goes forward with the Single Supplier model.
Fenderman
Rooters Reporter
That has to be one of the all time stupidest FIA decisions of all time. The commercial implications don't bear thinking about let alone the technical ones. As you infer KekeTheKing those companies that don't land the contract will have some difficulty justifying multi-million bucks to sponsor a team when F1 followers and fans will know full well that their product isn't in the cars.
It has implications for them beyond F1 as well. What message will it send to punters who are advised, nay told, by their car's manufacturer to use the oil that they recommend? Those of us who run aged second hand cheapies already bung Halfords cheapest in the sump! If F1 can run one size fits all then why not Joe and Jane Blogs?
I'm all for the power of the oil industry to be challenged from time to time. The trouble is it is their rather less than ideal environmental practices that need attention, not a threat to the promotion of their products and valuable contribution to our beloved F1.
It has implications for them beyond F1 as well. What message will it send to punters who are advised, nay told, by their car's manufacturer to use the oil that they recommend? Those of us who run aged second hand cheapies already bung Halfords cheapest in the sump! If F1 can run one size fits all then why not Joe and Jane Blogs?
I'm all for the power of the oil industry to be challenged from time to time. The trouble is it is their rather less than ideal environmental practices that need attention, not a threat to the promotion of their products and valuable contribution to our beloved F1.
Only sensible move I suppose. Why the FIA even dangled it out there is the real story.
Blog Zbod
Podium Finisher
New rules could force tall drivers out of F1
They speculate that Nico Hulkenberg was passed over by Ferrari simply because he is too heavy.
In another article on the same topic, they were speculating the 2014 theoretical 'ceiling ' for driver weight will be about 65 kilos. Which led Hamilton to remark he couldn't get down to 65 kilos if he cut off his testicles.
Not exactly a prudent remark for him to make. Now Nicole will know he's nicked them back.
They speculate that Nico Hulkenberg was passed over by Ferrari simply because he is too heavy.
In another article on the same topic, they were speculating the 2014 theoretical 'ceiling ' for driver weight will be about 65 kilos. Which led Hamilton to remark he couldn't get down to 65 kilos if he cut off his testicles.
Not exactly a prudent remark for him to make. Now Nicole will know he's nicked them back.
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Blog Zbod
Podium Finisher
Gary Anderson has a proposal in this week's Autosport (Issue 41) for reducing the need to recruit dwarfs as drivers (I for one would argue F1 already has one dwarf too many). Even using handicap weights, like in horse racing, is problematic because the shorter driver also has a lower center of gravity. So Anderson suggests putting a pocket on back of the driver's seat at a height that matches his own personal CG. Then use the customary tungsten ballast weight. He didn't address how much weight but it seems logical that everyone would carry a ballast of the same weight as the margin between himself and the heaviest driver.
But it seems to me, if you do what Anderson suggests, you should go back to the old practice of excluding the driver from the car's spec weight. Otherwise, fluctuations in the weight of the heaviest driver over the course of the season could result in some humorous complications.
But it seems to me, if you do what Anderson suggests, you should go back to the old practice of excluding the driver from the car's spec weight. Otherwise, fluctuations in the weight of the heaviest driver over the course of the season could result in some humorous complications.
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Blog Zbod - In fact, a well-resourced team with a big driver (idk, Button? Hulkenburg?) could pay some dosh to Marussia/Caterham to run some extremely weighty gentleman or lady to drive one of their cars, thus ensuring that Vettel, Alonso, Hamilton etc. had to drive with huge amounts of standard ballast. Could that be an advantage?
Olivier
Race Winner
2014 Turbos ...
Turbo: Renault - BorgWarner and Ferrari - Honeywell?
http://www.omnicorse.it/magazine/31...enault-con-borgwarner-e-ferrari-con-honeywell
Turbo: Renault - BorgWarner and Ferrari - Honeywell?
http://www.omnicorse.it/magazine/31...enault-con-borgwarner-e-ferrari-con-honeywell
Blog Zbod
Podium Finisher
Weighing in on fat drivers
...While Mark Webber and Nico Hulkenberg are tallish, all of the men who look to be a normal size on television are virtual wraiths in real life. Even Michael Schumacher, who was known in his career for his physical strength and devotion to fitness, looked as though a strong breeze might see him float away.
That was in 2010, and all of those drivers still in the paddock are now shadows of their former selves, forced to lose weight as they gain muscle thanks to the inconvenience of being the fleshy non-aerodynamic component ruining the designers' dreams of the perfect race car....
...While Mark Webber and Nico Hulkenberg are tallish, all of the men who look to be a normal size on television are virtual wraiths in real life. Even Michael Schumacher, who was known in his career for his physical strength and devotion to fitness, looked as though a strong breeze might see him float away.
That was in 2010, and all of those drivers still in the paddock are now shadows of their former selves, forced to lose weight as they gain muscle thanks to the inconvenience of being the fleshy non-aerodynamic component ruining the designers' dreams of the perfect race car....
"Muscle is heavier by volume than fat"
http://blog.3bscientific.com/therap...uster-muscle-is-heavier-than-fat-isnt-it.html
http://blog.3bscientific.com/therap...uster-muscle-is-heavier-than-fat-isnt-it.html
Blog Zbod
Podium Finisher
Pedro de la Rosa hints that the the complexities of the 2014-spec CURSE will make the role of the race engineer all the more critical to a driver's success. Otherwise, he mostly parrots Scuderia party line.
Lovely. More races decided from the pit wall.
Lovely. More races decided from the pit wall.
That's what we need.
Blog Zbod
Podium Finisher
Adrian Newey has christened the 2014 Red Bull RB10 "ugly." Which seems to be par for the course when nothing apart aerodynamics calls the dance tune. I thought the Gumpert Apollo was ugly until I saw the 250-mph Weber hypercar, which was the first car I ever saw advertised as having been designed entirely with aerodynamics in mind and no consideration given to eye-pleasing styling.
Blog Zbod
Podium Finisher
Renault's Naoki Tokunaga admits 2014 will be a fuel economy contest.
"...Because you have to save fuel, it means there will be a difference between average power use through races and the maximum power available.
"But that then means if you need it, the maximum power is always available. So if you want to try to use it to get past another car, then you can.
"And afterwards you will then have to make up for the extra fuel used. It will mean more diverse strategies...."
(emphasis added, the new code for "fuel economy contest")
He continues to equivocate this to the current strategery of starting the race with the lightest possible fuel load:
"...We don't want to leave any fuel in the tank when the race is finished, so we have to manage fuel consumption now. It will be the same, and nothing has changed...."
Except that in 2013, starting fuel load is calculated to allow the driver to drive as fast as his tyres and his talents allow, unless and until the race takes an unexpected turn. For 2014, OTOH, a driver will only ever be lapping as fast as his race engineer tells him his remaining fuel load allows, from when the lights go out until he returns to the paddock. Because radical G-load changes prevent fuel ever settling to a 'normal' level in the tank(s), no fuel gauge sensor will work in an F1 car, so remaining fuel is calculated by engineers comparing trends in damper loads against starting fuel load and historic fuel consumption rates. Which is why the driver must rely on his race engineer to apprise him how close he is on fuel. In 2013, remaining fuel only becomes an issue when the race plays our unexpectedly. In 2014, it will be the mainstay of race strategery.
This might be Tokunaga's notion of nothing changing, but it's my notion of sea change.
"...Because you have to save fuel, it means there will be a difference between average power use through races and the maximum power available.
"But that then means if you need it, the maximum power is always available. So if you want to try to use it to get past another car, then you can.
"And afterwards you will then have to make up for the extra fuel used. It will mean more diverse strategies...."
(emphasis added, the new code for "fuel economy contest")
He continues to equivocate this to the current strategery of starting the race with the lightest possible fuel load:
"...We don't want to leave any fuel in the tank when the race is finished, so we have to manage fuel consumption now. It will be the same, and nothing has changed...."
Except that in 2013, starting fuel load is calculated to allow the driver to drive as fast as his tyres and his talents allow, unless and until the race takes an unexpected turn. For 2014, OTOH, a driver will only ever be lapping as fast as his race engineer tells him his remaining fuel load allows, from when the lights go out until he returns to the paddock. Because radical G-load changes prevent fuel ever settling to a 'normal' level in the tank(s), no fuel gauge sensor will work in an F1 car, so remaining fuel is calculated by engineers comparing trends in damper loads against starting fuel load and historic fuel consumption rates. Which is why the driver must rely on his race engineer to apprise him how close he is on fuel. In 2013, remaining fuel only becomes an issue when the race plays our unexpectedly. In 2014, it will be the mainstay of race strategery.
This might be Tokunaga's notion of nothing changing, but it's my notion of sea change.
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