Grand Prix 2018 United States Grand Prix Practice, Qualifying & Race Discussion

I could have totally borrowed C_A_T’s last years’s writeup as it’s completely applicable to this year’s race. I would but I don’t as I have a ton of respect for our moderator and I owe to the site something new, even if I’m nursing a 40-degrees cold and I’m nursing a hernia. Sorry for the brevity of my article and I hope the race more than make up for it.

America the land of opportunity and excess is the next stop the the F1 circus this year. With a shinny new Justice Kavanaugh in charge of waving the checkered flags (sorry he probably won’t), the few f1 fans left in the room cheer and wait in expectation to see if a nearly crowned leader Lewis Hamilton bagged the title (he probably has already). This put him ahead of Frenchman Alain Prost and tie in number of titles with Argentinean Juan Manuel Fangio. Quite the achievement. Mercedes a class on his field, even if he Ferrari is at least as fast, will see Bottas victorious as soon as the the title is settle. Vettel has singlehandedly managed to derail his own path to a 5th title by making a little too many mistakes.

Let’s hope for a real old fashion show and a mano-a-mano between the 2 4-title champions rather than an anticlimactic “Bottas, Lewis is faster than you” affair like last race.

Gentlemen, start your engines and Make Racing Great Again!

 

[Mezzer]

It could be argued that pole at the CoA would be better placed on the left which would enable the pole sitter a greater choice of lines to take.

I was about to make exactly this point. Hamilton didn't really lose out due to the chop, he had wheel spin as commented on by a number of announcers which Kimi didn't due to the different tyres. If Kimi had lifted everyone would be saying what a smart manoeuvre it was on Hamilton's part ...

 

[Izumi]

F1Brits_90 Being out of reach for many, and being different is part of modern F1 DNA. Making it drinking Budweiser instead champagne is quickest way how to follow fate, now dead, famous US series. Fans of today are not the same who were watching F1 some odd 30 years ago. (I could be an exception.) CART is the thing of past, Indy numbers are not too great, NASCAR numbers are reported dropping. What makes Liberty think that F1 must emulate the same disastrous strategies? I could be wrong, but modern and prosperous F1 is not a series for Tier 2 group assembled from Williams, McLaren, Sauber, or FI. It is a clash of automotive titans.

 

[F1Brits_90]

Izumi but i get your point i dont want it to be like BTCC where anyone can enter if you have. Enough money But their is tipping point of out of reach & a closed shop. As you always got ask the question let say in recent years 1 of Sauber Force India or Williams went bust. Is there anyone wanting to take there place. I dont believe there is weve had 4 - 6 free spots on that grid for 4 years now. Nobody even shown an interest. I feel we are getting to the point where even big manufacters dont want to go into F1 through cost. They might look at renault & think how do i justify to our board or sponsors spending £150m potentially a season. With no hope of victory Knowing that even with a perfect weekend we will finish 7th might just about stay on the lead lap if we get a safety car

F1 is still just as prestigious now as it was 20yrs ago. Im estimating that force india probally have bigger budget now to scrape into the top 10 than mclaren did to win world championship with mika hakkinen.

 

[Il_leone]

the issue is currently there is collaboration between some of the smaller teams with the grandees so Ferrari have Haas and Sauber in their pocket whilst Mercedes have got Force India . That is not F1, we want to see the odd shock where the little teams upset the establishment

 

[Ruslan]

Come on then Ruslan, who will Seb crash into, sorry, try to pass next weekend?

I'll make a prediction after qualifying.

 

[Ruslan]

Mercedes had to close the holes in their wheels as they were deemed a moving aerodynamic device and they got their old issues with overheating the rear tyres. Regarding Vettel, that could well have been the case but I think that Hamilton would have defended the first corner much harder from Vettel (as any reasonable driver would, in fairness) as in such a situation Hamilton would gain an advantage if they crashed, with Kimi he had everything to lose

So....is the story Ferrari had an advantage until the installed a second sensor...then Mercedes had an advantage until they closed their wheels? Is this the cutting edge of automotive engineering?

 

[Publius Cornelius Scipio]

Is this the cutting edge of automotive engineering?

looks like it is

 

[Ruslan]

looks like it is

From a formula that used to pioneer rear engine cars, ground effects, turbo chargers, advance aerodynamics....to this, where the competitors gain an advantage for a race or three due to a clever "trick." and then FIA figures it out.

 

[Publius Cornelius Scipio]

From a formula that used to pioneer rear engine cars, ground effects, turbo chargers, advance aerodynamics....to this, where the competitors gain an advantage for a race or three due to a clever "trick." and then FIA figures it out.

I know, it's very sad, but the regulations are so strict that there is only very little that the teams can do

 

[Izumi]

the issue is currently there is collaboration between some of the smaller teams with the grandees so Ferrari have Haas and Sauber in their pocket whilst Mercedes have got Force India . That is not F1, we want to see the odd shock where the little teams upset the establishment

Where was the outrage when Dietrich Mateschitz purchased Minardi as his B-team?

 

[Izumi]

Yes, teams cannot do much, and this is not a small matter of charging ahead at some paint drying speed, but also cleaning up mistakes of the past which precipitated into aero, or power plant designs. It should not come then as surprise to anyone, that a team which got it right in 2014 looks so smart for so long, and rest of them like bunch of nincompoops.

 

[F1Brits_90]

Where was the outrage when Dietrich Mateschitz purchased Minardi as his B-team?

True but then it was about young drivers & it was minority. Now these b teams just seem a way to stay afloat

 

[Ruslan]

I know, it's very sad, but the regulations are so strict that there is only very little that the teams can do

Well my hope....and this may only be my thinking, as then when they put in cost controls.....they can also loosen up the regulations. As many of those regulations are for the sake of controlling cost, they are no longer needed. We shall see.

I do think Bernie Ecclestone did a great disserve to F1 when he finagled the scrapping of Todt's budget cap back in 2014. It was his final embarrassment before he checked out.

 

[Mezzer]

Meh, the budget cap existed in name only, there were far too many ways to get around it. It was a nice idea but impossible to effectively monitor.

 

[Ruslan]

Meh, the budget cap existed in name only, there were far too many ways to get around it. It was a nice idea but impossible to effectively monitor.

It is bookkeeping. If a bunch of hockey players at the NHL can manage a budget cap across 31 teams....then I think F1 has the brainpower to do it.

 

[The Artist.....]

Ruslan - I'm very much in favour of a budget cap, but when it comes to F1, there is a question about how it can be policed.

Suppose, for instance, a team wanted to design a new part for their car in CFD, then run 100 iterations in a wind tunnel, and then make up the part themselves, they could:
a) Do it all in house, and pay for the part development themselves
b) Use a wholely owned subsidiary company to produce the part, and pay them a fraction of the cost of production to get the part.

This would create opportunities for teams like Mercedes and Ferrari (who could use their road car divisions to produce parts), whilst privateer teams would be somewhat screwed.

 

[vintly]

If a bunch of hockey players at the NHL can manage a budget cap across 31 teams....then I think F1 has the brainpower to do it.

It doesn’t equate. Unless aero testing of hockey sticks runs into the millions. The cost of one F1 steering wheel could probably pay for a hockey teams’ kit for a decade.

 

[Ruslan]

It doesn’t equate. Unless aero testing of hockey sticks runs into the millions. The cost of one F1 steering wheel could probably pay for a hockey teams’ kit for a decade.

It is not a small task. It is $3.7 billion sport with 31 teams and tracking contracts for well over a 1,000 players. Their budget cap system works, and works well.

 

[Ruslan]

Ruslan - I'm very much in favour of a budget cap, but when it comes to F1, there is a question about how it can be policed.

Suppose, for instance, a team wanted to design a new part for their car in CFD, then run 100 iterations in a wind tunnel, and then make up the part themselves, they could:
a) Do it all in house, and pay for the part development themselves
b) Use a wholely owned subsidiary company to produce the part, and pay them a fraction of the cost of production to get the part.

This would create opportunities for teams like Mercedes and Ferrari (who could use their road car divisions to produce parts), whilst privateer teams would be somewhat screwed.

Well, I am not an accountant, but I have run businesses.....so this does not seem that much of a challenge to me. You may have to require all budget to go through a single account that can be monitored by FIA, you may have to have rules about paying and evaluating the value for outside contractors, and so forth, but you only talking about oversight of 10 teams. There is enough personnel movement than any egregious violations will be quickly discovered...and it is going to take a significant financial violation to gain an advantage.

 

[vintly]

It is not a small task. It is $3.7 billion sport with 31 teams and tracking contracts for well over a 1,000 players. Their budget cap system works, and works well.

I’m glad it works well in hockey but it still doesn’t equate with motorsport.