Ask The Apex

[RasputinLives]

You might be right on that one I'd have to go back to my season review and listen to Max Mosley witter on to be sure.

Bascially they got a harsh treatment because Max and Bernie didn't like the people running the team.

 

[gethinceri]

No, Max was right. They got caught, they were punished.

 

[Bill Boddy]

According to the Technical Regulations rule 4.1:

"4.1 Minimum weight:

The weight of the car must not be less than 640 kg at all times during the Event."

BAR successfully demonstrated to the stewards that the car had conformed to the regulation, however the FIA overruled them. There certainly seemed to be some friction between Max Mosley and Dave Richards which may also have had some bearing on which teams were refused entry when the number went up in 2010.

 

[sushifiesta]

What is the longest period between two of a driver's world championships? I know for Alonso, if he wins the championship this year, it will be six years since he won in 2006, but Lauda just beats this with seven years between 1977 and 1984.

Is there anyone who beats these two?

EDIT:

To answer my own question, here are all the current multiple champions:

1. Niki Lauda, 7 years (1977 - 1984)
2. Jack Brabham, 6 years (1960 - 1966)
=2. Graham Hill, 6 years (1962 - 1968)
4. Michael Schumacher, 5 years (1995 - 2000)
5. Alain Prost, 4 years (1989 - 1993)
=5. Nelson Piquet, 4 years (1983 - 1987)
7. Juan Manuel Fangio, 3 years (1951 - 1954)
8. Jackie Stewart, 2 years (1969 - 1971 and 1971 - 1973)
=8. Ayrton Senna, 2 years (1988 - 1990)
=8. Jim Clark, 2 years (1963 - 1965)
=8. Emerson Fittipaldi, 2 years (1972 - 1974)
12. Alberto Ascari, 1 year (1952 - 1953)
=12. Mika Hakkinen, 1 year (1998 - 1999)
=12. Fernando Alonso, 1 year (2005 - 2006)
=12. Sebastian Vettel, 1 year (2010 - 2011)

I think Alonso would be very unlucky not to win another championship, so it's likely he'll be moving up to near the top of the table. He'll be joint 2nd if he wins this year.

EDIT2:

Just for the hell of it, what would change if the former world champions on the grid were to win the championship this year:

Michael Schumacher, 8 years (2004 - 2012) (no chance of this happening though!)
Fernando Alonso, 6 years (2006 - 2012)
Kimi Raikkonen, 5 years (2007 - 2012)
Lewis Hamilton, 4 years (2008 - 2012)
Jenson Button, 3 years (2009 - 2012)
Sebastien Vettel, 1 year (2010 - 2011 and 2011 - 2012)

 

[Wombcat]

Why do they give all the corners numbers these days? What's wrong with Parabolica instead of turn 11? Are they afraid the drivers get them in the wrong order if they don't number them? And when did they start doing that?
Imo a name is a much clearer than a number.

 

[Brogan]

The turn numbers existed before the names did

 

[sushifiesta]

Corners that deserve names have names that stick. Corners that don't deserve names have numbers, or a name that's been forgotten.

 

[Brogan]

Arguably turn 8 of Istanbul Park deserved a name.
Although say turn 8 and most people should know what you are referring to, so maybe that is its name.

 

[KekeTheKing]

This may be a stupid question.....but do F1 Simulators have a "mode" that allows the drivers to actually "race" against CPU opponents?

If there is no ability to actually "race" in the simulator, it must be incredibly difficult to hone your racecraft. I'm obviously thinking of Grosjean. I mean, will he magically be able to judge distances better at the start just because he sat out a race? Highly unlikely.

 

[Kamui-FastestChefInTheWorld]

This may be a stupid question.....but do F1 Simulators have a "mode" that allows the drivers to actually "race" against CPU opponents?

If there is no ability to actually "race" in the simulator, it must be incredibly difficult to hone your racecraft. I'm obviously thinking of Grosjean. I mean, will he magically be able to judge distances better at the start just because he sat out a race? Highly unlikely.

I don't think so, but I'm not certain

 

[sushifiesta]

I think driving in the simulator is more like doing a test day than a race, but like Kamui I'm not sure. There's all sorts of "computer game" features that they might/could have.

 

[Fenderman]

Methinks, that until such time as there are simulators with 3D or holistic holographic projection there's not a lot that using a simulator could do to improve a drivers' spatial awareness. Actually this spatial awareness thing is no little subject.

There have been quite a few studies into the issue (if I can be arsed I'll look for some examples) and why some people have better spatial awareness than others. The debate is still open but there are suspicions that there are biophysical reasons why it is developed or under-developed in different people. Johnny Herbert seems to think that it can be taught but it's highly debatable as to whether or not someone can learn it.

Among a host of factors, spatial awareness requires peripheral vision, self-awareness, a sense of time and space and accurate perception of ones own surroundings. The brain has to process a lot of information on a subconscious level and it needs to do it quicker the faster the surroundings and conditions change.

We all have a sense of the space we occupy but when driving a vehicle we have to include the space our vehicles occupy as well. Observing drivers using a car park one quickly sees those with good spacial awareness of themselves and their cars and those without it. Those that lack it have a lot more difficulty placing their vehicles and parking them. Out on the road you see the drivers who think that they occupy more space than they do dither when a road narrows. Conversely those who perceive that they occupy less space create near miss situations for themselves, knock mirrors off of parked cars and suchlike as they misjudge the gaps.

Bugger, I was going to have a lie-in ... doh!

 

[Viscount]

If Car A qualifies in P11 dropping out at the end of Q2, but gets promoted to a top 10 grid position due to Car B that qualified ahead in P9 getting a grid drop, will Car A have a choice on what tyres they start on or will they have to start on the tyres they set set their fastest lap on in Q2? Furthermore, will Car B who drops from P9 to P14 due to the grid drop get to choose the tyres they start on?

 

[teabagyokel]

Erm... I believe the answer is Choice and No.

 

[Brogan]

I believe this has already happened several times and the answer is I can't remember...

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Well Hamilton wasn't given fresh tyres in Spain, so we can assume if you are dropped out of the top 10 you can choose you're tyres?

 

[tooncheese]

Well Hamilton wasn't given fresh tyres in Spain, so we can assume if you are dropped out of the top 10 you can choose you're tyres?

He was disqualified, that's different, in fact the stewards had to grant him permission to race due to his lack of qualifying.

 

[Slyboogy]

If Car A qualifies in P11 dropping out at the end of Q2, but gets promoted to a top 10 grid position due to Car B that qualified ahead in P9 getting a grid drop, will Car A have a choice on what tyres they start on or will they have to start on the tyres they set set their fastest lap on in Q2? Furthermore, will Car B who drops from P9 to P14 due to the grid drop get to choose the tyres they start on?

You don't get to choose what tyres you want when you have a grid penalty dropping you out of the top 10, and those that get promoted do have the benefit of choosing what set of tyres they want for the start of the grand prix.

In the scenario that you have given, Car A would get the choice to start on what tyres they would like, and Car B would have start on the tyres that they qualified on.

 

[Brogan]

Which is why the rule is nonsense.

 

[Viscount]

Who was the last rookie to score more points than an experienced teammate (driven at least 1 full season) during their debut F1 season?