Ask The Apex

[sushifiesta]

Hamilton is as close as you're going to get in recent memory, finishing above Alonso in the championship but equal on points in 2007. I'm not sure you'll find a more impressive début either. I haven't got the knowledge or memory to come up with a better answer, recent well respected newcomers like Perez, Di Resta, Rosberg and Hulkenberg haven't managed.

EDIT: Josh wins

 

[Josh]

I know Kobayashi did in 2010. He beat de la Rosa 32 to 6 over the entire season. de la Rosa was replaced for Italy though but at that point Kobayashi already had 21 points and dlR 6 (his only points finish) so... Oh, and he beat Heidfeld too.

I don't think there's a rookie after Kobayashi who has beaten his veteran teammate, but I'm not sure!

Oh, and D'Ambrosio beat Glock in 2011 (as did di Grassi in 2010) but that was obviously not on points

 

[The Artist.....]

Viscount
At a guess, I would say Marc Gene in 1999 - he scored 1 point in the Minardi, and his team-mate (Badoer) failed to score.

 

[teabagyokel]

Josh - rather pointlessly, he did beat Trulli over two races in 2009, too.

 

[Viscount]

Thanks guys.

 

[cider_and_toast]

Some interesting ones from yester-year are Innes Ireland beating Graham Hill 5 points to Nil at Lotus in 1959 and Ayrton Senna beating Jonny Cecotto 13 points to nil at Toleman i9 1984. Both Cecotto and Hill were in their second full seasons.

 

[RickD]

Interesting cider_and_toast, so how long do you think before we see another Cecotto in F1, maybe they can team him up with Senna and the Cecottos can get revenge as the son looks quick in GP2.

 

[downforce]

Is Jules Bianchi the only driver to have driven more than 1 2012 Formula 1 car?

 

[soccerman17]

The only other person who may have is Sebastian Buemi.

 

[Viscount]

Yes, he is the only one downforce.

I don't think Buemi has even driven one yet let alone two.

 

[soccerman17]

I didn't think so.

 

[Chad Stewarthill]

Sorry if anyone's asked this before, but...

What's a 'coanda' exhaust?

 

[The Pits]

The Coanda effect is an aerodynamic property of a fluid to follow a surface that is flows over

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coandă_effect

Using this effect, teams can flow the exhaust downwards and to the rear floor of the car, sealing the area between the edge of the diffuser and the wheels and ground, this in turn can allow a greater rake angle than would otherwise be possible, and hence increased downforce.

 

[F1Yorkshire]

In Whitmarshes post race interview he mentioned that Hamilton is aiming for 150 points from the last 6 races. I know that is the usual manager hype but has anyone ever dominated the closing half of the season to take the championship?

I know Williams had a very strong car at the end of 91 but wasn't enough to take the title then, there's also been plenty of cases where a driver dominates the 1st half.

 

[tooncheese]

Ferrari 51, RBR 09 both failed. Ferrari 07, is the only successful one that springs to mind.

 

[Enja]

Where in the world is F1 most popular? As in a country-by-country basis?

Does such data exist anywhere?

 

[Viscount]

Enja In terms of internet searches and online news, Google Trends might help:

http://www.google.co.uk/trends/explore#q=formula one
http://www.google.co.uk/trends/explore#q="f1"

But as not everyone has access to the internet, places like Brazil where F1 is hugely popular but not every fan would have internet access, F1 interest would be hard to quantify.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

I'm probably being really stupid here but... Everyone keeps saying Mercedes will be much stronger in 2014 with the new engine regulations. Why is this? I thought that all customer teams had to recieve the same engine package as the works team. Therefore the manufacturer (Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull) would have no advantage in performance (over teams with the same engine)?

 

[Mephistopheles]

It would depend on how early the customer teams are allowed to have the new engine as the cars will have to be designed around the engine not only on size and layout but in terms of power delivery and drivability the new engines will have a different power curve with much more low end power (Torque.) than today's power units so the suspension and drive shafts will need to deliver this effectively not to mention gearbox ratios...

So like I say if the customer teams get their engines well in advance there shouldn't be any disadvantage but get them late and they will be on the back foot....

 

[The Pits]

Plus the customer teams will get to define aspects of the engine to best suit them, such as where the mounts are located. AS the works team get to define this, customer teams have to make do.

I am not sure how much is open to configuration, but any little advantage helps.