Pre-Season The 2014 season regulations

[Fenderman]

Tinkering at the edges again. I always thought 12 minutes ought to have been the minimum in Q3 to guarantee two hot laps on the longer circuits. There is an expectation that lap times will be slower this year so I think that makes sense. Personally I think that it should be 15 minutes as I don't see the need for the pit work to be so frantic. I've lost count of how many times drivers have been caught out, running out of time to try for a better lap. Grid position should be down to the car and driver doing it on the track not panic or stuff ups in the pits. IMHO they should have made all three sessions 15 minutes and be done with it!

 

[teabagyokel]

I disagree here, Fenderman, I like the urgency of Q3. It makes the session feel alive.

Although, before RasputinLives shouts at us, it's worth remembering that the big show is on Sundays.

 

[Fenderman]

Your second point is right on the money. I think messing around with qualifying to make it a better show for us is perhaps confusing its purpose which is of course to set the grid. On the other hand, a messed up grid due to cock ups in qualy' potentially gives us a better show on Sunday. As RasputinLives implied it wasn't really broke so I'm not sure why they chose to fix it.

 

[RasputinLives]

I think I might give teabagyokel my log in to save myself the trouble of posting. Am I that stuck a record?

Well I for one am really excited about the changes I don't know about you but I've sat there for years thinking that Q2 was just 2 minutes too long! Those last 120 seconds were always too much for me. Well done FIA.

Wheres the sarcasm emocacon?

 

[Fenderman]

I think you need a combo smiley: ""

 

[soccerman17]

They just sit in the pits for half of the session anyways. This barely changes anything.

 

[RasputinLives]

Ok. So from what I understand teams are only allowed to use 100k's of fuel from lights to flag this year. The problem with this is the cars will hold more than 100k's of fuel on race day as they have to get to the grid and back to the pits. Combine this with the factor that teams can increase or decrease the amount of fuel they are using by increasing or decreasing the energy producing parts. Basically it'll be slow down to save fuel because you can't use more than 100k.

The FIA have a system in place to monitor the amount of fuel used and will enforce it. So rather than seeing loads of cars running out of fuel it looks like we'll see cars finish only to find they've used morw fuel than they should.

I'm assuming this will result in a DQ but does anyone know if the FIA have stated what the official punishment will be?

Also as the data is live will we instantly know if a team have gone over 100k or will we have to wait until a couple of hours after the race to confirm a result?

 

[Jos the Boss]

I'm concerned that this 100kg of fuel won't be enough and we'll end up with quite a few runners being DSQ'd, adding to those who DNF!

 

[Titch]

They could all end up parked out on the track.

 

[Incubus]

I don't think that'll be much of a problem this time around though because telemetric data is far more accurate than last time we had a significant fuel retriction. They'll "simply" have to keep the rpm in check throughout the race to ensure they make it to the finish. It'll be the same for everyone, so whoever runs out of petrol will just be a bit more reckless with their fuel management than the others.

Well that's the theory anyway. I'd hate to see a repeat of this sort of scene:

 

[RasputinLives]

I think in the first races we'll see a few get DQ'd because, from what I understand, the fuel consumption will be monitored by the pitlane but controled by the driver so will rely on the driver turning the wick down when told too. As we know drivers don't always listen to what they are told in the heat of the moment and have to learn things the hard way.

So the choices arw the likes of Kimi, Lewis and Maldonardo getting DQ'd in Malaysia due to high fuel consumption and wanting to race and the result changes about 4 hours after the end of the race.

Or....

Lewis is leading by 20 seconds but has to turn down the pace so much to get the fuel consumotion down that Button sails past him on the last lap.

Which option you prefer in relation to the fall out on the forum Brogan?

 

[Blog Zbod]

Ferrari consider fuel consumption so critical, Autosprint say they are using ERS to power the "blip" of the throttle to match engine and gearbox speeds when a downshift is commanded.

 

[Titch]

And Ferrari are right to consider fuel consumption critical, I hope some of the other teams feel the same.

 

[RasputinLives]

I've heard Mclaren are so concerned that JB faxed the BAR's old blueprints with the hidden fuel tank on.

 

[Lew_beauty]

I've heard that some of teams have said that fuel consumption isn't as big a problem as they thought. This was the whole point of the rule. If the old fuel guslers could do a race on 160kg then these new "fuel efficient" cars should be able to do it on 100kg.

Could we see some teams doing the race on less than the 100kg limit from the first race? Is there an advantage to starting the race with less fuel and doing extra fuel saving (if you can get away with it) or is everyone just going to fill up with the 100kg and do the fuel saving that is necessary?

 

[RasputinLives]

There might be an advantage too it but you'd have to be pretty sure there was going to be a safety car!

I'm pretty sure we won't see anyone try it in the first few races due to the heat but you never know.

As for the 100k rule not being an issue. It really shouldn't be but teams and drivers like to push the limit and I'd eat my hat if we don't see at least one team run foul of it this season.

Knowing F1 in the most controversial way possible.

 

[Lew_beauty]

I'd imagine it will be fairly common this season for teams to run out of fuel as they'll be aiming to use it at an optimal level and some are bound to misjudge it.

I wasn't necessarily referring to teams gambling on safety cars, but instead whether the additional advantage of running lighter is negated by fuel saving. If a team can run on 95kg and make it to the end, would the additional fuel saving needed for that 5kg ruin the advantage of running lighter?

 

[Blog Zbod]

The FIA are claiming the New engines are not much quieter than V8s. They apparently are unaware the decibel scale is logarithmic. The V-6t's are down 11 db from the V-8's 145. That works out to a 350% decrease in SPL and more than a 12-fold decrease in intensity. But in the FIA's estimation, that's not much quieter. One wonders if they also still believe that the earth is the centre of the universe. Or maybe they just think the Sun orbits Bernie (they certainly think it shines out his arse).

Bild.de are reporting that several drivers went on a diet over the winter (again). They claim Nico lost 3 kg, Hamilton 4, and Riciardo 4 (but his bum probably is still too big for Newey's car). And Massa remains the lightest driver in F1. He quips that he was never so glad to be so small. Quoting The Hulk speaking to how composed Massa's car always looks in the corners, the article closes with a tounge-in-cheek remark that the 2014 WDC could be determined not by a driver's skills, but by his weight (or lack thereof).

I'd imagine it will be fairly common this season for teams to run out of fuel as they'll be aiming to use it at an optimal level and some are bound to misjudge it....

The TR do not mandate the size of the fuel tank, only how much fuel may be consumed from green to chequered. The teams may have any size fuel tank they choose. The 100kg limit does not apply to fuel consumed on the warm-lap, the victory lap, the celebratory donuts, or the drive to the winner's circle, at which point there still must be one litre of petrol remaining and accessible for scrutineering. So cars probably will leave for the grid with on the order of an extra 4-5 litres on board. Sole determination for the in-race fuel consumption will come from the data provided by the fuel mass flow sensor (which, IIRC, was required to demonstrate accuracy +/- 0.5% to achieve homologation) and which will be available "real time" via radio telemetry to both the FIA and the teams throughout the race. I have read remarks from Renault's Rémi Taffin to the effect that, using indirect means, they could guesstimate the V-8's race consumption to within 1%. Based on having real-time telemetry with (at most) only half the error rate of the previous system, barring gross human error, it seems unlikely that any of the 2014 cars would fail to cross the finishing line with less than a couple of litres or so of fuel remaining.

 

[GermanF1]

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/video/red-bull-animation-f1-regeln-2014-8169140.html

 

[Blog Zbod]

One amendment to my previous post, the regulations only mention the role of the fuel mass flow sensor in conjunction with enforcing the 100-kg limit. At a press conference today in Melbourne, Charlie Whiting added that injector sensors will be used to back up the FMFS. Apparently when the FMFS goes wonky (or if it should fail in the altogether), it does so in spectacular fashion, in which case they will fall back to the fuel injector sensors.

The point of his remark was to highlight the FIA's "zero tolerance" for exceeding the 100kg race fuel limit, but I am unfamiliar with the homologation process for the fuel injector sensors, and whether they are held to the same strict tolerance as the FMFS. But he added they were flexible on the 107% rule, another indication the FIA intend doing whatever is necessary to prevent the failure of the new engine formula.

The new cars are so complex, AMuS is reporting problems now sometimes require hours simply to diagnose, and the repair itself is taking four times as long as before. Williams lost an entire day of preseason practice owing to the failure of a fuel pump mounted on the engine. They quote Force India's Andy Green to say that the five hours between when cars come out of Parc fermé and the start of the race no longer is sufficient to perform an engine swap.