F1 in 2012

[Mike Inglis]

That turn one in Austin looks totally wicked, I would love to try it in a GT40, but with all that weight in the back, crest of a hill and reverse camber I think I would end up pointing back down the hill.....

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

I don't buy it that RB only has ONE good alternator (or any other part) and that they can pick the good one out and give it to Vettle, race after race...

Masa took one for the team, and he should have. Ferrari gave him one more year and he should be thanking the gods. He is driving well here late in the season, if he can carry that over to next year he may save his career. I hope he can.

Neither do I, however if they have a life of say ten hours, and one has two hours on it and another five, I bet Vettel gets the one with two hours.
Texas Grid Girls.

 

[JD]

We were at the F1 race and absolutely loved it! We were very impressed with the track (absolutely amazing layout - can't wait for an opportunity to drive the track); the facilities and the workers. We came in on the North side of the track from 71 to get to parking lot F. Although we didn't make Friday's practice, we had NO traffic to/from the track on Saturday and none getting in on Sunday. It took us about 20 minutes to get out to the main highway after the F1 race on Sunday. Not at all what we expected (I have more traffic delays getting home from work every day). We have season tickets at Turn 15 where we could see the cars coming down the back straight and then go thru all of the switch-backs before going behind us for turns 19-20 leading to the start/finish line straight. We also walked the track perimeter on Saturday and there didn't seem to be any bad sight lines from any of the locations, including the grassy general admission areas. Turn 1 was absolutely impressive - either looking staight down the hill (and what a hill it is!) or watching the cars come out of the corner on the track that is at your eye level from the fence. Everything was great and well above our expectations for a first time event at a brand new track. They had some glitches with the pedestrian bridges (too many people stopping to gawk and tying up the traffic flow) and they apparently did not have any idea that they would have as many people spending money at the food and merchandise booths (they always had long lines), but the public areas were very nice and well laid out. Best of all - the restrooms met the demands, with very little waiting. Overall, just an fantastic experience for us.

BTW, the racing was great too, with lots of passing all over the track!

Looking forward to all of the other races they have planned for next year (MotoGP, Australian V8's, ALMS, GrandAM, plus F1) and the track just 100 miles from the house - I am real pleased.

I'll post some pictures after I sort thru them.

 

[Mesa]

Pete ~ Agreed.

So then. How many hours does the Sheila have on her?

 

[Jim Craik]

Pete,

I could be wrong here and I'm sure someone will correct me if I am.........

As I understand it, each driver starts the season with eight motors, they are presented to the FIA at the start of the season and then sealed. Assuming that the auxiliaries like the alternators are part of each sealed motor, wouldn't Vettel and Webber start out with equal equipment and remain equal?

 

[David Morton]

JD - apparently there will be one of the rounds of the W.E.C. as well.

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Pete ~ Agreed.

So then. How many hours does the Sheila have on her?

About 28 years I reckon:laugh:

 

[Doc Kaler]

Here are a few photos of the weekend. Early Friday before P1, Ferrari Challenge, Q1, Vintage F1, LAP-1 of COTA 2012:

 

[Jack]

Nice Doc, thanks.

 

[Jim Craik]

I absolutly love this new track. Its a shame that TV has a hard time showing just how steep "Phil Hill" really is. Just like Eau Rouge and Radilion at Spa, untill you see it in person, its hard to understand just how steep it is.

 

[Mark]

A really great circuit. Thanks for the pics Doc.

They did miss a big opportunity though, by not making it a slide back down from the top of that tower!

 

[Keith]

Calling all clevver buggas.

Hamilton & Button were separated by 1/2 of 1/10 or 0.05 secs in Q3 at Interlagos today. (Notice I haven't blown the result in case anyone hasn't seen it yet)

Wot I wont to no is: What kind of distance between the cars at a line does that represent after 4.3 kms at an average lap speed of: 205 kph.

I am gessing that its like inches or even millimetres.

Im axing youse 'cos I is fik.

Tanks

 

[David Morton]

Autosport have done the homework for the armchair strategists and this is what they say:

CHAMPIONSHIP PERMUTATIONS
VETTEL WINS THE TITLE IF:
- He finishes in the top four
- He finishes fifth, sixth or seventh and Alonso doesn't win
- He finishes eighth or ninth and Alonso is third or lower
- He finishes 10th or worse and Alonso isn't on the podium
ALONSO WINS THE TITLE IF:
- He wins and Vettel is fifth or lower
- He is second and Vettel eighth or lower
- He is third and Vettel is 10th or lower


But of course you already knew that anyway!

 

[Pete McCluskey.]

Hoping for rain in Brazil and wondering if Massa will have a gearbox problem.
Keith, dunno coz I'm fic too.

 

[Terry Oxandale]

The way I see it, the only chance Alonso has is to go all-in with a wet set-up, and either hope Vettle DNFs, or it rains. Outside of that, their usual practice of recent top three will result in no championship. I feel perhaps everybody but McLaren has gone partially wet as a safe compromise, given the situation noted above.

 

[Mesa]

Keef,
I am no math wiz but I think it's not as close as you (or I) would think.
Using a 73 second lap time I get 3.2 meters per .055 seconds.

Surprising it's that far! I'll be interested to hear if I have botched my calculations.

 

[Paul W]

I wonder if rather than Massa having gearbox seal problems, he may have a tangle with Vettel.....

 

[Terry Oxandale]

I came up with 2.847 meters for a .050" difference at the line at 205 kph (which aligns with Mesa's value being he used a .055" difference). For me, distance didn't come into the calculation. It was simply how much distance is covered in 5/100th of a second at 205 kph (which is really the what happened after a single lap of any distance)

 

[Mesa]

Even though Keef said .050, I used .055 because that is what I found as the difference in an article on qualifying from Brazil. Interesting to know that .050 is roughly 1 car length, making .100 (a tenth) 2 car lengths. So when we hear it said "it was close" a .100 difference is actually pretty far. So when we see a car overtake another in the race tomorrow we can be sure he was about .100 per lap faster than the car he just passed.

Now if the difference was .005 it would have been 284 millimeters or just over 11 inches.
Interesting.

 

[Keith]

Fantastic info fanx.

Interesting - much further apart than I would have thought...

Hats off to clevva buggas.

PS I've been testing Massa's gearbox on left <<<<<<< seems OK to me..