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It really is tiresome - first test shakedown is next week - how many secrets can other teams pick up on between now and then!? Just show us the ruddy car!
But still managed 3? Fastest laps and 6? ( don’t quote me) podium finishes. Given how hard that is in F1 that puts them at the pointy end.
plus
most construction championships
most drivers
most wins
most pole
most fastest laps
yeah, pretty big
It really is tiresome – first test shakedown is next week – how many secrets can other teams pick up on between now and then!? Just show us the ruddy car!
On the upside it means that we get 2 launches for each car - one where they show us the paint and talk bollox for an hour, then one where they try to get the actual car round the track fast enough to learn something but slow enough not to draw attention to whatever tricks they've found.
They won no races last season and have not won a championship since 2008
Vettel came close driving a very competitive car. (Alonso came close too, but the car was a dog.) Ferrari have first class facilities and engineers. They've struggled because of management problems. The management seems to have stabilized, they have two excellent drivers and a new engine. Hard to see them not being somewhere near the front. Even if they start off with a poor car, they have excellent wind tunnel and simulation facilities so they will be able to recover faster than the smaller teams.
On the upside it means that we get 2 launches for each car
I expect that whatever they turn up with for the first race won't be the same as the first test, so that's actually three launches.
Plus an interim car at the first Bahrain test - 3.5 launches now!
RickDraper
They won no races last season and have not won a championship since 2008 despite having a vast budget. They will be midfield at best once again this season, especially with the design changes.
A 2nd in GB and Monaco, 3rd in Hungary, AD and Socchi and lots of 4ths which is pretty good considering how far RB and Merc were ahead.
They've been going through a tough patch but I don't think you can write them off.
Williams remove the Senna S from their cars - understandable to me. New owners, new approach and how long do you continue with it. Bad form not to consult with Senna family though.
New FW44 on track for shakedown, the sidepods look TINY!!!! Best looking car so far for me. Still confused why they couldn't/wouldn't show a render of the actual car earlier though?
Williams have a car!
It's been out at silverstone
edit ... god damn, beaten by 5 seconds ... hopefully unlike williams
Team boss Jost Capito explained that it elected not to show its new colours on its actual 2022 car because: "We worked on the livery and we wanted to have that perfect and that's why we could only do it on the show car – because it took a while to do.
From Motorsport.com.
Doesn't really explain why they couldn't use a render of the actual car though - surely they had the bodywork designed a while ago so they could actually make the carbon bits etc.
**** the FIA, bunch of idiots.
Release it so we can draw a line under it. It's just going to carry on now.
If this is true then so much for their ‘integrity’!
I was expecting a white-wash, not a complete cover-up.
I’d hate to see him go, but I kind of hope Lewis walks away after this.
To me, its obvious the facts are that the rules were broken and Lewis is champion and the FIA will never admit to that, otherwise they'd come straight out with the mitigation for Verstappen.
Well if it's been shared with the teams (as the Guardian reports) it'll be leaked
Also, not really how Andrew Benson on BBC is reporting it
To me, its obvious the facts are that the rules were broken and Lewis is champion and the FIA will never admit to that,
It's a bit more complex than that. It's clear to me that Masi screwed up under pressure, he made a mistake because he's human. He did not follow the standard safety-car protocol. However, the stewards ruled that he has the right to employ the safety-car as he sees fit. Thus, legally, the rules weren't broken (because the stewards get to decide what the rules are in this case).
Realistically, once MV took the chequered flag, he had the title and there is no way to undo that. Max didn't cheat and he cannot be disqualified so the title is his. Merc understand that and their protest wasn't intended to overturn that. I agree that Masi screwed up and Hamilton should have won the title, but that's not what happened and it's time to drop the idea that the FIA can award the title to Hamilton. They can't. Max is champion and that will not change.
The problem is that the race management was a shambles and it needs to be fixed. Just sacking Masi won't fix it because it's not clear that anyone else would do a better job without fixing the underlying issues that caused him to be put under so much pressure. I think he needs assistants to help with the race management. Maybe have several team liaisons who are intimately familiar with the rules and regulations to handle the communications with the teams and then relay those to Masi. That way Masi doesn't have Merc and Red Bull constantly pestering him, he gets a filtered summary of their viewpoints along with a comment on the applicable rules.
It's also obvious that a complete review of how safety cars and red flags are employed is needed. IMO, if they want to have races finish under green flags, they should automatically red flag the race when there's a safety car within a specified number of laps to the finish. There will need to be clear protocols on the details of all that, but they either need to accept that races will finish behind a safety car or stop the race until the track is clear.
As far as I'm concerned, teams shouldn't be able to call their cars in for any remedial work (not just tyre changes) once the safety car (or VSC) is deployed.
(Sure, if an accident happens they can choose to call cars in immediately, but not once the SC/VSC is deployed so there is still a slim window of opportunity)
For cars directly impacted by a crash ie damaged, they can come into pits for work but have to re-join at tail of the field.
Whilst I agree entirely with @thols2 and that Max didn’t cheat, it could be argued that Red Bull were very close to it with the pressure they put on Masi over the radio, particularly the latest messages to be released!
I’m starting to think Lewis should walk, so far it doesn’t feel like they are doing much to fix things
Lets not forget "no safety cars Michael" from the other garage. They were all trying to influence him, thankfully the comms part does look like it might be improved this year (not saying fixed)
Good summery from @thols2, agree completely. There should be someone between RD and team manager (perhaps even a team of people), so that they have a communication line in case of safety critical issues but aren't able to influence directly, and severe penalty options if the RD thinks that team managers are crossing the line.
Don't understand the decision to keep it all secret though, it doesn't help them at all. just a quick scan through the usual suspects on Twitter and it's universal condemnation.
I agree with above about needing red flags for incidents close to the finish rather than safety cars and also that pitting during safety cars and VSC needs looking at. What did Masi and RB say about it being motor racing, I'd rather see drivers winning on track than in the pits.
I’d hate to see him go, but I kind of hope Lewis walks away after this.
I’m starting to think Lewis should walk, so far it doesn’t feel like they are doing much to fix things
Agreed – I said so much a few pages back just after it happened. He should stick two fingers up at the whole Circus and walk away, head held high. I just feel like they are delaying the decision to try to make Hamilton / Mercedes blink first.
One solution to the problems with safety cars could be to stop teams pitting under saftey cars. There would then be no advantage to be gained.
Season 4 of Drive to Survive, March 11th.
Should we just skip to the last episode?
Love the look of the new Williams. With the nose of the car now firmly reattached to the wing planes it reminds me a bit of the FW14B in shape. Hopefully will be competitive too 🙂
Season 4 of Drive to Survive, March 11th.
Should we just skip to the last episode?
I came to post exactly that question.
One solution to the problems with safety cars could be to stop teams pitting under saftey cars. There would then be no advantage to be gained
Yep, completely agree with this. As soon as SC/VSC is deployed no pitting.
I'm liking the look of the new cars too, hopefully they'll all be a bit closer this year.
Hopefully will be competitive too
Gary Anderson thinks Williams have created a car that doesn't work aerodynamically. Too disjointed front to back, especially the sidepods.
And another massive Crypto laundering sponsorship announced by Red Bull - at this rate William Storey will look like an honest, upstanding citizen soon!... 🙂
Lots of people suggesting changes to safety car procedures, when to do it, when to red flag, whether to allow pitting, et, etc.
You can have whatever rules you like. The problem is the application of the rules. We had rules last year, it was changing them on the hoof which caused problems. New rules wont solve that problem, it's the application which needs addressing, whatever the rules are they have to be rigorously applied.
That would be solved in some cases by the teams not being allowed to talk/badger the race director. I think it's crazy that they could to be honest, at least directly.
Agree on the FW14B thing, the Aston has that vibe as well with the raised front wing centre. Love it!
the-muffin-man
Gary Anderson thinks Williams have created a car that doesn’t work aerodynamically. Too disjointed front to back, especially the sidepods.
Probably all these cars are quite early iterations just to validate the basic design. Hopefully anyway... 😬
Latifi WDC '22 🤞 😁
I agree with holsw too. It's so frustrating that he didn't red flag at the time!!!
Gary Anderson thinks Williams have created a car that doesn’t work aerodynamically. Too disjointed front to back, especially the sidepods.
I have a lot of respect for Gary Anderson, he obviously knows more than most people about designing racecars. However, all the discussion about the cars is just informed guesswork and we won't know for certain until we're a few races into the season. Keep in mind, G.A. predicted that the 2021 changes would benefit low-rake cars. That doesn't mean he's stupid, just that these cars are complex and you can't know for sure just by looking at them. The teams have all seen how the cars work in a wind-tunnel so they know how their own car works better than G.A. does. Problem for them is that they don't know how the other teams cars work.
As I posted about Gary Anderson - Scarbs goes and posts his analysis and says it's the most radical car so far! 🙂
We'll all only really know at the end of qualifying who's done their sums right.
https://twitter.com/ScarbsTech/status/1493898965162631171?cxt=HHwWhoC9zbPMsrspAAAA
multi21
Free Member
Probably all these cars are quite early iterations just to validate the basic design. Hopefully anyway…
Unfortunately it seems they've built the front wing inside out. Hopefully they've already had a good look at that and are updating if required (more explanation in the video)
From the cars launched so far Aston deserve the title for making the best looking F1 car for years. Just looks better every time you look at it.
Vettel for WDC 2022! 🙂
Looks even better in natural light if you haven't seen the shakedown vid yet
If I'm reading Scarbs correctly, then he surmises that the sidepod cooling ducts are horizontally split, with the upper duct blowing air over the rump sidepod.
There seems to be two approaches to the sidepod - Aston and Alfa Romeo feature louvres louvers gills which would appear to direct the cooling exhaust air over the rear wing and the McLaren & Haas approach which would appear to direct this air out of the rear bodywork.
Re: the Williams front wing. Note the following from Autosport:
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The wing itself is likely a placeholder used for the car shakedown, as it’s lacking some of the detail we’ve seen on some of the other cars that have been released so far – with the exception of the diveplane which looks like it might twist more along its length than some of the other examples.
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From Pistonheads. New Ferrari leaked and it's quite a looker. Love the black wings coming back
More gills than a bottle of whisky!
If that's right then it looks the most 'traditional' side-pod arrangement of all those seen so far.
Looks okay. It's no F189, but it almost makes up for the horrid F14T.
Ferrari Aero Dept: How many gills can you fit into it?
Ferrari Production Dept: Yes.