A near miss between Hamilton and Kubica in this morning's session
Two things about this video:
1) Hamilton was on his fastest lap, had gone purple in the first two sectors, whereas Kubica was driving around slowly and apparently unaware that Lewis was closing rapidly.
2) Love the new onboard camera angle.
That wasn't the worst we've seen, but they need to stamp out this driving round like its a Tesco carpark before someone gets killed, the FIA had a nice example of what happens when a car goes flying out of control at full speed a couple of months ago so you'd think they'd implement some sort of maintain minimum delta or park it rule, I mean, even NASCAR has a rule identical to this to stop these circumstances and they've had that since the 1970's.
But yet again the FIA is more interested in being reactionary, rather that proactive.
I am very sorry if you find my posts long and boring, I like to type and often go off on a tangent.
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Ian-S wrote: ↑5 years ago
That wasn't the worst we've seen, but they need to stamp out this driving round like its a Tesco carpark before someone gets killed, the FIA had a nice example of what happens when a car goes flying out of control at full speed a couple of months ago so you'd think they'd implement some sort of maintain minimum delta or park it rule, I mean, even NASCAR has a rule identical to this to stop these circumstances and they've had that since the 1970's.
But yet again the FIA is more interested in being reactionary, rather that proactive.
Indeed. There were a few of these incidents last year as well, during qualifying. Lewis had to dodge whoever-it-was.
Which in itself is a result of silly tyre rules forcing some cars to crawl around as not to ruin the tyres' operating window.
Ian-S wrote: ↑5 years ago
That wasn't the worst we've seen, but they need to stamp out this driving round like its a Tesco carpark before someone gets killed, the FIA had a nice example of what happens when a car goes flying out of control at full speed a couple of months ago so you'd think they'd implement some sort of maintain minimum delta or park it rule, I mean, even NASCAR has a rule identical to this to stop these circumstances and they've had that since the 1970's.
But yet again the FIA is more interested in being reactionary, rather that proactive.
Brian Redman: "Mr. Fangio, how do you come so fast?" "More throttle, less brakes...."
Pos Driver Team Time Gap Laps
1 Nico Hulkenberg Renault 1m17.393s 24
2 Alex Albon Toro Rosso 1m17.637s +0.244 136
3 Daniel Ricciardo Renault 1m17.785s +0.392 34
4 Valtteri Bottas Mercedes 1m17.857s +0.464 57
5 Lewis Hamilton Mercedes 1m17.977s +0.584 58
6 Charles Leclerc Ferrari 1m18.046s +0.653 138
7 Lando Norris McLaren 1m18.431s +1.038 132
8 Antonio Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1m18.511s +1.118 154
9 Romain Grosjean Haas 1m18.563s +1.170 64
10 Kevin Magnussen Haas 1m18.720s +1.327 66
11 Pierre Gasly Red Bull 1m18.780s +1.387 146
12 Lance Stroll Racing Point 1m19.664s +2.271 72
13 George Russell Williams 1m20.997s +3.604 17
14 Robert Kubica Williams 1m21.542s +4.149 48
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
There are some conspiracy theorists suggesting the 2019 cars are already as fast as the 2018 cars, despite the aero changes designed to slow them down by about 1,5 sec.
Hulkenberg was saying Renault have clawed back the lost downforce and more over the break.
Testing Times certainly suggest they wont be slower. The million dollar question is whether the desired easier overtaking will happen. Of course we wont get to know that until Melbourne.... the problem with single car team testing is the lack of being able to lap in the wake of another car. If the opportunity arrives in testing with another team ahead, the leading car tends to back of or pit. I guess on the basis of giving other teams minimal opportunity to check things out and amass data..
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
I'd have thought it would be obvious that putting a wider rear wing on and leaving its design open would make following close through corners even more difficult since by their very nature, a bigger wing punches a bigger hole in the air.
But what do I know, I'm only an armchair critic who's view tptb are not interested in listening to.
If you want big wings and cars following close, then these wings need to be spec wings that are designed specifically not to cause a huge aero hole in its wake behind the car, until then, they'll never achieve what they want, same for front wings, make them spec and design them to do the job the public wants, not what the engineers want.
Until then, and live coverage not put behind a £50 a month paywall returns, I'll stick to Indycar thanks.
I am very sorry if you find my posts long and boring, I like to type and often go off on a tangent.
If this is the case, you may click here to solve the problem, or alternatively here too.
Pirelli’s Isola unfazed over graining issues seen in first week of F1 testing
Pirelli Motorsport boss Mario Isola says the graining reported by teams over the course of the first week of Formula 1 testing will not be an issue in the season proper.
This week marked the first time the 2019-specification P-Zero tyres were subjected to on-track tests on all 10 of the new-for-2019 cars, two-and-a-half months after the initial post-Abu Dhabi Grand Prix test with the 2018 cars.
Temperatures at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya were kinder and more stable in comparison to the icy track and ambient temperatures that disrupted the first week of 2018 winter testing, making comparisons between the two years difficult.
Reflecting on the week, Isola said that the tyres are performing as expected, with a delta of “0.6 to 0.7 seconds” between each of the compounds.
Pirelli has restructured its tyre line-up for 2019, with the compound marked from the harder C1s to the softer C5s.
“It’s still early days, but so far the tyres seem to be performing largely as we expected, with a performance gap of around 0.6 to 0.7 seconds between each compound”, said Isola.
“In more detail, it’s something around 0.6 seconds between C2 and C3 so far, and roughly the same gap between C3 and C4, which were the most used tyres in this session.
“Due to the cool conditions this week, there was a bit of graining as expected, which should disappear when temperatures become warmer during the actual season.”
Problems with tyre temperatures were still relevant, with Lewis Hamilton admitting that he struggled to maintain core heat in the morning sessions.
Sebastian Vettel, Kimi Räikkönen, Romain Grosjean and Lando Norris were just some of the drivers to suffer low-speed offs early in their runs.
This was apportioned to a regulation drop in rear tyre blankets from 100°C to 80°C at Pirelli’s request, but did not work well with cooler track temperatures.
Prior to 2018, the Barcelona track was resurfaced and made for overheating issues through a lack of grip and a lack of relevant tyre data.
Isola said that the surface has “matured” since then, bringing more grip and surprisingly quick lap times despite early projections suggesting that 2019 F1 cars could be up to 2s a lap slower than their predecessors.
“As far as testing goes, there are many variables that need to be taken into account when it comes to making comparisons with previous years here,” he added.
“There are new 2019 regulations with different aerodynamics and heavier cars, and we’ve also noted that the track surface in Barcelona has matured since last year, becoming more abrasive and offering more mechanical grip.
“Having said that, we’ve seen a very impressive level of reliability and performance from the cars so far, helped by generally favourable weather.
“As usual, the emphasis during the first test tends to be on reliability and validation: next week we should see the teams focus more on performance and explore the full capabilities of the 2019 range.”
Times are looking better as it is only 10.30 am and they are into the 18's, with none of the heavy hitters at the top. All seem to be only running the yellow (not so soft) tyres atm.
1 Gasly Red Bull 1m18.647s
2 Stroll Racing Point 1m19.139s
3 Giovinazzi Alfa Romeo 1m19.391s
4 Magnussen Haas 1m19.716s
5 Hamilton Mercedes 1m20.764s
6 Leclerc Ferrari 1m20.830s
7 Hulkenberg Renault 1m20.861s
8 Albon Toro Rosso 1m22.001s
9 Norris McLaren 1m22.306
10 Russell Williams 1m44.535s
As for laps run, Hamilton and Hulk in the mid 30's, through to Leclerc and Albon in single figures. Williams 13 laps.
* I started life with nothing, and still have most of it left
“Good drivers have dead flies on the side windows!” (Walter Röhrl)
* I married Miss Right. Just didn't know her first name was Always
