2010 Formula 1 Season - Official Discussion Thread

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Re: 2010 Season Discussions: Driver Line-ups, News and Misc

Post by MavF1 » 10 Mar 2010, 19:17

Noticing that the board is quite a quiet place atm, like the calm before the storm really :O

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Re: 2010 Season Discussions: Driver Line-ups, News and Misc

Post by swca92 » 10 Mar 2010, 21:38

Jacques Villeneuve has joined the BBC Radio 5 commentary team, its on autosport.

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Re: 2010 Season Discussions: Driver Line-ups, News and Misc

Post by cformula1 » 11 Mar 2010, 10:20

swca92 wrote:Jacques Villeneuve has joined the BBC Radio 5 commentary team, its on autosport.
Now all they need is Damon Hill and they have the perfect anti-Schumacher lineup. :p

He'll be alright, and a good replacement for Davidson if he ends up ever getting a drive.
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Re: 2010 Season Discussions: Driver Line-ups, News and Misc

Post by phil1993 » 11 Mar 2010, 16:24

RF1 sign deal with HP

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Re: 2010 Season Discussions: Driver Line-ups, News and Misc

Post by Ali » 11 Mar 2010, 20:53

How F1's new rules will change the sport
By Adam Cooper, Autosport - a very interesting article on how races would unfold in 2010
Spoiler:
The 2010 entry list is enough to get the adrenaline flowing as we head to Bahrain, but aside from the line-ups in the top teams what makes this weekend even more exciting is that no one really knows how the races will pan out.

The ban on refuelling has turned strategy on its head, and ensured that the real pattern of how this year's races will unfold won't emerge until well into the season. And almost as a by-product of that change, we are back to 'pure' qualifying, with speed and not weight the determining factor.

However only last month the FIA threw a little spanner in the works when it was finally confirmed that Q3 runners will have to start the race on exactly the same tyres on which they set their best qualifying time, so it might not always be a straight fight if the top guys make different choices.

Whatever way you look at it, this promises to be a fascinating season.

"I'm quite optimistic," says McLaren's Paddy Lowe. "There were a lot of people saying that racing will be professional, but there are positives. Pit stops will be much more exciting, because it's a proper race for the guys on the tyres. Even the circuit racing has the potential to be more interesting. The drivers are forced to overtake on the track – there's no other way of doing it – which adds its own element of interest. It's a different risk profile to the way drivers approached the race.

"We did see some pretty heroic overtakes in the old days, when that was the only way past. But Schumacher won his championships in an era of refuelling when the clever driver was the one who could keep his pace up even when he wasn't adjacent to his competitor, and effectively play a strategy game very, very strongly and win the race by overtaking in the pits. Now it's a completely different philosophy. If you want to win the race, and you're not leading, you've got to overtake.

"The cars we've been building have effectively been sprint cars that can have a bit of weight added, but it doesn't make a drastic difference to their behaviour. When you add 160kgs it's got a completely different behaviour, so you've got a lot of interesting layers to the race that you haven't had for a while."

Teams will have to adjust the way they approach the whole weekend. The Q3 tyre rule was accompanied by a cut in the Bridgestone allocation from 14 to 11 sets per driver.

They will still be busy on Friday however, because one prime set can only be used in P1 before being handed back, while a further set of primes and a set of options have to be returned after P2, leaving four sets of primes and four options for Saturday and Sunday.

Allowing for engine mileage – and this year eight engines have to last for 19 rather than 17 weekends – there is no reason not to run on Friday. The additional fuel loads of 2010 means that teams need to gain as much knowledge as possible on how the car and tyres behave with heavy loads, so it's safe to assume that Friday will all be about race preparation, with teams carefully splitting the workloads (and presumably weight levels) between each driver.

In Bahrain there's the added element of the extreme heat, which will affect not just the tyres but all operating systems. It's mostly been cold and winter in Spain in February, so everyone will have some homework to do.

Logic suggests that come Saturday morning, the focus will turn to qualifying and minimal fuel loads. And remember, that now applies to everybody. In the past few years the top guys, ie those who were confident that they could get through to Q3, did not need too much – if any – work on ultra low fuel loads.

They knew they the laps that really counted in qualifying would be run with 50kgs or whatever on board, so that's what they worked on – and thus P3 times often looked a bit strange, with midfield guys at or near the top. That should change now, and it will be much more representative, allowing for a bit of sandbagging.

Clearly the top guys want to save options for when they are needed, and the arrival of the new teams has actually made their life easier. Last year the spread amongst the teams was so close that even the fastest drivers often had to use a set of options in Q1 to avoid being stuck in 16th.

The arrival of the new teams means that seven cars are now eliminated in Q1, and with due respect to Lotus, Virgin and HRT, six places of those appear already to have been booked. So only one driver from an established team will get booted out, it's probably safe to assume that it will be a cruise for the top guys.

Q2 will be anything but, of course. Another seven cars will be eliminated, leaving the usual 10 for Q3. You might assume that the eight drivers from Ferrari, McLaren, Red Bull and Mercedes will make it by right, and of course they have to be favourites. But it would be dangerous to underestimate Force India, Williams, Sauber, Renault and even STR. In other words the top guys will have to use a set (or even two) of options to guarantee progress to Q3.

Q3 is of course where the big decision has to be made in terms of your race strategy.

Whereas last year you had to make a call on fuel weight, now it's a question of prime or option. The difference is that while the fuel call had to be made before the session, the final tyre decision can be made in the closing minutes, and might be influenced by circumstances.

The likelihood is that the quickest drivers will take the option, start at the front, and gamble on using it for the early stages of the race, but that is by no means guaranteed.

If the option is expected to become a disaster within 10 laps of the start, it may be better to take the prime and hope that you have enough speed to qualify on the second or third row. If at such races most of the top guys take a conservative prime choice, someone who would normally be a bit further back might gamble on options and jump to the front. There could also be races where one team has such an advantage that its drivers can still qualify on the front row, even with primes.

The guys who only just make it through to Q3 will have an interesting choice. Just as in the past someone who got there by the skin of their teeth often took a heavy fuel load and settled for ninth or 10th, so they can now take the slower prime tyre. In fact, they don't have to go out at all.

If you make Q3, don't leave the pit lane, and in effect settle for 10th on the grid, you are free to start on any tyre you want – and that means new tyres as well. There could be circuits where to start 10th on new primes could be a massively better strategy that starting further ahead on used options.

And of course those in 11th on back have a totally free choice, and can start on new tyres if they have any left.

"I think you have to be very careful what you do with the tyres and what tyres you choose for qualifying," says Sauber's Willy Rampf. "I think it will mix up the top 10 a bit. If you have a very good car it might be useful to qualify, let's say on a hard set, knowing that this will pay out during the race.

"The option leads more to an early stop, but a driver who is careful on the tyres and has a tyre that is lasting much longer still has an advantage. It definitely opens the field for strategy decisions again.

"If you're just in the top 10, then it doesn't make sense to use the option, and you'll choose the best tyre. On some tracks it gives you a good chance that you qualify in a good position, and you just hold up the field behind you. That we will also see. You have to be more careful in your quali strategy, what you do in Q1 and Q2. Maybe you just aim to do Q1 with a slower tyre, Q2 with the option, and then we have to see what tyres you need for a race."

Watch out too for drivers who leave the pits in Q3 and then don't complete a lap, due to a mechanical issue or incident. Even if they don't record a competitive time, they are committed to using those tyres.

There is provision for replacing damaged tyres – the FIA will usually allow that in case of accident – but if someone just pulls off onto the grass the likelihood is that they will have to start the race with those tyres. Of course, that knowledge may encourage a driver in trouble to park on the track rather than risk spoiling their tyres, possibly creating a red flag. The FIA is well aware of that, and is watching...

Race strategies really are a clean sheet of paper this year. The rule says only that you have to use both types of tyre in the race, so in theory you can make your change at the end of the first lap, or the end of the penultimate lap – or at any stage in between.

When the refuelling ban was first announced, it was widely assumed that we would see races with one stop, but it's become increasingly apparent that two stops will be often be the better strategy. Of course, everything depends on track position and what your rivals are doing.

"I think they will tend to be stopping earlier rather than later," says Lowe. "If you look at GP2, it will be more like that model. What tends to happen is that the people at the back start to stop first, and then it propagates forwards. They tend to be putting their tyres on at about a third distance.

"During every race weekend it will become clear pretty quickly whether you have to do a two-stop, or whether you get away with a one stop," says Sam Michael. "I think one stop will the prime strategy, and it be two stops if the tyres can't handle it. It will be as simple as that. And the pit stops will be fast."

Safety cars will be key this year, and it will be interesting to see what happens in these early races, and especially in Melbourne, where three or four yellows a race are not uncommon. If you are on options and at the front then a safety car after 15-20 laps could be just the ticket. For those further back, a safety car at almost any time could be useful.

"If you're at the back you'll take more risks, because you've got nothing to lose." says Michael. "If there's a safety car, you come in, because you don't have the same penalties as what you used to. Typically if you stayed out, some guy who had stopped would be behind you on new tyres, but with 50-60kgs more fuel. So you'd be at the front and you have 10-12 laps to make up your gap. Now you're going to be on older tyres and the same fuel level, so you'll never, ever make a gap on the guy behind, therefore the default will be to stop for tyres."

If there is a first lap safety car we could see those at the rear, those who qualified well out of position, and those delayed by an incident all streaming into the pits to make the compulsory change. If they are going from option to prime, in theory there may be circuits where – with a little luck – they can get all the way to flag without a further change.

Even those who started on primes can help themselves by doing a double shuffle – stop for options, run them for one lap behind the safety car, and then stop again for primes. They too can then legally run to the flag, if they can make the primes work for 60 plus laps or whatever it is...

"That will be very interesting," says Michael, "Because the guys at the back will have nothing to lose. They can get their tyre stop done, they could even have started on the prime, come in fitted for the soft for one lap, and go back and fitted the prime again. For example if you don't really want to be on the soft tyre, you can do that."

One thing we are very likely to see during safety cars is both cars coming in together. Remember, with sub 3secs tyre changes – and no awkward fumbling with fuel hoses – you will lose less time than previously by stacking cars.

"To me it's always been a no brainer," says Force India team manager Andy Stevenson. "With safety cars and things like that you have to stack your cars in the pit lane, you can't leave them out for another lap because they lose so much time."

Life is a little easier this year because the midfield teams have more space: "This year it should be better, even though there are more teams in the pitlane the space has now been divided equally so everybody gets the same amount of space. The FIA [as opposed to F~0~M] has taken control of the pitlane. The teams at the front of the championship used to have another two, three or four metres of extra space, now that's been evened out, mainly for safety reasons. But it's also taken away the advantage of the big teams having more space to operate in."

One interesting aspect is that while in the past teams knew when their drivers were going to come in – give or take a lap – changing circumstances mean that a stop could be called at almost any time, and the crews have to be ready at all times.

"That's not an issue," says Stevenson. "The guys were always on standby the whole race. The thing is it's much easier to get out there just to change tyres, to get out for a late call with fuel was quite difficult. Yes we have to make sure that the tyres are always available, and you often used to see cars come in and the tyres weren't ready. But everyone will be primed and ready to go all the way through the race."

Stevenson admits that with pit stop timing free, the race engineers are really going to have to make the right calls – and make them instantly.

"You've got no time to plan at all, you've really got to be on the ball. We've been training our engineers with the simulator, and throwing in different scenarios. That's the thing they've learned, there's no time to discuss it, you've got to make your decision there and then. The decision is quite an easy one to make, but whereas in the past we'd have half a lap to discuss it, you've got no time, you've got to call it there and then. It's going to be make for much, much better racing.

"We're just going to be looking at everybody, or everybody who is within our pace, I suppose. Until we get to the first race it's going to be difficult to know where people are.

"I think it's going to introduce a whole new strategy that we haven't seen for a long time, and I think it's going to make the racing better. Certainly in the simulations we've done races are going to be a lot, lot closer, which means there's going to be more opportunity for overtaking."
"I don't want to achieve immortality through my work. I want to achieve it by not dying" -Woody Allen

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Re: 2010 Season Discussions: Driver Line-ups, News and Misc

Post by phil1993 » 16 Mar 2010, 20:06

JA: Lotus sign $9m Petrobras deal - starting from Spanish GP

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Re: 2010 Formula 1 Season - Official Discussion Thread

Post by iceman1 » 17 Mar 2010, 16:59

Ron Dennis drove the Ferrari 375 F1 in Bahrain :zz:
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Re: 2010 Formula 1 Season - Official Discussion Thread

Post by alex1369 » 18 Mar 2010, 22:43

great, f1 needs to keep the classic tracks, i really dont like every year new track and ofcourse boring race on new track, abu dhabi, singapore, valencia.... booooorrrriiiinnnnggggg

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Re: 2010 Formula 1 Season - Official Discussion Thread

Post by cformula1 » 20 Mar 2010, 08:01

Excellent news. Monza is a great track that provides great racing :)
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Re: 2010 Formula 1 Season - Official Discussion Thread

Post by JoostLamers » 20 Mar 2010, 10:49

Sweet! :D Monza is the real racing
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Re: 2010 Formula 1 Season - Official Discussion Thread

Post by iceman1 » 20 Mar 2010, 12:10

Schumacher voted most popular F1 driver
It may not surprise many people to learn that Michael Schumacher is the most popular driver in F1.

But his margin of victory shows just why his return to F1 this year is huge news. In last month’s FOTA/LG/F1 Racing survey he garnered more than twice as many votes as the next most popular driver, Fernando Alonso, with 19.5% to 9.7%.

In third place was a driver who isn’t even racing in F1 any more – Kimi Räikkönen.

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Re: 2010 Formula 1 Season - Official Discussion Thread

Post by alex1369 » 20 Mar 2010, 14:12

iceman1 wrote:Schumacher voted most popular F1 driver
It may not surprise many people to learn that Michael Schumacher is the most popular driver in F1.

But his margin of victory shows just why his return to F1 this year is huge news. In last month’s FOTA/LG/F1 Racing survey he garnered more than twice as many votes as the next most popular driver, Fernando Alonso, with 19.5% to 9.7%.

In third place was a driver who isn’t even racing in F1 any more – Kimi Räikkönen.
well thats good, schumi saves f1, at least something positive 4 f1, past 3-4 years were not easy for f1... u know what i mean

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Re: 2010 Formula 1 Season - Official Discussion Thread

Post by sdutt » 20 Mar 2010, 15:19

iceman1 wrote:Schumacher voted most popular F1 driver
It may not surprise many people to learn that Michael Schumacher is the most popular driver in F1.

But his margin of victory shows just why his return to F1 this year is huge news. In last month’s FOTA/LG/F1 Racing survey he garnered more than twice as many votes as the next most popular driver, Fernando Alonso, with 19.5% to 9.7%.

In third place was a driver who isn’t even racing in F1 any more – Kimi Räikkönen.
thats odd that Kimi was included in the poll. but it is good to see that he got those votes :)
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Re: 2010 Formula 1 Season - Official Discussion Thread

Post by iceman1 » 21 Mar 2010, 19:07

FIA launches 2011 team selection process
FIA.COM wrote:The FIA has decided to open a new selection process to identify a candidate team to fill any vacancy that may exist in the FIA Formula One World Championship at the start of the 2011 season. The FIA may also identify one or more possible ‘reserve’ entrants to fill such vacancies.

This selection process will be open to all candidates capable of participating in the Championship for 2011 and 2012. The overall long-term interests of the Championship will determine which candidates are selected.

The precise terms of this selection process, together with the applicable selection criteria, deadlines, legal requirements and other conditions, will be communicated to candidates who have registered a formal expression of interest with the FIA’s Secretariat before 5pm CET Thursday 15th April 2010, together with an administration fee of €1,000. The application process will commence at that time with those who have registered an expression of interest before this deadline (late applicants will be admitted only at the FIA’s discretion). This fee is non-refundable, although it will be offset against the application fee, which the FIA will require from those submitting full applications.

All applicants will be expected to undergo thorough due diligence. By way of indication only, the applicable selection criteria will include:

(a) the technical ability and resources of the team;
(b) the ability of the team to raise and maintain sufficient funding to allow participation;
(c) the team’s experience and human resources;
(d) the FIA’s assessment of the value that the candidate may bring to the Championship as a whole.

The timing of this process will depend on the candidates’ responses. However, by way of indication only, the FIA anticipates that full applications will need to be submitted by the end of June, followed by due diligence leading to a decision in July 2010.

Note: The FIA hereby invites interested parties to send a formal expression of interest and administration fee to the FIA Secretariat (legal@fia.com / Bank: Crédit du Nord, 50 rue d'Anjou, 75008 Paris, IBAN CODE: FR76 3007 6020 2025 3680 0020 034, SWIFT CODE: NORDFRPP Account holder: FIA), together with full contact details and a letter introducing their candidacy.
I hope we can see Lola in 2011, they actually had a car built already whereas USF1 spent two years messing around.

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