Looking forward to Spa this weekend, could be some rain around latter on Sunday afternoon which would add to the fun  :sun:

Edited 20 August, 201510 yr by Laurie61

Looking forward to Spa this weekend, could be some rain around latter on Sunday afternoon which would add to the fun  :sun:

 

Always feel so sorry for Paul Di Resta two years ago with the rain around in qualifying, so nearly poll position and after that it was all down hill to oblivion where it could have been different if he kept his poll to the end of qualifying (only a few minutes from the end) and who knows what might have happened.  The weather at Spa, like all those Ardennes area circuits help the driver talent come to the fore so rather than 90% car 10% driver it gets closer to 50/50.

And he's not doing particularly well in DTM - 13th overall, no wins but a couple of podiums.

Barely half an hour into the first practice session and Maldonado has crashed into the barriers!!

Barely half an hour into the first practice session and Maldonado has crashed into the barriers!!

Somethings never change!

Red Bull/ Renault regaining their Mojo?

 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/34015165

 

Daniel Ricciardo underlined the step forward Red Bull have made with their car in recent races by taking third.  The session was interrupted by a crash for Lotus driver Pastor Maldonado.   The Venezuelan lost control at the Malmedy right-hander at the top of the circuit and spun into the barrier on the inside of the track, damaging the front of the car.  The incident justified Lotus's decision to save their sole example of a new front-wing design they have brought to this race for his team-mate Romain Grosjean, who will not drive until the second session after handing his car to reserve driver Jolyon Palmer for the first.  The Ferraris of Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel were fourth and fifth, ahead of the second Red Bull of Daniil Kvyat and the Toro Rosso cars of Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.   Force India's Sergio Perez and Williams's Valtteri Bottas completed the top 10.  The upgraded Honda engine in the McLarens was a disappointment, with Fernando Alonso setting the 16th fastest time and Jenson Button 18th. The Spaniard was 0.723secs clear of the Englishman.  Honda F1 boss Yasuhisa Arai had said he hoped the combustion upgrade to the engine for this race would bring the Japanese company level with the engine performance of Ferrari, regarded as a close second to standard-setters Mercedes.  But the speed trap times showed that, at least in the specification in which it was running on Friday morning, the Honda was still a long way off that.  Alonso was around 15km/h slower than Hamilton's Mercedes through the speed trap at the end of the long straight after Eau Rouge.  

By contrast, he matched the pace of the fastest car, Ricciardo's Red Bull, at the second speed trap, which is between the Stavelot and Paul Frere corners at the end of the second sector, and is a measure of corner exit speed more than engine power.  Ricciardo's pace was extremely impressive - the Australian was just 0.049 secs slower than Hamilton over the lap on the track where he took his third and most recent F1 victory in this race last year.  Red Bull have made significant progress with their car following an upgrade at the British Grand Prix two races ago and they are now vying with Mercedes for the honour of best chassis in F1.  Red Bull's Renault engine still lags behind the Mercedes and Ferrari cars on engine performance.  Just 0.4 secs separated Rosberg in first place from Raikkonen in fourth, raising hopes of a close, competitive weekend.

Any news on the high speed tyre failure between Stavelot and Blanchimont that one of the Mercedes' had today?

Edited 21 August, 201510 yr by camelspyyder

Any news on the high speed tyre failure between Stavelot and Blanchimont that one of the Mercedes' had today?

You could see a thread of the tyre's Kevlar material wisping around for several seconds before total failure. Not good advert for Pirelli.

They generally fail when the team go outside the manufacturers parameters to get another 0.1% of performance.

 

Happens to Dunlop in the BTCC too, normally at Thruxton where it's most dangerous, but the teams go outside the makers limits on pressure or camber to get laptime.

They generally fail when the team go outside the manufacturers parameters to get another 0.1% of performance.

 

Happens to Dunlop in the BTCC too, normally at Thruxton where it's most dangerous, but the teams go outside the makers limits on pressure or camber to get laptime.

Red bull did this big time, allegedly, running lower than allowable pressures.

Red Bull looking good in P3 today.

What? behind Force India is looking good?

 

I dont think p6 and p7 is what RBR would have hoped for after Ricciardo was only .04 behind the Mercedes yesterday.

Edited 22 August, 201510 yr by camelspyyder

That was written before the hot laps. RB went for longer runs. Quali will change it up.

What? behind Force India is looking good?

 

I dont think p6 and p7 is what RBR would have hoped for after Ricciardo was only .04 behind the Mercedes yesterday.

 

I posted that when they were 1, 2. I think they will be back up there in quali.

Red Bull/ Renault regaining their Mojo?

 

 

Looking at the qualifying times I would say not. 

This is painful for Jenson and Fernando :(

When's the upgraded Honda engine coming?

This is painful for Jenson and Fernando :(

When's the upgraded Honda engine coming?

 

I thought they had it ? I think Maclaren should have set up for a wet race tomorrow and prayed for a downpour.  

They used 3 tokens for this race and introduced 2 brand new engines this race for a 105 place penalty between both cars.

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Yup, that is how fast the new Honda engine is - Mmm think I'll go and buy a fugly new Civic Tourer - NOT!!!!!

 

 

Excellent marketing ploy I'd say Honda - Come back to F1 and get your arse kicked by everyone except Manor (running last year's weedy Ferrari donk) whilst at the same time getting spanked by Yamaha in MotoGP.

Edited 22 August, 201510 yr by camelspyyder

Figures closer than I have seen for a while.......

 

 

Speed trap Pos Driver       Car Engine           Speed (kph/mph)       Gap

1              Nico Rosberg Mercedes Mercedes       317.2 (197.1)  

2              Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes    317.1 (197.0) -0.1

3              Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes     316.3 (196.5) -0.9

4              Romain Grosjean Lotus Mercedes       315.8 (196.2) -1.4

5              Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes 314.8 (195.6) -2.4

6              Pastor Maldonado Lotus Mercedes      314.4 (195.4) -2.8

7              Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari     314.4 (195.4) -2.8

8              Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes       314.1 (195.2) -3.1

9              Valtteri Bottas Williams Mercedes    313.0 (194.5) -4.2

10             Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari       312.0 (193.9) -5.2

11             Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso Renault  310.5 (192.9) -6.7

12             Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari       309.1 (192.1) -8.1

13             Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Renault    309.1 (192.1) -8.1

14             Max Verstappen Toro Rosso Renault    308.6 (191.8) -8.6

Figures closer than I have seen for a while.......

 

 

Speed trap Pos Driver       Car Engine           Speed (kph/mph)       Gap

1              Nico Rosberg Mercedes Mercedes       317.2 (197.1)  

2              Sergio Perez Force India Mercedes    317.1 (197.0) -0.1

3              Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Mercedes     316.3 (196.5) -0.9

4              Romain Grosjean Lotus Mercedes       315.8 (196.2) -1.4

5              Nico Hulkenberg Force India Mercedes 314.8 (195.6) -2.4

6              Pastor Maldonado Lotus Mercedes      314.4 (195.4) -2.8

7              Sebastian Vettel Ferrari Ferrari     314.4 (195.4) -2.8

8              Felipe Massa Williams Mercedes       314.1 (195.2) -3.1

9              Valtteri Bottas Williams Mercedes    313.0 (194.5) -4.2

10             Kimi Raikkonen Ferrari Ferrari       312.0 (193.9) -5.2

11             Carlos Sainz Jnr Toro Rosso Renault  310.5 (192.9) -6.7

12             Marcus Ericsson Sauber Ferrari       309.1 (192.1) -8.1

13             Daniel Ricciardo Red Bull Renault    309.1 (192.1) -8.1

14             Max Verstappen Toro Rosso Renault    308.6 (191.8) -8.6

This is only the times through the speed trap, a car with a less powerful engine running lower downforce could be faster through the speed trap.

What the list does show that the Mercedes engined cars have the upper hand. The best of the rest is Ferrari and the Renaults even further back.

I'm annoyed at Honda. We all knew it would be a hard season for them but not this bad. They should have realised from the first race that there's no chance of serious points this year so should have just treated every race as a test session, run the engines flat out from the start. If they blew up they could see what failed, make changes, take the "penalty" and carry on testing. Then by next year, or even at the end of this one they would have had a decent powertrain. What worries me is that they are struggling to match power to the other reliably but in 2017 the power goes up even more.

Are Honda's issues because they're trying to be clever with their engine/gearbox layout?

Are Honda's issues because they're trying to be clever with their engine/gearbox layout?

Cant remember where but I read that Honda had attempted a merc-like layout with their power unit and drivetrain. It seems to have worked well enough to beat Ferrari..........Manor Ferrari.

Was thinking more this

http://m.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/118626