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[What's Burning?]

Spanky I've got to try and walk you down. It's an entirely new engine, new gearbox, new car, less downforce, more torque and you want to compare the first times set to cars and engines that hadn't fundamentally changed in four or five years?

Give it time my friend, give it time. did you see how cool those cars looked going sideways? That's gotta bring a smile to your face.

[LRW]

To be honest, I dont think I would notice if the times were 5s a lap down on last year. ITs not how fast they can get round the track that interests me - its how fast in relation to the other cars.

I watch BTCC and enjoy that. And they are decidedly slower.

[Hammer278]

I think V8 has racing which is more enjoyable than F1 but how fast are they? In FP2 Lewis was only 3 seconds off the pace from last years' FP1 so it's not bad at all, another driver predicted during testing that the cars could be about 8 seconds slower.

If we want 'speed', drag racing is always there.

[1Lemon]

To be honest, I dont think I would notice if the times were 5s a lap down on last year. ITs not how fast they can get round the track that interests me - its how fast in relation to the other cars.

I watch BTCC and enjoy that. And they are decidedly slower.

Yeah we really should be aiming for BTCC style racing in F1. Wheel to wheel stuff almost all the time.

[spankyham]

Fair enough, no need for F1, just watch BTCC

[Hammer278]

I think right now F1 is followed by most people who take the racing bit along with the drama...thanks to all the publicity we connect to the sport a lot more.

If you show F1 now side by side with BTCC or V8, those new audiences passionate about racing might stick to the latter two. It's us older fans having had F1 as a dirty needle stuck in our arms for so long we can't do without it anymore.

[1Lemon]

I follow F1 not because it is fast, but because of the passion, drama, high price/ high reward action and is the pinnacle of motor racing technology.

[CookinFlat6]

Non Merc fans may well want to avoid reading this particular link
http://www.motorsportmagazine.com/f1/whos-got-the-new-formula-figured-out/

Heres a snippet suggesting the fuel saving might be less of an issue for the more powerful engines

Although drivers were able to lean on the tyres around Albert Park – and were definitely not needing to drive to a delta time to get competitive stint lengths – there was still a displeasing endurance-style aspect about keeping within the fuel limitation – for some cars, at least. Drivers were having to lift and coast, with as much as a one second gap between lifting off the throttle and getting onto the brakes.

This doesn’t lose you all that much lap time, but does improve fuel consumption. But it’s surely not how we want to see Grand Prix drivers having to drive. We like that they need to work at the wheel more, use up more track and call upon their car control skills more frequently. We don’t like them having to use the throttle/brake sequence like little old ladies. Overlapping throttle and brake to manipulate the attitude of the car upon the corner entry – the very core of what separates the great from the good – is now a no-no.

The Mercedes-powered drivers don’t need to worry as much about this as the others for the efficiency of their energy recovery is such that even around Albert Park – a circuit with the second or third highest fuel consumption of the year – Mercedes teams were considering not putting in the full 100kg of fuel and perhaps short-fuelling. It implies that it’s quite feasible there will be no circuits on the calendar where the Mercs are fuel-limited.

“If that’s the case,” said one Renault-engined team engineer, “then they might as well give the trophies out now.” Ferrari and Renault are nowhere near achieving this at the moment.

There’s a lot more fascinating detail to learn about these cars, but many of their secrets have surrendered to a bit of scrutiny in the first session of the new formula.

[racechick]

Merc certainly seem to have come up trumps with the engine.



Things I like about the engine. The leery back, the getting sideways. I think it gives something back to the better drivers, something that was taken away with tyre saving.

I would prefer them to go faster but I'm not overly bothered because they look faster. I wouldn't know they were slower if the man on the tele didn't tell me. But if they are consistently slower than the GP2 cars then that will be ridiculous.


What I don't like is the sound, well it actually sounds like the sound is turned off. I love that scream when all the engines start off the grid at live races. We'll that won't be the same.

[spankyham]

..... and is the pinnacle of motor racing technology.

The pinnacle in F1 was reached 10 years ago. There have been GP2 cars that would have been right at home with yesterday's lap times.
I guess you're lucky if that placebo satisfies you.


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[Jabberwocky]

I don't think that the speed matters. Anyone who has done even the slightest bit of aggressive driving knows that you can have as much fun driving a family hatchback at its limits as you can driving a hypercar. It is just if it all goes wrong in a hypercar they find you half a mile out to sea. And not just bounced of the curb at 20mph

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[Hammer278]

..... and is the pinnacle of motor racing technology.

The pinnacle in F1 was reached 10 years ago. There have been GP2 cars that would have been right at home with yesterday's lap times.
I guess you're lucky if that placebo satisfies you.


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No, pinnacle of technology NOW is the energy recovery working with the new power unit, all this tech compacted in 1 tiny space. We see the best minds in the sport struggling to make things work together, and technology still being pushed to the limit.

If you want fuel guzzling V12 turbos, well that time has past. I much rather see F1 testing the extremes of what future road cars could make use of, for example pedal shifting, TC, LC and such which we have in sports cars these days (GTR/M3/M5/S Series/etc) was all trickled down from F1.

If they're powering around circuits and completing laps of Melbourne in 30 seconds but has no correlation with what I could use in the future, I see a waste of time and resources.

There's many ways to look at it, and there are many positives today. I enjoy the fact that the drivers are working way harder without the diffuser and a lot more power to play with. Power sliding and trail braking is a lot more apparent now thanks to these new machines. Seeing all this has almost made me get over the lack of sound. Almost.

[spankyham]

I don't think that the speed matters. Anyone who has done even the slightest bit of aggressive driving knows that you can have as much fun driving a family hatchback at its limits as you can driving a hypercar. It is just if it all goes wrong in a hypercar they find you half a mile out to sea. And not just bounced of the curb at 20mph

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From a driving perspective you raise a good point which I wasn't considering, so I learned something there. Having said that, from my perspective as a spectator, previously I saw a huge difference watching GP2 V F1.

[Roth]

I'm happy knowing that drivers are using more real not mechanical skill. I don't care if it's like GP2 or any other code, or how they sound. The fact the drivers don't like it as much, all the better. It's primarily a driver's championship, not a constructor's one. I'm fed up of fake drivers' champions. This should hopefully bring back fun racing from the top down.

[sagi58]

There's many ways to look at it, and there are many positives today. I enjoy the fact that the drivers are working way harder without the diffuser and a lot more power to play with. Power sliding and trail braking is a lot more apparent now thanks to these new machines. Seeing all this has almost made me get over the lack of sound. Almost.

There's a lack of sound? I'm so excited to see the cars going around corners
and the drivers gripping their steering wheels, as if they'll never let go!! You can almost
feel the sweat trickling down their necks as they work hard with the car, with the team!!

What else could a girl ask for??