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[sagi58]

You did quite all right on your own, spanky!!

By the way:

...A lot of faith was placed in a patented 2 stage turbo from Honeywell, but, the FiA banned it in November...

Why was it banned?

[spankyham]

:clap: You did quite all right on your own, spanky!!

By the way:

...A lot of faith was placed in a patented 2 stage turbo from Honeywell, but, the FiA banned it in November...

Why was it banned?

I haven't seen any reason for banning it, but, what irks me is that it was banned so late in the development phase. Given the FiA had seen all the PUs long before November, it was pretty nasty to leave it until that late in 2013 - giving Ferrari no chance to change things before 2014.

Personally I also think it was weak of Ferrari to not fight for what they believed was within the rules - I detect that criticism of SD in the original article. There have been so many times where Ferrari have innovated and Charlie Whiting has ruled whatever they came up with as illegal. At the same time, they rule other innovations (creative rule interpretations if you like) as acceptable. Ferrari should not just passively accept these rulings - if we think it was legal enough to build it, then we should fight hard for it - if necessary go to tribunals and appeals.

Still, very nasty of the FiA to make their ruling in November IMO.

[sagi58]

Domenicali wasn't ever going to fight for anything...
He's your proverbial "lover" not "fighter"...
Unlike, Mattiacci, who seems to have the "eye of the tiger" about him!!
Here's hoping that's true... my heart can't take more of this!!

[spankyham]

More rumours about Nando going to McLaren. >>Source<<.

Don't do it Nando.

[spankyham]

Luca Marmorini out, Lorenzo Sassi is his replacement. >>Source<<.

Do it MM, do it

[spankyham]

I fell in love with Mauro's cars long before I even knew who he was and what he did. He was totally brilliant and invented and perfected so many key things. He actually created the first "paddle-shift" that was presented to Enzo. Because electronics were neither small or capable enough at the time, his version was hydraulic/mechanical and was rejected. When electronics became viable, Ferrari took his idea and implemented it to become a standard now for all F1 cars, and now, has proliferated to many production cars.

His observations are really astute.

 wrote:">F1 legend Forghieri slams 'ridiculous' DRS

"A world champion needs to be in a position to overtake his opponent without help -- otherwise, in my eyes, he is not a world champion" - Mauro Forghieri.

Jul.15 (GMM) Legendary Ferrari designer Mauro Forghieri has a couple of simple suggestions to spice up Formula One.

Amid a dwindling television audience in 2014, most of the blame has fallen on the brand new engine rules, with smaller, quiet turbos replacing the screaming V8s of the past.

But Forghieri, a leading figure at the fabled Maranello team from the 60s to the 80s, actually backs the new 'hybrid' age.

"All the major manufacturers want hybrids, and I think it's good that they only need 70 per cent of the fuel of the past, or even less, for the same distance," he told motorline.cc.

"Where I cannot agree with the FIA is the monitoring of fuel consumption lap after lap," the 79-year-old, who designed the legendary 312 series and Niki Lauda's title-winning cars, added.

"In my very personal opinion, Formula One is a show of power and so this rule is unacceptable from a sporting perspective."

Unsurprisingly, Forghieri is also no fan of the rear wing overtaking aid called 'DRS', which has been similarly denounced by other F1 purists.

"Get rid of the DRS," he exclaimed. "DRS is ri-di-cu-lous," he emphasised.

"I dislike the whole aerodynamics of the current cars -- I don't understand why it is not reduced in order to allow normal overtaking without DRS.

"Now, if one's opponent is less than a second behind, he can only watch as his pursuer goes past -- and that cannot be correct.

"A world champion needs to be in a position to overtake his opponent without help -- otherwise, in my eyes, he is not a world champion," Forghieri insisted.

He said another rule change that would improve the racing is in the area of braking.

"How many road cars use discs made of carbon?" he asked rhetorically. "So why is it used in Formula One?

"If we would use normal discs in F1, the braking distances would be double and overtaking would be so much easier."

[spankyham]

One more observation about Mauro's interview. His point about F1 braking systems, I also agree with. Although personally I wouldn't implement his goal by banning carbon fibre, I'd perhaps force smaller brake systems. Of course the 18" wheels which now seem inevitable will detract from the late-braking genius drivers we have - sadly these giant wheels will enable even average drivers to brake so late that the difference between the driver who has supreme control here and an average guy will be so insignificant as to make no difference.

Good on you Mauro, you were one of F1 greatest ever designers and you are proving to be one its greatest thinkers as well.

[spankyham]

Whilst this also backs up Luca's recent statement, it provides a little more substance to the discussion.

No-one can escape the fact that this is the first year in F1's history when teams are barred from catching up in any way. A stark contrast to Ferrari's years of dominance when other teams could build completely new cars and engines and, even if Ferrari had a huge advantage at the first race, it was only good for that race. Within a few races the other teams were allowed to do whatever they could to catch up. It must be very frustrating having to turn up race after race and not being allowed to make any of the changes you know would make you competitive and able to put on a show for the fans.

[sagi58]

Three suggestions, all "easily" implemented and the FIA is considering making this a better "show" by adding standing restarts,
allowing only a reduced amount of in-season testing, and not allowing teams to improve their engines over the season...

 wrote:">F1 legend Forghieri slams 'ridiculous' DRS

..."Where I cannot agree with the FIA is the monitoring of fuel consumption"...

..."Get rid of the DRS," he exclaimed. "DRS is ri-di-cu-lous," he emphasised...

...use normal discs in F1, the braking distances would be double and overtaking would be so much easier."

[sagi58]

Whilst this also backs up Luca's recent statement, it provides a little more substance to the discussion.

No-one can escape the fact that this is the first year in F1's history when teams are barred from catching up in any way. A stark contrast to Ferrari's years of dominance when other teams could build completely new cars and engines and, even if Ferrari had a huge advantage at the first race, it was only good for that race. Within a few races the other teams were allowed to do whatever they could to catch up. It must be very frustrating having to turn up race after race and not being allowed to make any of the changes you know would make you competitive and able to put on a show for the fans.

VALID point!! Well-documented, over the years, and completely irrefutable!!
Even Red Bull (with limited testing available) didn't have the advantage this
provides Mercedes, albeit as an unexpected backlash to the FIA's rules!
At least, I hope it was unforeseen by the authors!!

[spankyham]

Thanks sagi

I would add again that I firmly believe Mercedes deserved to win in Australia and they earned, fair and square, the advantage they started the year with. I'm simply pointing out that this is the first time in the history of F1 that teams are specifically banned from doing anything to catch up the PU performance advantage Mercedes has.

As much as I enjoyed the years of SF domination, those wins would have been extremely hollow if we weren't beating the likes or McLaren and Williams at the top of their game - with the ability to produce a whole new car and engine as needed. I remember when the MP4-19B arrived. It was a rocket and Kimi showed what he could do. So the win was very sweet knowing the opposition were great and didn't have their hands tied behind their backs for the rest of the year.

If you look at that era we went from 40 billion viewers just after Shumi joined SF up to 50+ billion.

[sagi58]

Absolutely!! Mercedes DESERVED the win, and not only in that first race, since they were obviously better prepared than the rest of the grid!!
However, for them to have the "advantage" seems to have limited the competition from happening between all teams on the grid to competition between their drivers.

Aside from the freeze on engine development, there's the "little" problem of limited testing. Even if part of the development aspect is frozen, with testing, wouldn't the teams be able to make other adjustments, improvements to be a little more competitive?

[spankyham]

Aside from the freeze on engine development, ....

I remember when the previous freeze was in place (for the V8s) and Mercedes and Renault were allowed to make changes mid-season, to improve performance whilst Ferrari were not, because the Ferrari PU was the most powerful. Strangely I don't remember the fans of those teams complaining about how unfair it was back then

[sagi58]

I remember when the previous freeze was in place (for the V8s) and Mercedes and Renault were allowed to make changes mid-season, to improve performance whilst Ferrari were not, because the Ferrari PU was the most powerful. Strangely I don't remember the fans of those teams complaining about how unfair it was back then

But, that would be... hypocritical!!

Ah, well, time to change my signature back to:
After the agony of defeat, success will be sweet!!Mai dire mai!!

[spankyham]

I remember when the previous freeze was in place (for the V8s) and Mercedes and Renault were allowed to make changes mid-season, to improve performance whilst Ferrari were not, because the Ferrari PU was the most powerful. Strangely I don't remember the fans of those teams complaining about how unfair it was back then

But, that would be... hypocritical!!

I think it is just human nature, the will to support your team and the desire to have them succeed is perfectly normal.

For me, I always wanted McLaren to field the best car they could and to finish every race - it made winning very satisfying, and, the times we were beaten (plenty of those, remember no team has lost as much as Ferrari ) you could honestly say we were beaten fair and square