FORUMula1.com - F1 Forum

[McLaren Fan]

Well, it's only Monday, but we may as well start up a thread on the Grand Prix to keep all the discussion in one convienent place. To start with, Mark Webber has made a good point on autosport.com:

Teams plan for crucial SC periods

By Steven English and Jonathan Noble Monday, August 18th 2008, 07:58 GMT

Key figures in Formula One expect safety car periods to play a crucial role in the outcome of this weekend's European Grand Prix on the new Valencia street circuit.

The high-speed road layout has been likened to Montreal and some teams and drivers predict that the race around Valencia's port could be decided by a safety car period.

The current regulations, which punish drivers who are forced to pit while the safety car is on track, have affected several races, including this year's Canadian Grand Prix where Lewis Hamilton ran into the back of Kimi Raikkonen in the pit lane during a safety car period.

The close proximity of the walls lining the Valencia track increase the chances of accidents and, with it not yet known how long it will take to clear away damaged cars, teams will attempt to work long safety car periods into their race strategies.

Force India's technical director Mike Gascoyne says he will be looking to take advantage of any such situation.

"Certainly, for a team like us, we would be looking at that," he told autosport.com. "You've got the walls and the difficult of getting cars away, so there's going to be a lot of safety cars.

"We may look at strategies that will put us out of sync with the others so we can take advantage of it.

"With strategy, you've got to see what the circuit is like and how the tyres perform, because that might dictate far more what we do. But it's something we will factor into our race strategy."

But for the teams fighting for places at the front of the grid, safety car interruptions are just as likely to ruin races as they are to improve them.

Mark Webber, who is fighting for fourth place in the constructors' championship for Red Bull, is concerned about the effect the safety car could have on his race with the current regulations.

"Unfortunately these days, with the safety car rule that street races can sometimes be affected by, performance isn't shown," he told autosport.com. "But if you're having a s*** weekend it could help you.

"That's the biggest concern going into these sort of races, that if you're having a good weekend the safety car can completely screw you.

"Street races were always more vulnerable to safety cars, but with the rule we have now, all your efforts can be washed down the toilet."

[Denthúl]

He's just bitter that Piquet got that second place finish at Hockenheim whilst he rolled around with smoke pouring out of his engine

[al4x]

He's just bitter that Piquet got that second place finish at Hockenheim whilst he rolled around with smoke pouring out of his engine

well done np

[EwanM]

Beat me to it Mclaren Fan,

Valencia may not look that pretty, but hopefully we'll get another Montreal style race

[Rivelution]

I cant wait for the race!!!! The fact its been 3 weeks, and there will be a new track making its debut is going to be awesome!!!

[f1maniac95]

The track looks excellent I just cant wait till the race.

[8-ball]

The track does look good and I will be very interested to see which car (Mclaren/Ferrari) has the best set up. Convention says maybe Mclaren should have the edge but I think BMW will be able to make a challenge and upset the status quo

[McLaren Fan]

The track does look good and I will be very interested to see which car (Mclaren/Ferrari) has the best set up. Convention says maybe Mclaren should have the edge but I think BMW will be able to make a challenge and upset the status quo

In my opinion, McLaren will have a slight edge at the beginning of the weekend and probably in the early stages of the Grand Prix. The track will then come to the Ferraris towards the end of sessions and sometime into the race. From a McLaren point of view, this is pretty worrying. The chances of the safety car being deployed (repeatedly) on this track is extremely high. So, if McLaren do manage to build up a big lead in the race, the safety car will wipe it out and the Ferraris will be all over the McLarens.

[7UpJordan]

"This track should suit our car." Guess who said that...

[McLaren Fan]

"This track should suit our car." Guess who said that...

Williams?

[7UpJordan]

"This track should suit our car." Guess who said that...

Williams?

Oh go on, I'll give you it, but the exact answer was Nico Rosberg. Then Kazuki went on to say something similar because "the track's like Monaco and Montreal". Well they said that last time out in Hungary so I'm not really convinced they'll do well, but at least there's some upgrades due for Spa to "cure" the aero problems they've suffered this year that are supposed to put them back on the pace of the Toyboys, Red Bull and Renault.

So maybe they did let the Top Gear team touch their car like I suggested they should have done?

[texasmr2]

Man I cannot wait for the race!! I'll be staying with my dad helping him while he recover's from surgery and hopefully I can turn him onto F1 and into a fan!!!

[headless]

I prefer the races where I have to get up especially.
Great atmosphere

[Rob-F1]

Got I'm up for this race. If I get decent GCSE results, a Ferrari 1-2 would be the perfect way to celebrate.

[McLaren Fan]

Here's an article written by Mark Hughes for ITV.com:

It has been 19 long years and Formula 1's first visit to Phoenix since a genuine new street circuit made its debut on the calendar – so it's not surprising so much excitement surrounds Valencia's new harbourside offering.

Sweeping around the streets of the picturesque Spanish port city, the inaugural race at the 3.4-mile venue represents a large step into the unknown for the grid with teams only able to gauge so much from even the most realistic computer simulations.

So what should we expect from this weekend? Itv.com/f1's expert analyst Mark Hughes takes a closer look...

Formula 1 makes its first visit to Valencia’s new street circuit this weekend and the technical and sporting demands should combine to produce a race of interest and incident.

At first glimpse the track looks similar in nature to Montreal, with lots of long high-speed straights followed by slow corners.

As such, it’s likely to be highly demanding of brakes.

There is never any question of the teams not being able to make brakes last; that’s the easy bit.

What is difficult is achieving an acceptable level of brake cooling with the minimum cost to the car’s aerodynamic performance.

Brake disc wear rates go exponential once a certain critical temperature – around 850C – is reached.

Repeated hard braking from very high speeds increases temperatures and keeping wear rates within check is all about having adequate cooling to the discs for whatever demands are being made of them by the circuit.

The way teams do this is to increase the size of the brake cooling ducts.

However, the ducts are sited right behind the front wing and increasing their size creates a blockage to the airflow over the wing – costing the car downforce, grip, drag and lap time.

The real trick is to get good brake cooling with minimal aerodynamic cost.

Ferrari has been at the forefront of using flush covers for its wheels to aid brake cooling.

If this has led to a more sophisticated flow, they might be able to improve brake cooling by increasing the size of the exit hole in the wheel cover rather than by making the inlet bigger.

If they were able to do this, it would cost them less in downforce.

On the other hand, the circuit’s collection of slow, short duration corners potentially spells trouble for Ferrari in qualifying.

Theirs is a car usually reluctant to get adequate temperature into its front tyres quickly enough for qualifying.

An out-lap is often insufficient preparation for them, and consequently their true potential is often not revealed until the race.

At tracks where passing is difficult, this trait often ruins Ferrari’s chances.

But the Valencia lap would seem to offer three genuine overtaking opportunities, so even if the red cars do qualify behind the McLarens, they may still be able to overtake if their race speed proves superior.

The slow corners should suit the McLaren’s ability to get its tyres quickly up to temperature and its superb traction.

Combine that with Lewis Hamilton’s ease with street circuits that demand a blend of commitment and precision, and they should be favourites for pole.

BMW Sauber’s Robert Kubica is another street circuit ace who might be expected to transcend his car in qualifying.

The run-off in a couple of places is quite marginal and at a couple of spots – notably the entry to the bridge – it’s quite conceivable to have a car hitting the concrete on the way in rather than on the exit.

As such there are likely to be safety car periods in the race. This inevitably brings a random element of luck into the outcome, as where you are relative to your refuelling window when someone else has an accident is a factor that can’t really be planned for.

Those fighting for the first three rows of the grid cannot afford the qualifying time penalty of a one-stop strategy – which would minimise your vulnerability to a safety car. Those further back could.

So, depending when the safety car periods come – and it really does seem to be a question of when rather than if – there could be a few unfavoured runners lucking into unlikely positions.

The track is unusual in comprising partly existing street surfaces and partly newly created purpose-built race track surface.

The contrast in the two types of surface is significant; from low grip to high, from crowns and cambers to level.

Repeated hard braking supported by 2000kg of downforce will likely lead to the ‘street’ surface braking areas becoming rippled, creating more potential for drivers to lose control under braking and therefore yet more potential safety car periods.

This one is going to have the pit crews every bit as much on edge as the drivers.