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[Denthúl]

Brawn only won because they found a loophole in the regs with their double diffuser,giving them an early season advantage while the others caught up,when they did,Red Bull had the best car and Brawn were languising in lower end of the top 8 most of the time(other than a 1-2 at Monza,and 1st at Valencia with Barrichello),boosted by Red Bulls lack of points early in the season,the first 2 races Vettel didn't finish and lost 20 points to Button and finished the season only 14 points behind,Australia was a big fail though,lost a podium in the last 5 laps by tangling with Kubica.

No...the car was nothing special, it was simply a technicality featuring something which everyone else thought illegal (could actually be defined legal) and the car was built around this loophole. When the other teams caught up 3/4 into the season with their own improvisations, Brawn GP was at best the 3rd best car.

The Brawn advantage and decline was not the result of the double diffuser loophole (although this did contribute to some of their pace); if it was, then surely Williams and Toyota would have been right up there with them?

The whole Brawn package was awesome when it was rolled out; the car was planted and driveable, with both good aerodynamic and mechanical grip. People seem to forget that Brawn ran out of funds very early on and weren't able to bring anywhere near the level of developments to the car that other teams could, and that is why other teams caught and passed them - not just because they had fitted double diffusers. One component does not contribute to the kind of advantage they held early in the season.

[Hammer278]

The car was planted and driveable largely thanks to the double diffuser. The reason others took so long to catch up was having to revolutionize their own chassis' to make a double diffuser work and this work is extensive. It's not simply about making a double diffuser and screwing it on, but changing the whole tub to channel airflow in a manner which will make the concept work.

Not saying the car was a dud to begin with, no way...but I believe they took some of the previous season and the off season to get this concept perfected, while the others took half of 2009 (around the same time) to get theirs working.

What I'm trying to say is that it's 2 very different concepts, a car with a double diffuser is very different in design to one without. This was the massive loophole exploited that year and the strength of it was the time required to actually make this work, once you find out it is actually legal.

[Nin-Chin]

Don't forget Toyota had a 1-2 in quali in Bahrain,but their strategy didn't work out,Rosberg led in Malaysia before he was jumped by Button,in China Red Bull took a 1-2,Turkey Vettel messed up on lap 1 and let Button past,Australia Kubica was faster towards the end of the race and could have caught Button if he didn't tangle with Vettel,in Spain Brawn were dominant and the same in Monaco

[Ferrari man 009]

Ferrari have denied that and said they arent looking at the driver market. This to me hints that they will probably keep Massa on for 2014.

Does anyone think that, should Ferrari not have positive results at Spa and Monza, they will give up on 13 and be the first to throw all their eggs in the 14 basket?

Does anyone still believe in that "Give up on this season and work on the next to gain an advantage" theory? Because I think this worked till the mid 2000s...and the F1 operation now is so big that teams are able to work on multiple projects with enough resources without affecting the current season. Mercedes says they have already started on their 2015 (yes, fifteen) blue prints and I'm sure this is the same for all the top teams. Only McLaren seem to believe that old adage for some reason.

Honda/Brawn in 2008/09 - won them the title!

No...the car was nothing special, it was simply a technicality featuring something which everyone else thought illegal (could actually be defined legal) and the car was built around this loophole. When the other teams caught up 3/4 into the season with their own improvisations, Brawn GP was at best the 3rd best car.

Toyota and Williams also found this legal "loophole" - therefore 1/3 of the grid saw this loophole and exploited it. Im sure we'll see at least one team find loopholes and gain an advantage next season!

[Denthúl]

The car was planted and driveable largely thanks to the double diffuser. The reason others took so long to catch up was having to revolutionize their own chassis' to make a double diffuser work and this work is extensive. It's not simply about making a double diffuser and screwing it on, but changing the whole tub to channel airflow in a manner which will make the concept work.

Not saying the car was a dud to begin with, no way...but I believe they took some of the previous season and the off season to get this concept perfected, while the others took half of 2009 (around the same time) to get theirs working.

What I'm trying to say is that it's 2 very different concepts, a car with a double diffuser is very different in design to one without. This was the massive loophole exploited that year and the strength of it was the time required to actually make this work, once you find out it is actually legal.

They are different concepts, but the diffuser still wasn't the only reason for their speed in the early part of the season. Just look at how cars started to shift towards a wider and lower nose as the season went on, for example. I think if Brawn had been able to fund development through the second part of the season, they would have won the championship by a greater margin.

Don't forget Toyota had a 1-2 in quali in Bahrain,but their strategy didn't work out,Rosberg led in Malaysia before he was jumped by Button,in China Red Bull took a 1-2,Turkey Vettel messed up on lap 1 and let Button past,Australia Kubica was faster towards the end of the race and could have caught Button if he didn't tangle with Vettel,in Spain Brawn were dominant and the same in Monaco

Both Toyotas ran lighter in qualifying for Bahrain (Glock especially so), as did Rosberg in Malaysia. Kubica's speed towards the end of the race was as a result of being on prime tyres whilst the options were degrading rapidly.

Edit: In other news...

Magnussen could replace Bianchi in 2014

Marussia has emerged as a potential destination for the McLaren-backed rookie Kevin Magnussen in 2013.

This week, Marussia team boss John Booth admitted the team would like to keep its current drivers in 2014; well-funded Max Chilton, and the Ferrari-linked Jules Bianchi.

But as the Williams-bound Pat Symonds remarked as a parting shot recently, Marussia's "hands are tied" when it comes to needing to make its driver decisions with commercial implications in mind.

Enter Magnussen, the 20-year-old son of former Danish F1 driver Jan.

He is the cream of McLaren's development driver programme, impressing when he drove the British team's 2013 car at the recent Silverstone test.

Boss Martin Whitmarsh said afterwards that Magnussen deserves a place on the 2014 grid.

The youngster is leading this year's Formula Renault 3.5 series, clearly ahead of the likely 2014 Toro Rosso driver Antonio Felix da Costa, and the new Sauber protege Sergey Sirotkin.

Germany's Auto Motor und Sport said Whitmarsh wants to place Magnussen in F1 "as early as 2014, to give him a year of training without pressure".

"There are not many options," correspondent Michael Schmidt said. "One possibility would be Marussia."

McLaren already works with Marussia on the technical side, leasing its wind tunnel and simulator to the backmarker team.

Jules Bianchi was placed at Marussia this year, but Ferrari driver 'academy' chief Luca Baldisseri hinted a step into the midfield might be appropriate for the impressive French rookie for 2014.

"For the future," he said, "it will be important to know if his presence in formula one will have some continuity and in that case, what could be the potential of his team."

Could be interesting. I'd like to see Bianchi move up the grid and definitely want Magnussen in F1, so I wouldn't mind this.

[LewEngBridewell]

Could be interesting. I'd like to see Bianchi move up the grid and definitely want Magnussen in F1, so I wouldn't mind this.

Agreed!

[AngelOfDeath]

Wasn't perwz signed for 3 years

The way he's carrying on, he'll be lucky if it's for 3 races!

Nah, he's too disturbingly good lookin'...

He won't be for much longer if Raikkonen punches him.

Raikkonen said "Maybe somebody should punch him in the face"...basically hinting he's too much of a wimp to do it himself.

Don't diss Raikkonen, that fella' is a true Legend

[Ferrari man 009]

Don't forget Toyota had a 1-2 in quali in Bahrain,but their strategy didn't work out,Rosberg led in Malaysia before he was jumped by Button,in China Red Bull took a 1-2,Turkey Vettel messed up on lap 1 and let Button past,Australia Kubica was faster towards the end of the race and could have caught Button if he didn't tangle with Vettel,in Spain Brawn were dominant and the same in Monaco

Both Toyotas ran lighter in qualifying for Bahrain (Glock especially so), as did Rosberg in Malaysia. Kubica's speed towards the end of the race was as a result of being on prime tyres whilst the options were degrading rapidly.

Also, wasnt the RB 1-2 in China largely down to the fact they were better in the wet weather. I know they started on pole but they were a lot lighter and were expected to stop 3 times vs Brawn's 2 if i remember correctly.

Brawn didnt always shine in qualifying as they usually ran long in the races, which gave them better race results (look at Monza, they were 4-5 on the grid and finished 1-2).

[andrew]

Wasn't perwz signed for 3 years

The way he's carrying on, he'll be lucky if it's for 3 races!

Nah, he's too disturbingly good lookin'...

He won't be for much longer if Raikkonen punches him.

Raikkonen said "Maybe somebody should punch him in the face"...basically hinting he's too much of a wimp to do it himself.

Don't diss Raikkonen, that fella' is a true Legend

A wise man doesn't do the deed himself. He gets someone to do it for him in such a way that the police can't trace the deed back to him.

[What's Burning?]

[youtube]KrXIxwbU17A[/youtube]
wise man falling off boat.

[CookinFlat6]

Wise men dont allegedly get done for drink driving in Hungary (years ago) and have problems leaving the country because they 'no longer had possession of their passport'

Kimi is laid back and likes a lot of drink, so do a lot of people, doesnt mean he doesnt make mistakes like everyone else, like RoGro

[andrew]

Y'all really like to get over-excited about throw away comment don't ye?

[Hammer278]

Ye lookies like we do yo. How'd ye enjoy ye Hungarian GP ey?

[andrew]

Nice try at baiting.

[Jabberwocky]

Bianchi is going to go to a Ferrari powered team.. who is that for next year... Sauber?