2008 Chinese GP - Race 17/18

Swissy said:
Wow , having just woke up and checking the usual websites i find Hamilton still has the race win, how freaky is that ;)
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Give them time to work out how they can penalise him for having god on his side. Must be some form of outside assistance.
 
Hmm just heard why McLaren's car was so much faster in China... it was due to Bridgestone bringing a harder compound tyre this year. Last year the compound was a lot softer hence Ferrari won because their car conserves tyres very well.

To add a certain amount of weight to that... Ferrari and I believe Massa were complaining over the weekend that "they just have the same tyres as everyone else". They were being quite subtle about it to obviously avoid upsetting Bridgestone.

Apparently Bridgestone are also bringing a harder compound to Brazil (compared to what they had their last year)........ read into that what you will :)

McLaren also told us a few weeks ago that they are bringing a special "Interlagos" package for the car with them to Brazil. The last and final update to the 2008 McLaren car. I wonder what that will involve :)
 
NathanE said:
Hmm just heard why McLaren's car was so much faster in China... it was due to Bridgestone bringing a harder compound tyre this year. Last year the compound was a lot softer hence Ferrari won because their car conserves tyres very well.
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Not true, they used the same compound as last year. Last year Ferrari won because hamilton destroyed his inters, nothing to do with dry tyres. Mclaren had the edge this weekend for two reasons. First because it has been the car to have in the fast corners for most of the season and secondly because the ferrari suffers a bit on colder tracks.
You are right about brazil, BS are going to supply the teams with the soft and medium, instead of the super soft and soft that they used last year. A lot of the teams had problems with the SS last year so they have played it safe.
 
Owenb said:
Not true, they used the same compound as last year. Last year Ferrari won because hamilton destroyed his inters, nothing to do with dry tyres. Mclaren had the edge this weekend for two reasons. First because it has been the car to have in the fast corners for most of the season and secondly because the ferrari suffers a bit on colder tracks.
You are right about brazil, BS are going to supply the teams with the soft and medium, instead of the super soft and soft that they used last year. A lot of the teams had problems with the SS last year so they have played it safe.
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Yup, I was always under the impression that the Ferrari has fantastic straight line speed (Massa's even more so apparently :p) whereas the McLaren had fantastic cornering speed. With the first sector having very tight corners at Shanghai you can see how McLaren could capitalise on that.
 
philjohn said:
Yup, I was always under the impression that the Ferrari has fantastic straight line speed (Massa's even more so apparently :p) whereas the McLaren had fantastic cornering speed. With the first sector having very tight corners at Shanghai you can see how McLaren could capitalise on that.
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It must be down to something, as you could tell even Kimi (easily the fastest Ferrari last weekend over the whole race) wasnt making any headway on LH over the long back straight ( which should have been obviously faster, as even the renault was faster than the Mclaren in a straight line, let alone the Ferrari)
 
NathanE said:
McLaren also told us a few weeks ago that they are bringing a special "Interlagos" package for the car with them to Brazil. The last and final update to the 2008 McLaren car. I wonder what that will involve :)
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A GIANT **** OFF ROCKET LAUNCHER!!
 
This might have been mentioned a few pages ago but did anyone else notice on ITV's build up to the race on the stewards involved how all of the decision were favoured towards Ferrari?
 
Furton said:
This might have been mentioned a few pages ago but did anyone else notice on ITV's build up to the race on the stewards involved how all of the decision were favoured towards Ferrari?
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:eek: Have they been reading our threads!
:D
 
I'm not sure whether to laugh or cry...

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/71629
The full letter to FOTA from Max Mosley

Costs

The FIA believes that Formula One costs are unsustainable. Even before current global financial problems, teams were spending far more than their incomes, insofar as these consist of sponsorship plus FOM money. As a result, the independent teams are now dependent on the goodwill of rich individuals, while the manufacturers' teams depend on massive hand-outs from their parent companies.

There is now a real danger than in some cases these subsidies will cease. This could result in a reduction in the number of competitors, adding to the two team vacancies we already have and reducing the grid to an unacceptable level. The FIA's view is that Formula One can only be healthy if a team can race competitively for a budget at or very close to what it gets from FOM.

We should like to hear the teams' views on this together with comments on the FIA's proposals (set out below) and other suggestions for the measures which will be necessary if major reductions in cost are to be achieved.

Power train

2013
The FIA would like to see a modern high technology power train in 2013. We envisage a down-sized DI engine with exhaust energy and heat recovery, coupled to an electrically actuated gearbox.

However, we are completely open to new ideas. The only preconditions are:

(i) that the costs of development, maintenance and unit production for the power train must be an order of magnitude lower than is currently the case and
(ii) power trains must be available to independent teams at minimal cost.

2010- 2012 inclusive
At present we can offer three options.

Option 1
A homologated engine produced by a single supplier after an invitation to tender, with the current suppliers free to build an identical engine themselves (but not the gearbox), subject to rigorous controls.

Option 2
A consortium of teams obtains an engine to current rules but at much lower cost from a single supplier. Engines from other sources to be subject to rigorous controls to eliminate differences in performance.

Option 3
A proposal from FOTA, backed by solid guarantees, for the supply of complete power trains to independent teams for less than €5 million per team per season to include 30,000 km of testing and all on-track assistance.

2009
When the decision was taken to "freeze" the engines, certain teams asked for and got a period of time in which to address reliability problems and re-tune for 19,000 rpm. Some teams took advantage of this period to improve the power output of their engines. This was not intended. Other teams did not improve their engines, believing performance to have been "frozen".

This has produced unfair and inequitable differences in performance. The World Motor Sport Council has therefore decided that engine performance will be equalised in accordance with the 2009 Sporting Regulations in order to re-establish the position as it was when the freeze was agreed.

The FIA would like to discuss with FOTA technicians how best to achieve equalisation in a way which is fair to all and involves minimal cost.

The Chassis

The FIA envisages common parts for numerous areas of the chassis. For example, standard suspension and wheels (ie standard "corners"), a standard underbody and other parts which are currently the subject of major expenditure but add nothing to the spectacle or to the public interest of Formula One.

Other measures, such as a minimum height for the centre of gravity, restrictions on the use of certain materials or the homologation of certain major components (eg the "tub") for a period of time, may also be appropriate.

We invite FOTA to make proposals together with a time scale for introduction.

Race procedures

The FIA would welcome suggestions for changes to the rules for going racing, with a view to reducing costs. We believe that priority should be given to things which the public cannot see (eg telemetry) rather than visible parts of "the show" (eg refuelling during the race).

The FIA would also like to hear teams' views about the distribution of garage space and space in the pit lane.
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Reading the 2009 engine bit just made me throw my hands up in the air - duh!
 
The 3 options for the engine stuff kinda sucked.
How about the FIA just get each team to show them their budget reports, and dock points for every 100k they are over.
May have a few flaws in that idea but better than the other stuff the FIA have been saying.
 
As long as there is not just one engine it will be fine. If they cut costs then F1 will perhaps have a few more teams in it once more...

The money needed to be in F1 has just got ridiculously silly in the past decade. It's got to a point now where its hurting the sport.
 
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