Chinese GP 2009 - Race 3/17

rpstewart · 15 Apr 2009 at 15:17

Mr Jack said:
McLaren, Toro Rosso and Renault though have much more to gain than lose. I predict they'll slap 'em on as soon as possible and develop through race data.

http://www.autosport.com/features/article.php/id/2093

McLaren ran something which might have been an embryonic double deck diffuser in Malaysia. I expect the lower of the two yellow sections in the diagram to be open by Friday.

JRS · 15 Apr 2009 at 15:21

[TW]Taggart;13886954 said:
yes but the big question is: will kovie make it round the first lap this time?!

Wouldn't be surprised if he binned it again. McLaren are paying the price for hiring someone who wouldn't challenge their Messiah™, with the car the way it is right now they really can't afford to have just one guy hauling himself up into the points. Especially if they end up getting banned for a couple of races for once again being utterly and hopelessly inept at not being caught cheating

(Cue a podium for Heikki this race just to prove me wrong....)

Sone · 15 Apr 2009 at 15:28

can't see autosport, is what you are on about rpstewart ?

Malt_Vinegar · 15 Apr 2009 at 15:30

Interesting, looks like its halfway there

JRS · 15 Apr 2009 at 15:31

Sone said:
can't see autosport, is what you are on about rpstewart?

I think that might have been what you meant to type, Sone. 'cause I'm pretty sure I wasn't talking about the arse end of the McLaren in my post!

Sone · 15 Apr 2009 at 15:33

JRS said:
I think that might have been what you meant to type, Sone. 'cause I'm pretty sure I wasn't talking about the arse end of the McLaren in my post!

yeah sorry

Dup · 15 Apr 2009 at 15:57

Looks like McLaren have cone filters in their exhausts. No wonder they are performing poorly if they hire people like this guy.

vcl_X1 · 15 Apr 2009 at 16:07

Ceryndrion said:
and forget about the silly ferrari chaps and their little chums, who just cant handle being the underdog for once.

Don't forget that they didn't win a title for 21 years before the Red Baron joined them

vcl_X1 · 15 Apr 2009 at 16:20

Dup said:
this guy.

In the words of the Philosopher Simpson...D'oh

xarr · 15 Apr 2009 at 16:23

Can anyone tell me the purpose of this thing Hamilton is wearing

I assume it is some sort of neck support, but if anyone has more details about how and why it works I would be most intrested.

Memphis · 15 Apr 2009 at 16:26

Google "HANS Device".

Moley · 15 Apr 2009 at 16:28

xarr said:
Can anyone tell me the purpose of this thing Hamilton is wearing

I assume it is some sort of neck support, but if anyone has more details about how and why it works I would be most intrested.

It's a HAN's (Head And Neck) restraint system - stops drivers breaking their necks under high impact crashes.

Ceryndrion · 15 Apr 2009 at 16:28

It helps prevent the momentum of the helmet snapping the neck of the driver in the event of a nasty little accident.

Moley · 15 Apr 2009 at 16:30

Ceryndrion said:
It helps prevent the momentum of the helmet snapping the neck of the driver in the event of a nasty little accident.

Rumour has it that Lewis' penalty for lying to the stewards will be removal of his HANs system along with removal of the front brakes on his car....

xarr · 15 Apr 2009 at 16:31

Memphis said:
Google "HANS Device".

Ta muchly, interesting how they work.

rpstewart · 15 Apr 2009 at 16:42

Sone said:
can't see autosport, is what you are on about rpstewart ?

Yep, the yellow bit I referred to is the wide U shaped area immediately under the rear light.

Malt_Vinegar · 15 Apr 2009 at 16:43

xarr said:
Ta muchly, interesting how they work.

Its to stop Basal Skull Fractures.

American series were quite against it for a long time. Then things changed with the death of a few big names. (Dale Earnhardt for one)

"Earnhardt was pretty much the ringleader against it," racing journalist Ed Hinton recalled. "He once refered to the HANS device as, quote, 'that damned noose.' His commonsense told him if you wore straps around your helmet and you got in a crash it was going to hang you. So he refered to it as the noose because he thought it was going to kill him rather than save him...

"He sat right here in Indianapolis [in August 2000] and he looked me in the eye and, with a lot of people present, he said, 'I'm comfortable the way I've got my stuff rigged, and I have not pulled my brain stem loose and I've hit the wall many times.' I have not pulled my brain stem loose - his exact words... And I looked him back in the eye and my thought was, 'Yet.'"

Tragically, Dale Earnhardt died after hitting the wall during the Daytona 500 in February 2001. The cause of Earnhardt's death? "Basilar skull fracture from restrained torso, unrestrained head."

jaykay · 15 Apr 2009 at 16:58

AcidHell2 said:
Stick this in if you want jaykay
http://www.freeimagehosting.net/http://www.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/8128545248.jpg[/url

Thank you, will do this for all races now.

JRS · 15 Apr 2009 at 17:13

Malt_Vinegar said:
American series were quite against it for a long time.

The various series were actually pretty much for it, it was the old school drivers who weren't - and at the end of the day, they (NASCAR, IRL, CART et al) weren't strong enough to tell people like Dale Earnhardt to shut the **** up and wear the safety gear or sod off. He ended up paying the ultimate price for that, sadly.

At least NASCAR took the opportunity to go on a thorough and well thought-out safety drive after that tragic day in Daytona. Shouldn't have had to take the loss of Earnhardt to bring it about, and they could have prevented a lot of deaths in NASCAR over the years if TPTB had simply listened to Smokey Yunick and adopted his barrier design, but at least it did happen. And now the drivers are walking away from crashes that would have seriously injured or killed them a few years back, and the cars are much easier to save before they end up in a crash to begin with.

Malt_Vinegar · 15 Apr 2009 at 17:20

JRS said:
The various series were actually pretty much for it, it was the old school drivers who weren't - and at the end of the day, they (NASCAR, IRL, CART et al) weren't strong enough to tell people like Dale Earnhardt to shut the **** up and wear the safety gear or sod off. He ended up paying the ultimate price for that, sadly.

Ahh, thanks for clarifying that for me.

It is a shame though that it took his loss to get it forced through.. It was made mandatory within 6 months of his crash? true?

*edit* oh, and I knew if anyone was going to correct me on this, it would be you