F1 2009 Season discussion/development thread

[toblarone45]

Not trying to be a stubborn here, but, you might want to see how the new season pans out (and 2010) before making your mind up that F1 isn't what it used to be because of teams budget tightening?

nah you're not being stubborn just level headed i guess and yep i do intend on following the coming years (and ones after that) and in all honest i hope what i said is a load of **** and F1 is still about the racing regardless of the money behind it.

 

[JRS]

Does anyone else miss the old days of F1?

Oh, not at all. Why the hell would I miss the days when we didn't have to have an "Overtaking Working Group" to sort out the racing? Why would I miss seeing Michael Schumacher at his prime? Why would I miss the days of someone being able to go (on merit rather than pit-stops, of course) from 12th on the grid to win at the ******* Hungaroring of all places? Why would I miss Senna versus Prost all those years? Why would I miss Mansell against the entire ******* world for all those years?

Why would I miss the original Flying Finn, Keke Rosberg (a man who once had a note taped to his car saying "Keke, treat it like a virgin please")? Why would I miss Gilles Villeneuve and the truly epic style he had? Why would I miss Ronnie Peterson? Why would I miss Jim Clark? Graham Hill? Stirling Moss? Juan Manuel Fangio?*

F1 today is different. Not better, not worse (I'm slowly getting the hang of this now). It's just not the same sport any more. F1 is a brand, not a Formula. The "Big Prize" (Grand Prix) is the salary a driver gets paid, not the prize money.

Sad, but pretty much true I think.


* - and a whole host of others who I could name if we had the time and bandwith.....

 

[Skeeter]

Change is bad mmmm kay.

We should all be watching people run around in loin cloths from caves because development is bad...

lol.

 

[JRS]

JRS: I think you might want to have a read of this (by Stuart Codling - F1 Racing magazine journo)

I guess no-one read the last bit of my post then? Not that I'm surprised, no-one actually reads what I ******* type on this forum anyway (sunama is the worst for this).

I'll quote it for those who missed it, maybe second time around you'll get it:

F1 today is different. Not better, not worse (I'm slowly getting the hang of this now).

There will always be those of us who want F1 to be like it used to be. Can't fight that. But just because F1 has to move on (and it does), doesn't mean we have to say "oh, look at those barbarians in those crappy cars, thank God we don't have to watch that these days". Those crappy cars were the absolute best that those engineers could build at the time!

Formula One should be the pinnacle of motorsport. It just about is, still. And yet your average saloon car has more electronic traction control technology than the finest racing car in the world.

Huh?

I'm well aware of all the arguments against having active ride, and traction control, and ABS et al in the cars....but damn it all, it's supposed to be Formula One! Create a new Formula if you want to bring in standardised parts, and heavy restrictions on aerodynamics, and want to ban kit that a BMW 330i would consider low-tech.....


***edit***

I'm going out now, for a curry and a ridiculous amount of alcohol. I'll deal with any response to the above on Sunday morning. Y'all have a good 'un.

 

[sunama]

I must say that I would prefer it if all the gizmos were brought back into F1 and drivers had to learn to use those gizmos, to give them the maximum advantage over other drivers.

Apart from engine power output, the only other restriction that I would like to see is the way that cars spoil the air for the following car, making it difficult for the car behind to overtake. In otherwords, the aero devices, such as front and rear wings would probably need to be scaled back with time.

Technologically though, I would love to see F1 be at the bleeding edge of car technology.

Imagine if technological improvements had been permitted for the last 15 years, just what would the most technologically advanced car (arguably, the 1993 Williams car) have looked like in 2009, I wonder...

PS. The problem with allowing car technology to spiral out of control is that the races/championships probably wouldnt be so close.

 

[rpstewart]

Imagine if technological improvements had been permitted for the last 15 years, just what would the most technologically advanced car (arguably, the 1993 Williams car) have looked like in 2009, I wonder...

Someone asked Gordon Murray a very similar question a while back. Not sure whether the sketch made it onto the web but it's in the 80th anniversary issue of Motorsport if you've got access to that.

The usual suspects (active suspension, ABS, traction control et al) are all there along with some interesting additions:

• Active aerodynamics plus fans ala Brabham's BT46B
• Gas turbine power
• CVT Transmission
• Skirts
• KERS (although bizarrely steam powered)

 

[PinkFloyd]

I've got a few scans from an F1 mag where Williams were asked to produce a theoretical car ignoring a lot of these bans. Is this the same one that you are thinking of rpstewart?
I can upload them if anyone is interested - pretty sure I got them from an ocuk thread last year some time

 

[rpstewart]

The one I'm looking at is definitely a Gordon Murray sketch, hand drawn and annotated.

 

[Thomas. PLease.]

I've got a few scans from an F1 mag where Williams were asked to produce a theoretical car ignoring a lot of these bans. Is this the same one that you are thinking of rpstewart?
I can upload them if anyone is interested - pretty sure I got them from an ocuk thread last year some time

I'd like to see them if you would be so kind.

 

[sunama]

I'd like to see them, too.

 

[matthew2456]

I've got a few scans from an F1 mag where Williams were asked to produce a theoretical car ignoring a lot of these bans. Is this the same one that you are thinking of rpstewart?
I can upload them if anyone is interested - pretty sure I got them from an ocuk thread last year some time

get them up

 

[jaykay]

I've got a few scans from an F1 mag where Williams were asked to produce a theoretical car ignoring a lot of these bans. Is this the same one that you are thinking of rpstewart?
I can upload them if anyone is interested - pretty sure I got them from an ocuk thread last year some time

Yes Please.

 

[PinkFloyd]

Here ya go


Williams 01
Williams 02
Williams 03
Williams 04
Williams 05
Williams 06
Williams 07

 

[Type_R]

Here ya go


Williams 01
Williams 02
Williams 03
Williams 04
Williams 05
Williams 06
Williams 07

Very interesting read...many thanks for posting it up

 

[Odyssey]

yeah very intersting, thanks for taking the time to post that

 

[clv101]

Very interesting read...many thanks for posting it up

Wow, how many years ago was that! I remember reading about that ages ago when I still subscribed to F1 Racing.

 

[Skeeter]

Well its a HP branded Williams BMW, so quite a few.

 

[sunama]

I like the look of that ultimate car, where the entire car has become one, large wing, which negates the need for large front and rear wings.

Great stuff.

 

[Overlag]

I like the look of that ultimate car, where the entire car has become one, large wing, which negates the need for large front and rear wings.

Great stuff.

and the thing is, because its ground effect the car behind will still have like 95% of its downforce even when following close. And while im not sure on the look of 6 wheelers its a great idea to loose some drag.

Shame this sort of car would never happen.

 

[Duke]

An interesting read on Bernie and late payments etc....

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=37180