F1 2009 Season discussion/development thread

sunama said:
Fair enough. But how do you explain the fact that McLaren seemed to be a little off the pace, when Hamilton was the driving the car. There is no way in hell that he would've backed off the pace. In fact, when he drove it last week, he pushed so hard, that he ended up going off the track!
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No idea, they may well have an issue, I've not followed the testing that closely (until today :D).
 
sunama said:
Was it not Rory Byrne who was designing the cars at Bennetton and Ferrari...?

Brawn does bring a whole winning package together, however, what Honda are lacking (even if they end up with a decent car), is a top line driver. At Bennetton and Ferrari, they had the best driver of all time. At Honda, they have Barrichello (who was comprehensively demolished by MS) and Button (who seems content to compete at the back of the grid).

You can't compare Honda to Ferrari/Bennetton.
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It was Rory Byrne designing and drawing the cars - read my post again I specifically mentioned 'directed.'

I think JB and RB can still win races, only time will tell :D
 
Wonder if that is connected to their new floor or not?

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73642



Also, Q&A with Button - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/73646

Looks like they did continue making parts for the car, but obviously couldn't test them until now -

Q. Have there been any things that were in development that have been delayed?

JB: We have been very lucky in that we have been able to keep developing over the winter, and it is fantastic that we have been allowed to do that – in a way you have got to say thanks to Honda for that.


Q. Your team started developing their 2009 car before anyone else, do you think that can be an advantage?

JB: Yeah for sure. There are certain things that are a little bit difficult for us because we didn't plan to have this engine in the back of the car. Certain areas are not as good as other teams, but we started this car very early and we have produced one that is competitive. And watching everyone testing, we are looking at the cars and seeing that certain parts that we have tried on our car and didn't make it go that much quicker so…

That goes for a lot of the parts that are on other teams and we couldn't find a route with those parts so we took a different path which has worked for us. It's also a beautiful car, which is difficult to say with these wings, but this is definitely a beautiful car.
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I thought McLaren were 99% sure of using KERS from the word go?

I cant believe that BMW will be the only team to use KERS. If this is the case, I feel that Kubica will be rubbing his hands as he could well be favourite for this year's World title (not just because of a fully functional KERS unit, but also because he has a well tested car under him).
 
sunama said:
Do you mean on a test track? If so, isnt that against the rules?
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nope, they all have the group tests, plus a private test as well as a shakedown they can use.

Ferrari did their private testing on their own track, McLaren are going to Jerez for 3 days for theirs.

I believe they may also be allowed to do straight line testing during the season, but I'm not 100% sure on that.
 
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Type_R said:
I think JB and RB can still win races, only time will tell :D
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I think both are past their best. In order to win races over:

Kubica
Massa
Kimi
Vettel
Hamilton
Alonso

...they will need a better car than all of the above. I think the odds of Honda winning at least 1 race, is very very slim. Now, if they had Alonso on their team, it might've been a different story.
 
That is a bit of a shame if only one team use it to begin with. I have a feeling KERS is one year too early for F1.
 
Memphis said:
In the particular quote I used, yes, more than likely. The rest of his posting seems to be rather negative towards the team however. Is there something wrong with having a little optimism for the underdog? :confused:
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Maybe he has got an underlying knock for them, but there is nothing wrong with wanting the underdog to win. That would be one of the reasons why I am still a Williams fan! :D
 
Before taking a stab at Brawn F1 drivers could people please think back to when Rubens and Michael were at Ferrari, there were days when Rubens was quicker than the almighty Michael Schumacher, so to say that he isn't capable of getting the most out of the car because he's getting old or whatever is just nonsense. Perhaps the only driver thats proven to be a possible all time great on the grid as we stand this year is Alonso. I'm still reserving judgement on Hamilton, if the McLaren is off the pace at the start of the season and he still manages to get a podium or 2, then I will perhaps think more of him. Right now I only know that he is quick in a quick car, Alonso is quick in any car.
 
sunama said:
...they will need a better car than all of the above. I think the odds of Honda winning at least 1 race, is very very slim. Now, if they had Alonso on their team, it might've been a different story.
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Well Alonso was nowhere last season until the FIA allowed Renault to improve their engine dramatically. He was awful in the midfield at the beginning of the season. Even Piquet looked fast towards the end of the season.
 
Nodirection said:
http://directo.thef1.es/tests/

Fastest updates i could find. Brawn GP still doing well...
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.300 faster than the BMW as of now :D
1. R. Barrichello BGP 001 1:21.665
2. N. Heidfeld BMW Sauber F1.09 1:21.965
3. J. Trulli Toyota TF109 1:21.986
4. F. Alonso Renault R29 1:22.060
5. K. Räikkönen Ferrari Ferrari F60 1:22.227
6. M. Webber Red Bull Racing RB5 1:22.517
7. H. Kovalainen McLaren MP4-24 1:22.810
8. K. Nakajima Williams FW31 1:22.893
9. S. Bourdais Toro Rosso STR4 1:23.039
10. A. Sutil Force India VJM-02 1:23.702



Even if it is artificial pace, its pretty encouraging seeing how little testing they have done :D
 
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