F1 2009 Season discussion/development thread

[pastymuncher]

The Honda seem's quite handy despite not being tested before now. It does look rather bare with no sponsorship on it though. The air intakes on the sidepods are very small compared to the other cars too. Only 16 days to go.


With only one team so far looking at using KERs in the first race, surely it is madness not to run with it. Any team that has it will have a advantage (providing it works properly) over the ones that don't run it? Is it true that the KERs batteries only have a life of 2 hours?

 

[clv101]

Any team that has it will have a advantage (providing it works properly)...

Urm, I think that's the point! Many of the teams haven't yet got it working properly, or at least reliably enough to trust it in the race.

 

[Duke]

I thought it wasn't that much of an advantage this season? As a good car without it would be better balanced, can move ballast around, etc. Maybe one of the Redbull guys can give some info

 

[philjohn]

The Honda seem's quite handy despite not being tested before now. It does look rather bare with no sponsorship on it though. The air intakes on the sidepods are very small compared to the other cars too. Only 16 days to go.


With only one team so far looking at using KERs in the first race, surely it is madness not to run with it. Any team that has it will have a advantage (providing it works properly) over the ones that don't run it? Is it true that the KERs batteries only have a life of 2 hours?

I've read murmurings that the Mercedes engine puts out up to 60hp more than the old Honda one, not sure how true that is though.

As for Kers lifetime - Lithium Ion batteries have a finite number of charge/discharge cycles before they become useless, that number decreases in hot conditions, so I can believe that 2 hours with 60 or so discharge cycles would make them underpowered come the next race. Maybe Williams hybrid electric/flywheel system is indeed the most cost effective and intelligent.

 

[Sparky]

I thought it wasn't that much of an advantage this season? As a good car without it would be better balanced, can move ballast around, etc. Maybe one of the Redbull guys can give some info

Even with KERS running properly, it still offers very little in terms of performance. Most teams will not use it until it has proven worth.

 

[pastymuncher]

Urm, I think that's the point! Many of the teams haven't yet got it working properly, or at least reliably enough to trust it in the race.

You miss the point. I said it would be madness not to use it. Could make for some interesting results over the first couple of races though.

 

[Overlag]

For the people who want to know the rule changes but cant be bothered to read up watch this, looks bloody brilliant haha

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYzgGTALx3w

welcome to January

 

[clv101]

You miss the point. I said it would be madness not to use it. Could make for some interesting results over the first couple of races though.

I don't understand your point. It's not "madness not to use it" if it's not working well and reliability, which I expect is the case for most teams.

 

[Duke]

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=37192

 

[clv101]

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=37192

Ha - that's an awesome video! Nice viral, smart marketing from Vodafone.

 

[utajoker]

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=37192

awsome if its real

 

[Duke]

Testing Times - Day 2 - Circuit-de-Catalunya

 

[Dup]

Well, comparable results for Barrichello and Button, so far so good. Nice to see the williams in the mix too. Not too many miles for Torro Rosso though

 

[PinkFloyd]

http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=37192

Haha brilliant

 

[Mr Jack]

Ha - that's an awesome video! Nice viral, smart marketing from Vodafone.

Indeed. Nicely done, Vodafone.

 

[gord]

Awesome!

 

[sunama]

Even with KERS running properly, it still offers very little in terms of performance. Most teams will not use it until it has proven worth.

Surely though, you can use it in qualifying, which should help eek out a faster time?

Also, when racing, if you have KERS on your car, while the car in front doesnt, it will give you a MASSIVE advantage, when trying to overtake - where last year so many people got stuck behind Trulli, as he would do just enough to prevent being overtaken, this year will be hard for him to do the same, if the car behind is faster AND has KERS, to assist with the overtaking move.

The way I see it, I would rather have a slightly slower car with KERS on board (to assist in overtaking slower cars or prevent faster cars overtaking me on the straights), than a faster car with no KERS unit.

 

[sunama]

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.

Alonso was pushing very very hard, from the word go, which was causing him to over drive the car and was getting poor results. Once the car improved and was able to compete with the others (though McLaren and Ferrari, still had faster cars), Alonso was actually able to beat them.

Alonso IMO is currently the daddy of F1. I do rate Hamilton as a close 2nd though, due to what he has achieved in his first 2 years in F1.

 

[sunama]

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.

I've always said that Barrichello is an excellent No.2 driver. This was probably the reason why MS and Ferrari stuck with him so long.

IMO, McLaren shouldve got rid of Heikki and recruited Barrichello, to partner Hamilton (for 2009). Heikki really is a weak driver and is only good at making Hamilton look good.

 

[schumi84]

Why were Mclaren so poor on Day 2?

Same reason as Day 1 in that they didnt go out when the track was fastest?

Like most previous seasons all the teams look pretty close, cant see there being many surprises in Australia, though would love to be proved wrong