F1 Summer Break updates

Duke

Duke

Duke

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Thought I would start a thread to contain some of the updates and bits from the teams, during the summer break.



Today Renault said they will be using the F-Duct for the next race at Spa - http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86002

It is understood that Renault will head to Spa with the intention of racing the F-duct at its first event, rather than simply introducing it as a toe-in-the-water exercise for Friday practice. However, those plans could change if the early data from Friday running shows that the F-duct has not produced the step forward the team hopes.
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The Renault is already quite handy and can see them giving Mercedes a hard time.
 
agreed. if mclaren dont win spa or monza they may as well go all out on 2011s car.

edit: altho saying that with the new points structure, i wouldnt be supprised if it lasts untill the last race
 
I expect mclaren to be very fast in the first half of the circuit where downforce isn;t so important then Red bull will be fast in the second half of the circuit. Should be an interesting battle. I can't wait cos it feels like flipping yonks since the last race!
 
Duke said:
The Renault is already quite handy and can see them giving McLaren (unless woking guys get their heads out of their ass) a hard time.
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edited slightly :D


McLaren need to find something pretty fast imo - I dont think Vettel / Webber will have another coming together, and I cant see the team ballsing it up again - Alonso is also unlikely to continue getting such bad luck, from relatively minor infringements (and pure stubbornness as well it has to be said)

McLaren have two races to show some decent improvement otherwise both other teams could well be out of sight (on race pace) well before the end of the season
 
Just remember how quickly Mclaren caught up in the second half last year... hope the same is repeated.
 
I have high hopes for McLaren, if they are faster on the straights I can see the Red Bulls having a horribly time keeping them behind after the long straight that comes after Eau Rouge.

And in the slow middle section the McLaren can easily keep the Red Bulls behind as overtaking is difficult/impossible
 
Duke said:
Just remember how quickly Mclaren caught up in the second half last year... hope the same is repeated.
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Does History ever repeat itself? Im not hopeful

The other thing to consider is that last season McLaren - as you rightly mentioned - did VERY well over the summer break and got the car working brilliantly......the only thing Im concerned about in looking for that kind of recovery is that in reality they "only" had to beat RB during that period, as Brawn were already treading water due to lack of funds (and while it wasnt a dead cert at this point last year - Brawn were practicually gaurenteed the CC werent they?) -edit appologies it wasnt even close 95/75 I think wiith a quick wiki calculation)

Now Mclaren are fighting a resurgent Ferrari team, as well as a RB team leading both championships (with "extreme" funding available to both if required)
 
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utajoker said:
hope the break has worked wonders for mclaren, they need something or RB and Ferrari will not be caught.
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If you mean in terms of them having a rest and coming back recuperated then all good, however if you meant in terms of them having made new developments during the break - naughty! They're supposed to be shutdown.
 
Moley said:
If you mean in terms of them having a rest and coming back recuperated then all good, however if you meant in terms of them having made new developments during the break - naughty! They're supposed to be shutdown.
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they can do whatever they want......away from the factory :D
 
Sounds interesting, I wonder how well they will have it implemented during the weekend, if done well, they'll probably give Red Bull some competition too.

Dutch Guy said:
I have high hopes for McLaren, if they are faster on the straights I can see the Red Bulls having a horribly time keeping them behind after the long straight that comes after Eau Rouge.
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Also near the end of the circuit where there is almost 15 seconds (iirc) of full throttle ;)

MissChief said:
I expect mclaren to be very fast in the first half of the circuit where downforce isn;t so important then Red bull will be fast in the second half of the circuit.
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Yeah I think so too, more specifically:

Sector 1 - McLaren / Ferrari
Sector 2 - Red Bull
Sector 3 - McLaren / Ferrari

Might have to factor in one of the Force India's too, since they're usually good at these types of circuits.
 
FrankJH said:
they can do whatever they want......away from the factory :D
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Actually that's not true. Key workers are supposed to do NOTHING related to F1 - including dealing with emails. The exceptions to this are staff like marketing who have to maintain sponsor relationships.
 
Mclaren update

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/86013

McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh said that despite F1's summer factory shutdown, his outfit had still had enough time to work on sorting out its blown diffuser concept to deliver the performance it hoped.

"After a disappointing Hungarian Grand Prix, we are pushing hard to regain the performance relative to our rivals that we had enjoyed earlier this season," he explained. "While we believe our recent upgrades have given us a downforce improvement, it appears that the package hasn't yet delivered to its full potential, particularly in terms of providing the drivers with a consistent, confidence-delivering platform.

"We were able to carry out some useful evaluative tests during practice in Hungary, which provided us with some useful data and avenues for experimentation. And we'll take that programme further in Spa, running floor rakes during practice to supply us with more information.

"As we've always stated, we believe there are some large areas of performance locked within the car and its recent upgrade, and we are confident that our solid-engineering approach will enable us to fully unlock them sooner rather than later."

McLaren also spent some of the summer period working on maintenance of its wind tunnel to help improve its correlation with on-track performance.
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Moley said:
If you mean in terms of them having a rest and coming back recuperated then all good, however if you meant in terms of them having made new developments during the break - naughty! They're supposed to be shutdown.
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I drive past the red bull factory every day, and have yet to see any less cars in there car park :)
I've never quite understood why they force the teams to stop development!
 
Moley said:
Actually that's not true. Key workers are supposed to do NOTHING related to F1 - including dealing with emails. The exceptions to this are staff like marketing who have to maintain sponsor relationships.
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Well its a fact of life - the rules can not stop guys & partners getting together for a BBQ while the factory is shut down

Face it - it happens, as its not enforcable to legislate what happens outside the factory gates

:)

Dutch Guy said:
Or has the break been long enough for the FIA to realize they need to adjust the testing procedure and just use more weight to measure flex?
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I thought that had already been confirmed that Spa would be the first race where heavier loads are used? (Im not convinced that it will do any good as I believe they are testing it in the wrong way but heavier loads will be used)
 
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FrankJH said:
Well its a fact of life - the rules can not stop guys & partners getting together for a BBQ while the factory is shut down

Face it - it happens, as its not enforcable to legislate what happens outside the factory gates
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Actually it is totally enforceable - couple of examples are Virgin and Williams.

Virgin factory was totally closed down over the two weeks and Williams shut down all development and concentrate on doing things like resurfacing the factory floor!

Wirth Research (the company who makes Virgins cars) shut down and carried out an office move.

There are moves afoot within FOTA to ensure teams shut down and produce logs to prove it - likely to impact from next year.
 
Moley said:
Actually it is totally enforceable - couple of examples are Virgin and Williams.
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If Virgin and Williams were competing for the championship this season, I'm pretty sure they wouldnt be so relaxed during the 2 weeks shut down.

I refuse to believe that the leading teams havent done any work during the 2 week shut down.

It makes sense to do all the prep work during the factory closure, so that the very minute the factory re-opens, the factory related work can begin without delay.

With so much at a stake, its a no-brainer.
 
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