German Grand Prix 2014, Hockenheim - Race 10/19

dannyjo22 said:
It's weird how you Jenson and Hamilton fans keep baiting each other and trying to get a rise. It's not like you are even rivals for the same piece of racetrack, yet every race thread is the same, little barbs here and there.
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Yeah, I have no idea why people do this when they should be joining forces to hate Vettel.

I'm going to miss the race on TV, mostly because I'll be there. Sadly I won't be there in time to see Suzie Wolff on track, but I've got a good seat in the grandstand at the end of the pit lane.
 
Hate to say it but I'd look at 2 possiable outsiders to win this time

Kimi - Crazy I know but, Old School course for Old School Crazy Fin
Botaz(SP?) - Williams + Merc Power???? he was going dam quick in Silverstone

I'd love to see a TeamLH win with Rosberg out or down in the standings - but they don't seem as stong as they did in early season.
 
tcfreer said:
Hate to say it but I'd look at 2 possiable outsiders to win this time

Kimi - Crazy I know but, Old School course for Old School Crazy Fin
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It's hardly that old school. It was only 2002 or so it was converted into the Tilke™ track it is now. There's nothing of the old track left - the stadium section is the same, but with the high downforce set up they use now even it has lost all of its character.

Unless everyone else retires or we have a Monaco 1996, there is no chance in hell Kimi will finish on the podium, let alone win.

tcfreer said:
Botaz(SP?) - Williams + Merc Power???? he was going dam quick in Silverstone.
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The Mercs were still quicker, but this ought to be more like Austria, so there's a very real chance they might be up close behind Hamilton and Rosberg. Let's hope so. :)
 
Wow, sounds like a massive FIA fail.

They haven't outright banned FRIC, they have just said it "could be challenged" by teams. And the teams have not agreed to postpone the ban.

So that means that running FRIC means you could have your result protested, and it looks like the FIA would uphold those protests, but, with the inevitable FIA delay.

So... If nobody runs FRIC, then were good. However if anyone does run FRIC don't even bother watching the race and wait for the FIA to decide who gets disqualified and who finishes where after all the protests have been lodged and investigated, which should take them no longer than a few weeks...

:rolleyes:

Just ban it or don't ban it. This middle ground is going to be fascicle!

Edit:

Christ, even the FIA can't agree!

However, with the FIA indicating that it will likely take a 'hands off' approach and not step in to report any outfit running FRIC, the situation will come down to whether or not any team will be willing to protest one of its rivals.

One possible scenario is for an outfit to use the Thursday of the event as a test case for the legality of FRIC - as it is the race stewards who have the ultimate say in the legality of components.

If the concept is ruled illegal, then FRIC suspension could be removed before first practice begins on Friday.

If the stewards disagree with Whiting's view that FRIC is an illegal moveable aerodynamic device, then the way would be left clear for all teams to run it again.
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So Charlie thinks its illegal, but doesn't want to muddy his hands with actually stating that (we all know how well it went last time he told a team all was reet :rolleyes:), so he's leaving it to the teams to protest and the stewards to check. But the stewards could overrule him anyway and say its legal?

It sounds like the best approach is to put the car through scrutineering on Thursday with FRIC on, but with a plan for removing it. Then see what the stewards say.
 
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So McLaren, Mercedes and Red Bull are set to remove the FRIC systems from their cars for the German Grand Prix.

I hope Merc are 3 seconds faster now! But I bet they will eat the tires like last year :(
 
It would be funny watching them back pedal if the Merc was 3 seconds faster than the rest, equally the drama if the red bull was 1 second clear would also be something to behold.
 
I think deuse has hit the only potential upset that the FRIC ban might cause. From what I remember the introduction of FRIC to their chassis coincided with Mercedes no longer nomming through tyres like they were sweets?

But then they are fast enough that if they need to make an extra stop for tyres they can :p
 
By all accounts Mercedes has had a FRIC system since 2012, and they've improved it every year. Potentially could say that FRIC and not working well was possibly responsible for the bad tire wear, and it's improved as they've fixed the system. More likely is the chassis and a combination of things were leading to terrible tire wear and it simply wasn't getting fixed after 2012 because they were rightly focusing on the 2014 car rather than wasting a huge amount of time redesigning the dead end car.


Do Merc need to remove it though, currently you would say it's a bit of a rush to change it before this race. Unlike the rest of the teams who are close enough to each other that a single third place could be the difference between 2nd in the constructors and maybe 4th... merc can live with a result being scrubbed. They could run it anyway, the FIA might decide after testing/investigation after protest that the Merc system isn't too connected and dodgy. Basically Merc have a bit more room for a mistake than anyone else.

Anyway, for all we know Merc, or other teams, or all of them anticipated this outcome eventually so they can simply disconnect the link from front and rear suspension and it needs almost no extra changes(maybe none) to work fine as a non Fric system, just being less good.

Will be an interesting weekend for sure. Reliability with changed suspension systems. But more so, we are pretty close to seeing the first big grid penalties for going over engine parts limits. Hard to say when as some teams are on the 5th part of engines but may have been able to fix and reuse some of the earlier parts. Wouldn't be surprised to see a couple penalties in the next two races though.
 
I think most neutrals I know would love this to hit Merc and Riccardo to catch up. Both because of the Merc drivers acting like teenage girls and the look on Vettels face if he had to play a support role.

Personally I imagine it will be business pretty much as normal.
 
No team is going to take a flyer on FRIC, as soon as one team decides not to run it, it becomes a suicidal approach as that team will automatically lodge a protest if somebody doesn't comply, enforcing the ban and getting them thrown out. McLaren has basically done everyone a favour by leaving no doubt whatsoever as to whether its worth a gamble.
 
Given their performance this year and last I'm really starting to doubt if McLaren even have FRIC. I'm also unsure if they even really have a Mercedes engine in that car - perhaps all an elaborate bluff (for what reason I'm not sure - just poking some fun).
 
Cant help but laugh at the FRIC ***** by the FIA.

Glad to hear the teams can remove it that easily.

Call me cynical but what team isnt likely to protest

Any result for Merc without the FRIC and they will challange any leading team 's gain in points if they are still using the device (because for all anyone knows right now the title challanges could all go up in the air, so any points superiority has to be kept).

Any other team (without FRIC) seeing an unfair advantage by a competitor still using FRIC will also challange the result for far more obvious reasons.

SoliD said:
is the VI enough?
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Interesting point, I would have thought the angle was the essential part, in which case the VI is invisible (despite the unique unmistakable design of course)
 
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