Motorsport Off Topic Thread

[Terminal_Boy]

Perez is a good Sunday wingman for Verstappen when RB gets their cars into their sweet spot.

Perez main problem is that he’s not great on Saturday and often has a grid position far below what is expected by RB and the rest of the paddock.

 

[hudson86]

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/satire/alpine-f1-leave-alpine-f1-end-2024-season

 

[JRS]

Parnelli Jones, winner of '63 Indy 500 and legend of US motorsport, dies aged 90.

 

[MassiveJim]

https://www.topgear.com/car-news/satire/alpine-f1-leave-alpine-f1-end-2024-season

I think this could actually be the right move for Alpine at this point.

 

[Trusty]

F1 2026 regulations: FIA plans smaller, nimbler and more environmentally friendly cars

Formula 1 cars will be smaller, nimbler and more environmentally friendly from 2026, the sport’s governing body the FIA says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Smaller cars is good idea. Might get an overtake at Monaco sometime this century

 

[koolpc]

They should take out all driver aids that can be changed during the race. Make the cars a lot smaller than that quoted above. And bring back Guenther Steiner.....lol...liked him...a great character..

 

[Stu999]

The move to 50:50 ICE:Electrical power and the need for active aero sound unnecessarily complex.

Reducing the ground effect is also a bit meh.

 

[Stu999]

Alpine not quitting F1 / selling up:

Renault CEO: "We will not sell" Alpine F1 team despite struggles | Autocar

Luca de Meo says "we are not here to be P16" and "it would be stupid" to back out of Formula 1

www.autocar.co.uk

I give it 6 months then.

 

[GravyMonster]

Going on historical evidence of previous regs changes, the '55% reduction in drag and 30% reduction in downforce' seem to be numbers pulled from the anus. They assume the team's aero departments are just going to sit on their hands and copy the regulation book verbatim, and not spend the next 18 months rinsing their CAD budgets to get it all back again. I'd be surprised if it's even half of those figures when the cars line up on the grid in March 2026. Plus, I can't really see a 30kg drop making that much difference when the cars have ballooned 200kg+ since the 2010's.

They make the right noises about what direction they need to go in, but just don't ever go far enough.

 

[JRS]

F1 2026 regulations: FIA plans smaller, nimbler and more environmentally friendly cars

Formula 1 cars will be smaller, nimbler and more environmentally friendly from 2026, the sport’s governing body the FIA says.

www.bbc.co.uk

Smaller cars is good idea. Might get an overtake at Monaco sometime this century

Not nearly enough length and weight taken out, removing most of the ground effect and narrowing the tyres is a terrible step backwards.

It's a resounding 'meh' from me.

 

[Emlyn_Dewar]

As always, the FIA just failing hard.

 

[MissChief]

Not nearly enough length and weight taken out, removing most of the ground effect and narrowing the tyres is a terrible step backwards.

It's a resounding 'meh' from me.

As always, the FIA just failing hard.

There will need to be a certain amount of size, no refuelling means they need a big tank which needs to be protected to a certain extent and anchor points for side impact protection and improved crash structures. People forget that minimum safety standards have risen dramatically since even 2010 when cars were smaller.

 

[JRS]

There will need to be a certain amount of size, no refuelling means they need a big tank which needs to be protected to a certain extent and anchor points for side impact protection and improved crash structures. People forget that minimum safety standards have risen dramatically since even 2010 when cars were smaller.

So, they'd have to fatten the bodywork rather than cram everything into something with the form of a lawn dart.

Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

 

[UTmaniac]

When we went to Beaulieu motor museum in '14, I was shocked at how small Lewis' '08 McLaren was, having never gone to a Grand Prix.

These hybrid cars are longer and wider by some margin, yes?

 

[Jono8]

Interesting that they are ditching DRS in favour of a manual override electrical energy button for the driver behind

Not sure how that will work in terms of detection zones etc.

 

[Mesai]

When we went to Beaulieu motor museum in '14, I was shocked at how small Lewis' '08 McLaren was, having never gone to a Grand Prix.

These hybrid cars are longer and wider by some margin, yes?

They are much bigger and that’s primarily down to the fuel tank, battery, associated cooling and the safety improvements.

 

[Mesai]

Interesting that they are ditching DRS in favour of a manual override electrical energy button for the driver behind

Not sure how that will work in terms of detection zones etc.

For the active aero stuff they mentioned using something similar to the DRS zones, which the driver can then trigger.

 

[Moley]

Bring back the V10s!

 

[Trusty]

Not nearly enough length and weight taken out

I imagine it'll be stepped tbh, bit by bit see what they can get away with. There's no doubt the racing would be a bit more exciting if the cars were a bit smaller and agile. They've kinda become barges, fast barges but still barges

 

[Jono8]

Just read that Disney+ are doing a documentary series on Perez...

I don't want to be mean, but I'm not sure why they are doing that for a relatively unremarkable driver who's never looked like he's going to win a championship.