2021 Formula 1 Thread

[DLSTR]

Originally Posted by ZCanadian

Guess it's already time for the 2022 thread.

No expectation - here is the calendar as it stands, with 4 contracts remaining to be signed... and no China.

2022 Provisional F1 calendar
Date Grand Prix Circuit

20 March Bahrain Bahrain Sakhir

27 March Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia Jeddah

10 April Australia Australia Melbourne

24 April Emilia Romagna Italy Imola

8 May Miami United States Miami

22 May Spain Spain Barcelona

29 May Monaco Monaco Monte Carlo

12 June Azerbaijan Azerbaijan Baku

19 June Canada Canada Montreal

3 July Great Britain United Kingdom Silverstone

10 July Austria Austria Spielberg

24 July France France Le Castellet

31 July Hungary Hungary Budapest

28 August Belgium Belgium Spa-Francorchamps

4 September Netherlands Netherlands Zandvoort

11 September Italy Italy Monza

25 September Russia Russian Federation Sochi

2 October Singapore Singapore Marina Bay

9 October Japan Japan Suzuka

23 October USA United States Austin

30 October Mexico Mexico Mexico City

13 November Brazil Brazil Sao Paulo

20 November Abu Dhabi United Arab Emirates Yas Marina

[DLSTR]

Austin bumps set to "complicate" USA F1 weekend, says Gasly
By:
Jonathan Noble
Oct 19, 2021, 5:24 AM
Formula 1 drivers should brace themselves for a "complicated"' weekend at the United States Grand Prix, with bumps at the Circuit of the Americas forcing setup compromises, reckons Pierre Gasly.
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Bumps at the Austin venue have been an ever-present during F1's tenure there, with instability of the land on which the circuit is built leading to an uneven surface.

While work has been regularly done on the track to try to improve the situation, the COTA bumps were a major talking point at the recent MotoGP race there as riders complained about them.

A request has been put in for a track resurfacing of the worst affected areas from Turns 2 to 10 for 2022 prior to MotoGP returning there.

In the wake of the MotoGP issues, F1 race director Michael Masi has been in contact with the circuit and has asked for some work to be done on grinding down the worst of the bumps.

But with the problem unlikely to be eradicated completely, Gasly thinks that the Austin weekend could be an especially tricky one, especially as the bumps were already quite bad when F1 last visited in 2019.

"I think it could be quite complicated this weekend," said the Frenchman.

"Having watched MotoGP a few weeks back, the bumps which were already pretty bad last time we raced there, seem even more severe now.

"It will require some sort of compromise on setup, but we won't really know until we get there.

"I'm not particularly worried about it, because our car is working well everywhere at the moment and we just have to avoid any problems waiting to ambush us, so that we can continue to close in on Alpine in the championship."
A scenic view of the circuit


COTA was recently visited on behalf of the FIA by experienced US racing official Tony Cotman, who has overseen the design of several IndyCar circuits.


Masi said that work was set to be done on grinding down the bumps to make things better for F1's visit.

"What we have actually done is that since the 2019 F1 event a large part of the circuit was resurfaced to counter some of the issues that we saw in 2019," explained Masi.

"The areas that were raised by the bikes are different areas to those that were resurfaced.

"And Tony Cotman, who's one of the FIA platinum circuit inspectors, has been out to Austin already during the week, and done a report.

"And the circuit doing some changes for us to sort of address some of the concerns.

"They'll grind some bumps and so forth. But we've got some time to do it. So they'll do what they can within the timeframe."

[DLSTR]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1...users/6688980/

F1 2022 innovations less obvious than double diffusers
By: Jonathan Noble
Oct 19, 2021, 10:35 AM
Formula 1's most clever ideas for the new 2022 regulations will be far less obvious than the famous double diffusers, reckons McLaren technical chief James Key.
the-2022-formula-1-car-launch-.jpg

With teams having pretty much switched off development of their current challengers, factories are now almost entirely focused on making sure they hit the ground running with the new rules era next year.

Amid such a major regulations overhaul, teams will be looking to try to exploit any potential grey areas and unlock the kind of performance advantage that Brawn GP had in 2009 when it led the way with double diffusers.

However, F1 chiefs have worked extra hard to make the 2022 rule framework much more watertight when it comes to loopholes, with teams unable to innovate in many areas that they could previously.

And for Key, while that means there won't be any headline-grabbing tricks that will be obvious, that does not mean there are not a lot of smaller concepts that can still be rolled out.

"I think there's a lot of subtleties in there to be exploited," he explained. "And that's going to be the journey I think in 2022.

"You're not going to see double diffusers and that sort of huge kind of innovation with these regs. They are too restrictive for that.

"But there'll be other clever ideas and ways of approaching things which we'll begin to spot as these cars get released. So I think there's probably less traps there."

One of F1 owner Liberty Media's ambitions with its new era of grand prix racing is to level up the playing field, and offer hope for midfield teams to gun for the occasional win.

Key reckons that some elements of the new rules, like the weighted aero development regulations that hand more wind tunnel and CFD time to the slowest teams, could prove important in helping those further back.

"It's really difficult to say where it's going to play out," said Key. "When you've got new regs like this, the most terrifying part of the year is that first qualifying session where everyone actually shows how quick they are.

"I guess we're not going to know until qualifying in Bahrain, ultimately, next year, exactly where people appear to stand. And even that can throw you a few oddballs at times.

"But I think there's several advantages for being further back in the championship, with the CFD and wind tunnel benefit that you get from that, which is really important for a 2022 car.

"It was great to finish third last year, but it did have a minor effect on how much development we can do with our tools compared, to an eighth, ninth or 10th position team. So they've definitely got a little advantage there."

the-2022-formula-1-car-launch--1.jpg
The 2022 Formula 1 car launch event on the Silverstone grid. Rear detail

Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

But Key still has faith that the quality of the staff at the top outfits will be enough to keep them ahead when the 2022 cars hit the track.

"The infrastructures, the legacy, the methods, knowledge and culture that you have in a winning team does give a little bit of an advantage," he explained.

"You've got that kind of belief and confidence, you've got the tools that you believe in, and are tapped into those tools.

"I think some of the legacy of what larger teams have, even though they have to cut their budgets, all the investment that has gone on before and all the research that's allowed them to do well, will still give a bit of a buffer and a bit of an advantage.

"So I suspect the pecking order will probably be reasonably similar. But hopefully it will be closer.

"I suspect it'll be a bit spread out to begin with because I'm sure everyone is still kind of immature with their knowledge of these cars when they get launched.

"But hopefully, as time goes on, and with a slightly more restrictive regs, it will draw things closer, and we'll see how that pecking order drops out."

[DLSTR]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/f1...flags/6697216/

F1 drivers welcome plan to delete lap times set under double yellow flags
By: Adam Cooper
Oct 21, 2021, 3:11 PM
Formula 1 drivers have welcomed the FIA’s plan to delete any lap times achieved by cars that pass through a double waved yellow zone in practice and in qualifying.

As previously reported the idea of deleting times emerged in Turkey after Fernando Alonso controversially escaped sanction following a post-qualifying investigation of a yellow flag offence.

After informal discussions between teams and race director Michael Masi on the morning of the race in Istanbul, the subject was debated further in a sporting advisory group meeting last week, when all teams agreed that it would be a good solution.

Masi has now formally confirmed that the system, similar to that for track limits offences, will be used from this weekend’s US GP.

His race director’s notes for the Austin weekend read: “Any driver passing through a double waved yellow marshalling sector must reduce speed significantly and be prepared to change direction or stop.

“In order for the stewards to be satisfied that any such driver has complied with these requirements it must be clear that he has not attempted to set a meaningful lap time. For practical purposes any driver in a double yellow sector will have that lap time deleted."

A section reading “this means the driver should abandon the lap (this does not necessarily mean he has to pit as the track could well be clear the following lap)” has been removed.

Drivers agree that the new initiative is a positive one.

[DLSTR]

This Epstein boss sounds like an idiot a touch. MotoGp riders almost revolted. Fix it. Long known problem.


https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/co...aints/6699286/

By: Alex Kalinauckas
Oct 22, 2021, 5:15 AM
Austin circuit boss Bobby Epstein says bumps “aren't an issue” for Formula 1 cars, following concerns about the surface being expressed by drivers ahead of the 2021 US Grand Prix.

AlphaTauri racer Pierre Gasly said ahead of the Texas race that the event “could be quite complicated” for drivers because Austin’s bumps, which have always been encountered at the Circuit of the Americas track because it is built on shifting land, “seem even more severe now” after he watched the recent MotoGP event at the same venue.

The topic was much discussed in the drivers’ pre-event press conferences at Austin on Thursday, but Epstein dismissed the concerns – particularly after FIA-mandated work to mill the track surface at the depression between Turn 2 and Turn 3 and the depressions at Turns 4, 6, 10 and 14 had been completed in the run up to the event.


When asked by Autosport if COTA would have to complete additional work to address concerns about its track surface, Epstein replied: “Gasly may have said something, but he hasn't driven the track.

“So, the bumps aren't an issue for the cars first [of all].

“And Michael Masi [F1 race director] has been out and sent people and they've checked it and they asked us to grind two or three areas of concern.

“And that work was done already Monday and Tuesday this week.

“So, it's still a problem for bikes – there's two sort of dip areas – but cars have no problem.

“I think if you ask [Gasly] after he drives he'll say they've done a lot harder surfaces than this.

Epstein added that his track will “resurface for the bikes by April” to add to work completed since F1 last visited Texas in 2019, which led to resurfacing at the pit exit and run to the first corner, plus the runs between Turns 9 and 10 and Turns 11-12, as well as from midway through Turn 15 to halfway through Turn 19.

“We're closing for three weeks in January,” Epstein continued. “We've already resurfaced a lot, we did a lot last year so there's more to do.


“But we should ask Gasly after he goes out, can you drive this? Ask him how Monaco was.”

[God-Speed]

Originally Posted by DLSTR

This Epstein boss sounds like an idiot a touch. MotoGp riders almost revolted. Fix it. Long known problem.


https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/co...aints/6699286/

By: Alex Kalinauckas
Oct 22, 2021, 5:15 AM
Austin circuit boss Bobby Epstein says bumps “aren't an issue” for Formula 1 cars, following concerns about the surface being expressed by drivers ahead of the 2021 US Grand Prix.

AlphaTauri racer Pierre Gasly said ahead of the Texas race that the event “could be quite complicated” for drivers because Austin’s bumps, which have always been encountered at the Circuit of the Americas track because it is built on shifting land, “seem even more severe now” after he watched the recent MotoGP event at the same venue.

The topic was much discussed in the drivers’ pre-event press conferences at Austin on Thursday, but Epstein dismissed the concerns – particularly after FIA-mandated work to mill the track surface at the depression between Turn 2 and Turn 3 and the depressions at Turns 4, 6, 10 and 14 had been completed in the run up to the event.


When asked by Autosport if COTA would have to complete additional work to address concerns about its track surface, Epstein replied: “Gasly may have said something, but he hasn't driven the track.

“So, the bumps aren't an issue for the cars first [of all].

“And Michael Masi [F1 race director] has been out and sent people and they've checked it and they asked us to grind two or three areas of concern.

“And that work was done already Monday and Tuesday this week.

“So, it's still a problem for bikes – there's two sort of dip areas – but cars have no problem.

“I think if you ask [Gasly] after he drives he'll say they've done a lot harder surfaces than this.

Epstein added that his track will “resurface for the bikes by April” to add to work completed since F1 last visited Texas in 2019, which led to resurfacing at the pit exit and run to the first corner, plus the runs between Turns 9 and 10 and Turns 11-12, as well as from midway through Turn 15 to halfway through Turn 19.

“We're closing for three weeks in January,” Epstein continued. “We've already resurfaced a lot, we did a lot last year so there's more to do.


“But we should ask Gasly after he goes out, can you drive this? Ask him how Monaco was.”

To answer your question, YES Bobby Epstein is an Idiot. Drivers from all forums of racing have complained about how rough & bumpy the track is. Epstein would rather put money towards his FALED Soccer venue than the track which brings in the money. He is also the same Idiot that forgot the pay the F1 fees on time a few years ago.

[Hotrodz]

Originally Posted by God-Speed

To answer your question, YES Bobby Epstein is an Idiot. Drivers from all forums of racing have complained about how rough & bumpy the track is. Epstein would rather put money towards his FALED Soccer venue than the track which brings in the money. He is also the same Idiot that forgot the pay the F1 fees on time a few years ago.

You live there so if you follow any of the other organizations that run there, the bumps are a problem.

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

[JARblue]

Originally Posted by Hotrodz

You live there so if you follow any of the other organizations that run there, the bumps are a problem.

I drove out there in 2013 when it was brand new. It is a much different track now even with the resurfacing

[DLSTR]

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/wh...gains/6702848/


What's behind Mercedes' F1 straightline performance gains?
By: Jake Boxall-Legge
Oct 23, 2021, 4:13 AM
Mercedes has dismissed the idea that it is running a ride-height control device on its W12 Formula 1 car, although the rear has been seen lowering during the straights.


Having shown excellent straightline speed in recent rounds, particularly at the Turkish Grand Prix, Mercedes came under fire from Red Bull team boss Christian Horner – who suggested that the team was “obviously optimising a straightline device” to Sky F1.

Those claims were refuted by Mercedes boss Toto Wolff, who said that the team’s performance on the straights were a culmination of “all the small gains, marginal gains that have been added and bring performance.”

However, video footage of the Mercedes W12 shows a marginal squatting of the rear during the high-speed areas of the track, with the ride-height rising as the car brakes for a corner.

Mercedes already runs a low-rake package, which means that the rear is raised significantly less relative to the front compared to cars like the Red Bull, which runs at a very high rake.



Although a higher rake is an advantage in the corners, in which the airflow under the floor can be accelerated and the effective diffuser space opened up to reduce the pressure under the car, it is a hindrance in the straights.

This is due to the greater amount of drag it produces, as the air is worked harder by the floor – and the frontal area of the car increases as the rear of the bodywork runs higher.

If a team can reduce the rear ride-height, then it can reduce the drag as a result, and thus unlock greater straightline speed.


It appears as though Mercedes has found a set-up which allows the rear to drop as the car accelerates, thus yielding that effect of reduced drag which means the car’s maximum velocity is greater.

Although it is currently unknown how the car produces this effect, one method of running a passive system is to install a spring setting that allows the rear of the car to compress as downforce at the rear increases, and then relent as the downforce reduces.

Using a softer spring will also cope with the changes in elevation experienced at the Istanbul Park circuit, and thus prove useful for delivering consistent grip around the bumpy Circuit of the Americas surface.

It can also produce a stall in the diffuser, which is something that teams often try to employ at a certain speed to improve acceleration, owing to the lower position.

One difficulty to consider is that when the car returns to its natural position in the braking zones, the airflow must reattach sufficiently to ensure that the diffuser works to produce the downforce required for the corners.

It seems that the W12 makes a gradual return to its regular rake once the driver gets off the accelerator, ensuring that the airflow has plenty of opportunity to assume its desired position.

Mercedes seems incredibly confident in its set-up changes and, given the pressure placed on the team by its need to introduce new engines in the previous few rounds, it seems that the straightline gains tally with the team’s claims that it has found a “sweet spot” with its suspension configuration rather than finding extra performance from the powertrain

[Ventruck]

Checo looking good out there. Hope he gets a good launch either to have his own race or be able to hold Mercedes back.

[God-Speed]

Good Sunday Morning All. 90* for the high today with a 0% chance of rain. Going to be a warm one for those out at the Track today. My Cowboys are off this week but we have the F1 US Grand Prix this afternoon. Hope you all have a Great Sunday. Stay Safe, Stay Positive and Keep Washing those Hands.


PS: Steaks are on the Menu tonight!!

[DLSTR]

Originally Posted by God-Speed

Good Sunday Morning All. 90* for the high today with a 0% chance of rain. Going to be a warm one for those out at the Track today. My Cowboys are off this week but we have the F1 US Grand Prix this afternoon. Hope you all have a Great Sunday. Stay Safe, Stay Positive and Keep Washing those Hands.


PS: Steaks are on the Menu tonight!!

Happy Race Day - be safe, have fun and enjoy the big show!!

[danegrey]

exciting race today, also some action through the mid-field others....
hope the rest of the races are just as good....

[Ventruck]

mmmm today delivered.

I'm rooting Max for the WC, but Lewis was solo on his start and gave him a race. Both of them were like 40+sec on everyone else.

Ferrari boiz doing some racing with McLaren
Lonzo and Vettel having some charges.
Alfa had some racing to do as well.

I'm a moron for not trying to be out there.

[abm89]

Fernando vs The FIA

That's the real battle.