[polopm]

So, are we ready to speculate/summarize gentlemen ?

RBR - Fast, Sandbagging with the latest parts - just to delay the blatant copying of design by rivals ?

McLaren - Appears confident, no one is saying otherwise, cards close to chest

Ferrari - Public cribbing, gag orders etc...but their fundamentals are good. Might lose the first podiums

Merc - Tyre wear issues, otherwise quietly confident..

Lotus - Happy bunnies mostly. The ICEMAN cometh

ForceIndia, ToroRosso, Sauber - might have a very tight fight with Williams coming close. Caterham will be closer too.

HRT & Marussia....yawn....1 lap down(atleast) from the 10th lap onwards

[anachronix]

More news on the Ferrari from JoseLuisF1 on Twitter!

• The main problem now is focused on the exhaust let's see what they get by Melbourne. In China there's no room for failure, major change
• The new sidepods, as already remarked, are adapted to the new position of the exhaust, they already had them last Saturday at BNC
• Since parts of the sidepods are part of the lateral protection, we must re-pass the FIA crash test if modified
• Pontoons (floor!?) have been changed just because of the different new exhaust orientation. This year you can pass more than 1 crash test
• If it had been last year, they could not have done the changes as they could only pass the crash test once to standardize
• The old rule of allowing only 1 FIA crash test was nonsense. If a computer is wrong in the design you lost all season
• The F2012 can take advantage of the first lap of the Pirelli, in the F150 ° when the tyres where up to the temperature, degradation began
• Piola in Gazzetta says the current chassis is characterized by the front pull-rod that lowers the CoG, hes does not say that they are going to change it

Looks like Ferrari will be getting a new sidepod/rear and it should also clear the crash test regulations before its put to race. I hope they come back strong atleast by China. The past couple of years have all been this way with a slow start for Ferrari. The designers were cribbing about the data on track not matching their simulator and I often wonder how long it takes to fix this. They have been giving this same nonsense for the 3rd season now!

[polopm]

Originally Posted by anachronix

More news on the Ferrari from JoseLuisF1 on Twitter!



Looks like Ferrari will be getting a new sidepod/rear and it should also clear the crash test regulations before its put to race. I hope they come back strong atleast by China. The past couple of years have all been this way with a slow start for Ferrari. The designers were cribbing about the data on track not matching their simulator and I often wonder how long it takes to fix this. They have been giving this same nonsense for the 3rd season now!

Agree with your view, Ferrari is going down the McLaren way..
Get a sub optimal car on the first race and then rush and scramble like there is no tomorrow for the first few races. By this time, the others are long gone.

I think their legacy is weighing them down. Too much of bureaucracy ?
The other teams are nimble and work with more "creative synergy". Sad but true. Fortune favours the brave.

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by Hatari

The Ferrari design philosophy is not really path breaking, the pull rod suspension first appeared in the 2001 Minardi.

They had the balls follow a design setup which has not been used for over a decade in F1. And there is a difference when a top team gets so aggressive with design when compared to a back runner. After all, Ferrari has so much to lose. Also, its just similar in concept, nothing else. An F1 car' geometry has changed so much in the last 10 years. And its not just the pull rods all around, there are many things as anachronix pointed out. So I consider the overall design path breaking.

For the last few seasons, media have been criticizing Ferrari of not being aggressive with their car design. But this year, no complaints at least on that front.

But if you ask me, I still don't know whether that was the right approach to take. I recall, the 150° Italia was the fastest in the British GP last year and won it too, when the EBD was banned. So why is that Ferrari is not using the Italia as the base in 2012 when EBD is banned? I don't know. I hope Ferrari knows and things will fall into place in long term.

Originally Posted by Hatari

They have now also completed a couple of race simulations. In testing, Ferrari are ranked 3rd in the overall mileage accumulated, completing over 1080 laps. Of a team their size, they would also have gathered a lot of data through simulations.

And when the new car is an evolution of last year's design, there is at least a season' worth of data to back the design team. They just know how the car will react to the small changes. And no amount of testing will get you that such valuable information under variable circumstances. With a new car, they just have to start fresh and this takes time. So Ferrari for the moment maybe on back foot. But we all will have to wait till the GP down under to find out.

[anachronix]

Offtopic: Dont know if I should post it on the Jokes thread!

Thats a stupid crash!

Juan Pablo Montoya Crashes into a jet dryer HUGE FIRE & REPLAY + Multi angles 2012 Daytona 500 - YouTube

[asr245]

Originally Posted by anachronix

Offtopic: Dont know if I should post it on the Jokes thread!

Thats a stupid crash!

Still

But why's that stupid? There was a mechanical failure in his car hence the crash.

[anachronix]

Originally Posted by asr245

Still

But why's that stupid? There was a mechanical failure in his car hence the crash.

Mechanical failure where he could still brake & steer but couldnt avoid the jet drier!

Lets leave it here, its offtopic like you said!

[deetjohn]

Good one F1 Fanatic 2012 F1 driver helmets in pictures - F1 Fanatic

I hope Mr. Steve Slater see this link and take action.

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

Good one F1 Fanatic 2012 F1 driver helmets in pictures - F1 Fanatic

I hope Mr. Steve Slater see this link and take action.

but what does Steve Slater have to do with the helmet pictures?

[deetjohn]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

but what does Steve Slater have to do with the helmet pictures?

Because he has a big problem in correctly identifying the drivers on track/ screen. The helmet helps identify a driver.

[Hatari]

Originally Posted by anachronix

If you thought it was just the pull rod suspension that was thought to be path breaking, its not!

The car is completely new underneath with its new floor, cooling, gearbox construction, the nose that will incorporate the Mercedes concept of the W-Wing soon, the rear exhaust which runs parallel to the cooling wanes and create the hot blowing effect.

I am expecting Ferrari to be on pace after the first couple of races.

A new floor, gearbox in F1 these days is standard.
The rear exhaust layout is the one proving troublesome, they will now change to a more traditional layout. Look forward to the wing.

I cannot recall a team having caught up with the leaders after being few tenths of the pace for the first few races. It is close to impossible. You can narrow the gap of course, but overcoming is something else altogether.

Awaiting Melbourne with nervous enthusiasm.

[himanshukalia]

Formula 1 2012 season intro.

F1 2012 Season Intro (HD) - YouTube

[StarrySky]

Originally Posted by deetjohn

I recall, the 150° Italia was the fastest in the British GP last year and won it too, when the EBD was banned. So why is that Ferrari is not using the Italia as the base in 2012 when EBD is banned? I don't know.

Other cars (esp.Redbull) were optimised for EBD, so when it was taken away, they suffered more than Ferrari which probably wasn't centered completely around the EBD anyway. But, this year everyone has re-designed their cars to work without EBD, so there's no guarantee that F150 Italia would be a good base for this year.

[nitro.1000bhp]

I just subscribed for Dish TV HD just in time before the start of the new season. I was told by the sales rep Star sports HD was available and only after installation did I realise it was'nt the case. Star sports HD is only available on TATA sky apparently. Either the rep was ignorant or he genuinely thought it was available, I am now 5 grand poorer with the same channel clarity I had before. I think its high time the Govt intervened and standardised all digital tv subscriptions according to HD and non-HD channels. This is a blatant rip off and some thing must be done soon.

[vikram_d]

Originally Posted by nitro.1000bhp

I just subscribed for Dish TV HD just in time before the start of the new season. I was told by the sales rep Star sports HD was available and only after installation did I realise it was'nt the case. Star sports HD is only available on TATA sky apparently. Either the rep was ignorant or he genuinely thought it was available, I am now 5 grand poorer with the same channel clarity I had before. I think its high time the Govt intervened and standardised all digital tv subscriptions according to HD and non-HD channels. This is a blatant rip off and some thing must be done soon.

F1 races are shown on ESPN HD and I think DishTV has that channel. Check their website. I have never seen a Star Sports HD channel anywhere.

Edit: Looks like Dish TV has dropped ESPN HD. There is no mention of it in any of their packages. Strange.