[speedzak]

KERS, Points and now the latest: Diffuser row!
Melbourne is headed to lots of anxious action filled scenes.

Redbull is pretty sure to appeal against the diffuser rule modification done by Toyota, Brawn GP etc.. If this mod is rejected by FIA court of appeal, then these teams will have to go thru re designing the diffusers or may even get disqualified from the race results.

[pulsar56]

Originally Posted by kuttapan

So it will be Button without the Button(on the steering wheel) against Massa/Kimi with the Button - Can't wait for Sunday !!

Kind of makes the whole 2009 season start very very interesting! BTW, BMW has confirmed that they are ready to use KERS.

Originally Posted by speedzak

KERS, Points and now the latest: Diffuser row!
Melbourne is headed to lots of anxious action filled scenes.

No updates on the diffusers issue yet.

[Rocky_Balboa]

As for the diffusers, I feel the teams will not be disqualified since they have not bent the rules but only found a loophole. The rules will simply be re-written and the teams will be asked to re-design their's before a cut-off date set in mid-season.

I am very excited for the First GP in 09, BGP will definitely rub nose with the front-runners. I am betting on Massa for the inaugural GP win.

[anachronix]

My bet is on the Finn in a red car

[im_srini]

The diffuser is a very important part of the aerodynamics of an F1 car, the regulations prohibit any sculpted bodywork under the car forward of the rear axle, so any pressure recovery has to come from the diffuser. The 2009 regulations regarding the rear body work was very strict & would've forced the teams to have extremely similar diffusers, similar to how the front wing has been standardized, well almost.

Unfortunately for the teams that followed the letter & the spirit of the new regulations, a few teams have found a loophole & exploited it to their advantage - as is evinced in their sudden upturn in performance. Since these teams are actually within the regulations I'm not sure if they can be forced to modify their diffuser design. It would have to be the other teams to come up with similar designs or the tech regulations have to be amended. It's too close to the opening GP for the protests by the other teams, they could've done this much earlier, I guess the performance advantage afforded by the 'loophole diffusers' took them by surprise

We can just hope the race is decided on the track & not by the stewards a few hours after the 58 laps have been run. Surprisingly, when Williams first ran their 2009 contender, they appear to have used a diffuser that the other teams would've had no problems with...



Source

[Samir Taheer]

Originally Posted by im_srini

Hi Samir, in article 5.2 of the F1 tech regulations...

5.2.2 With the exception of one fully charged KERS, the total amount of recoverable energy stored on the car must not exceed 300kJ. Any which may be recovered at a rate greater than 2kW must not exceed 20kJ.

5.2.3 The maximum power, in or out, of any KERS must not exceed 60kW. Energy released from the KERS may not exceed 400kJ in any one lap. Measurements will be taken at the connection to the rear wheel drivetrain.

In a lap, each car is limited to a max expenditure of 400kJ at a max rate of 60kW. Article 5.2.2 provides for a further 300kJ, so I guess each car can have a total of 700kJ stored. This is not that high a figure & if all the energy required to brake a car is dumped into the KERS, all it would take is a couple of corners' worth of not-very-hard braking !

Hi im_sirni, thanks for the info, but the way i read that is the cars will only be allowed to use upto 400KJ per lap and store upto 300KJ.

[rolling on DUB]

Mclaren and renault said they will not send there cars to track,if cars using illegal diffuser is let to race in melbourne.

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by Samir Taheer

Hi im_sirni, thanks for the info, but the way i read that is the cars will only be allowed to use upto 400KJ per lap and store upto 300KJ.

Hi Samir, you could be right. I had mentioned a total of 700kJ since article 5.2.2 states "with the exception of one fully charged KERS, the total amount of recoverable energy stored on the car must not exceed 300kJ".

My thinking was that a 'fully charged KERS' would store 400kJ, which is excluded, & you could store a further 300kJ. Its easy to see why these regulations provide ample opportunity for misinterpretation No wonder we have the diffuser issue, last year we had something similar with 'movable doors' & whatnot.

Another oddity in the regulations is article 11.1.1, which specifies two brake circuits - one circuit for the front wheels, & the other circuit for the rear wheels ! One would've expected each circuit to connect diagonal wheels, which is how it is in production automobiles, I would very much like to know why the F1 cars have such an odd arrangement...

Originally Posted by rolling on DUB

Mclaren and renault said they will not send there cars to track,if cars using illegal diffuser is let to race in melbourne.

Reminds me of US-GP 2005, my understanding was that the 'loophole diffusers' are legal. Didn't the FIA issue a clarification a few days ago that the diffusers in question are within regulations & that their legality would be decided by the stewards at the AUS-GP ?

[RGP]

Originally Posted by motor_breathing

Can you please update the TV timings for the Race and qualifiers. Thanks

Race Timings in IST for full season (Courtesy Autocar India)

"The FIA has officially announced the schedule for the 2009 World Championship races. The season kicks off in Melbourne on March 29 and concludes in Abu Dhabi on November 1. The start times for the Australian and Malaysian have been changed to make it a little easier on audiences in Europe. Both races will start at 5:00 PM local time. This means that you’ll have to turn on your TVs at 11:30 AM on March 29 to catch the start of the Australian Grand Prix.

The Malaysian Grand Prix will start at 2:30 PM on April 5 for Indian audiences. Here is the schedule, with race start times in full. The Chinese Grand Prix has been moved to be the third race of the season from its traditional slot in September.

DATEGRAND PRIXSTART TIME
29/03 Australia 1130
05/04 Malaysia 1430
19/04 China 1230
26/04 Bahrain 1730
10/05 Spain 1730
24/05 Monaco 1730
07/06 Turkey 1730
21/06 Great Britain 1730
12/07 Germany 1730
26/07 Hungary 1730
23/08 Europe 1730
30/08 Belgium 1730
13/09 Italy 1730
27/09 Singapore 1730
04/10 Japan 1030
18/10 Brazil 2130
01/11 Abu Dhabi 1630
*All times are Indian Standard Time

28/01/2009

:: AUTOCAR INDIA - CAR AND BIKE MAGAZINE ::

[kannan666]

@RGP

Thanks for the complete listings with Indian timings ! We can now schedule our Sundays accordingly !

[ms001]

official protests have been launched against the controversial rear diffuser designs
F1 : Four teams launch rear diffuser protests - FIA - F1-Live.com

[ms001]

F1 : FIA clears contested diffusers - F1 - F1-Live.com

[speedzak]

Hmmm.. Leads to a good controversial start to the season!
Signs of an anxious year ahead.

Good good.

[vikram_d]

This season's very first practice times. Looks like we have a lot of surprises.

[raj.barcode]

Originally Posted by vikram_d

This season's very first practice times. Looks like we have a lot of surprises.

Surprises yes, also Hamilton grassed his vehicle thrice in this session and also good to see Brawn Gp in the top end of the sheets , Its heard that only Heifield is running KERS for BMW Sauber and Kubica is not, well is weight the problem between them as all know that Heifield is 5 kilos odd lighter than Kubica