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Post by Bartman on Jul 22, 2020 21:24:48 GMT
Ferrari with organisational changes, creating a performance development department with consultation with Rory Byrne (who is 76). This seems almost as desperate as Williams last season saying they were doing something similar with Patrick Head. Both f1 legends of course, but still... i wonder if john bernard has been called back too :p
it's a bit of a worrying move, i agree. the one possible sliver of light i can see for them is that the talks are getting louder and louder about ferrari entering indycar as an engine manufacturer from next year - further to this, penske and acura have split from their DPI programme, leaving penske without a team: ferrari have been noted as a consideration, with or without dallara on chassis duties, and that that work might already be under way. the status of sauber as "alfa romeo" might also be tied with this.
the reason i mention this is that with the upcoming budget cap, i can absolutely see ferrari trying to spread things out as much as possible. like, aye, setting up a "perfromance development department" bringing back as consultant a guy who designed your last "great" car almost 16 years ago screams of desperation. but if you can have your "performance development department" built around your formula 1 dept. while also having a separate part of the organisation that also happens to be working on a (still fairly) high-downforce hybrid capable prototype project and another on a V6, open-wheel racing series that's going hybrid in 2022*...
it's not like red bull won't be taking advantage of alpha tauri and red bull techonology.
*ish
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Post by Bartman on Jul 24, 2020 18:54:46 GMT
three races in italy - inc. imola, portuguese grand prix, back at the nurburgring (in october as well!!!), rumours of sepang hosting a race - it's taken us a few years but the bartman calendar is finally being implemented!!!!
the next project is to get them to swap out sochi for istanbul and abu dhabi for dubai and the indianapolis 500 recognised as a world championship race once again.
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 25, 2020 12:03:19 GMT
Still don't see how a race at Mugello or Imola with the current cars won't be borefests, but in theoretical, proper circuit terms it's good.
So the idiots at Portimão are getting ahead of themselves and selling tickets already...
...so equally idiot yours truly got one :tard2:
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Post by Bartman on Jul 25, 2020 12:45:22 GMT
hahahahaha they've got to make that $$$$
yasssss man, do it! are they running reduced capacity or are they selling as many tickets are they can? the facility looks great so hopefully it's a good race. is this your first "home" GP?
if i wasn't unemployed atm i'd probably buy the ticket (and hope uk - portugal travel is allowed by october)
my hope for portimão is that it'll be a bit like the indycar races at barber - races don't tend to be spectacular but lots of proper overtaking and racing. though indycars are much shorter so that might not happen...
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 25, 2020 17:52:02 GMT
hahahahaha they've got to make that $$$$ yasssss man, do it! are they running reduced capacity or are they selling as many tickets are they can? the facility looks great so hopefully it's a good race. is this your first "home" GP? if i wasn't unemployed atm i'd probably buy the ticket (and hope uk - portugal travel is allowed by october) my hope for portimão is that it'll be a bit like the indycar races at barber - races don't tend to be spectacular but lots of proper overtaking and racing. though indycars are much shorter so that might not happen... 5 thousand tickets on sale for the time being. It's going to be repaved,so hopefully nothing is ruined until October. |
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 25, 2020 18:02:25 GMT
And no, I haven't been to a race before. Buddy and I were aiming for this year's Italian GP but then comrade Covid said no.
I'd still love to go to a race in '22 because of new regs... this will be a frolic through the park for Lewis.
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Post by Bartman on Jul 26, 2020 18:47:40 GMT
today i realised that the portuguese grand prix falls on the same day as the final stage of the giro d'italia, the queen's stage of the vuelta a españa and paris-roubaix. choices. 5 thousand tickets on sale for the time being. It's going to be repaved,so hopefully nothing is ruined until October. 5k is still a good number.
i worry about the repaving - the bumpiness is part of the charm of the place. it's still a cracking circuit, so hopefully the race is still good.
a home race is a fair enough trade for missing monza. i hope it's good for you.
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 26, 2020 19:36:46 GMT
Haha yeah, I'd much rather go to Monza on a normal non-racing day. It's a short race, I don't like Ferrari so wouldn't want to be in the passionate but biased crowd.
What was the year both Ferraris went off early and everyone just left?
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Post by Bartman on Jul 26, 2020 20:08:37 GMT
hahaha, i hadn't thought about that. maybe the home track of the sith mightn't be the best track for you :p errr off the top of my head i know that in 1995 both alesi & berger retired having been 1-2 at one point - a camera fell off of alesi's car and broke berger's suspension, i can't remember why alesi had to stop. coulthard spun on the formation lap and then again on like lap 3 and hill and schumacher had a taki inoue assisted crash so eventually johnny herbert won, followed by hakkinen and frentzen. there was 2005 when schumacher and barrichello were both lapped and montoya won from alonso and fisi. it could've been that year? there was the year alesi and capelli both retired on the same lap, now i remember! that would've been 92/93 i think.
it would've been before whichever year michael andretti was at mclaren because that caused berger to move to ferrari, so definitely '92 or '93!
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 28, 2020 20:21:40 GMT
And my very first race at the Vietnam track was a nightmare!
Qualified well but fell backwards in the race. Bad usage of ERS (what with the massive straight, you get tricked into draining the battery too soon), atrocious tyre wear made worse by the game suggesting an one-stop prime to hard strategy which almost no-one else did, compounded by those early positions conceded to ERS+DRS overtakes not being retaken, as that massive straight is followed by a slow corner then the fast esses where you can't follow the other car. :/
This was almost as calamitous as my Monaco GPs.
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Post by Bartman on Jul 29, 2020 19:36:07 GMT
it's been bandied about that ferrari (and haas and alfa) have lost 85bhp (or approx) from last year 
i wonder just what was signed in that deal between them and the FIA last winter... And my very first race at the Vietnam track was a nightmare! Qualified well but fell backwards in the race. Bad usage of ERS (what with the massive straight, you get tricked into draining the battery too soon), atrocious tyre wear made worse by the game suggesting an one-stop prime to hard strategy which almost no-one else did, compounded by those early positions conceded to ERS+DRS overtakes not being retaken, as that massive straight is followed by a slow corner then the fast esses where you can't follow the other car. :/ This was almost as calamitous as my Monaco GPs. oh no, man. i hadn't considered ERS management with this game, that sounds brutal. i would usually forego the game's strategic advice and judged it by how quickly i killed my tyres :p
your experience sounds a lot like mine with the singapore and baku circuits, and in a past life also the south korea track: i love to test them on time trial and try to build up the fast lap but once the race comes along it's just horrible and no fun.
i can't remember if i've asked before but what's yr best track, generally? not necessarily your favourite but the one you generally race best at? i've found hockenheim generally goes well for me, even though i dislike racing there.
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Post by Bartman on Jul 29, 2020 19:40:31 GMT
also, re gaming: there's a BTCC game coming in 2022! the first standalone BTCC game since ToCA 2 from 1998 (and one of the best racing console games ever) www.touringcartimes.com/2020/07/29/new-btcc-game-set-2022-launch/it's not a codemasters game, like the original BTCC and ToCA games, which is unfortunate because a touring car game built like the current F1 games would be great but instead coming from "motorsport games", the folk who make the NASCAR games. the game might be hit and miss if those games are anything to go by but anything to race round thruxton and croft, on console, in the 2020s, is fine with me. i hope they revive the ford fiesta cup and the xj220s from the last pure BTCC game :p or bring in the clio and prosche cup from the actual package! |
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 29, 2020 21:15:11 GMT
it's been bandied about that ferrari (and haas and alfa) have lost 85bhp (or approx) from last year
i wonder just what was signed in that deal between them and the FIA last winter... And my very first race at the Vietnam track was a nightmare! Qualified well but fell backwards in the race. Bad usage of ERS (what with the massive straight, you get tricked into draining the battery too soon), atrocious tyre wear made worse by the game suggesting an one-stop prime to hard strategy which almost no-one else did, compounded by those early positions conceded to ERS+DRS overtakes not being retaken, as that massive straight is followed by a slow corner then the fast esses where you can't follow the other car. :/ This was almost as calamitous as my Monaco GPs. oh no, man. i hadn't considered ERS management with this game, that sounds brutal. i would usually forego the game's strategic advice and judged it by how quickly i killed my tyres :p
your experience sounds a lot like mine with the singapore and baku circuits, and in a past life also the south korea track: i love to test them on time trial and try to build up the fast lap but once the race comes along it's just horrible and no fun.
i can't remember if i've asked before but what's yr best track, generally? not necessarily your favourite but the one you generally race best at? i've found hockenheim generally goes well for me, even though i dislike racing there.
The Singapore GP is an absolute mess in '19 because of tyre temps and because of the nature of the track meaning the AI has perfect traction. I absolutely hate it, I have to basically ignore the soft tyre, qualify in midfield and do damage limitation. Austria aside? which is the easiest track for the player, me and you and everyone :p I usually do well in Bahrain and China too, by approaching T1 differently. Though I think the huge back straight isn't enjoyable at all. |
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Post by Bartman on Jul 29, 2020 21:45:47 GMT
The Singapore GP is an absolute mess in '19 because of tyre temps and because of the nature of the track meaning the AI has perfect traction. I absolutely hate it, I have to basically ignore the soft tyre, qualify in midfield and do damage limitation. Austria aside? which is the easiest track for the player, me and you and everyone :p I usually do well in Bahrain and China too, by approaching T1 differently. Though I think the huge back straight isn't enjoyable at all. if '19 is more or less the same as '18 i can relate to this so much. i don't think i've ever been as outright slow in a race since i was a child just trying to stay on the track than i was in a mclaren at singapore on '18. i went so aggressive on the tyres, naively, i barely finished the 50% race because i'd fried all of my tyres. even in a ferrari it was a struggle.
hahaha, i didn't think i had to mention the red bull ring :p i think that the player is far too OP on that circuit which is something i usually don't find on other games (project cars, the old ToCA games...). it's an absolute joy to drive there in a 2018 haas for sure.
yep those are ones i usually do fine at too. how do you approach T1 at shanghai? i tend to stick to the far side and ride just over the top of it before hitting the second apex and taking the last bit straight - it seems to work!
the back straight on both tracks! right, this sounds strange, but i start to get anxiety when i am on them! i think it's because they are so long and the brake point is so precise that it dwells on me a little but it's also because there is just so much time that i start to fidget and change settings. plus i just get bored holding down R2 for 22 seconds. the architecture doesn't help either when you have these vast expanses of nothing next to giant, hulking buildings and grandstands. it isn't a problem on the oval racing games or somewhere like fuji or the kemmel straight at spa, but the backstraight at shanghai and front straight at bahrain just aren't fun at all  |
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 30, 2020 8:40:56 GMT
Well, I just instinctively ignore the racing line and tuck in on the inside kerb. The corners are slow enough that you can have break latter with little jabs instead of the braking on the outside and lifting and turning of the normal racing line; similar to, if you want to overtake there, how you cut to the inside in the second phase of T11 at Paul Ricard and late break at the apex/corner exit instead. I dunno about lap time but this "feels" better to me  maybe it's not proper driving but :shrug: You have a point about those straights being wastelands of nothing. In Shangai it feels quite jarring because the corners leading into the back straight are tricky, good fun, then all of a sudden it's just nothing for seconds on end. Though the hairpin exit is quite nice and not always easy. |
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Post by Bartman on Jul 30, 2020 15:51:45 GMT
Well, I just instinctively ignore the racing line and tuck in on the inside kerb. The corners are slow enough that you can have break latter with little jabs instead of the braking on the outside and lifting and turning of the normal racing line; similar to, if you want to overtake there, how you cut to the inside in the second phase of T11 at Paul Ricard and late break at the apex/corner exit instead. I dunno about lap time but this "feels" better to me maybe it's not proper driving but :shrug: You have a point about those straights being wastelands of nothing. In Shangai it feels quite jarring because the corners leading into the back straight are tricky, good fun, then all of a sudden it's just nothing for seconds on end. Though the hairpin exit is quite nice and not always easy. i hadn't thought about treating T1 at shanghai and T11 at paul ricard as comparable but now you say it, it makes sense. next time i race at shanghai i will give that line a try!
shanghai is a frustrating track because, yeah, it's a really fun circuit until you get to that straight; even the last few corners i don't like tbh: the long banked corner before the straight is great but if you make a mistake round it the lap if not the race is ruined - there's no coming back along that straight (sometimes even with DRS).
i don't think it's a good grand prix circuit, really. perfect for 4, 6, 8 hour races, really good touring car circuit, but not for grand prix racing - tyres die, cars struggle to follow through the twisty middle section, the straight that kills underpowered and draggy cars. no gusta.
nurburgring is super underrated and i hope will deliver in october. the past few races there were all excellent - the 2011 race was as good as anything that season with the exception possibly of canada.
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Post by Bartman on Jul 30, 2020 15:57:35 GMT
sergio perez is possibly in doubt for the race this weekend after an inconclusive covid test. if he tests positive then obviously he'll be out of the weekend (and probably the next) and if he tests inconclusively again that'll be an issue. esteban gutierrez and stoffel vandoorne are available as stand in drivers if need be (but the mercedes-racing point link is totall overstated :p) - should perez miss this weekend, this could be the real test of lance stroll. vandoorne is great and gutierrez is solid but neither have driven a 2020 car (or as far as i know 2019 car either...) and so you'd expect lance stroll to have a considerable advantage over whomever stands in. something to maybe watch. racer.com/2020/07/30/perez-isolating-due-to-inconclusive-covid-test-result/ |
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 30, 2020 16:59:39 GMT
sergio perez is possibly in doubt for the race this weekend after an inconclusive covid test. if he tests positive then obviously he'll be out of the weekend (and probably the next) and if he tests inconclusively again that'll be an issue. esteban gutierrez and stoffel vandoorne are available as stand in drivers if need be (but the mercedes-racing point link is totall overstated :p) - should perez miss this weekend, this could be the real test of lance stroll. vandoorne is great and gutierrez is solid but neither have driven a 2020 car (or as far as i know 2019 car either...) and so you'd expect lance stroll to have a considerable advantage over whomever stands in. something to maybe watch. racer.com/2020/07/30/perez-isolating-due-to-inconclusive-covid-test-result/Oh ffs :( Stroll senior will prefer to race with only one driver so that Lance outqualifies his teammate :P But it would rule seeing Vandoorne back, decent talent swallowed whole by the worst McLaren ever and Teflonso's toxicity. |
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 30, 2020 17:03:17 GMT
One thing I forgot to mention about Hanoi is that the racing line will apparently completely come across the pit exit (it's not even the uncomfortably side-by-side of Abu Dhabi, for instance).
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 30, 2020 20:30:38 GMT
Arsecancer saying it might be Hulk.
Hopefully his height/weight doesn't add 0.3 laptime and gets the RP out of podium range :p
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Post by Bartman on Jul 30, 2020 21:52:52 GMT
One thing I forgot to mention about Hanoi is that the racing line will apparently completely come across the pit exit (it's not even the uncomfortably side-by-side of Abu Dhabi, for instance). i'm old enough to remember people "virtue signaling", for want of a better word, about how dangerous the pit exit was at imola and since then we've had the yeongam pitlane debate (if a car had a brake failure at the end of the home straight as a car was exiting the pits you're getting a paul dana/antoine hubert incident potentially), valencia, baku (in general tbh), paul ricard and india's pit exit was questionable too iirc and now this. i don't know why these pit exits of questionable safety are allowed to keep happening. wtf? who is that?
how great would it be if nico hulkenberg finally got a podium during a season that he wasn't even signed to compete in? given how good that merc was at silverstone last year, it's definitely possible if he's up to speed quick enough!
interesting tidbit, i can't remember if it was jolyon palmer or paul di resta that said recently on commentary, although i suspect it will be true for both of them, but whenever the issue of driver weight came up, because any decision for action had to be unanimous within the GPDA, it was always the same, diminutive, ferrari then williams driver that would block motions to increase the weight limit...
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 30, 2020 22:22:32 GMT
Arsecancer is motorsport.com :aye:
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Post by Bartman on Jul 30, 2020 23:02:32 GMT
fair enough
how did that nickname occur? i have heard of some of the charges of plagiarism directed towards them but not that name
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 30, 2020 23:25:36 GMT
fair enough
how did that nickname occur? i have heard of some of the charges of plagiarism directed towards them but not that name
I thought of calling them St. Anger but that would have been too harsh. |
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Post by Bartman on Jul 31, 2020 7:10:02 GMT
we're two hours before practice starting and err there has been no announcement as to how will pilot the other pink mercedes. obviously i hope checo is well and all but i've missed these days - getting whiplash back to the frequent "alexander rossi will drive for caterham/marussia/manor because chilton/ericsson/kobayashi's cheque bounced" headlines, quickly followed by "chilton/ericsson/kobayashi to start, rossi on reserve" stories an hour later.
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Post by Bartman on Jul 31, 2020 9:59:45 GMT
it's just as well that the remaining jordan driver is also clear of 1.8m and had a spare set of overalls to lend hulk!
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Post by Bartman on Jul 31, 2020 11:34:13 GMT
hulk 0.6s off stroll after practice one - not too poor all in all. practice 2 should be more representative of race conditions so the priority will probably be that session.
verstappen nearly 0.5s ahead of hamilton but i think it's more that max has put down a great lap on the softest tyre, mercedes will let out the performance this afternoon or tomorrow - there's no way bottas is a second behind on real pace.
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Post by forgotten in space on Jul 31, 2020 11:45:54 GMT
drivers keep complaining about stuff happening because of going over the kerbs; these cars are complete behemoths and heavy as hell, and somehow the teams push the build so much they end up frail in terms of outer structure and component assembly? :|
It would be pretty hilarious if, for instance, Mercedes had the best car by a country mile but somehow lost the titles because they had to ease off repeteadly like in the first Austria race :p
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Post by Bartman on Jul 31, 2020 13:39:57 GMT
the mercedes, as great and as hulking as it is, looks very fragile on the track. we found this with honda's motogp programme, nascar, and super gt's gt500 class the other year, when you put so many aerodynamic gimmicks on your car/bike that the slightest knock will throw your whole car out of kilter and ruin the race. never mind the engine/power unit. and gearbox, as seen in super gt too.
i agree, it'd be ace if mercedes lost the title because their car couldn't handle the tracks/hamilton & bottas were too rough with it.
the 2005 mclaren stole a sure title from kimi so i feel that karma is owe me this one! :p
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Post by Bartman on Jul 31, 2020 14:19:15 GMT
having a pint at one of my regular haunts and they have the practice session on, life is back on track 🙌
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maybe it's not proper driving but :shrug: