Williams has addressed downforce deficit – Stroll

37 comments on “Williams has addressed downforce deficit – Stroll”

1. 

   iFuel (@ifuel)
   17th March 2018, 0:48

   Man, I would love to see a car with modern F1 bodywork with the proportions of the F2004 and wings with limited amount of elements, it would be beautiful.
   1. 

      MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
      17th March 2018, 1:10

      just matching front and rearwings in dimensions should do wonders. Whenever you actually see these cars from the front/above angle they actually still hold some of the 2009-2016 proportions. It’s gotten a LOT better, but those huge frontwings seem to only cause annoyance anyway, so why not trim them in line?
      1. 

         Phylyp (@phylyp)
         17th March 2018, 2:33

         @mrboerns +1 to the wing dimensions. To me, the front wings pictured here look the best and remind me of the time I started following F1. The current “full width” wings look overdone and clunky in comparison.
         1. 

            bull mello (@bullmello)
            17th March 2018, 17:36

            From some angles the current (and recent) F1 cars look merely like a support system for the front wing.
   2. 

      Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
      17th March 2018, 14:46

      That onboard is mega. That track is pretty good, I didn’t think an f1 car would ride so well there. I like the small cars, they look a lot more spectacular than the big cars.
   3. 

      anon
      17th March 2018, 19:18

      @ifuel, the funny thing is, I can recall full well at the time that people complained that the cars were ugly, lacked character, were too easy to drive and all of the same tropes that we hear today when they compared the cars of the time back to historical cars. I recall full well that, back in the 2000’s, most fans of the time were waxing lyrical about the turbocharged cars of the 1980’s and saying that the cars of the 2000’s were rubbish when compared to them, in much the same way that, now we are a decade on, people say that the cars today are rubbish when compared to those from the 1990’s.

      It was why I noted a few journalists back then wryly noting then that people always seemed to look back about 20 years and say that the cars back then were always better than they are now, and it seems that sentiment holds just as true today as it did more than a decade ago.
2. 

   Scott Bailey (@sbailey555)
   17th March 2018, 1:09

   With the drivers not allowed to make changes to their helmets and now some of their helmet can’t be seen due to the halo, surely we can give them a bit of free reign to paint or change their halo to suit them and allow them to be recognised by their fans easier. They can then do track specific designs as they liked to do in the past without the restriction of helmet design change. It wouldn’t be a big canvas admittedly but hey, it’s their cockpit!
   1. 

      MrBoerns (@mrboerns)
      17th March 2018, 1:12

      I want someone to fix a wackel-elvis to it
      1. 

         Robbie (@robbie)
         17th March 2018, 8:55

         I just don’t buy into the rhetoric that the halo blocks the view of the driver any more than the drivers’ outward vision is blocked by it, which it isn’t. Sure in some still shots the bigger part of it in the centre at the top blocks the view, but we’ll be seeing the cars in motion and any blockage will only be subject to brief part-seconds in time, and to occasional camera angles. I predict that 99% of the time we’ll have no problem seeing their helmets. An aeroscreen on the other hand I can see blocking our view of the drivers more often, on sunny days, from reflection.
         1. 

            deMercer (@)
            17th March 2018, 10:42

            I sincerely hope you are right, but I doubt it. For 99% of the time the only part of the halo that is potentially blocking the drivers’ outward vision is just the center pillar. Depending on the camera (angle) used, other and larger parts of the halo will block the view of the driver (‘s helmet).

            Just a week and one day and the first race has been completed, and we will see how it pans out. Just over one week and the 2018 season will be started. Bring it on!
3. 

   Damon (@damon)
   17th March 2018, 1:30

   WOW! Seeing those Ferraris on THAT race track makes you realize how artificial Tilkedroms – almost all of F1 cuircits for that matter – are.
   It feels as if I got to see those F1 cars actually outside, in the real world, for the first time.
   1. 

      Andrew in Atlanta
      17th March 2018, 2:17

      Yeah, it’s my home track and you are CLOSE a lot. Watched in the back stretch and you’re under 10 feet from the track, and above them.

      Think it’s their first time here with Corse Clienti and hope they come back. We couldn’t go in the paddock but still 8 screaming F1 cars were nuts. I couldn’t remember them all, one had TicTac and FedEx sidepod that sang beautifully, none us were sure V10 vs V12. We didn’t recognize the livery.
      1. 

         Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
         17th March 2018, 18:56

         Bellissima!

         If Corse Clienti comes back, half of us want to come and stay over at your place for the event. ;-)
   2. 

      Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
      17th March 2018, 7:39

      Yeah couldn’t agree more. So spectacular.
   3. 

      Drew (@drewb)
      19th March 2018, 12:11

      Some video from Road Atlanta…
4. 

   Andrew in Atlanta
   17th March 2018, 2:13

   It was INSANE trackside, they were flying around the track. A couple of cars were consistently in the 1:08s, the official event track record is 1:06 from Peugeot in 2008. I missed Gene running yesterday but the guys today? GREAT way to spend a Friday, friends, beer, sun and 70s (20), and fast cars.

   The FXX is nice the 599XX makes a decent noise, the FXX-K and Evos were meh and quiet.
5. 

   Duncan Snowden
   17th March 2018, 2:51

   The Rich Energy story is… weird. I’m not sure what to make of that. I mean, Mallya’s exactly the sort of guy who could engineer a sale behind the backs of the entire F1 press corps (and possibly even his own employees), but it still seems kind of unlikely. I mean, apart from anything else, what about BWT? Don’t they have a contract for 2018?

   So why has this story popped up, and in a local newspaper of all places? Every report I can find online traces back to the R&T Times one. But Rich Energy Racing does exist, incorporated back in December. Like I said… weird.
   1. 

      DB-C90 (@dbradock)
      17th March 2018, 5:27

      Be very weird indeed. Rich Energy doesn’t seem to have the capital or net worth to buy paddock tickets let alone a F1 team.
      1. 

         ruliemaulana (@ruliemaulana)
         17th March 2018, 6:11

         Plot twist: It just a Mallya’s shell company.
         1. 

            sethje (@seth-space)
            17th March 2018, 23:00

            Is it? Any sources for that assumption?
            1. 

               sethje (@seth-space)
               17th March 2018, 23:02

               https://beta.companieshouse.gov.uk/company/09791667/persons-with-significant-control
               The biggest stakeholder..Mr William John Storey
6. 

   Jere (@jerejj)
   17th March 2018, 7:19

   I agree with both the COTD and Grosjean.
7. 

   Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
   17th March 2018, 7:39

   How could you possibly not understand why people are against Stroll and Sirotkin?

   That Road Atlanta tweet from Gene……. just wow!
   1. 

      Roth Man (@rdotquestionmark)
      17th March 2018, 7:43

      Just to clarify I want them to do well but why would pure out and out lay drivers fill anyone with confidence. And before anyone starts with the ‘everyone’s a pay driver’ argument there is a massive difference. These are drivers who wouldn’t make it to the top on merit if the sport wasn’t ran by money. They just don’t have the pedigree.
      1. 

         Basil (@flyingbasil)
         17th March 2018, 13:00

         Why?
         Stroll had results in junior series.
         Sirotkin had results, too and was praised by renault bosses more than a few times (which is something they didnt need to do).
         1. 

            Jimmi Cynic (@jimmi-cynic)
            17th March 2018, 18:52

            Stroll’s ‘junior’ campaign was funded to the tune of a rumoured $80 million…He even had Williams sim time – no other competitor in the series had close to the resources behind him.

            See Keith’s article from 2017

            Let’s see how he does this season – like McLaren, Stroll has no more excuses.
            1. 

               anon
               17th March 2018, 20:01

               @jimmi-cynic, and yet, didn’t some people on this site point out that Lando Norris reportedly got a huge amount of private testing time with McLaren when racing in Formula 3 – so much so that, when the FIA announced a significant clampdown on private testing for drivers competing in Formula 2 for the 2018 season, there were posters on this site who commented that the rule change was almost certainly introduced in response to prevent McLaren repeating that same trick for Norris in Formula 2?
            2. 

               Stephen Crowsen (@drycrust)
               18th March 2018, 6:57

               The question shouldn’t be “Did this driver practice on a simulator?”, but “Did this driver fail to improve after practicing on a simulator?”. It doesn’t matter how many hours were spent on the simulator, what matters is had that driver improved after practicing on the simulator. Every driver at the F1 level, and probably at the F2 and F3 levels as well, should have access to a decent simulator. It’s just like you wouldn’t expect to go to a concert and find the musicians didn’t practice. Practice make perfect.
8. 

   Balue (@balue)
   17th March 2018, 7:44

   So disappointed with what F1 now sees itself as with the world promotional video. Crashes, drivers fighting, cheesy music. It’s like a B-grade American movie.
   1. 

      Andrey Baydin (@minilemm)
      17th March 2018, 9:54

      “Fan superstars”… there’s a lot of cringe in that article for me, but hey, wasnt it common wisdom that f1 has to do a better job in the US? And needs to change its marketing to achieve that? I guess (hope) Liberty of all people knows what it takes.
      And whichever way they decide to do it, f1 conservatives – including me – wont agree.
      1. 

         Balue (@balue)
         17th March 2018, 10:56

         @minilemm

         But surely even Liberty knows that film sequels are flops as they lose all originality and become formulaic in trying to go for a target group, and this seems to be happening here.

         Besides, the Fast and Furious crowd will never enjoy F1 so why even try?
         1. 

            Andrey Baydin (@minilemm)
            17th March 2018, 11:03

            Marvel seems to be doing rather well commercially despite not having come up with a new idea for a decade :)

            Re fast and furious crowd – yeah fair point… But it`s not one simple average crowd, maybe some of them of will get drawn in – you have to try, you cant really survive on racing nerds – how many of those do you know that dont know a thing or two about f1 already? There`s no more underground crowd to work with for f1.
            Also, maybe the current F1 (or the way we see it) isnt necessarily the vision Liberty has, and isnt exactly what they`re trying to attract those new people to
   2. 

      petebaldwin (@)
      17th March 2018, 12:44

      I know what you mean but it’s aimed at casual fans. A video like that isn’t to make any difference for people like us.

      Having said that, if they said F1 this year is going to be like that Gene video, I would pay any amount to watch it!
9. 

   Steven Robertson (@emu55)
   17th March 2018, 8:32

   The amount of grip the Ferrari has on the Road Atlanta run is astounding.
10. 

    Egonovi
    17th March 2018, 11:46

    Those (not so) old cars look great, and we could still see the driver.

    But since FIA required higher cockpit sides we can hardly see the helmets. Must have been a big uproar from fans when those sides were increased :p
11. 

    Jorge Lardone (@jorge-lardone)
    17th March 2018, 17:53

    Thanks for the COTD Keith.
12. 

    stefano (@alfa145)
    19th March 2018, 0:22

    that picture with the 3 ferrari in north atlanta is just… wow.

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