In the round-up: Valtteri Bottas believes Formula One engines are much closer in terms of performance in the fifth year of the V6 hybrid turbo rules.
Bottas explained why he found it hard to come through the field in the Australian Grand Prix:
The engine differences, they are not massive any more. For sure we still have a little bit of an advantage to Renault but it is not massive. And those cars they are not too bad in the corners.
Links
Your daily digest of F1 news, views, features and more from hundreds of sites across the web:
Tilke on designing a F1 circuit (iNews)
"I know people say that if there is only gravel, it is more of a penalty if you go off, which is true. But if you have a private track day and somebody goes off in their Porsche or AMG, then they are likely to be paying for new parts. €7000 is an expensive spin."
McLaren Woking fire: Car firm's headquarters evacuated as firefighters deal with blaze (Get Surrey)
"Three fire engines were sent to deal with the small fire and we left at around 8.30am."
How Ferrari's vented rear view mirrors really work (F1 Technical)
"At first sight, it looks like the design may be of particular interest to the teams that have followed Ferrari's sidepod inlet path, namely Haas, Williams and Red Bull, so it will be interesting to see if, and how quickly they would be trying to copy it and put it onto their cars in an actual race."
"It was really important to make sure that the socket for this device was able to transfer the large forces exerted while braking comfortably over Billy’s limb."
Wehrlein Reflects On F1 As He Prepares For A Return To DTM (WTF1)
"When Hamilton lost the lead in Australia, the engineers were immediately aware that there was a problem."
McLaren car painted in Air NZ colours and restored to former glory (Stuff)
"After around 20 years of working on-and-off on the car, the Hobsonville Point resident has finally finished restoring his McLaren M4A, a model of Formula Two car designed in 1967."
Thanks to Stephen Crowsen for the tip
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Notable posts from Twitter, Instagram and more:
Quick pro tip for you @ForzaMotorsport gamers. The McLaren MP4/4 around the Nürburgring is an extremely fun thing to try.
This tip is for people that like fun.
— Josef Newgarden (@josefnewgarden) April 3, 2018
Another plane. Will see Bahrain at about midnight. On the plus side, a flight from Birmingham meant another precious couple of hours with the family. pic.twitter.com/DioVl0qeo9
— Ben Michell (@ben_michell) April 3, 2018
Another @F1 team deal for @Acronis who are now the 'data protection partner' for @ForceIndiaF1. Their logos are already on @WilliamsRacing and @ToroRosso. #F1
— RaceFans (@racefansdotnet) April 3, 2018
- Find more official F1 accounts to follow in the F1 Twitter Directory
Comment of the day
Is this going to be the year we finally get to see what Romain Grosjean is capable of?
I consider Grosjean a good driver. He really turned things around back in ’12-’13 (aside from almost taking Alonso’s head off). He and Raikkonen gave Red Bull a run for their money at Nurburgring and was exciting to watch during those times.
He does whine a lot, but can’t say I wouldn’t do the same in his shoes. I believe he deserves a chance to show what he can do again, so I’m excited to see if this car’s got the goods – as long as it can finish.
@Rpiian
Happy birthday!
Happy birthday to D_Omin!
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Strontium (@strontium)
4th April 2018, 0:45
When, or more importantly, why has anybody ever asked Tilke to make a straight longer?
Unicron (@unicron2002)
4th April 2018, 6:39
Comment of the Year!
George O'Donnell (@georgeod)
4th April 2018, 7:36
Who actually wants longer straights though? The problem isn’t the length of the straights, it’s that the cars can’t follow closely in the corners, so aren’t positioned closely when they get onto the straights. You wouldn’t need longer straights if the cars could follow each other efficiently.
Take China as a case in point. It has a very long straight. It’s hardly exciting to see cars race each other in a long straight line.
PaulK (@paulk)
4th April 2018, 9:17
@strontium, probably the same people who ask Michael Bay why can’t he make his movies 30 minutes longer.
FlatSix (@)
4th April 2018, 10:50
@strontium Isn’t that obvious? To have more DRS zones!
Dom (@3dom)
5th April 2018, 19:14
Multiple DRS zones on one straight @flatsix? Sounds like something that would actually happen in F1 😜
Dale
6th April 2018, 15:33
How long have you been watching F1?
Some of the best races have been at circuits with long straights, they’re pretty much opposite to Monaco and temporary circuits like Australia.
Did you ever watch any racing from the old Kyalami circuit?
Massive long straight on one side & then sweeping bends and corners on the other, with a long wide hairpin onto the straight. Racing was always good because teams could either go for a low downforce setup to take advantage of the straight, or a higher downforce setup to get benefits in the corners. That meant there was real overtaking, with the favour returned a half lap later.
Some of the best races on the current motorsport calendars are those at circuits where teams need to make those same setup decisions or compromises, places like Spa.
Zad (@)
4th April 2018, 1:02
I hope everybody is well @ mclaren, nevertheless i´m eager to see how they´ll going to blame honda for that ;-)
Sensord4notbeingafanboi (@peartree)
4th April 2018, 5:01
@zad2 They’ll just blame the old Honda parts left in the attic.
maia gus
4th April 2018, 2:15
the rear view mirror pieces is well done but should i get excited by this improvement?
Shimks (@shimks)
4th April 2018, 11:36
You may not but I did. I am making my own replicas out of matches and UHU.
Andy (@turbof1)
4th April 2018, 17:42
Hello, turbof1 from f1technical here. Just want to put some clarification here: yes, this is a technical piece which is bound not to be to every f1 fan’s liking. However, a lot of the fanbase does take an interest in that technical side.
I believe Keith also put our article in his round up because there’s a lot of misconception about these rear mirrors, spread by other websites. So I am really glad he helps spreading that article because Vanja Hasanovic actually went to the length of cfd analysis.
Dom (@3dom)
5th April 2018, 20:17
@turbof1 great to have you on here discussing with us. I’m one of those fans who’s incredibly interested in the technical side. For me, the interest started in the early to mid 2000s after constantly hearing teams talk about the updates that they’d brought to the race and how they made them faster I became curious about how they worked. The internet has been a great tool for finding out. Now I can’t get enough. Thanks for your articles, certainly well appreciated 🙂
Jere (@jerejj)
4th April 2018, 3:26
“I know people say that if there is only gravel, it is more of a penalty if you go off, which is true. But if you have a private track day and somebody goes off in their Porsche or AMG, then they are likely to be paying for new parts. €7000 is an expensive spin.”
– I agree with him. Yes, a gravel trap would automatically solve all the problems regarding track limits, but the reason(s) behind the excessive usage of asphalt run-off areas is entirely understandable, and, therefore, justifiable. People sometimes seem to forget that circuits are used by other motorsport categories and for other purposes as well rather than just F1, so every track-user has to be taken into account.
faulty (@faulty)
4th April 2018, 3:52
… like John Hugenholtz did when he was designing them.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
4th April 2018, 8:19
Well its true if the track day users are going around the same corners, but in my experience, we usually get a modified layout for track days and I’ve certainly seen evidence of modified layout on at least some of the Tilke circuits.
Surely it would be possible to still have some gravel traps on those parts of the circuit that are exclusively for “race” days with the possibility of using those on a track day if the drivers of the private cars are prepared to risk the expense.
For mine, that “reason” doesn’t wash – safety – yes I’ll accept that one, but track days – nope.
Egonovi
4th April 2018, 9:14
Fully agree, use the alternative layouts (which already exist).
Also I don’t care if Porsche and AMG owners who use the official F1 track and spin off have to spend some more money on body parts. It might actually be a benefit; most of the drivers who spin off during those track days are the dangerous types who rate their own skill level well above what they really possess.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
4th April 2018, 10:30
You’re completely missing the point.
The tracks are businesses first and foremost. They must turn a profit. Trackdays ie. Mon-Fri running are one of their biggest sources of income. It’s not a case of ‘I don’t care if Porsche and AMG owners who use the office F1 track and spin off’, it’s a case of making money. These are the people who have money.
Unfortunately, until we find a means of interchangeable run-offs, we’ll be more inclined to use asphalt. As Tilke mentions, it keeps the spectators closer to the action, and heavily favoured operationally.
DB-C90 (@dbradock)
4th April 2018, 10:39
Not really,
It’s rare that paying users of track days are offered anything other than the modified (and safer) layouts so it’s not a matter of “I don’t care”, it’s actually a case of “they’re prevented from going near those corners”.
So commercially there’s no loss.
Hugh (@hugh11)
4th April 2018, 10:01
As I’ve been saying for ages, just have a strip of grass then more tarmac. That stops people abusing track limits while also keeping it safe.
ECWDanSelby (@ecwdanselby)
4th April 2018, 10:31
I think this is definitely the happiest medium!
Strontium (@strontium)
4th April 2018, 12:09
@hugh11 I was about to say the same thing. It’s such a simple solution but is so effective
frood19 (@frood19)
4th April 2018, 10:16
that article was remarkably interesting despite how little it actually revealed about tilke and his/their processes. the instructive part is that everything is restricted by cost and external commercial pressure. as ever, it’s all about money. i can well imagine that a track like abu dhabi makes an absolute killing from track days so it’s very important to them to have tarmac run offs, even if they know it is at the expense of the grand prix being exciting/challenging.
Balue (@balue)
4th April 2018, 21:55
Why can’t they look at having an electronic solution to going off where the power is reduced slightly for a time? In such a technical advanced sport one would think this could be perfectly doable with GPS and/or even some near-field communication (NFC) gizmos placed under the tarmac. Even my phone have these technologies.
stjs16 (@stjs16)
5th April 2018, 15:16
Seen plenty of exotics at Cadwell that manage just fine.
Zim
4th April 2018, 6:52
Max :D
Kedar
4th April 2018, 10:05
Three fire engines at mclaren, thanks to the past 3 years I read that as 3 engines are on Fire at Mclaren
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
4th April 2018, 11:57
Am I the only one to think that apart from Lando Norris the 2018 F2 field looks really weak?
Mashiat (@mashiat)
4th April 2018, 13:23
@spoutnik George Russell?
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
4th April 2018, 23:36
@mashiat true, I don’t know him well but heard some good indeed.
Trayambak Chakravarty (@major-dev)
4th April 2018, 13:48
I think it looks pretty strong. We have Norris, Russell and Aitken, as well as Sean Galeal, Nicholas Latifi, Maximillian Gunther and Antonio Fuoco, who’ve all had F1 experience.
Cristian (@panzik)
4th April 2018, 20:29
Ghiotto too
FlatSix (@)
4th April 2018, 20:37
@major-dev How about Gasly and Hartley?
spoutnik (@spoutnik)
4th April 2018, 23:40
@major-dev indeed! Though I am not really impressed by Gelael and Latifi. I don’t know the others so I guess the battle could be nicer than I thought? We’ll see :)
Ed
4th April 2018, 15:41
Grosjean is a decent driver to be there. Like him were Trulli, Kovalainen, Wurz and others in the past.
He should have a couple of wins to his name but it’s not his fault F1 only sees 3 teams winning races for most of the time he raced.