Jimmie Johnson, NASCAR, Daytona, 2020

Seven-times NASCAR champion Johnson to test for McLaren’s IndyCar team

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In the round-up: Seven-times NASCAR Cup champion Jimmie Johnson will test for McLaren’s IndyCar team next month.

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Ferrari have their power unit, Mercedes have DAS – are both approaching the rules the same way?

The key is the difference between a loophole and a rule violation.

The FIA have said many many times that attempting to bypass the functionality of the fuel-flow sensor or associated systems (by, let’s say, pooling fuel the other side of the sensor) is a violation of both the written rule and the spirit of it – an attempt to bypass a hard regulation that states the engine cannot consume more than X fuel at a given moment.

DAS is definitely a loophole, because it exploits two grey areas with regards to both the axis of movement allowed of the steering wheel (the rules did not specify that it could only rotate along the axis of the steering column – which has been restricted in the 2021 regulations following discussion between the FIA and Mercedes) and the toe of the wheel, which I believe is only enforced in so far as the suspension can only be modified with the use of tools (DAS does not modify the suspension when on the track).
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19 comments on “Seven-times NASCAR champion Johnson to test for McLaren’s IndyCar team”

  1. Interesting cotd. Exploiting a loophole on the PU side is written in the rules? I can’t imagine anyone writes rules to be bypassable. One thing is certain the rules want cars to consume no more than 100kg/h. One thing to add, Das does change the suspension on track, that said technically speaking steering changes suspension dynamically though that is to be expected and thus disregarded, grey areas.

    1. I’d say that the suspension controls the vertical movements of the chassis, but the alignment of the wheels is part of the steering, not the suspension. I find it sad that innovations that provide the driver more manual control of how the car performs keep getting banned, though I wouldn’t mind banning it if it were computer controlled.

      1. And that’s the second time this week I agree with @Hohum; at least this time I did not have to shift my believes ;)

        Das DAS feels like a natural part/extension of the steering function rather than a suspension (vertical movement) aid.
        The only problem I have with den Mercedes’ DAS is that it works like a lever with 2 set and lockable positions. True to a true steering wheel it should be a continuous adjustment by hand without any lockable positions.

        1. It doesn’t lock into position. The drivers need their upper body strength to move it.

      2. You have things like bumpsteer which means the tire steers slightly as you move the suspension up and down. Is that steering or suspension? That effect is created by the steering linkage kinematics. You also have steering caused by other factors. Tires for example have camber thrust which means that when you put load on a tire that has camber the tire will steer even if it is pointed straight ahead. Is that steering or suspension? Remember camber also changes with suspension travel. And when the car goes go straight and as the speed increase the front suspension compresses. This means suspension travel. So if you have bump steer your toe settings change with speed. And in corner when the car body rolls your tire toe angles are also affected. Is it steering or suspension? Once you start to understand the technical aspects of the front suspension and how it changes in different conditions the rigid definitions of steering, suspension and das fly out of the window.

        Personally I am sort of positive and negative about the das. On one aspect I like how a system like that can still exist in f1. But at the same time it is disappointing how crude it is. If you wanted to put such system into a road car it would be about 5000 times more efficient, precise and elegant. It is effectively something you’d do with active suspension. You’d have sensors and computers and actuators keeping the tires at best possible angle. I like the existence of it but at the same time it is a bit like building f1 cars out of rock because steel is illegal. Yet in the real world nobody would build anything from rock.

        1. @socksolid, all those things like camber change, bump steer etc. are things the suspension is designed to eliminate or minimise, so suspension, increasing downforce compressing the springs is also something the suspension is designed to control, but not eliminate. With the perfect suspension design the wheels would always be in a vertical plane, there would be no body-roll and the height and pitch of the body would remain constant, but as you say that would not be controlled by the driver but by a computer, that is why it is banned. DAS is a mechanical, driver controlled adjustment to the direction the wheels are pointing.

          1. No, you are totally wrong. Camber change especially is a suspension parameter you’d never want to be 0. You always want some camber gain in suspension compression. Even solid rear axles have some camber and toe. Bump steer you want to eliminate sure. With perfect suspension the tires would not be upright (!?). Tires give best lateral grip at certain camber angles. You want camber, especially in a race car but in every kind of car. And bike. For longitudinal grip tires are designed to run at some camber angles so you don’t lose there either by having camber. Your vertical tire idea is just totally 100% wrong. As for perfect suspension we would be talking about active suspension but sure sometimes if the suspension is really poor it is better to make it as rigid as possible to remove a lot of that movement.

          2. @socksolid, We will have to agree to disagree, negative camber is employed to compensate for the sideways pressure distorting the tyrewall during cornering, trying to get the tread area flat on the road to maximise the “footprint” for grip, ie simulating a vertical tyre.

    2. One thing is certain the rules want cars to consume no more than 100kg/h.

      But that is more ambiguous than one might think at first.
      Even the Ferrari was using less than 100kg in the hour. The question is if they were using less than the ‘100kg/h rate’ at all times through the fuel flow meter and if there was not stockpiling afterwards.
      Here’s where it gets difficult: ALL cars are ‘stockpiling’ fuel after the fuel flow meter before combustion. Combustion is an intermittent process even at high rates of thousands of ignitions per minute. Consequently, fuel shortly piles up (first in the compressor and then in the combustion chamber) during every combustion cycle.
      Thus all PU’s are in breach!

    3. @peartree The FIA writes bypassable rules all the time without meaning to do so. It’s one of the problems of writing them in English, which is one of the world’s most analytically inexact languages.

  2. S5000 I like this concept, and so should all the F1 fans that want car equality and less monetary influence in competitiveness. I’m probably the last to know, but just in case there are others that don’t know, F1 type carbon chassis/safety shell, modified 5l. Ford Coyote V8, 560 hp. 6 speed gearbox. Okay, not as powerful as F1 (but that could easily be fixed), about the same weight as F1, 15″ tyres (it’s good to be different), should sound LOUD and tuneful at 8000 rpm.
    Maybe GM would like to supply an alternative series with the C8 corvette drivetrain, or the German big 3 might like to supply their 4L turbo V8s for a more affordable series than F1.

    1. I am also really curious to see the crowd reaction at Australian GP, I believe the actual noise of these cars will be much better than F1 cars, and they will have the opportunity to compare both. Maybe a F1 fanatic could attend to the race and share his impressions?

  3. I am proud to be Australian as we have really got it right with the new S5000 Series. As Australian’s we need to make this category in the European off season and I think we would see top caliber drivers come downunder for a bit of fun each year. Then it would be a real throwback to the 60’s and 70’s.

    1. @macca, Yes, as Supercars have lost their relevance S5000 should provide great racing and be an ideal showcase for driver talent, hopefully we can revive the Tasman series but I don’t expect active F1 drivers to participate due to time pressure.

  4. “The regulations next year, because they are defined more clearly, you couldn’t run that system next year.” – DAS chuckling Ross Brawn

    And neither can Ferrari run their fuel system that is or was or wasn’t taking advantage of a loophole or was or wasn’t in violation of the rules.

    Is that an amusing secret as well, Ross?

    Is there a statement from Ross about the FIA/Ferrari agreement? Because that’s so classic F1 as well.

  5. Interesting that he seems to have taken the normal racing line through the corner.. I thought I heard bankings are better taken on a single line, either shallow or high?.. unless this banking has been made somehow differently on entry and exit

  6. antony obrien
    5th March 2020, 11:37

    That RB sounded good. Assume its the devils ICE work, certainly cant be a matronly hybrid

  7. I can’t really agree with Byron Young’s argument. How could holding a race in the face of typhoons, hurricanes, earthquakes, or tsunamis be any more acceptable than racing in the face of a widely-spreading virus? If anything, I’d argue the other way round, i.e., that the natural weather-conditions and disasters are way more risky than a virus.

  8. I think Johnson will struggle in his IndyCar test. After all there are left-handed turns at Barber. That might confuse him.

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