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Excellent post.
I agree with all the points made in the thread.
I think that positive camber corners do not punish drivers for using a non-optimal line. With off-camber corners, unless you hit the apex and use all the track on the exit, you’ll lose time.
Positive camber gives an overtaking driver options. If they have more grip than the guy in front, they can take a different line and get out from behind the leading driver. They can get on the power earlier (or stay on the power) which allows them to get side by side into the next braking zone. Blanchimont is the best example of this, most overtakes are set up in Blanchimont for execution into the chicane.
@danwat There’s quite a lot of support categories doing races and qualifying sessions on the Thursday, but it’s not nearly as full on as the Saturday and Sunday rosters. The off-track attractions are also running on the Thursday. Autographs and driver spotting are usually done on the Thursday.
Depending on your ticket, if you have GP advantage, there are some events you can access. In the afternoon, Gold GP advantage tickets can go on a pit lane walk. It’s a rather large crowd, and you get herded past the garages rather swiftly. If you’ve ordered your ticket recently, you won’t qualify for Gold GP Advantage anyway, so that isn’t an option.
My opinion is that you would get more value out of doing something else in Melbourne on the Thursday.
@Fixy
While the picture I provided was of Bottas’ car, Massa’s car also has the marking.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XxcAasF_XdA/VO9LCViNc5I/AAAAAAAAR5I/SkRVHiMjNdk/s1600/dcd1526fe198.jpgThe #1 Lotus also has the same marking under the rear light.
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-S83uWwXAmXw/VRUsHokNEII/AAAAAAAAS0k/PNBKwemUDu0/s1600/dcd1527ma293.jpgAnd finally, I noticed there are areas all around the car which have the hi-vis treatment. This is a Mercedes, which has the wheel nut tip painted, as well as the bolts for attaching the nose circled.
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-sARcVSSZAK4/VRQQAlUXP2I/AAAAAAAASvo/0Ib1Sy5Etu4/s1600/dcd1526ma515.jpgAll things that need to be quickly located by the pit crew in a stop.
If Red Bull were going to dump Renault as their engine supplier, why would they go for the only engine supplier currently doing worse?
This?
https://i.imgur.com/PbIq1KQ.jpg
Appears to just be hi-vis paint they’ve put on (not very well). It’s on the bottom of the main structural piece at the rear of the car.
I suspect it’s to help the person on the rear jack locate the lifting point quickly during the pitstop. Most of the parts of that car are almost black and often seen in difficult light (lots of shadows), as well as being surrounded by lots of fragile strakes on the diffuser, with the immense time pressures of a pit stop, a little bit of bright paint makes that guy’s job easier and less likely to screw up.
I’m surprised all teams don’t do that.
Those are some extremely good pictures Tommy. I tried my hand at taking photos of the cars this year, but my photos don’t even come close to yours. This type of photography is so challenging and you nail it.
I am very jealous of your ability.
@Wade You can get a pretty decent coffee from a cafe on the corner of Roy St and St Kilda Road. It’s a short walk from the tram stop on St Kilda Road and on the way to the walkway that crosses Queens Road to get you to Gate 8.
As for restaurants, there is a pretty good selection on Chapel St, if you don’t want to venture too far from St Kilda. Alternatively, head into the city, where you’re spoiled for choice for coffee, pubs and restaurants.
I probably wouldn’t recommend leaving the track just to find lunch, there’s quite a good selection of food at the track that isn’t deep fried. Leaving and coming back in will take quite a bit of time.
I’m bringing my DSLR with a wideangle and a tele this year, and have Gold GP Advantage. I’m travelling with a mate, so I don’t think I’ll be able to do a ticket swap. Besides, the grid walk is only allowed on the Sunday morning (and after the race finish that evening).
I’d be happy to shoot a few shots for you around the track throughout the weekend, and could do a few with you in the general admission areas on the Thursday. There’s a great view of the Melbourne CBD from the western edge of the pontoon bridge, and there’s going to be some nice displays of older cars, or the pits to the support categories (which is general admission).
I’m in Jones (Thursday), Clark (Friday), Brabham (Saturday), Fangio (Sunday).
@Mark Each stadium is fenced in from the general admission area, and they have security at the entrance points to each stadium checking tickets throughout the entire event. I’m pretty sure they check that you’re entering the right stadium, although they might be more lenient on Thursday considering that crowds in the stands are very low because only the support categories are on track (I’m not sure about this though).
Just out of curiosity, what shot are you trying to achieve in the Prost stand?
I went to the 2014 event and purchased the four corner package (Fangio), which meant I sat at Clark on Friday, Brabham on Saturday and Fangio on Sunday.
Fangio doesn’t have a good view of any corners as it is on the main straight. You can see the cars exit the final corner, but the bridge over the track obstructs the view of Turn 1. It does give you a view of the pits (although obstructed by the teams pit wall boxes). You do get to see the buildup of race day. If you purchase the four corner package, you will be put in Section J, which is down near P13/P14 on the grid, not near the front row.
Brabham gives you a good view of Turn 1/2. It’s fairly centrally located amongst all the side attractions. If you chose the Four-corner package, it’s a toss-up between the Brabham and Fangio package as to the better combination. The Brabham package gives you Fangio (Saturday) and Brabham (Sunday), while Fangio is the opposite.
As for accommodation, I would look in the CBD. I stayed opposite the track this year, and the facilities weren’t really up to scratch. Staying in the city gives you more options, hotels near the track charge substantially elevated rates and getting to the track is a non-issue. On GP weekend, they run a tram every minute, and it’s free for GP ticket holders (although a myki pass allows you to explore a bit more of Melbourne). It takes maybe 5 minutes to get from the tram station near the track into the city.
You are observant Keith!
I went to the 2014 Australian Grand Prix (going again in 2015, just booked my tickets last night).
I had never been to a Grand Prix before (being from interstate means a visit to the Grand Prix in Australia involves flights, accommodation and a couple of days), so this was my first. I decided to go this year primarily because of the novelty of the new engines (at the stage when the decision was made to go, not even a test bed recording).
I did get to hear a V8 and a V10 for comparison though. The V8 I heard in a Red Bull demo car that does one of those comparison laps between a road car, a V8 Supercar and a Formula 1 car. The V10 I heard was the two seater promo car that does hot laps around the track. Only those in the vicinity of the track early in the morning could hear that one (my hotel was across the road, where the Sky Sports team were staying, and apparently Damon Hill).
My impressions:
The V8 is violently loud. Despite the very high pitched top note of the V8 which we all know from TV, there was a very loud bass note that the car was putting out. Standing close, you can sense the air actually being shifted by the noise, as the sound resonates through your body. It’s a very visceral feeling, that makes you know that you are seeing it in person, and not on TV.The Turbo V6 doesn’t have that. Although it is overall a lower pitched sound, the bass isn’t there. It’s still loud enough in my opinion (ear plugs do make watching the race more comfortable), but the violence has been replaced by sophistication.
The sound of the Turbo V6 is much more finessed than the V8. There’s the sound of turbo whistle, a little bit of transmission, and the sound changes depending on the revs and throttle load. The corners I saw F1 cars at were not really conducive to hearing tyre squeal, as they weren’t really a combination of high corner load and part throttle. Only when a car spun or locked a brake did I hear that sound.
The sound of the new engines doesn’t carry across the track. Only a faint noise can be heard of cars elsewhere on the track over the din of constant helicopters. Watching the cars come along the main straight during the race was like watching a fighter jet about to pass by at supersonic speed. I saw the cars come around the last corner, but for the few seconds I saw them approaching at enormous speed, they appeared silent. The lone V8 of the demo run was heard from much further away.
Do I like the sound?
Yes.I think too much importance is placed on their being a ear shatteringly loud Formula 1. While some of the spectacle has been taken away, I think that almost all other forms of motorsport have brutally loud engines. The opportunity to feel the vibration of a race car pass by is not lost. V8 Supercars (in Australia) has it, Carrera Cup spec series has it, NASCAR has it in spades, Drag racing is more brutally loud than anything else (a 7 litre engine producing 7000hp which basically tears itself apart after a couple of seconds is going to sound louder than a 2.4L V8 producing a 10% of the power, and will last for hours).
Formula 1 is about technological sophistication, I think the loss of that visceral sensation of the sound of a car shaking your body isn’t that much of a loss when weighed up against some of the benefits the new engines have.
Ultimately, the question is what part of the sport do you like? The spectacle or the technology. In terms of spectacle, the V8 wins. But if you appreciate technology, the Turbo V6 is amazing, and while the sound may not be as spectacular, it is the sound of technological progress.
Forgive me, I’m not a writer. I tend to waffle on a bit.
I still think this
80kg (or maybe 85kg) minimum weight for driver (including everything the driver wears)
Any driver under that weight gets ballast added in a regulated position in the car to bring them up to the regulation weight.All a driver has to focus on is maintaining a healthy weight, they could even gain a few kilos with no performance penalty. Taller drivers would be at significantly less disadvantage.
I think they should introduce an 80kg minimum on driver + equipment + driver ballast.
Driver ballast would be stored in an FIA mandated area, so that lighter drivers do not benefit from having their ballast placed lower in the car.
Most drivers will not reach that limit on body weight alone, so it gives everybody enough freedom to be in a healthy weight range for their height.Yeah, it would look cool.
Probably the most dramatic area where their use would be visible is under braking. When the driver hits the brakes, the wings will move to their most vertical position. You would be able to see who brakes first in an overtake.Moveable aero devices have long been banned (with the exception of DRS which is highly regulated). The likelihood of a lifting of the ban is not great because it has been around for so long, there’ll be lots of resistance.
I think it would make overtaking easier and more fair. On the straights, the cars will lower their wing angle to minimise drag, producing a cleaner wake while allowing more effective drafting. As the cars have adjustable levels of downforce, following a car in corners would be easier, as more downforce could be dialled in.
I think the designs of the cars will become more focussed on reduced drag, which may make them look sleeker and prettier. As the wings would be able to produce more than enough downforce due to high wing angles, the focus would be on making the car faster in a straight line with the minimum wing angles.
The difference between a top team’s car and a backmarker’s car will be much less, as deficits in performance will be compensated for by adjusting the settings.
In terms of how the different settings are worked out, I think that the driver should be given 5 or 6 programs which will be fixed before the start of qualifying. This means free practice sessions are when the driver has to figure out how to configure each setting.
One setting will be for optimum performance on fresh tyres (used for qualifying)
In dry races, where will be different settings depending on the health of the tyres, as well as settings for following cars.
In wet races, the settings will probably be around track conditions.Overall, I like the idea, but I don’t see it being introduced in the foreseeable future.
