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Formula 1 2016 Season |OT2| BUT GRO PER

Mastah

Mastah

Member
I've just attended a seminar by Andy Cowell, the Managing Director of AMG High Performance Powertrain. Other than talking about getting into F1 and what goes into engineering the F1 power unit, he had some interesting titbits to say.:

Mercedes power units are not going to break 1000bhp for at least 18 months

Their engine runs so lean they are concerned about NOx emissions.

Despite the fuel limit increasing, they're going to try to stay under 100 kg per race as they believe it to be a step backwards and if they succeed, they're going to make sure everyone in F1 knows at Abu Dhabi.

There's going to be a board meeting this Friday about replacing Rosberg, with their target drivers likely being formally announced next week. He actually mentioned Ocon, Button and Alonso as potential targets.

Rosberg and Hamilton are back to being best friends.

Honda are refusing to use the second combustion chamber technology for some reason. Ferrari adopted it in mid-2015 and Renault in mid-2016.

The torque controller makes over 40 trillion computations per race - pretty amazing, eh?

Nobody likes Pirelli's tires. - He talked a bit about tire behaviour in qualifying - they're always under target temperature at the beginning because at the end they're guaranteed to be overheating.

The chief engineer for the turbocharger had no prior experience in developing turbos when they were recruited. AMGHPP wanted someone with an open mind and great enthusiasm, the person they chose climbed Everest... twice.

In 2014, Cowell believes that Williams had the best chassis in a quarter of the races and if they could replay the season, they would beat Red Bull to second in the WCC.

They're actually crying out for new recruits and offer a lot of apprenticeships and grad schemes. He said their lack of success immediately after the Brawn year was due to not having enough people.

They are genuine in their fear of Red Bull next season despite Horner downplaying their progress.

https://www.reddit.com/r/formula1/comments/5iajrg/ive_just_attended_a_seminar_by_andy_cowell_the/
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A

Aiii

So not worth it
Both Massa and Button were forced to retire, since nobody wanted them and their own teams had their young guys getting in there to replace them whether they liked it or not.
 
R

ramparter

Banned
I wish Merc would get Button even just for one year before hiring a rookie but I guess their relationship didn't end very well.

If Bottas get the Nico seat eventually, replacing him with Massa makes sense.
 
C

chadskin

Member
Mastah said:
I've just attended a seminar by Andy Cowell, the Managing Director of AMG High Performance Powertrain. Other than talking about getting into F1 and what goes into engineering the F1 power unit, he had some interesting titbits to say.:
Click to expand...

Ocon, Button and Alonso -- we really need to get that inside scoop on just how horrible of a human being Wehrlein is.
 
Mastah

Mastah

Member
Deputy team principal Claire Williams told BBC Sport the team would let Bottas leave "if an experienced, credible alternative was available".

"I'm delighted to see that a team like Mercedes lists Valtteri as a potential replacement for Nico," Williams said.

"However, Williams has its own ambitions and we must always ensure we give our team the best opportunity to move forward. Any changes would only be made if Williams remains in a strong position to compete and develop in 2017.

"If we did allow Valtteri to leave, we would only do this if an experienced, credible alternative was available, such as someone like Felipe Massa, for example.

Although Massa announced his retirement from F1 in September, he made it clear he wanted to continue racing. So a seat at Williams could be a good opportunity for him.

Sources say Massa made his announcement only after he realised that Williams were going to keep Bottas and sign Stroll and that he was unable to find a similarly competitive car elsewhere.

It is considered likely that Williams will hold out for a figure much closer to the full amount - €17m (£14.2m) - to release the 27-year-old.

http://www.bbc.com/sport/formula1/38335169
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.
 
T

Tempy

don't ask me for codes
79d1136911f13ddd300c36ed7c799e74.jpg
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Jenson Button in a suit and a glass of martini in hand. I can see it.
 
W

Wax Free Vanilla

Member
Berto said:
So, does this mean Mclaren will be shit again? :(
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No, this is BS. Honda have been working on their pre combustion tech throughout 2016, they didn't introduce it last season because of lack of time / the shifted focus to next year, iirc Hasegawa stated that he had shifted 90% of the workforce onto The Beast and left the rest on Arai's dud post SPA update.

Next season Honda will definitely have it. Hasegawa confirmed months ago they have several versions of The Beast with these pre combustion tricks on the dynos.
 
R

RSP

Member
I am so bored by the thought of Button and Massa making an early return to F1.

Bottas to Mercedes is just fine, but please get someone else to fill the seat.
 
N

nature boy

Member
Liberty planning F1 budget cap - report

Incoming Formula 1 owner Liberty Media is reported to be evaluating plans for an introduction of a budget cap for competing teams.

The American media organisation has recently announced it had reached an agreement with third-party investors to fund its acquisition of F1.

According to a report in the business section of British broadsheet The Telegraph, a spending cap is among Liberty's future plans for Formula 1 - with the category's top manufacturers significantly outspending the smaller, independent teams under the existing model.

The report quotes an unnamed senior source familiar with Liberty's cost-cap plans as saying: "It makes no sense to have teams spending the better part of $400m. That money is not doing anything good for fans. It is just wasted on competing on technology.

"That has not been driven by logic and it has created a two-class society in terms of what is spent on teams. You should have an opportunity for the underdog to win."

...

The Telegraph reports that Liberty is aware it will need to negotiate with the teams to garner support for this renewed cost cap push, and quotes a company source as saying: "The biggest thing we’ve got to change is culture. Right now, nobody trusts anybody."
Click to expand...

Music to my ears.
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
f0rk said:
How much of an impact would a budget cap have on the amount of real world technology coming out of the sport?
Click to expand...

It pretty much wouldn't.

Tech would revert to proven (cheaper) stuff and the innovation would be on aero, but since they aren't allowed to do much aero anymore you're pretty much left with next to no innovation.
 
D

DBT85

Member
f0rk said:
How much of an impact would a budget cap have on the amount of real world technology coming out of the sport?
Click to expand...

Depends on what they put th ecap at and if they are sensible about it.

If they make a 2018 or 19 cap at 350m and then wind it down they might make it work.

If they just wade in and cap it at 150m then who knows where it'll end up.

The sport needs someone to dictate the rules rather than having Bernie or the teams vote on them all the time, but on the flip side, F1 has never been a poor mans sport. The argument before has always been that nobody is forcing you to compete. If its that hard then sell up and go to another sport.

I doubt the ridiculous gains in turbo engines would have been made in the last few years without the money that's been spent. Arguably it would have been better if they'd collaborated but of course Renault, Mercedes, Ferrari and Honda don't want to do that as they want the benefits for themselves and competition drives them on. What should have been in place at the start were the new engine cost caps that are coming in in 2018.
 
D

DD

Member
Brazilian website Grande Premio reports that Massa has signed a contract with Williams yesterday.

Edit: Sky Sports Italia is reporting the same.
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
Williams is gonna come in 6th or lower next year. We'll see at least McLaren or STR ahead of them along with FI, maybe both.
 
D

DD

Member
Psychotext said:
lol, I like Massa, but it seems ridiculous to see him back so soon after the emotional farewell.
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I agree.

Well, at least he can say that he'll be doing this as a favor, since Williams gave him a second chance, and now they need him. He can also claim to be doing this to help the current situation of F1 here in Brazil, with the local race in bad shape, and also the TV stuff, with dropping numbers and with the threat of having no Brazilian drivers on the grid. He's a guy that likes to help people. Some years ago he bought from his own pocket 20 cars to help the boys getting out of karts. And there is - of course - his own interest. I don't buy the idea of him really wanting to retire. It always seemed to me that he lost space.

But I don't see this situation as disgraceful as some people is taking it. Of course, I'll have a fellow Brazilian to root for, but my main interest is to see how things will work out for him now that the cars will be more similar to the ones he drove in his golden years. The other day I was reading an article citing other possible reasons for his performance drop after the accident, and it made sense to me. They said in the article that Felipe always enjoyed cars with strong front grip, and the changes in the tires from 2010 (thinner front tires) and 2011 with the paper Pirellis really played against his driving style. In other words, he could not adapt like geniuses like Schumacher or Senna through his careers, but when things get right, he's really fast. So i'm interested to see how things will work out for him.
 
R

RoKKeR

Member
Wait, Massa is coming back? What?

Why?

It's over. Get some fresh blood in there. His goodbye at the Brazilian GP was great. Leave it at that FFS.

I suppose the whole Mercedes situation with Bottas potentially jumping ship really threw a wrench in their plans but I don't know, just feels weird...
 
D

DD

Member
Welp, Piquet Jr., Prost Jr. and Senna the nephew will race for Rebellion next season on WEC.


RoKKeR said:
Wait, Massa is coming back? What?

Why?

It's over. Get some fresh blood in there. His goodbye at the Brazilian GP was great. Leave it at that FFS.

I suppose the whole Mercedes situation with Bottas potentially jumping ship really threw a wrench in their plans but I don't know, just feels weird...
Click to expand...

I'm with Webber here. As a Brazilian, I'd love to see Di Grassi having a new chance. Dude is doing great both on WEC and on Formula E. Hartley and Buemi are also great.
 
R

RdN

Member
DD said:
Brazilian website Grande Premio reports that Massa has signed a contract with Williams yesterday.

Edit: Sky Sports Italia is reporting the same.
Click to expand...

Interesting to note that the website says that there's a clause in the contract that voids it in case Bottas is not selected as the new Mercedes driver.
 
D

DD

Member
Marcelo Courrege, a Brazilian F1 reporter says that he talked to Massa a few hours ago by phone and he said: "I have nothing to say. I'm on vacations here on my own. I don't want to take part on that (the speculations)".

RdN said:
Interesting to note that the website says that there's a clause in the contract that voids it in case Bottas is not selected as the new Mercedes driver.
Click to expand...

Yep. That seems to be the case.
 
A

Aiii

So not worth it
RoKKeR said:
Wait, Massa is coming back? What?

Why?

It's over. Get some fresh blood in there. His goodbye at the Brazilian GP was great. Leave it at that FFS.

I suppose the whole Mercedes situation with Bottas potentially jumping ship really threw a wrench in their plans but I don't know, just feels weird...
Click to expand...

Williams already has fresh blood in there. They need a solid point scorer and Massa is familiar with both the team as well as the car, so he is their best option aside from maybe a guy like Button.

People that haven't been in F1 for years or have barely any seasons under their belt are just a waste of money.
 
D

DD

Member
Aiii said:
People that haven't been in F1 for years or have barely any seasons under their belt are just a waste of money.
Click to expand...

I'm not so sure about that. I mean, I had this feeling until last year, when Toro Rosso had two rookies (although two VERY good rookies).

I mean, the regs will change a lot next season, so most of the things will be new for everyone anyway. See Lucas di Grassi, as mentioned by Mark Webber yesterday. He's fast and very strong on the technical side of things, really intelligent and not prone to mistakes, and he's a few years younger than Massa, so I don't see how di Grassi could be a worse option than Massa. But there is, of course, the human side of things. People at Ferrari and Williams seems to really like him, so...
 
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