The Formula 1 Off-Season |OT| Haas to get better, right?

56c8b47d129fe5521ae7dd681030f1032052de28a5bac.jpg
 

Brought to you by London Weekend Television.

FzG1NGa.png



Edit: Pffft, beaten.
 
Ooh. I like the brake ducts at the front of the STR. The front wing looks like it's been specifically built around it and everything.

The Americans built an F1 car! And sent it to Europe! And it works! Holy crap! Ferrari seems to have handed over a copy of their front wing, so perhaps Haas can send them a nose in return so the car doesn't look hideous.

A lot of variation in airboxes, size and shape. So that's the go-to magic spot to look for improvements this year, I guess?

So how many horizontal planes/cascade elements are we going to reach on the front wings this year before we start over for 2017? That's 8 on the STR and we're just starting! Surely there's a point where it buffers more air vertically in drag than it actually redirects constructively.
 
So how many horizontal planes/cascade elements are we going to reach on the front wings this year before we start over for 2017? That's 8 on the STR and we're just starting! Surely there's a point where it buffers more air vertically in drag than it actually redirects constructively.

Aside from accounting for material rigidity, are there any restrictions on vane thickness or the radius of the business-end? Like, can they not be too pointy for the sake of safety?

Surely as thin as possible would allow for maximum redirection with minimal drag.

Edit:
Looking at the FIA tech regs, yes indeed both minimum composite wall thickness and radii are accounted for.
 
Toro Rosso lost CEPSA's sponsorship, right? I wonder if they'll use that to make a cool livery or just follow in McLaren's footsteps and say 'fuck it, we don't need one'.
 
Uhoh, Red flag !
Grosjean has lost a front wing apparently, bad for Haas... :P

edit: Looks like the wing tore off at the end of the main straight, no "crash" per se.
 
Way too early.

This afternoon will be the first time we see any indication of reliability.

Pace? Later in the week.

Mercedes only topped like 3 or 4 of the 12 test days last year, it's entirely likely you won't see their real speed until Australia this year.
 
Mercedes only topped like 3 or 4 of the 12 test days last year, it's entirely likely you won't see their real speed until Australia this year.

They turned up to Melbourne last year with a significant upgrade.

They're running their Melbourne spec right now at Barcelona, so theoretically this IS the Melbourne Mercedes give or take a few setup tweaks.
 
They turned up to Melbourne last year with a significant upgrade.

They're running their Melbourne spec right now at Barcelona, so theoretically this IS the Melbourne Mercedes give or take a few setup tweaks.

Can you provide a source re: Melbourne spec? Not sure that's correct. But then again, most teams will be running specs close to Melbourne given there are only two tests this year (and we are a month away from Melbourne).

Mercedes never went for laptime last year. Did they sandbag last year? Not exactly. They were just running with a lot of fuel and were pumping out long runs. I guess that's one way to hide "ultimate" pace...
 
I hope Ferrari caught up to them enough to pose a challenge. But realistically they need to find a second and then whatever time Mercedes found over last years car as well, that's just not very likely.

Would be great, and fingers crossed, but I wouldn't put a dime on it.
 
I just hope someone is close enough to at least give us some semblance of competition. Can't be arsed with the Rosberg and Hamilton show again.

I'm actually holding off buying my tickets for this year (was originally planning on doing two races) as I'm really not convinced it's going to be worth watching.
 
I just hope someone is close enough to at least give us some semblance of competition. Can't be arsed with the Rosberg and Hamilton show again.

I'm actually holding off buying my tickets for this year (was originally planning on doing two races) as I'm really not convinced it's going to be worth watching.

The issue last year wasn't the Rosberg and Hamilton show. It was the lack of on-track action due to current aero regs.

Rosberg and Hamilton show is miles better than the Vettel show we were subject to in 2011 and 2013 (and what 2010 and 2012 should have been had Vettel/RBR not dicked around)


I hope Ferrari caught up to them enough to pose a challenge. But realistically they need to find a second and then whatever time Mercedes found over last years car as well, that's just not very likely.

Everything is possible. James Allison's first Ferrari car. They've pretty much redesigned the entire car whilst Mercedes only refined theirs.
 
Yeah, we've had this discussion before, and I'm not convinced. We had fewer winners last year than at any point since the crazy Ferrari dominance days. Boring.
 
Yeah, we've had this discussion before, and I'm not convinced. We had fewer winners last year than at any point since the crazy Ferrari dominance days. Boring.

Looking at winners is a bit flawed. Yes, it sucks having the same winner or polesitter but if the racing's fun, then who cares. I'll take a Bahrain GP (2014) or US GP (2015), despite Mercedes dominating for the most part of those races, over any GP during MSC's dominance (2000-2004).
 
Button with 35 laps, isn't this more than all of their winter 2015 testing ?

Edit : Sorry, I had to check and they got around 360 laps last year.
 
I really really really really really really like the Manor livery.

Orange is definitely under-used in F1 (as are most colours that aren't black or silver these days tbh).
 
Top Bottom