[Dave De Rosier]

I hope the cars look like that rendering. That is gorgeous!

 

[Gabor K.]

As much as we love the idea of that, and we are all excited about the Alfa Romeo F1 team, at this point it's a sponsorship / naming rights deal. We will be much more excited when there is an Alfa Romeo chassis under it, and maybe a joint venture Ferrari-Alfa engine in it. A team of Alfa Romeo engineers (remember, there aren't any anymore) developing the suspension. Until then we can just root for the logo and the colors.

I think you are having too high expectations that Alfa Romeo will make everything themselves to make a racecar. That will not happen any more, to have all the expertise and manufacturing in one house. If a dedicated manufacturer makes Your engine for you, so what. Ilmor made engines for Chevrolet and for Mercedes. We did not hear any one complaining that those were not the engines with the names written on them. Cosworth engines were also used in lot of different brands like Lotus, Lola etc. No one had problem with that. Anyway Sauber is going in the direction of being Alfa Romeos F1 racing team permanently, except Alfa has not bought them, like they owned Autodelta and Brabham. Time will show how more appetite Alfa will have after this season in F1 to invest more money in their project. But anyway Alfa Romeo Racing will stand on the entry list, not like last year when they wrote wrongly Ferrari Sauber in the results! Instead of Alfa Romeo Sauber.

https://www.autosport.com/f1/news/141278/sauber-f1-team-renamed-alfa-romeo-racing

G.

 

[PSk]

Mr Brawn speaks about the idea of returning to a long gone era........

"According to F1 sporting director and genius aerodynamicist Ross Brawn, the current car loses as much as half of its aero performance when following two car lengths behind. For the 2021 regulations, Brawn says they already have a design that reduces that number to 10% performance loss while following."

"Steps have been made for the 2019 regulations to reduce that aero performance dip by as much as one-third, which will hopefully translate to an increase in overtaking and an ability for drivers to fight on better footing. If this year’s racing results are a success, then that further reduction in aero penalty for 2021 sounds quite promising."

View attachment 1555486

https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/2021-concepts-five-times-dirty-air/4349133/

“I’ve heard it commented that we should get rid of the wings and the downforce and just rely on mechanical grip and then the cars will be able to race each other,” Brawn told Motorsport.com. The problem with that is they’ll be slow. And the speed of the Formula 1 car is what takes your breath away."

"We don’t want to lose the speed of the Formula 1 car. We want it to be the fastest racing car on the planet, the most impressive racing car on the planet - and you can only do that by harnessing the aerodynamic performance. So I don’t think we can take a simplistic view and just get rid of all the downforce and think that’ll solve it."

"What we need is the downforce to be delivered in a way that cars can race each other. Overtaking can sometimes be used as the measure of success, but in fact close racing and the ability of cars to run behind each other and run side-by-side and get close and attack is the thing that everyone gets excited about. Even if it ultimately didn’t culminate in an overtaking being achieved - but they’re fighting each other."



So what they're saying is they don't dare get outclassed by other forms of racing. Lap speeds are paramount. The vacuum cleaners glued to corners are necessary to do that. If you want cars power sliding through mid-speed corners, you want some kind of retro racing, or F2, or Indycars, or Spec Miatas.

If the FIA were honest they would admit to making a mistake when banning the Lotus 88. Ground effects solves the aero problem due to following another car immediately, and the twin chassis of the Lotus 88 solved the lack of suspension issue with the ground effect cars that made driving them so jarring. It also made the often broken wings cheaper, and permitted closer racing because the wings were smaller so they could bump and grind into each other without an end of race situation when a front wing looses a component.

AND it permits engineers to design their own car (maybe?), instead of having design restrictions so tight that F1 has become a single specification series, making the comments about Alfa Romeo racing their own chassis mute, because really for a quite a few years the FIA designs the chassis and engines, the teams just play with wing and paint scheme designs.
Pete

 

[peglegtom]

2018 Season on Netflix

Not sure if this was discussed previously, but went back several pages and did not see it. This morning I was on Netflix looking for something to download that I could watch on a flight home. Saw a series called Formula 1 - Drive to Survive. Downloaded the first 3 episodes of 10 and watched them on my flights and layovers. It covers the 2018 season. While at first it appeared to be stressing the dangers of racing in F1 (and this does continue for the first episodes I watched), it is also an interesting look into the backstory of this racing series, including the thoughts of the parents of the drivers. Each seems to concentrate on one particular "rivalry," such as Ricardo and Verstappen, Alanso and Sietz, Williams and Renault, etc. Lots of "behind the scenes" shots and interviews with the principals involved with the topic of the espisode, as well as good racing from the English Sky1 feed.

Worth looking into if you have Netflix.

 

[shakingthrough]

Yes I am hooked on that Netflix series already. I have watched the first 3 episodes so far as well. I think they did a pretty darn good job on it. Hoping to watch episode 4 tonight! I want to get through it since it covers 2018 before we get too deep into this season.
Bill

 

[sportiva]

Kimi is taking one of our local TV talking heads for a drive around the Albert Park F1 circuit in a white Stelivo

 

[PSk]

Yep, as I said pre season testing times mean absolutely nothing!

Ferrari look wanting ... massively behind

Back in the bad old days of the 21 year drought, Ferrari would be quickest in pre season testing. Is it a worrying sign that they have returned to that game?
Pete

 

[Tom Frasca]

Excellent series, BTW I watched qualifying for Melbourne, seems like deja vu all over again....

 

[SpiderSlam5]

Help!

Anyone know who's broadcasting the F1 GP tomorrow?

I've been searching my TV listings & can't find any one covering it.....same goes for a live airing of Sebring!

Regards

 

[shakingthrough]

In the US the Sebring 12 is on CNBC. Since the start an hour or so ago they have been driving behind the safety car due to rain.

 

[mhemsley]

Aussie F1 race is on ESPN at 1:05am EDT tomorrow morning.

Sebring is on NBCSN starting at 3:00pm EDT and going until 11:00pm EDT. The rain quit, so the track dried and cars changed to slicks - the two Caddies were running away with it in the rain (they got the green while it was still raining). Some good racing going on.

In the US, a good source of race coverage information is on TV Racer - TVRacer.com

Mike

 

[SpiderSlam5]

Thanks Alfa BBers! The tip to 'TVracer.com' is very helpful...I never knew there was such a site!

Regards

 

[SpiderSlam5]

Great race for Bottas, every one else=not so much! RBR w/Honda engines should be 'fairly' optimistic...I don't have a clue what's going on w/my RedTeam. Kimi's Alfa managed to escape w/a point or two. Some decent battles 'mid-pack'.

Hopefully my RedTeam & Alfa can do better.....

Regards

 

[PSk]

RBR w/Honda engines should be 'fairly' optimistic...

Agree. Sort of shows up McLaren doesn't it, or have Honda made huge changes?

I don't have a clue what's going on w/my RedTeam

IMO yet again Vettel has been shown up by another team mate. Why Ferrari keep wasting money on him escapes me? Vettel is no M. Schumacher, or Hamilton. But on the positive side Leclerc looks fast

Pete

 

[Tom Frasca]

Agree. Sort of shows up McLaren doesn't it, or have Honda made huge changes?
IMO yet again Vettel has been shown up by another team mate. Why Ferrari keep wasting money on him escapes me? Vettel is no M. Schumacher, or Hamilton. But on the positive side Leclerc looks fast

Pete

IMHO they where beaten like a redheaded stepchild....

 

[PSk]

IMHO they where beaten like a redheaded stepchild....

Yep, Mercedes look scary fast, while Ferrari were not even the best of the rest ...
Pete

 

[ForzaRomeo]

It will be interesting to see how Daniel Ricciardos season goes from here. Will he end up with more bad luck with the Renault engine. How reliable and powerful will the Honda be at other tracks?

 

[SpiderSlam5]

BTW: CONGRATS to ESPN for airing the GP w/no commercials! Almost 2 hours of un-interrupted F1= Bravo!

Regards

 

[Tom Frasca]

@ PSK several years ago Ferrari had turbo cooling problems @ sustained higher boost... (2017)...I am wondering if that has no resurfaced?

 

[Gabor K.]

Ferrari cars seem to be not fast enough yet, dont think its the drivers, rather the cars not competitive yet. Alfa at their heels, maybe they overtake this year?

G.