F1 2022

[spitfire]

Same. I got a couple of paragraphs in.

Reality is so weird nowadays satire is believable.

 

[Limejuice]

G'day, Vroomsters, Oz calling - Land o' the Wild Shoe-ey and Eternal Lockdown.

This is the event that truly tests the devotion of western fans. These - no kidding - are the UK times. Yes, we are using the Gregorian Calendar and the usual 24-hour clock.

Fri 8 April
FP1 - 04:00
FP2 - 07:00

Sat 9 April
FP3 - 04:00
Qual - 07:00

Sun 10 April
Race - 06:00

Set your coffee strength for 'nuclear' and check your slippers for spiders.

Good luck, everyone!

 

[MrCurry]

G'day, Vroomsters, Oz calling - Land o' the Wild Shoe-ey and Eternal Lockdown.

This is the event that truly tests the devotion of western fans. These - no kidding - are the UK times. Yes, we are using the Gregorian Calendar and the usual 24-hour clock.

Fri 8 April
FP1 - 04:00
FP2 - 07:00

Sat 9 April
FP3 - 04:00
Qual - 07:00

Sun 10 April
Race - 06:00

Set your coffee strength for 'nuclear' and check your slippers for spiders.

Good luck, everyone!

There are times I’m grateful to be an hour ahead of the U.K. I’ll be waking at my normal time, getting my toast and coffee then sitting down to quali and the race quite happy I reckon.

Won’t be an easy weekend for Ricciardo- all that home support and expectation and the likely prospect of a pointless finish.

I’ll be cheering on Sainz personally as I really want him to lay down a marker and stop it becoming a LeClerc /Verstappen championship fight. You know how Ferrari are, if one driver looks stronger they will switch their focus early on and won’t let the other one play more than a no.2 driver role. Sainz needs a couple of early wins to have any chance.

 

[dessiato]

As per MrCurry I'll be up at a reasonable enough time to watch. Failing that, I'll get it on catch up.

 

[Ax^]

6 am start jebus saying that still feels like the real start of the session for some reason

 

[dessiato]

6 am start jebus saying that still feels like the real start of the session for some reason

Australia always seems to be the start proper of the season. It’ll be good to see the racing from there again

 

[souljacker]

For the more lazy among us, Sky F1 do a replay at 9.30. C4 highlights are at 3.30 but that clashes with the Man City - Liverpool game.

 

[1%er]

Quali at 3am and the race at 2am, not a good time for us, but I expect to be watching live

 

[1%er]

McLaren set to sign EUR 650m Audi F1 deal​

McLaren's Formula 1 team is tipped to sign an incredible EUR 650 million deal with Audi. Following reports the Volkwagen-owned brand was in talks for a EUR 500m technical and engine tie-up with the Woking based team, Germany's Automobilwoche claims the offer has now swelled by a further EUR 150m. Bloomberg reported that a letter of intent could be signed as early as Monday, with Red Bull also said to be close to a F1 deal with another VW brand Porsche. Before McLaren potentially teams up with Audi from 2026, however, the orange-coloured team is notably struggling with its all-new 2022 car. "We just don't have enough performance," team boss Andreas Seidl told motorsport-magazin.com. "There is no specific origin the car works and the base is good. We just lack grip. We know we have a performance problem and that's what we're focusing on. Our development over the past three years has been very good, now we are being put to the test," the German added. Seidl admitted that McLaren is currently "conducting an important analysis of the whole aerodynamic concept".

 

[1%er]

Get ready for a record four DRS zones at Albert Park​

It has been confirmed that four DRS zones will be active at the Australian Grand Prix, the highest number yet in Formula 1. Not since 2020 has Formula 1 visited Albert Park, home of the Australian Grand Prix, but one must go further back still to find the last time that the series went racing around the venue. Although Formula 1 personnel showed up for the 2020 Australian Grand Prix, which was set to kick-off that season, the global pandemic had started to take hold and the race weekend was shelved shortly before the light would have gone green for FP1. The Australian Grand Prix was later cancelled, the same happening in 2021.

However, plenty of work has been going on in Formula 1’s absence, with the track undergoing a redesign which it is hoped will vastly improve the quality of racing and open up more overtaking opportunities. Detailing the changes previously, Australian Grand Prix Corporation CEO Andrew Westacott, said, “Five seconds a lap quicker, but [with] the new-spec cars, closer racing. You can actually tail the car in front and expect to be able to overtake and be in a competitive position. The main location is Turn 11 at the south end of the lake near Ross Gregory Drive and Ross Gregory Oval. We expect that to be a major overtaking opportunity. The widening of five other turns, particularly the increase of speed at Turn 6 where they’re going to go from about 90 km/h to 150 km/h, that really does set it up for speeds in excess of 330 k /h around Lakeside [Drive], pulling four and a half Gs.”

The track has also been reduced from 16 to 14 corners, but yet, we will see more DRS zones than ever before. The first zone will be active down the main straight, the detection line positioned on the approach to Turn 13. There will then be another DRS zone in the run from Turn 2 down to Turn 3. Coming out of Turn 6, this is where the first DRS detection point of that lap will be, as drivers then power all the way through to Turn 9. And to provide a further pace boost, the driver will be able to activate DRS after leaving Turn 8, the zone ending as the heavy braking point of Turn 9 arrives. There will then be one final DRS zone for the lap, that activating as the drivers leave Turn 10 and power down the short straight into the 90-degrees right-hander of Turn 11, which has now been widened to make an overtake attempt that bit more tempting.

 

[Ax^]

ok so La Clonk and the paper champion are taking each other out in this race

 

[Limejuice]

Get ready for a record four DRS zones at Albert Park​

It has been confirmed that four DRS zones ......etc...

To me, that sounds like they've mitigated the worst problems of a street circuit.

Hats off to Larry for that.

(They could always try to use a proper racing circuit... Just sayin'.)

 

[1%er]

The major Mercedes update expected to land in Melbourne​

Mark Hughes anticipates a significant update to the Mercedes W13 for this weekend's Australian Grand Prix as the Silver Arrows attempt to claw back performance. Giorgio Piola provides technical illustrations. Mercedes are set to make the first major hardware change to their car this weekend in Melbourne. We expect to see an all-new rear wing at the very least and possibly some accompanying changes to the floor. These are the first of what the team hope will be a development programme that can access the potential they believe is within their W13 design. But it is only a sticking plaster-type mitigation of the underlying aerodynamic problems, for which a deeper solution is required, and which the team is researching.

Because of the severe porpoising problem suffered by the car, the team has had to run it with a very different aerodynamic set-up to that around which it was developed in simulation. This has had an impact upon the designs of the rear wings chosen. The porpoising problem has meant the car cannot generate the underbody downforce which simulation suggested was possible, and the only way of keeping the problem under control has been to increase the ride height. That is a very inefficient way of avoiding the porpoising threshold, as it simply reduces downforce without much reduction in drag. In some cases, the drag may actually increase. A preferable way of keeping the car from that problematical threshold would have been to run a lower-downforce rear wing but these were not available as they had still not been made.

Under the cost cap regulations, teams are being much more disciplined in how and when they manufacture spare components. Essentially, the lower downforce wings which could have helped ease their problems in both Bahrain and Saudi Arabia were not ready as it had not been anticipated they’d be needed. The wing used in Jeddah was indeed a lower downforce wing than that used in Bahrain, but it was not ready in time for that first race. There is another lower downforce wing even than that which was used in Jeddah, which was not available there, as it was still in the manufacturing process.


The rear wing set to debut this weekend in Melbourne is expected to have a much smaller section mainplane than that used in Jeddah, despite Albert Park generally being a higher downforce track than Jeddah. That said, the changes which have been made to the track layout, in particular the removal of the former Turn 9-10 chicane (replaced by a flat-out section up to the fast chicane) mean the Australian track will be more rewarding of low drag than before. Though not to the extent of Jeddah. Essentially, the Mercedes W13 has been carrying more rear wing than the team would ideally have liked given the higher ride height they have been forced to run the car with. In Melbourne, hopefully that will not be the case. But that still leaves the underlying problem of how to cure the porpoising problem. This may entail a complete redesign of the floor. As an average over the two races, the Mercedes has qualified around 0.7s off pole position. Although we may see a more competitive W13 this weekend, this should be just a step on the way to a more fully-realised solution.

 

[spitfire]

Mazespin interview, slippery. He is in Moscow so has to be careful what he says but I'm not sensing a lot of empathy for Ukraine there...plenty of "poor me" vibes coming through.

Nikita Mazepin to fight 'cancel culture' sanctions

The sacked Russian Formula 1 driver says he will fight the measures - but "probably not" now.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Limejuice]

Bleurgh.

04.00.

Bleurgh.

Oooh, Ted's back.

 

[Limejuice]

Six minutes into the session, Stroll is on the radio bellyaching about someone impeding him.

In FP1.

He sounds like a petulant four-year-old.

Idiot.

 

[Limejuice]

Hey, first red flag. A bit of Red Bull on the track without its driver. Right on the racing line.

Sprinting marshal gets a cheer.

Big crowds.

 

[Limejuice]

Uh oh, Vetttel's car grinds to a halt, smoking. Red flag #2.

Seb grabs a fire extinguisher and tackles the smoking lump. Again.

I think he likes fire extinguishers.

Fireman Seb, Fireman Seb...

 

[Limejuice]

Ferrari fastest by some margin, followed by Red Bull.

Vettel's going round the empty track on a motor scooter waving to the crowds. Big cheers.

Bizarre but wonderful.

 

[dessiato]

I think I'll have to put the thread on ignore from tomorrow. I'm away for the weekend and won't see the race till Sunday night.

But for now, I've got the FP, live.

 

[Limejuice]

Forty per cent chance of rain in FP2.

I'd get out on track quick, folks.

 

[Limejuice]

Uh oh.

The stewards want to have a chat with Vettel about an unauthorised use of a scooter on the track.

 

[dessiato]

What's happening with Haas? I read somewhere they've got no spares for this race. I'm wondering if they'll survive much longer now. They must be very stressed financially.

 

[Limejuice]

Haas have no spare chassis and only a limited amount of spares.

They're pointing to the big and rapid disassembly of Schumacher's car, but there must be some other concerns. Money? Budget caps?

 

[1%er]

FP 1 & 2

What happened in Australian GP Free Practice 1?

Verstappen set the bar at 1m21.625s, running the soft tyres early, and lowered his time to 1m21.140s and 1m20.909s as the track began to rubber-in. A piece then fell off teammate Perez’s Red Bull, causing a brief red flag after 21 minutes. Verstappen ran again on the softs, trimming his fastest time down to 1m20.857s. Leclerc then grabbed the top spot with 1m20.825s. Verstappen retook P1 on 1m20.377s before Leclerc and Sainz grabbed a Ferrari 1-2, with Carlos on top with 1m20.325s, just 0.052s ahead of his teammate. Sainz then improved the P1 time to 1m19.806s, over half a second clear of the pack, but escaped a huge moment on the exit of Turn 2 in the closing minutes of the session. Leclerc’s biggest moment came at Turn 1 when he visited the gravel after a practice launch from the pitlane and then another excursion at Turn 13 on his last lap. Perez took third late on, half a second off Sainz, with Verstappen fourth, another two tenths further back, ahead of Lando Norris (McLaren), Esteban Ocon (Alpine) and Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes). Kevin Magnussen had a brief off at Turn 3 in his Haas but continued. Fernando Alonso suffered a quick spin, while Sebastian Vettel’s first day back at Aston Martin after his COVID diagnosis ended in a cloud of smoke that caused a second red flag. His ride back to the pitlane on a scooter did not go down well with the FIA.

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:19.806s		24
2	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:20.377s	+ 0.571s	21
3	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	1:20.399s	+ 0.593s	20
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:20.626s	+ 0.820s	22
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:20.878s	+ 1.072s	22
6	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:21.004s	+ 1.198s	27
7	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:21.027s	+ 1.221s	26
8	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1:21.155s	+ 1.349s	23
9	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1:21.229s	+ 1.423s	21
10	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1:21.247s	+ 1.441s	23
11	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1:21.289s	+ 1.483s	26
12	George Russell	Mercedes	1:21.457s	+ 1.651s	26
13	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1:21.661s	+ 1.855s	18
14	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1:21.701s	+ 1.895s	26
15	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	1:21.821s	+ 2.015s	21
16	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:21.869s	+ 2.063s	24
17	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:22.754s	+ 2.948s	25
18	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:23.186s	+ 3.380s	18
19	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1:23.924s	+ 4.118s	25
20	Mick Schumacher	Haas	1:24.349s	+ 4.543s	15

What happened in Australian GP Free Practice 2?

Sainz led a 1-2 for Ferrari in the first part of FP2, setting the early pace with a time of 1m19.979s. Sainz and Leclerc began trading the top spot on the timesheets after switching to soft tyres 20 minutes into the session, the Ferrari duo finding continuous improvements to stay clear of the chasing pack. After the 40-minute mark, Leclerc gave a glimpse of the underlying pace of the F1-75, lapping the circuit in 1m18.978s to assert his authority at the top of the timesheets. Verstappen managed to separate the two Ferraris on his next soft tyre run, but still ended up nearly a quarter of a second behind Leclerc after losing a chunk of time in the final sector. The session had to be red flagged with just over 10 minutes left on the clock after Lance Stroll lost some bodywork from his Aston Martin after running over a kerb, but the track was soon cleared to allow all drivers to complete one final run. In the end, Leclerc's previous time was not to be usurped, the Bahrain GP winner ending Friday practice comfortably on top ahead of reigning champion Verstappen and Ferrari teammate Sainz. Alonso finished an impressive fourth in the Alpine, with Ocon backing up the performance of his teammate in sixth - behind the second Red Bull of Perez. Mercedes failed to break inside the top 10, with Russell classified 11th and Hamilton finishing further behind in 13th. Vettel spent the entire FP2 in the garage as Aston Martin crew worked on changing the Mercedes engine on the back of his car.

Pos	Driver	Team	Time	Gap	Laps
1	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:18.978s		27
2	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	1:19.223s	+ 0.245s	22
3	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:19.376s	+ 0.398s	27
4	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1:19.537s	+ 0.559s	22
5	Sergio Pérez	Red Bull	1:19.658s	+ 0.680s	20
6	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:19.842s	+ 0.864s	25
7	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1:20.055s	+ 1.077s	25
8	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:20.100s	+ 1.122s	24
9	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1:20.142s	+ 1.164s	27
10	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1:20.203s	+ 1.225s	24
11	George Russell	Mercedes	1:20.212s	+ 1.234s	25
12	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1:20.424s	+ 1.446s	30
13	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:20.521s	+ 1.543s	23
14	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:20.611s	+ 1.633s	28
15	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	1:21.063s	+ 2.085s	23
16	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:21.191s	+ 2.213s	23
17	Alexander Albon	Williams	1:21.912s	+ 2.934s	28
18	Mick Schumacher	Haas	1:21.974s	+ 2.996s	22
19	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1:22.307s	+ 3.329s	24

 

[Indeliblelink]

Looks like McClaren & Alpine might of made some progress.

 

[Limejuice]

Ah, FP3.

They've removed one of the DRS zones. The longest apparently.

According to a Sky talking head, "This brings the lap back into Red Bull's hands."

According to another, a reserve driver, "At the drivers' briefing we talked more about underwear than DRS zones."



ETA: The teams only got 20 minutes notice of the track change - DRS-zone-wise.

 

[Limejuice]

It transpires that if the drivers wear undercrackers beneath the fire-poof long-johns, those items must be fire-proof as well.

If the ol' ball-hammock isn't fire-proof, it's commando for you!

You can see how that would pre-occupy a drivers' briefing.

 

[Limejuice]

I'm looking forward to a show-and-tell from Ted Kravitz on underwear. Maybe he can demonstrate the point with a pair of budgie-smugglers and a blow-torch...

Ooh, Vettel disassembles his car. Red flag.

He's having a crap return to racing after missing 2 races to Covid, and missing loads of time in yesterday's practices.

 

[Limejuice]

Now the other Aston Martin hits a wall. Red flag. Session ended.

Both AM cars are in bits. I don't think Vettel's car is even back to the pits yet.

That's a ton of work needed to get two cars fixed for qualifying.