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2014 Formula 1 Season Thread (part II)

Not too big a surprise really. The new engines are 20 - 25 dB quieter and the exhausts are designed to optimise power delivery, and hence will transfer a lot of the sound out from the engine. Difficult to see a way around this...
 
Same now as it has ever meant. It is a track where the driver really can make a difference. On a pure aero or a pure power track the car car defines greatly how well you are likely to do. Monaco does not demand much aero or power and is very much about how clean and brave you are as a driver. Therefore a driver can outperform a cars limitations.

Not so.
Downforce and engine drivability are all important at Monaco IME. It is surprising how much drag can be put up with for a bit more downforce there. The cars which can generate the most downforce have always been the fastest at Monaco. Mind you some drivers never sussed it, and talk about "mechanical grip".

There was a lot of time in optimising throttle mapping (driver M Schumacher) and I remember Prost asking "why does a bit more rear wing help traction so much in the hairpin?" He had sussed it by feel, so few drivers do. Quite a few engineers never twigged it either, that is why some people never win...

Nico has been impressively fast in Monaco every time he has been there. It will be interesting to see how they get on. Whoever gets pole will almost certainly win, as usual.
 
Nico has been impressively fast in Monaco every time he has been there. It will be interesting to see how they get on. Whoever gets pole will almost certainly win, as usual.

I can see Lewis grabbing pole but Nico having better race pace & overtaking him in the pit stops.

Can't wait to see how they compare come race day
 
i presume with the peculiar mix of corners you get in to a complex world of compromises there. As for pole winning, well if the mercs are close together and the P2 driver goes for the undercut then who knows:) In some ways I'd quite like to see Lewis in P2, I think he's one of the very few current drivers who could, and would try to, make a pass there.
 
I'll be at Brands Hatch watching the Masters Historic meeting. So best I don't log in to this place on their lovely 4G coverage!
 
I can see Lewis grabbing pole but Nico having better race pace & overtaking him in the pit stops.

Can't wait to see how they compare come race day

Nico was a lot quicker than LH at Monaco last year, 'twill be interesting to see if Lewis can do anything about it this year.
If Nico couldn't get by Lewis without risking taking them both out at either Bahrain or Spain, where he was definitely quicker, I wouldn't hold out any hope at Monaco.
I suppose the team could give Lewis the less good strategy that they gave to Nico those times and see if he can overtake Nico at the end.
 
Not so.
Downforce and engine drivability are all important at Monaco IME. It is surprising how much drag can be put up with for a bit more downforce there. The cars which can generate the most downforce have always been the fastest at Monaco. Mind you some drivers never sussed it, and talk about "mechanical grip".

There was a lot of time in optimising throttle mapping (driver M Schumacher) and I remember Prost asking "why does a bit more rear wing help traction so much in the hairpin?" He had sussed it by feel, so few drivers do. Quite a few engineers never twigged it either, that is why some people never win...

Nico has been impressively fast in Monaco every time he has been there. It will be interesting to see how they get on. Whoever gets pole will almost certainly win, as usual.

Far be it from me to disagree with one of your knowledge but my first comment was over power/top speed rather than drivability. I would agree that drivability is extremely important on such a track.

Interesting about downforce, I had always understood that due to the lower speeds that ultimate aero efficiency was not as important there c/w Barcelona for example.
 
Nico was a lot quicker than LH at Monaco last year, 'twill be interesting to see if Lewis can do anything about it this year.
If Nico couldn't get by Lewis without risking taking them both out at either Bahrain or Spain, where he was definitely quicker, I wouldn't hold out any hope at Monaco.
I suppose the team could give Lewis the less good strategy that they gave to Nico those times and see if he can overtake Nico at the end.

I know the team is based in the UK, but at some point there must start to be some pressure from somewhere for the german driver to be seen to be winning for the German brand. Unless they see a broader benefit of Lewis' ethnic background and the brand. Someone, somewhere at Merc must have twigged that it's within their control to determine who will be champion this year. I can't believe that you'd throw a £100m (or whatever) at the sport and not try and optimise the outcome.
 
Aero efficiency can be sacrificed for downforce, you really cannot have too much, and the top speeds are low regardless, so the downside of high drag is relatively minor.

Paul
 
I know the team is based in the UK, but at some point there must start to be some pressure from somewhere for the german driver to be seen to be winning for the German brand. Unless they see a broader benefit of Lewis' ethnic background and the brand. Someone, somewhere at Merc must have twigged that it's within their control to determine who will be champion this year. I can't believe that you'd throw a £100m (or whatever) at the sport and not try and optimise the outcome.

I don't think they mind who wins so long as it's one of the silver cars!

If they are going for brand awareness, whilst Nico might be great for their home market, worldwide, Lewis is the better known and most supported of the two.
 
Nico was a lot quicker than LH at Monaco last year, 'twill be interesting to see if Lewis can do anything about it this year.

If Nico couldn't get by Lewis without risking taking them both out at either Bahrain or Spain, where he was definitely quicker, I wouldn't hold out any hope at Monaco.

I suppose the team could give Lewis the less good strategy that they gave to Nico those times and see if he can overtake Nico at the end.


I saw it that Nico had the better strategy both times to be honest....which is why I was surprised that Lewis ended up on the strategy he was on again in Spain. I am basing this on a harder tyre to go on at the first pit stop with the heavier load and the softer one back on for the last stint to the flag when the car is carrying less weight (which is what Nico had) and should, I would have thought, produce the fastest times under these conditions especially towards the end (barring safety cars and/or rain).
 
Not so.
Downforce and engine drivability are all important at Monaco IME. It is surprising how much drag can be put up with for a bit more downforce there. The cars which can generate the most downforce have always been the fastest at Monaco. Mind you some drivers never sussed it, and talk about "mechanical grip".

There was a lot of time in optimising throttle mapping (driver M Schumacher) and I remember Prost asking "why does a bit more rear wing help traction so much in the hairpin?" He had sussed it by feel, so few drivers do. Quite a few engineers never twigged it either, that is why some people never win...

Nico has been impressively fast in Monaco every time he has been there. It will be interesting to see how they get on. Whoever gets pole will almost certainly win, as usual.

Frank,

To be fair to Cutting42, Monaco winners are from a smaller pool of drivers, which does suggest, statistically at least, that there is some element of driving style that is more important at Monaco. And as you say, Nico has been very quick at Monaco, every time he has driven there.

I am surprised at your comment re some teams thinking it was mechanical grip! McLaren knew that it was downforce before I started in F1, 24 years ago. I always thought that comments like you are talking about, only existed in the press!

Ian
 
I saw it that Nico had the better strategy both times to be honest....which is why I was surprised that Lewis ended up on the strategy he was on again in Spain. I am basing this on a harder tyre to go on at the first pit stop with the heavier load and the softer one back on for the last stint to the flag when the car is carrying less weight (which is what Nico had) and should, I would have thought, produce the fastest times under these conditions especially towards the end (barring safety cars and/or rain).

I agree with Frank, Nico was quicker at those two circuits and would have been quicker on the same strategy as lewis or the alternative strategy. Lewis knew this and commented on the fact at the end of both races.
 
Ian, I definitely get the vibe from any of your posts that you are something of a Rosberg fan.

I've personally yet to see anything truly exceptional from him - nice guy though he undoubtedly is. The only times he's been partnered with an established reference in his career he has come off second best.

I do wish people would stop harping on about him being quicker. If he were quicker he would have been on pole at every race and IMHO, the quickest guy is the one that gets to the chequered flag first - that's the only important metric.

Monaco will indeed be interesting. Hamilton is no slouch around there as evidenced by his Mclaren drives. Last year, in an unfamiliar team and with a less than ideal car he didn't do too badly - there certainly wasn't any "racing" on the Sunday was there? I think if LH takes pole, some people will finally have to accept the guy has an ability to raise his game when it matters.
 
I agree with Frank, Nico was quicker at those two circuits and would have been quicker on the same strategy as lewis or the alternative strategy. Lewis knew this and commented on the fact at the end of both races.


I think Lewis is being gracious and I disagree I'm afraid that Nico was quicker. The pit crew gifted Nico 2 seconds with faster pit stops than they did for Lewis and Nico only got close to Lewis on the very last lap and wasn't close enough or quick enough to mount a challenge.

If they had identical pit stops, Lewis would have been in front by 2.6 seconds at the end making the win even more convincing. IMO, we'd only know who was quicker over a race if they were on the same strategy under race conditions.
 
Mike and KCD,

There is no doubt that Lewis is quicker overall, that is why he is leading the championship. Factor in that he was likely to win Melbourne by a comfortable margin and that would have given him an even bigger lead.

Prior to the season start I commented that I thought that Nico would find it easier to drive these cars as they are more challenging than recent F1 cars. But Lewis has shown that he is totally on it and it would be a big surprise to me if he is not world champion at the end of the year.

Another important point is that being on pole does not mean that you will be quicker than your team mate in the race because driving style affects how the tyres work over a stint. In Bahrain Nico was definitely quicker and in Spain the laptimes suggest that Nico was quicker.

Drivers egos rarely allow them to say that other drivers are quicker than them!
 


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