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The 2020 F1 Season

Roger Adams said:
Is it now becoming a championship between the top three or four, then their cars from the previous year, then anyone else left with a permit?
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The first part is as you say but twas ever thus.

The use of "last years car" again has often raised its head but until recently each manufacturer had to demonstrate the car was all their own work. However more recently there are a number of "shared" technology areas that can be shared (engines always have been shared). The whole Haas business case was built around this, buying a chassis and key items from 3rd parties and other F1 entrants and then building the rest themselves. You also have the "partner teams" such as Alfa (Ferrari) and Alpha (Red Bull) who clearly share much of their technology and this year we have Racing point copying last years Merc in faithful detail but it is a copy rather than a co-development so not really last years car as such.

The costs are so extraordinary that you need to do something like this to even be in the same ballpark with Ferrari and Merc employing 1000 plus people and spending probably a $Billion on their race programs.
 
Even back in the 1930s you had the Silver Arrows who were heavily funded by the Nazi government. No-one else got a look in apart from occasionally Alfa Romeo and even then it took a miraculous drive from one of the greatest drivers who's ever lived, Tazio Nuvolari, in the 1935 German GP at the Nurburgring.

There have been very, very few seasons where more than 2 or 3 teams had a chance of winning the Championship.
 
cutting42 said:
The first part is as you say but twas ever thus.

The use of "last years car" again has often raised its head but until recently each manufacturer had to demonstrate the car was all their own work. However more recently there are a number of "shared" technology areas that can be shared (engines always have been shared). The whole Haas business case was built around this, buying a chassis and key items from 3rd parties and other F1 entrants and then building the rest themselves. You also have the "partner teams" such as Alfa (Ferrari) and Alpha (Red Bull) who clearly share much of their technology and this year we have Racing point copying last years Merc in faithful detail but it is a copy rather than a co-development so not really last years car as such.

The costs are so extraordinary that you need to do something like this to even be in the same ballpark with Ferrari and Merc employing 1000 plus people and spending probably a $Billion on their race programs.
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There are a number of specified parts that can be bought from your engine supplier. The idea there was to reduce costs for the smaller teams, through not needing to develop all the parts (e.g. engine, gearbox, rear suspension as it is linked to the gearbox etc) and in theory they were supposed to be parts that did not really improve performance (other than the obvious powerplant). But the rule makers made a few mistakes along the way.

The 2018 Haas benefited from what they learnt prior to having an actual car. In that phase they were able to keep switching Ferrari and Haas aero employees around. As a new entrant they were not limited by the aero wind tunnel usage regulations that limited the rest of the grid (this was all within the rules, until they were changed to stop this happening). So Ferrari and Haas benefited for a time from the extra time that Haas got in the wind tunnel. When 2018 came around they had various other advantages in place that I will not mention here, that allowed them to make a good Ferrari 2017 copy. Since then it hasn't gone quite so well for them.

The Racing Point car looks like they bought as much as they could from Merc and then copied the 2019 car design. Which would work well for this year if they could get it all to work together. Copying the aero like that is a difficult job as they would need to understand the concept, or work out the concept to make it work. So far it looks like they have got the low rake concept that Merc have used for years, to work on their car, as their car is fast. But 2021 has different regs so copying will not help there.
 
Tony Lockhart said:
I don’t know what you mean. Can you explain please?
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Apologies Tony but I only just saw this and think others may have put it better than I.

Back when I was an avid fan, there were (as ever) two or three teams fighting for the championship. The difference was though that, with very few exceptions (I'm thinking of the various operations using March and was there one or two with old Heskeths ( ?) , the rest of the field was seemingly made up of designs by individual teams with the almost ubiquitous use of the DFV.

The midfield was not made of the top teams' old cars. Sure design clues were taken from them and some seemed to understand the thinking behind them better than others. They were however original designs. I'm really hoping that Renault can bridge the gap so that the sport can keep them. I of course appreciate that the sport has evolved beyond my wildest dreams so maybe its wrong to compare eras. It just strikes me though that overt rebadging of previous years' models is new and shows the comparative technological weakness of those not fighting for championships.
 
Having just watched the Marrakesh Formula E race, which wasn't bad with the sound off, I couldn't help wondering whether it's always going to be a dead end for drivers. Max Gunther looks to have everything going for him except a billionaire for a dad.
 
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2ManyBoxes said:
There have been very, very few seasons where more than 2 or 3 teams had a chance of winning the Championship.
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that's true, but I think the modern era is different in that Mercedes have dominated the sport for so long. Back in the day Williams, Renault, Ferrari, McLaren would dominate a season or two, but I don't remember a stretch of dominance matching that of Mercedes.
 
Mercedes have dominated because they have the best driver and a very good team manager in Toto Wolf, who hasn't put a foot wrong. He's even got a good sense of humour. Their engineers are extremely capable as well.

Ferrari have had good drivers but not the team manager, who sooner or later has managed to cock it up. Their engineers haven't been a step ahead often enough to make up for that. They seem to have a talent for self-destruction.

Red Bull have a very good team manager and an excellent designer in Adrian Newey but who's probably past his peak. I can't see him working well with others as he must have an ego the size of the planet. Where they've really suffered recently is with drivers who haven't consistently measured up to Lewis's standard. Verstappen is obviously the coming man but he's only just fulfilling his potential.

In the future, when Lewis retires or moves on, I think Mercedes will withdraw from GP racing again, as is their habit. I can't see them scrapping it out in the midfield.
 
I read somewhere that there has been talk recently that financial pressures are making Mercedes carefully consider their continued involvement.
 
Tony Lockhart said:
Well, they recently signed a five year deal to stay in.
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I did not know that, I'm surprised.

1923 - 1931, 1934 - 1939 GP racing
1954 - 1955 F1 and sports car racing
1988 - 1991 Group C sports car racing

That's only the years when there was a 3 pointed star on the car.

Periods for other car makers in F1:

Renault: 1977 - 1985, 2002 - 2010, 2016 to date
BMW: 2006 - 2009
Porsche: 1961 - 1962
Honda: 1962 - 1968, 2006 - 2008
Toyota: 2002 - 2009
Alfa Romeo: 1950 - 1951, 1979 - 1985, 2019 - date

Ferrari: 1950 - date (total road cars produced 209,000)
Lotus: 1958 - 1994, 2010 - 2015 (total road cars produced 100,000?)

That's everyone I could think of. So big car manufacturers do have a tendency to dip in and out when the bean counters get their way or when they've achieved enough publicity. That's why I'm surprised by Mercedes's decision, especially when they've been winning the thing pretty much for fun. Surely they've got enough good publicity for a while?
 
A question if I may if there's anyone out there with a knowledge of these things. I have one of these limited edition 10th Anniversary prints beautifully framed. The difference is that mine has my business card from Chelsea mounted below it which Senna signed for me when he came into the store in 1993.

Insurance guy has been around and was asking about it. I honestly have no idea whether it's worth anything - the same with a Nik Lauda book which he signed for me when with Brabham. If they are worth b**ger all then I'll keep them for sentimental reasons - particularly for Senna who I detested throughout his career but there was something about him in person that put that all to one side.


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2ManyBoxes said:
That's everyone I could think of. So big car manufacturers do have a tendency to dip in and out when the bean counters get their way or when they've achieved enough publicity. That's why I'm surprised by Mercedes's decision, especially when they've been winning the thing pretty much for fun. Surely they've got enough good publicity for a while?
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I only really think of Ferrari as a true works team now. Call me old fashioned. The others are part of the big show that Bernie turned F1 into.
 
F1 has evolved, and will keep evolving. There are huge challenges ahead, what with climate change and younger generations not seeing the beauty of engines.
It’s easy to slate Bernie for what he did, but F1 was a silly little thing with no media savviness before he arrived. And at least I know, viruses aside, that I can set my alarm clock for the Oz GP and I’ll see the race.

I completely agree with @Roger Adams about Ferrari. Over the years, they’ve made everything themselves except the tyres and fluids (broadly speaking). Even Mercedes don’t really build their F1 engines, the car and power plant coming from England.

Qatar has had to cancel its MotoGP because of the virus...
 
wow&flutter said:
I wonder if the media will bring this up in any 2020 interviews?

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No-one (apart from all but two of the other teams) seems very exercised about this, though it seems fairly clear that Ferrari were bending the engine rules to breaking point.

BUT the sudden decrease in straight line speed and/or acceleration this year will all be down to increased drag, and nothing else. Absolutely nothing. Honestly.

Of course F1 really can't do without the Prancing Horse, so you could argue they'd be daft not to take advantage now and then. :D
 
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