2022 French Grand Prix - Le Castellet, July 22 - 24

[Vanja #66]

In T8 Lewis lost a lot already, 0.2s but then the real big loss comes in S3, in T10 Lewis is 16 (!!) kph slower than Charles and that Merc loses 0.6s in S3. That's just another planet.

That flexi floor doin' some work yo

Thank you for putting those together, very informative!

Not Ferrari "flexi" floor though, Merc lacks both rear wing downforce and floor downforce. Their floor had to be redesigned for lower downforce to avoid bouncing since their floor (ahead of rear tyres) flexes too much, causing instability which was one of the reasons for their excessive bouncing early in the season.

[deadhead]

In T8 Lewis lost a lot already, 0.2s but then the real big loss comes in S3, in T10 Lewis is 16 (!!) kph slower than Charles and that Merc loses 0.6s in S3. That's just another planet.

That flexi floor doin' some work yo

Thank you for putting those together, very informative!

Not Ferrari "flexi" floor though, Merc lacks both rear wing downforce and floor downforce. Their floor had to be redesigned for lower downforce to avoid bouncing since their floor (ahead of rear tyres) flexes too much, causing instability which was one of the reasons for their excessive bouncing early in the season.

I was just being facetious But the Ferrari design has been producing A LOT of downforce from the very beginning, flexi floor or not, its working very well.

Obviously Mercedes have some big issues and even they can't seem to understand what to do with their car. Maybe if it was running last year's suspension system it would be fighting for the championship?

[Spoutnik]

Anyone got a footage of the lap from Q2 of Sainz ? Looked impressive

[Mogster]

Worrying as in is there enough PU's available? Surely a team would take a PU for each driver to each race.

May be Ferrari is on the maximum capacity of their production and assembly, but a running out of spare units because of unexpected reliability woes?

Possibly they have switched production to a 'reliability' modified component and held back what they thought would be needed before the break, but got caught out by the unexpected number needed.

If they did not produce enough of a specific component before changing the 'reliability' bit the production method may not still be available to make old style parts?

If supply is tight any failures from the Ferrari engined teams tomorrow and things could start to get very interesting…

[Schippke]

Well, I’m surprised Charles got the pole… even more so than Ferrari getting its act together and using Sainz for the Tow. Good work there.

I’d still put Red Bull as the faster race car; They mightn’t be as quick in the corners, but their straight line speed alone will keep them close; A whiff of DRS and they’ll be darting past the Ferrari. I reckon Red Bull will try Pit Perez early for fresh tyres, get him ahead once Charles and Max pit and then make things difficult on the straight for Charles to pass.

As for tyres, surely Ferrari will just go Medium/Hard and then Medium if they need to, or if there’s a late safety car… no major issue compared to Red Bull with 2 sets of New Hards, unless tyre degradation is more extreme than anybody else was predicting.

Regardless, should be an interesting one tomorrow… still putting Max for the win, BUT the flames of Austria recently are still fresh in the mind with these hot temps…

[Chuckjr]

I am giving Ricciardo until end of season to really turn his performance around. He aha a contract for 2023 but if he still finds himself struggling by end of this season and I can see him losing interest in facing another year in Norris' shadow and maybe jumping teams. A switch with Albon perhaps.

Couldn’t agree more. I’ve been disappointed with him since he left RB, tbh. Bummer because I like the guy, but he’s not quick enough anymore.

[Big Tea]

May be Ferrari is on the maximum capacity of their production and assembly, but a running out of spare units because of unexpected reliability woes?

Possibly they have switched production to a 'reliability' modified component and held back what they thought would be needed before the break, but got caught out by the unexpected number needed.

If they did not produce enough of a specific component before changing the 'reliability' bit the production method may not still be available to make old style parts?

If supply is tight any failures from the Ferrari engined teams tomorrow and things could start to get very interesting…

Are we sure they are all running the identical engine? I know they are all homogenated but there could still be a slight difference. Possibly the HAAS engine was a limited earlier edition or even based on last season, and all others have moved on to the 2022 version?
I would not expect Ferrari to leave themselves short, and if there is a later version I expect the Alfa to be using it too, but it would be a concern.

[selvam_e2002]

whoever come outs RB not shining with other team. Vettel, Ric..

[Sevach]

Direct link to the AMuS article

Not sure what the story is. That Haas is not replacing Mick's engine as it would be fine anyway? Why would they go to a gp with 4 engines to replace?

Possibly given Micks Pace before the deleted lap, probably puts him a little 'out of place' with what the team expected him to do. So fitting a extra PU and starting from near enough the back anyhow, would mean another engine in the pool without penalty.

Its probably more worrying though that there isnt another 'new' engine at the track. Bit of a surprise really given they could probably stick one in the back of a van from Haas base in Banbury UK or even from Italy if they come from Ferrari directly, and it would be there overnight. Or even fly it in given the chaos at the port of Dover if from the UK.

You could question of whether there is enough PU's to 'go round' - Mags took a new one, Sainz took a new one, and possibly Mick if there was one available.

What we can gather from this is "a new engine would be nice right now" doesn't fly for clients, for the client teams you have to place your "order" in a timely fashion.
I suspect that if Charles (and Carlos from the next race onwards) somehow got knocked out in Q1 they would find a new engine for them.

[yamahasho]

A DNF from Max would bring the championship in nice position going into the summer break! Not saying I'm wishing this to happen.. But the small wins here and there for Fearri wont cut it

Agreed, season has no excitement, Vest. is either on form or a bust. He can’t win unless the car is in perfect.

Get rid of floors and pit in during S/C.

Let’s all watch these semi-automatic boats that have 140” a wheelbase follow each other tomorrow. Ferrari, RB and Merc, Apline or McLaren. How predictable.

Hopefully the the car goes back toward the drivers during Spa with the rule change.

And for god’s sake take off those wheel covers so we can see those rotors light up during braking.

Alonso is right F1 is boring. Just waiting for the FIA to wake up.

[Vanja #66]

I was just being facetious But the Ferrari design has been producing A LOT of downforce from the very beginning, flexi floor or not, its working very well.

Obviously Mercedes have some big issues and even they can't seem to understand what to do with their car. Maybe if it was running last year's suspension system it would be fighting for the championship?

Maybe, probably... Not much they could or should have done different. Big changes were made to rules, they were fighting for c'ships in 2021, their staff was leaving a lot and they've been working towards zero-pods for years - to go in a different direction would have been a lot bigger risk.

[mendis]

I was just being facetious But the Ferrari design has been producing A LOT of downforce from the very beginning, flexi floor or not, its working very well.

Obviously Mercedes have some big issues and even they can't seem to understand what to do with their car. Maybe if it was running last year's suspension system it would be fighting for the championship?

Maybe, probably... Not much they could or should have done different. Big changes were made to rules, they were fighting for c'ships in 2021, their staff was leaving a lot and they've been working towards zero-pods for years - to go in a different direction would have been a lot bigger risk.

Red Bull started the trend of tighter packaging. It started spreading up and down the grid. Ferrari even went with a smaller engine in 2014 to create tighter packaging for aero benefits. Mercedes started tightening packaging and the side pods started shrinking. It became an obsession. But Red Bull seemed to understand the new rules better and Mercedes got sucked in and went with those no pods whereas Red Bull re-looked at their philosophy, which was a risk, but a very well thought out one in the end and same with Ferrari. I am fully expecting Mercedes to ditch it for next year. But suspension is a big question mark.

[johnny comelately]

That flexi floor doin' some work yo

Thank you for putting those together, very informative!

Not Ferrari "flexi" floor though, Merc lacks both rear wing downforce and floor downforce. Their floor had to be redesigned for lower downforce to avoid bouncing since their floor (ahead of rear tyres) flexes too much, causing instability which was one of the reasons for their excessive bouncing early in the season.

I was just being facetious But the Ferrari design has been producing A LOT of downforce from the very beginning, flexi floor or not, its working very well.

Obviously Mercedes have some big issues and even they can't seem to understand what to do with their car. Maybe if it was running last year's suspension system it would be fighting for the championship?

Lewis said recently he had driven last years car and "..it was a dream..."

[johnny comelately]

The bit of twitchiness that was seen for the Ferraris was apparently oversteer induced and they have softened the rear up giving a better footprint to solve the problem.
In this video they talk about the physics of blistering and the turbo/MGUH solution.
that my interpretation, could well have been lost in translation though

[Stu]

A DNF from Max would bring the championship in nice position going into the summer break! Not saying I'm wishing this to happen.. But the small wins here and there for Fearri wont cut it

Agreed, season has no excitement, Vest. is either on form or a bust. He can’t win unless the car is in perfect.

[*]Not sure which season you are watching, there has been plenty of good racing throughout the grid.

Get rid of floors and pit in during S/C.

[*]Underfloor, alleged flexing floor or the whole floor (1980’s FFord-style)? Front mounted cooling would be interesting…

Let’s all watch these semi-automatic boats that have 140” a wheelbase follow each other tomorrow. Ferrari, RB and Merc, Apline or McLaren. How predictable.

[*]Paul Ricard has never been a great track for recent generations of car, the new aero rules should improve that, but time will tell.

Hopefully the the car goes back toward the drivers during Spa with the rule change.

[*]What on earth does that mean?

And for god’s sake take off those wheel covers so we can see those rotors light up during braking.

[*]Brakes are fully enclosed within the wheel as it is, the cover is there to ensure that the wheels are not used for outwashing.

Alonso is right F1 is boring. Just waiting for the FIA to wake up.

[*]But what would make it interesting?
The last 50 years have seen periods of dominance from one team or another, whether it be Tyrell, McLaren, Ferrari, Lotus, Williams, ‘Enstone’, Mercedes or Red Bull (if you go back further that list gets slightly longer…). Some of them being repeat offenders at being just that little bit better than the rest (or, in some cases, much better than the rest); there have been very few seasons (ever) where more than three teams have been ‘in the hunt’ at the end of the season. What, exactly, does the FIA need to wake up to? We’ve just had the biggest technical rule change since Ground Effect cars were banned, with a focus on basic engineering principles to control the aero platform; other than wholesale changes to the power unit, what more could possibly change?

You sound familiar…

A few counterpoints added.