2013 Malaysian GP - Sepang

[lukeaar]

I think RBR is favorite, because Sepang suits the RBR especially in Q.

I'm not sure you can really say anything along those lines. At the moment we have no idea which kinds of tracks this years cars are suited to. No, last year's cars are not an indication.

I think that, with RBR at least, last years car is a fair indication. blah blah evolutionary blah

[Nando]

Red bull will once again top the charts in Quali, Lotus will be best in race pace and Ferrari is the hybrid of the two.

Mercedes just outside the competitive zone.

[ParanoiD]

after cold Melboune, I hope that we have hot Sepang. So we could see who is good on cold,hot, or both condition.

But according to weather forecast and recent weather, chances of rain are quite high

[chepoi]

after cold Melboune, I hope that we have hot Sepang. So we could see who is good on cold,hot, or both condition.

But according to weather forecast and recent weather, chances of rain are quite high

not QUITE high.. but VERY VERY VERY HIGH!!! especially in a first day of spring!

[raymondu999]

chepoi - what's the weather been like around that area in the past few days, do you know?

[chepoi]

chepoi - what's the weather been like around that area in the past few days, do you know?

90% rain during the time of race..... race will begin bout the same time of the rain fall EVERY DAY around Sepang.

[raymondu999]

I'm conflicted. I want a fully dry weekend so to really see the pecking order, but at the same time I love wet races... but then again with the FIA's health and safety fanaticism of late, we'd get at best a damp race and not a wet race

[Gerhard Berger]

How can you say red bull is the favorite? For pole maybe. But from what we've seen so far, they're 3rd fastest at best in equal conditions race pace.

Though as I say - the warmer climates could change all that. Remember lotus last year? The Red Bull could very well be the similar in that it becomes competitive in race pace in the heat. Considering their pole advantage in Melbourne, they could probably bias their setups more towards the race now anyways as they can afford to weaken their qualifying to increase race pace.

Genuine question - how easy is this to do? I only ask because if it were straight forward, surely for example Mercedes would have done this last year?

[beelsebob]

How can you say red bull is the favorite? For pole maybe. But from what we've seen so far, they're 3rd fastest at best in equal conditions race pace.

Though as I say - the warmer climates could change all that. Remember lotus last year? The Red Bull could very well be the similar in that it becomes competitive in race pace in the heat. Considering their pole advantage in Melbourne, they could probably bias their setups more towards the race now anyways as they can afford to weaken their qualifying to increase race pace.

Genuine question - how easy is this to do? I only ask because if it were straight forward, surely for example Mercedes would have done this last year?

Simple – gear shorter, add more wing. Done. All you're doing is setting up the car to be more stable and drivable under heavy loads, and worn tyre situations, even if it means having more drag, or lower top speeds under light loads and fresh tyres.

[kilcoo316]

Genuine question - how easy is this to do? I only ask because if it were straight forward, surely for example Mercedes would have done this last year?

Softer dampers, softer anti-roll bars, softer springs...

You can only do so much with it of course, which is why Merc weren't able to solve their issues.

[raymondu999]

Genuine question - how easy is this to do? I only ask because if it were straight forward, surely for example Mercedes would have done this last year?

Softer dampers, softer anti-roll bars, softer springs...

You can only do so much with it of course, which is why Merc weren't able to solve their issues.

Really? Wouldn't having softer suspension mean more compliance and movement in the tyres, and heat them up more?

[kilcoo316]

Really? Wouldn't having softer suspension mean more compliance and movement in the tyres, and heat them up more?

Why would there be more movement in the tyres when the suspension is doing more moving instead?

If you consider a corner going through a fast turn:

When the driver inputs the steering angle on corner entry, the car's inertia transfers through the dampers, springs and to a degree the anti-roll bars to the tyres. If the suspension lengthens that time of transfer (i.e. softer settings), then the peak loading on the tyre wall is significantly reduced, reducing the stretch of the contact patch and reducing heat generation in the tyre.

When the car is transitioning to and from mid-corner, the softer suspension imposes a relatively larger lateral load on the inside tyre for longer - reducing lateral load and hence peak heat generation in the outside (limiting) tyre. If the car is statically balanced mid-corner (like on a large oval corner), then things change, but thats not typical in F1. The roll centre of the suspension geometry is also very important.

On corner exit, again, the softer setup lengthens the time of inertial load transfer to the tyres, decreasing peak loads and thus heat generation.



But, as previously said, there is a limit - go too far and you'll kill downforce, leading to slower laptimes and eventually more sliding as a frustrated driver chucks the car around to try and keep up = more overheating through a different mechanism. Not to mention an unresponsive car.

[Nando]

then the peak loading on the tyre wall is significantly reduced,

I was under the impression that the peak loading will always be the same, just that with softer springs etc, you delay or speed up the weight transfer.

[SilverArrow10]

Who had the fastest top speed in the speed trap in Australia. Because that will surely be an advantage in Sepang with its two long straights. Something Mercedes is suprisingly struggling with.

[kilcoo316]

then the peak loading on the tyre wall is significantly reduced,

I was under the impression that the peak loading will always be the same, just that with softer springs etc, you delay or speed up the weight transfer.

Peak load will be in the mid-latter stages of the transition, when you are inducing yaw acceleration as well as yaw rate.

Using softer settings slows the transition so the yaw acceleration (and the loads resulting from) are reduced.