2014 Austrian Grand Prix - Red Bull Ring

[ringo]

I like these old school tracks. Less mickey mouse and more balls to the wall kind of thing.
I think Williams has a second chance to podium here. redbull will be strong as well.

[Harsha]

Im awaiting for Renault planned new engine upgrade and is this track where RBR said they will bring the big modifications at both front and rear or is it silverstone??

[Juzh]

Im awaiting for Renault planned new engine upgrade and is this track where RBR said they will bring the big modifications at both front and rear or is it silverstone??

They said austria.
I think it's gonna be merc fastest (obvious) with RB some 0,6-0,8s behind. Ferrari and williams will be in combat for 3rd fastest team 1-1,2s behind. Lets see how much of that will be true. Maybe differences will be smaller due to short track, but still relatively the same in terms of %.

[NAPI10]

Bahrain like characteristics and soft tyre combo; I think, FI will present strong challenge for podium(for 3rd spot).

[mikeerfol]

Is this the time of the year it rains a lot there? Google gives a week full of rain for Styria.

[basti313]

Is this the time of the year it rains a lot there? Google gives a week full of rain for Styria.

No, should be normal weather in the Alpes. As usual with a high probability of thunderstorms in the late afternoon. This is where the high probability of rain comes from, but this should not affect the race. Full days of rain are very unusual at this time.

[iotar__]

There is only one way to solve this in a fair an equal way: Curbs that slow you down when you cut or go wide.
The track limits are just not judgeable and will always lead to inappropriate discussions. Beelsebob gave two nice examples, but there are a lot more like Alonso in Abu Dhabi....

Said curbs will launch you in a crash though, so putting them around the outside edge of the track is not a great plan.

This attitude is why the tracks today are boring to watch. [...] Now, there are no drastic consequences of cutting corners and in fact Rosberg has even shown that if you do cut a corner which reduced the theat of a challenging car you are even allowed to slow down later in the lap when it suits you and give that time back at a point when you are no longer under immediate threat. In my opinion, track redesign and a rethink of the sporting regs would go a long way to improving the spectacle without touching the cars themselves

High kerbs as a solution? This is I'm afraid arguing with reality. Reality is every time they install high kerbs it's the same scenario: 1. Drivers drive over them 2. Drivers complain 3. They remove the high kerbs (Singapore, recently Bahrain I think). Now, these are the same drivers that are arbitrarily used against any inconvenient hot topic: tyres, not 100% pushing, engine sounds etc. The only difference is I think they all say it.

The whole track boundaries topic starts and ends with stewarding/refereeing. The fact is FIA/big teams have not interest in proper, consistent judgement and interpretation of the rules. Same for drivers and their hypocrisy - see Alonso's verbal winking after Bahrain 13 or all of them ignoring Hungary 13 and complaining when it happens to them (Hulkenberg). Rosberg's explanation was both understandable (slowed down, not on purpose) and questionable. There's a mistake and there's a full acceleration afterwards - that's why to me it was like reverse Hamilton Spa 08 (good test for consistency of fans BTW ). Only without changing positions and with giving back some of the advantage.

[rayden]

This is like a mini spa. Downforce is handy for Sector 2 but still dominated by straights when it comes to car setup.

[NAPI10]

Perez and Massa should to be included in Thursday conference ; we will have some fireworks.

[NathanOlder]

There is only one way to solve this in a fair an equal way: Curbs that slow you down when you cut or go wide.
The track limits are just not judgeable and will always lead to inappropriate discussions. Beelsebob gave two nice examples, but there are a lot more like Alonso in Abu Dhabi....

Said curbs will launch you in a crash though, so putting them around the outside edge of the track is not a great plan.

Why? I do not think of curbs, that launch your car up into the air...just a small, ribbed curb with low grip that makes you run wide on the outside. Or these nice grass carpets, that have no grip at all, on the exit of the corner. On the inside nice, high curbs to avoid cutting. Not as bad as these, but high enough to slow you down: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3zQK_BF-0Jg

Even small curbs are dangerous. Look at Vergne last year at Monza. He hit the curb at turn 1 (not the added curb, just the regular curb) and it threw his car very high. If another car was in the firing line, it could have been disastrous!

[mnmracer]

I think the 'problem' of cutting corners is extremely exaggerated and most of the proposed medicine is worst than the decease it aims to cure. Every now and then a car might cut a corner and every now and than they might do it on purpose and every now and then it might go unpunished. Whooptiefrickindoo.

[SiLo]

I'd prefer if they were harsh on it, the corners they cut here are difficult and mistakes can present people with overtaking opportunities. Crack down on it IMO. They drew the track lines there for a reason!

[mertol]

The rules clearly say that you can go out of track if you don't gain advantage. It is easy to determine wether advantage was gained and if it was they should penalize every single time.

[rssh]

The rules clearly say that you can go out of track if you don't gain advantage. It is easy to determine whether advantage was gained and if it was they should penalize every single time.

This rule is flawed in itself
1. After Ascari Chicane everyone used to run off wide and though it may be slippery driver over the weekend lay down more than enough rubber in Practice so there is more grip there. You could carry more apex speed at the final chicane thus gaining advantage. It was rectified in 2013 though
2. Turn 10 (the long right hander) everyone ran wide off the track at the exit and there was more rubber laid down similarly.

There are many examples but IMO FIA should apply same rule everywhere.

Come back to topic Redbull Ring has nice green aura which is a nice welcome to the street circuits and newday tracks. IMO pole could be 1.09sec and I think this is a MGUK AND H killer given the 4 accleration zones which need to be dealt within 1 minute 15 secs. Harvesting won't be a problem given 3 heavy braking zones.

[Kiril Varbanov]

According to Helmut Marko new fuel from Total should make the Bulls more competitive this weekend. Tom Kristensen will be stewarding the race fresh from Le Mans.