2014 Austrian Grand Prix - Red Bull Ring

[turbof1]

I also don't get the drama about it. It's the first rule in a very long time that actually allows for performance improvement. Since the titanium doesn't wear, it'll allow for lower floors which increases underfloor downforce, without increasing drag!

And while it's only a very small thing, sparks are always nice. It's not tackling any of the real issues, but it will not hurt either.

I'm not a big supporter of whatever the FIA brings, but I can put my back behind this.

[mertol]

the right kind of downforce that doesn't add much drag!

Bring it on!

How is this the right kind of downforce? Drag helps drafting. Low drag shortens the straights' time duration preventing overtaking.

[astracrazy]

@turbof1
you surely don't believe this is to allow them to run low like they used to? Given the reason it was changed was safety? There not replacing the plank for this block - its an addition which will prob in the same height as the plank.

The same rules will apply as they do now and they will run high like they do now. The block will just spark if the car hits the ground. This isn't a rule change, its just an addition to the cars to create sparks if it happens.

its not going to have any benefit to performance

[turbof1]

the right kind of downforce that doesn't add much drag!

Bring it on!

How is this the right kind of downforce? Drag helps drafting. Low drag shortens the straights' time duration preventing overtaking.

That's an interesting statement. FIA was very keen on reducing drag numbers, but they never thought of it in that way.

However, the truth is more complex. When these car draft behind one another, they are constantly in dirty air. F1 nowadays uses a lot of the airflow to set up vortices and patterns to reduce things like wheeldrag. These vortices form very difficult in dirty air. It could very well be that this effect nullifies slipstreaming. When was it the last time we saw 1 car accelerating in the slipstream of another?

[FW17]

the right kind of downforce that doesn't add much drag!

Bring it on!

How is this the right kind of downforce? Drag helps drafting. Low drag shortens the straights' time duration preventing overtaking.

Means downforce in current cars come from front wing, rear wing and diffuser. A combination which causes drag and severe turbulence behind which causes their aero of the car behind to loose efficiency there by cannot follow closely through the corners and attempt an overtaking.

The other alternative is a ground effect car which does not cause so much of turbulence also less drag so cars can follow more closely and be faster. This was proposed for 2014 but was dropped due to f1 politics.

Wish they had inplemented ground effect cars for 2013 so that we could have had a staggered transition rather than everything for 2014.

[jz11]

I don't understand the negative comments about the skid blocks? Remember that they were only removed after the wooden plank became mandatory in the nineties. Teams now run their cars (too) high to avoid excessive wear to the plank because that will lead to disqualification. Bringing back the skid blocks will not only bring back the nice sparks, but will also allow teams to run their cars lower and create more downforce -the right kind of downforce that doesn't add much drag!

Bring it on!

seems odd that you have AS pic in your avatar and you seem not to remember what was one of the contributing factors why his car went off there on that track 10 years ago - the car bottomed out too much - which is exactly the reason why the wood plank - indicator was introduced, because it's job is to prevent this dangerous exploit, it allows marshals to see exactly for how much / how long the cars are bottoming

the moment when you loose that super downforce from the super low floor = instant loss of traction

and I think Tim got it exactly right, just before we see F1 WDC and WCC being renamed to WDE and WCE

fake sparks, fake engine noise and more leniency on car to car contact.

It seem there is a particular direction that the sport is moving whether its intentional or not...
http://www.wrestlecrap.com/wp-content/u ... /vmc18.jpg

[Juzh]

Red bulls look in trouble. Ferrari probably running light.

[turbof1]

@turbof1
you surely don't believe this is to allow them to run low like they used to? Given the reason it was changed was safety? There not replacing the plank for this block - its an addition which will prob in the same height as the plank.

The same rules will apply as they do now and they will run high like they do now. The block will just spark if the car hits the ground. This isn't a rule change, its just an addition to the cars to create sparks if it happens.

its not going to have any benefit to performance

It'll be a direct consequence. There's no rule on how low you should run your car, only that the plank shoumd not wear excessively. As you conveniently said, the same rules will apply. In order to create the sparks, you need to run the titanium skid blocks and not the plank. Hence you'll keep the plank out of harm, which you can ride excessive low rode heights.

Nothing to do with allowing or not. The intended purpose for the sparks are show, but the aero benefit is very very obvious. And very difficult to ban without overthrowing the current rules.

[Harsha]

Red bulls look in trouble. Ferrari probably running light.

Yes i hoped the new updates will pull them closer from engine side but 1.2 sec gap is not what we hoped to see

[SiLo]

That gap is surprisingly large considering how short the track is.

[astracrazy]

@turbof1
you surely don't believe this is to allow them to run low like they used to? Given the reason it was changed was safety? There not replacing the plank for this block - its an addition which will prob in the same height as the plank.

The same rules will apply as they do now and they will run high like they do now. The block will just spark if the car hits the ground. This isn't a rule change, its just an addition to the cars to create sparks if it happens.

its not going to have any benefit to performance

It'll be a direct consequence. There's no rule on how low you should run your car, only that the plank shoumd not wear excessively. As you conveniently said, the same rules will apply. In order to create the sparks, you need to run the titanium skid blocks and not the plank. Hence you'll keep the plank out of harm, which you can ride excessive low rode heights.

Nothing to do with allowing or not. The intended purpose for the sparks are show, but the aero benefit is very very obvious. And very difficult to ban without overthrowing the current rules.

your making it sound way more exaggerated than it is. All it will be is a block at the end of the plank so when the plank touches the ground so does the block to create sparks. your making it sound like the block will stop the plank touching the ground so the teams will have this right to go mega low on there ride height - but that would totally contradict the reason the plank is there in the first place.

to be frank, i'm surprise the fia are encouraging it at all

[gray41]

Mercedes engined teams will use the qualifying engine mode, probably helping Williams and maybe McLaren ahead of the Ferrari/RedBulls.

[MercedesAMGSpy]

The gap is big because Mercedes is updating their engine too.

[thedutchguy]

your making it sound way more exaggerated than it is. All it will be is a block at the end of the plank so when the plank touches the ground so does the block to create sparks. your making it sound like the block will stop the plank touching the ground so the teams will have this right to go mega low on there ride height - but that would totally contradict the reason the plank is there in the first place.

Let's assume the plank and the skit block(s) are at the same height to the reference plane of the car. I think everybody will agree that titanium will wear less than wood when scraping over tarmac. So yes both will wear equally fast, but at a much slower speed than if there were just the wooden plank. Adding titanium skid blocks will allow teams to let the cars bottom out more. Perhaps the skidblocks will be mounted on a sprung mechanism? This will allow for sparks, while at the same time keeping the current plank wear.

seems odd that you have AS pic in your avatar and you seem not to remember what was one of the contributing factors why his car went off there on that track 10 years ago - the car bottomed out too much - which is exactly the reason why the wood plank....

[/quote]

If I recall correctly, that was 20 years ago. But you're right, having cars that bottom out more, will make them less stable. I can't however imagine that the FIA will introduce titanium skid block without addressing its safetly implications.

[ChrisDanger]

Let's assume the plank and the skit block(s) are at the same height to the reference plane of the car. I think everybody will agree that titanium will wear less than wood when scraping over tarmac. So yes both will wear equally fast, but at a much slower speed than if there were just the wooden plank. Adding titanium skid blocks will allow teams to let the cars bottom out more.

But the cars already do bottom out, right? You wouldn't then be able to lower them much more, as you'll start to develop traction problems.

Also I imagine if all cars are bottoming out excessively the tarmac is going to get damaged.

If sparks are a by-product of something else then so be it, but it's just silly to create sparks for no other reason than the spectacle of sparks. Where do you think the energy to make the sparks and heat up the titanium is coming from? It's just extra drag.