2018 Azerbaijan Grand Prix - Baku, April 27-29

[Harvester]

What do you guys think about new restriction that FIA imposed starting this weekend (banning engine modes that help feed rear wing via exhaust) ?

For me it is just stupid to impose ban during season

Judging by the way they are going to try to prevent blowing rear wing and the way they explained it, it seem to me as they are saying we are not going to do anything about that this year.

[FMP]

What do you guys think about new restriction that FIA imposed starting this weekend (banning engine modes that help feed rear wing via exhaust) ?

For me it is just stupid to impose ban during season

Judging by the way they are going to try to prevent blowing rear wing and the way they explained it, it seem to me as they are saying we are not going to do anything about that this year.

There isn't any new regulation. All they said was that teams have been complaining about the rules not being followed. FIA realises that the intent of the rules are difficult to put down in words for the rulebook. But they will enforce the intent of the rules rather than the exact wording and hence work on a case-by-case approach. There isn't any kind of rule change - you were never allowed to have engine modes just for blowing the wing.

[carisi2k]

right on their coat tales in qualifying.

Ricciardo was a second slower than Vettel's pole lap in Bahrain. Calm it with the sensationalism

Daniel was only 0.45 of a second off Vettel's pole lap in Bahrain.

[designf1]

[media]https://twitter.com/ImanHansra/status/9 ... 7610921985[/media]

[simon.b]

Do we have any (premature) prediction for the weather?

Cloudy but no rain and around 20°C for the weekend.

at the bottom of the home page on this site is a live weather report for baku
http://www.thef1page.co.uk/

[Vanja #66]

Ferrari will have had no clue how their car treats the new compounds in 'anger' when they decided on this weekends tyre compounds.

That's a serious understatement for tyre and simulation engineers in Ferrari and other F1 teams.

[iotar__]

right on their coat tales in qualifying.

Ricciardo was a second slower than Vettel's pole lap in Bahrain. Calm it with the sensationalism

Daniel was only 0.45 of a second off Vettel's pole lap in Bahrain.

Almost half a second in one of three races. More in the other two and unless engine difference was worth 0,5 or 0,7 s in those that's not a great sign. Fine, it's still only three GPs and engine upgrades are coming.

Next race Red Bull couldn't risk softs in Q2 (overlooked in win chest beating) which compromised their race. They had a good pace but it's hard to compare it when you're nowhere near the lead and rely on a gift of a SC erasing 15 s gap (ric, less for ver), free pitstop and quicker, fresh tyres against sitting duck one-stoppers. Also: Bott and Vett lost time on artificial Raik blocking .

Right on their coatail reminds me of a Sky commentator. While Bottas was jumping Vettel, he claimed he was defending against MV who was ~6 s behind yet almost overtaking him. Gap was getting bigger on mediums (later stops).

[carisi2k]

Ricciardo was a second slower than Vettel's pole lap in Bahrain. Calm it with the sensationalism

Daniel was only 0.45 of a second off Vettel's pole lap in Bahrain.

Almost half a second in one of three races. More in the other two and unless engine difference was worth 0,5 or 0,7 s in those that's not a great sign. Fine, it's still only three GPs and engine upgrades are coming.

Next race Red Bull couldn't risk softs in Q2 (overlooked in win chest beating) which compromised their race. They had a good pace but it's hard to compare it when you're nowhere near the lead and rely on a gift of a SC erasing 15 s gap (ric, less for ver), free pitstop and quicker, fresh tyres against sitting duck one-stoppers. Also: Bott and Vett lost time on artificial Raik blocking .

Right on their coatail reminds me of a Sky commentator. While Bottas was jumping Vettel, he claimed he was defending against MV who was ~6 s behind yet almost overtaking him. Gap was getting bigger on mediums (later stops).

1. The engine difference has been worth about 0.5 of a second and so in race trim they are on their coat tails.
2. Daniel had barely made it out of Q1 due to his P3 PU issue and so Red Bull were not interested at all in messing around with the soft tyre due to a lack of data.
3. The Red Bull double stop forced Mercedes to react on laps 18 and 19. If Mercedes weren't worried about Red Bull then why did they react to the red bull stops.
4. Red Bull got the Ultra Soft to last 17 laps which forced their opponents to react. If Red Bull comes in on lap 12 do you think that Mercedes and Vettel would come in on laps 13,14 and 15 on the soft tyre.
5. After his pit stop Valteri went to party mode for one lap to undercut Vettel. Hamilton did the same thing and in doing so they both damaged there tyres. There is nothing to say that either Mercedes could have made it to the finish on one stop without a safety car.
6. Mercedes reacting to Red Bull shows that the RB14 is most definitely on the coat tales of the W09 and SF71h. In Mercedes reacting to Red Bull it forced Ferrari to react to Mercedes and in doing so Red Bull was shown to be able to influence a race. In the future it may not result in a red bull victory but at the very least it keeps Ferrari and Mercedes on their toes.
7. In Baku you can probably expect Red Bull to be about a second behind in qualifying purely because of the length of that front straight.

[Sieper]

Good analysis, on point 7 though, wasn't RB "just" 0,7 seconds down on the pole here last year (due to their ultra flat rear wing)? So maybe this year they can be a bit closer even?

[Vettel165]

Good analysis, on point 7 though, wasn't RB "just" 0,7 seconds down on the pole here last year (due to their ultra flat rear wing)? So maybe this year they can be a bit closer even?

RBR was 1,3 down on Mercedes here last year. Aero efficiency is the key on this circuit and good top speed, engine. I see Ferrari again at the top of top speed charts with their brand new car philosphy. Having high-rake is really good for tight S2 here, and then a low-drag Mercedes style in S1,S3 would of course help with the top speed.

[saviour stivala]

FIA imposing nothing new regarding this hot air speculation by the well known usual people.
FIA is not concerned by exhaust blowing the rear wing, as all teams exhaust tail-pipe position is within the FIA rules.
What the FIA is worried about is the speculations being pushed out about special maps which are triggered by the number 5 FERRARI new paddle on the steering wheel spinning the turbo by the "H" when the driver is off throttle. these speculators are implying that when the driver goes off-throttle the engine throttles are being open by the engine map. something that is not permitted by the rules. and something which in my opinion no team will attempt with the pedal/throttles rules as are.

[MtthsMlw]

FIA imposing nothing new regarding this hot air speculation by the well known usual people.
FIA is not concerned by exhaust blowing the rear wing, as all teams exhaust tail-pipe position is within the FIA rules.
What the FIA is worried about is the speculations being pushed out about special maps which are triggered by the number 5 FERRARI new paddle on the steering wheel spinning the turbo by the "H" when the driver is off throttle. these speculators are implying that when the driver goes off-throttle the engine throttles are being open by the engine map. something that is not permitted by the rules. and something which in my opinion no team will attempt with the pedal/throttles rules as are.

Of course you would do something like that with a big fat paddle on the steering wheel so that no one notices.

[Sieper]

FIA imposing nothing new regarding this hot air speculation by the well known usual people.
FIA is not concerned by exhaust blowing the rear wing, as all teams exhaust tail-pipe position is within the FIA rules.
What the FIA is worried about is the speculations being pushed out about special maps which are triggered by the number 5 FERRARI new paddle on the steering wheel spinning the turbo by the "H" when the driver is off throttle. these speculators are implying that when the driver goes off-throttle the engine throttles are being open by the engine map. something that is not permitted by the rules. and something which in my opinion no team will attempt with the pedal/throttles rules as are.

Of course you would do something like that with a big fat paddle on the steering wheel so that no one notices.

I would just have the drivers lean out of the monoque and blow the diffusor themselves when off throttle

[Zynerji]

What do you guys think about new restriction that FIA imposed starting this weekend (banning engine modes that help feed rear wing via exhaust) ?

For me it is just stupid to impose ban during season

Judging by the way they are going to try to prevent blowing rear wing and the way they explained it, it seem to me as they are saying we are not going to do anything about that this year.

There isn't any new regulation. All they said was that teams have been complaining about the rules not being followed. FIA realises that the intent of the rules are difficult to put down in words for the rulebook. But they will enforce the intent of the rules rather than the exact wording and hence work on a case-by-case approach. There isn't any kind of rule change - you were never allowed to have engine modes just for blowing the wing.

WORST. GOVERNING. MISTAKE. EVER.

Case by case subjective interpretation of the published rules is the fastest way to get ZERO signatories on the 2021 contract.

Who the fck wants to invest hundreds of millions just to have anything innovative that gives a competitive advantage (and legal under the published wording of the rules) subjectively outlawed during the season?

If anything, I'd be very concerned (as the teams) of this being the way forward, as it starts the slippery slope of fully manipulated racing. No self respecting team should tarnish their professional reputation by being a puppet in that play.

[Restomaniac]

Ferrari will have had no clue how their car treats the new compounds in 'anger' when they decided on this weekends tyre compounds.

That's a serious understatement for tyre and simulation engineers in Ferrari and other F1 teams.

Not really. They were new compounds.
Any simulations would have been on a total guess.