2019 United States Grand Prix - Austin, 1-3 November

[zibby43]

Im not so sure, as last year shows. RedBull was 0.150 ahead of Merc in Mexico, but 1.250 slower than Merc at CoTA. I assume last year the RedBull was strongest through T7-11 in Mexico, but were obviously way off in all sectors of CoTA.

" ....1.250 slower than Merc at CoTA." That was in qualifying. Did you see the race pace?
Quicker on older tires than Mercedes. Here you can see the sector times of each round with the tires.

https://f1.tfeed.net/2018/austin

Merc had to close the holes in their wheel rims (which were designed to work with their new wheels and the special brake drums introduced in Singapore) last year at COTA, to avoid a Ferrari protest in the event Hamilton clinched the championship there.

They were wildly inconsistent with their tires during that period of time.

[izzy]

Merc had to close the holes in their wheel rims (which were designed to work with their new wheels and the special brake drums introduced in Singapore) last year at COTA, to avoid a Ferrari protest in the event Hamilton clinched the championship there.

They were wildly inconsistent with their tires during that period of time.

i'd forgotten about that. I think those wheels are quite important, with the flow through them tidying the wake. I've always loved the cooling maskirovka. plus this year the rear suspension is new and now the front as well

COTA is quite like Silverstone, in my mind, so I'm expecting it to be reasonably close. they've all developed a lot since then of course, so it depends how much exactly

[zibby43]

Merc had to close the holes in their wheel rims (which were designed to work with their new wheels and the special brake drums introduced in Singapore) last year at COTA, to avoid a Ferrari protest in the event Hamilton clinched the championship there.

They were wildly inconsistent with their tires during that period of time.

i'd forgotten about that. I think those wheels are quite important, with the flow through them tidying the wake. I've always loved the cooling maskirovka. plus this year the rear suspension is new and now the front as well

COTA is quite like Silverstone, in my mind, so I'm expecting it to be reasonably close. they've all developed a lot since then of course, so it depends how much exactly

Agreed. They were quite important, especially in conjunction with the brake drums and ribbed wheels. They finally opened the holes in the wheel spacers back up in Abu Dhabi last year.

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/merce ... i/4302617/

They went from struggling on their tires the previous weekends to locking out the front row and Hamilton securing the win.

From Hughes' race report last year:

With the titles won, the Merc’s rear wheel cooling holes were run open all weekend. It’s a tiny detail in a car that’s been overwhelmingly effective, but still one that agitates Ferrari.

[izzy]

Agreed. They were quite important, especially in conjunction with the brake drums and ribbed wheels. They finally opened the holes in the wheel spacers back up in Abu Dhabi last year.

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/merce ... i/4302617/

They went from struggling on their tires the previous weekends to locking out the front row and Hamilton securing the win.

From Hughes' race report last year:

With the titles won, the Merc’s rear wheel cooling holes were run open all weekend. It’s a tiny detail in a car that’s been overwhelmingly effective, but still one that agitates Ferrari.

the thing I most liked was that they had everyone focussed on the spacer and cooling, but the spacer is just a heatshield it vents straight away (red arrow). the thing that really matters is the outwash vortex started by the small holes into each spoke (green arrow), which have high velocity jets from the brake duct that entrain a bigger flow:

and also the tyre side of the wheel is smooth, not textured for heat transfer, so the texture on the hub side is probably not for cooling at all but for getting the air rotating. so it's all a bit F1 secret Ferrari sussed it and that would've been the basis of their protest, the moving aero, anyway i reckon it was part of the W10 philosophy with the high-downforce/low outwash front wing. They did it on the fronts.

[zibby43]

Agreed. They were quite important, especially in conjunction with the brake drums and ribbed wheels. They finally opened the holes in the wheel spacers back up in Abu Dhabi last year.

https://us.motorsport.com/f1/news/merce ... i/4302617/

They went from struggling on their tires the previous weekends to locking out the front row and Hamilton securing the win.

From Hughes' race report last year:

With the titles won, the Merc’s rear wheel cooling holes were run open all weekend. It’s a tiny detail in a car that’s been overwhelmingly effective, but still one that agitates Ferrari.

the thing I most liked was that they had everyone focussed on the spacer and cooling, but the spacer is just a heatshield it vents straight away (red arrow). the thing that really matters is the outwash vortex started by the small holes into each spoke (green arrow), which have high velocity jets from the brake duct that entrain a bigger flow:
https://66.media.tumblr.com/f8b988992ca ... 1_1280.jpg
and also the tyre side of the wheel is smooth, not textured for heat transfer, so the texture on the hub side is probably not for cooling at all but for getting the air rotating. so it's all a bit F1 secret Ferrari sussed it and that would've been the basis of their protest, the moving aero, anyway i reckon it was part of the W10 philosophy with the high-downforce/low outwash front wing. They did it on the fronts.

Excellent info!

[Wouter]

" ....1.250 slower than Merc at CoTA." That was in qualifying. Did you see the race pace?
Quicker on older tires than Mercedes. Here you can see the sector times of each round with the tires.

https://f1.tfeed.net/2018/austin

Merc had to close the holes in their wheel rims (which were designed to work with their new wheels and the special brake drums introduced in Singapore) last year at COTA, to avoid a Ferrari protest in the event Hamilton clinched the championship there.

They were wildly inconsistent with their tires during that period of time.

You are absolutely right @Zibby43. I had forgotten that. Thanks also for all your later information!

[loner]

https://twitter.com/AlbertFabrega/statu ... 9890995200

[PlatinumZealot]

How do they calibrate those sensors though?

[63l8qrrfy6]

How do they calibrate those sensors though?

I am sure a half assed explanation will be provided as soon as those sensors are involved in some controversial FIA decision.

Judging by their record this year this will be at some point this weekend.

[RZS10]

<Posts about defecation? Seriously?> Oh no ... someone made a joke

Initial post (from memory) before deletion without mentioning 'defecation':
"All we know is that there will be a massive top secret 'tolerance' which will depend on [REDACTED]"

just to keep it kid friendly: "... depend on what the stewards had for breakfast that morning."

[ENGINE TUNER]

<Posts about defecation? Seriously?>

[countersteer]

Put the whole world on GMT and let's get on with life.

There is currently legislation in the EU system to do away with the summer/winter time changes. If it goes through, Europeans could see the whole thing abolished by 2021 or so.

As it happens, the majority of nations in the world do not observe the practise.

Sorry for the off topic. How about a wildly inaccurate prediction for the race ahead?

BOT, VER, LEC, Hamilton and Vettel collide and retire, racing indecent, which keeps Bottas' slim hopes alive.

[F1Krof]

Idk at this point the outcome of Qualy is more than obvious. Most likely Leclerc. Race-wise, yeah, Mercedes having a slightly better pace than Ferrari.

But one thing is for sure, if Mercs are ahead, it's very hard to catch them up.

[godlameroso]

How do they calibrate those sensors though?

I am sure a half assed explanation will be provided as soon as those sensors are involved in some controversial FIA decision.

Judging by their record this year this will be at some point this weekend.

They're magnetic sensors, they're triggered by crossing them. If you don't cross them then they don't trigger and a track cut will be recorded. Probably an easier better way to do it, for example a laser parallel to the track limits and if you cross it you're out of bounds.

Judging by where they're placed and the width of the cars, it seems you can have 2/3rds of the car off track and get away with it.

Those cracks aren't bad, they're way off line, hah, they'll get filled in by rubber marbles. I wonder if they fixed the back straight, there's some gnarly bumps there.

[NathanOlder]

Probably an easier better way to do it, for example a laser parallel to the track limits and if you cross it you're out of bounds.

But if 2 cars are following each other, 1st car goes half a car over the line, blocks the laser, second car is marginal and no way of telling as the laser was momentarily blocked by the car going well outside.