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F1 Forensics: Hungary Analysis… August Summer Break(12:43)
Windtunnel woes continue for Ferrari(08:13)
McLaren back to the future(08:13)
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F1 Forensics: Hungary Analysis… August Summer Break
Dr James Beck is currently on holiday in sunny Greece so we won’t have a F1 Forensics looking at underlying race pace.
And on that note, TJ13 will also be scaling down a bit for much needed rest however our project manager, John Myburgh, will be around and should any interesting news break publish it.
Windtunnel woes continue for Ferrari
We know Ferrari used Toyota’s windtunnel in Cologne to design the F138 due to their tunnel being unavailable while being upgraded.It appears Ferrari is running into problems upgrading their own windtunnel.
Deputy chief designer for Ferrari, Simone Resta, admitted ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix that the team was still working hard to get on top of its issues. When asked about it [the windtunnel] he said, “It is difficult situation. We are still struggling. We are working on an external windtunnel and we have our own one. It has been a problem. We are working on it, but we will sort it out“.
When asked when they will sort it out he replied, “late summer“. Could it be that Alonso will get a below par 2014 challenger yet again?
McLaren back to the future
While very little nes was available over the last three weeks it appears McLaren have been burning the midnight oil. Having effectively stopped developing their 2013 car to focus on 2014 they still managed to put a new package on the MP4-28… one which resembles the MP4-7
Last year McLaren ended the season with the fastest car and then decided to go down a completely new development route. This decision is haunting the team however, first indications of the ‘new’ upgrade looks promising.
So whats new; New front wing, new mounting struts to the wing, new air deflector on the nose, new deflectors in front of the sidepods, new exhaust, new engine cover, new rear brake ducts and a new floor changing the way the air is channelled at the rear wheels, all very close to the MP4-27.
In an interview to AMuS, Whitmarsh said most of the changes are in line for next year’s car. “Except for the exhaust modification, all other modifications are for next year’s car“.
They have now changed their aerodynamic philosophy back to their 2012 car. Whitmarsh said, “The entire flow from the front to the rear was restructured”. Just after Silverstone Whitmarsh said they are having problems with the wake from the front suspension and having gone back to last year’s aero philosophy it seem to have cleaned up some of the dirty air.
Whitmarsh believes McLaren has learnt a lot in 2013 and they are now on the right track… time will tell.
How the hell can you mess up a wind tunnel for two bleedin’ years?? No wonder Alsonso is getting fed up. Ever since Schumacher left Ferrari descended back into being a pre-1996 clown-opreation. It’s pathetic!
As you say Danilo, one can understand Alonso’s frustration. Are we about to see another Twitter outburst 😉
I think it takes something more substantial than a NSA-infested SMS-site to kick these guys back into line. Ferrari have one of the biggest if not the biggest budget and they waste a talent like Alonso for the fourth consecutive year. That’s ridiculous!
Twitter outburst? I would hang Fry from the highest tree by now!
The ecomentalists would object
Really? Well, a giant sequoia tree in Emilia-Romagna would do just fine for me.
LOL 😀
Well, it wasn’t really Schuey leaving that caused Ferrari descending into chaos, it was rather Brawn (2006), Todt (2007), but most importantly Rory Byrne (2009). The Ferraris of ’07 and ’08 were very competitive, 2nd best and best car respectively.
Rory Byrne is currently working for Ferrari. Doesn’t seem to help much, which is a friggin’ pity, beccause he was the only one who could take the fight to Adrian Newey
I think he is more of a consultant to Tombazis, plus you can’t really change a car in a year that was the 3rd quickest over the last 4 years with the regs not changing.
My understanding is that his input is more in next year’s car. So, strictly theoretically, the 3 works teams (Merc, Ferrari, RBR) with Byrne, Brawn/Lowe, Newey and Alonso, Hamilton, Vettel, are poised for a mouthwatering new era in F1.
Do you think Ferrari is missing Aldo Costa?
All jokes aside, what Simone Resta is saying is that the Maranello windtunnel is still giving them problems, which forces them to use the Cologne tunnel.
Then how does he explain the updates not working?
Did the Toyota ever work ? 😉
Hmm…is it a coincidence McLaren is also using the Toyota tunnel?
If it comes down to shitty performance, they may just as well. Although McLaren is a different case. There were three teams, who had a decent 2012 car and scrapped it for a radical new design in a transition year – Mclaren, Williams and Sauber and they all are shucking fit. No points for guessing who effed up big time…
The decision is even stranger in McLaren’s case because they actually had a great car in 2012 (though unreliable, as ever). But it’s not rocket science that if the wind tunnel is not giving the right results, the car won’t perform as expected in real conditions.
The 2012 McLaren wasn’t the most reliable car,but frankly most points were lost by pit crew ineptitude. No other team effed up so many pit strops. Lewis should have been champion last year, not Seb, but his team fucked up big time.
Remember, McLaren is also using the Toyota windtunnel… not particularly successful… Both teams are using pull rod front suspension.
Whitmarsh said it is the wake off the front suspension struts so perhaps the tunnel needs to be calibrated for that?
Completely off-topic: I’m organizing a road-trip to next year’s Monaco GP. We currently have 6 places left. If you’re interested in joining – mail the fat hippo at danilo.schoeneberg at googlemail.com. We’re starting somewhere in central Germany (probably Hannover) anbd drive south with a Top Gear-esque detour over the Stelvio Pass and legendary alpine passes of Col de la Madelaine and Col du Galibier down to Monaco. I’ll pay for the tickets. Fuel bills have to be paid by everybody himself.
Are you supplying the cars as well Danilo 🙂
Nope 😉
Will you be in your Mercedes, Danilo…?
yes, but since the rear seats are useless and since according to Clarkson everyone in the back seats of a convertible looks like Hitler, I can’t take another passenger as the passenger seat’s already taken 😉
Watching Quali got me thinking. How many more races and point would RB have got in the last couple of years if Newey had compromised just a little and made more room for the KERS system?
And it also made me wonder how badly RB will do in 2014 when the various supplementary systems are much more important so any failures will cost a team far more than they do now.
Is it just that we only hear of a problem when it happens to RB, or has no-one else had any KERS issues recently?
Hope everything’s Ok judge? I’m hoping you’re just having a summer break like the teams and have not reached terminal burnout!
This site is absolutely my number one stop for F1.
CTP – Really appreciate you asking
Everything fine. Been a little busy and travelling almost permanently. Some of the places I’ve been have no 3G and little wire based internet connections.
I’ve got a lot of catching up to do to canvas the various motoring federations of the world to support my challenge to a certain Frenchman.
Also been learning a little of the Bavarian customs – might come in handy 😉
Seriously, urgent matters has called me away from being here for the past 7 days. I will be around until next weekend and then indisposed until just before SPA.
I’ll publish a judges chambers this week to outline some steps forward we are looking to take.
We celebrate our 1 year anniversary in September and phase 2 of our bid to dominate F1 will begin then 🙂
All donations to support our campaign to……
…just put up the bank details and we’ll see what we can come up with….
..unless you would rather have brown envelopes in an under the table style manner..
You honour , a quick question, I was watching the qualy program on sky and Stefano said it was a big weekend for Massa in ways, was his contract hinges on this weekend, do you know anything about this?
I do feel a bit for Massa, he’s partnered with someone whom many think is currently the best driver in F1, it must be like being hit over the head with a cricket bat each weekend. I think against any other driver in f1 he’d be ok, his only problem is, it’s just not just any driver in the other car. I do wonder who else they could put in that car.
I think alonso would dismantle Diresta, and Diresta seems to get upset easily.
I’m a big hulknenburg fan, just wonder if he’s special enough to upset alonso on pace to often, but then that’d cause Ferrari problems.
And Bianchi, is he special or Chilton just a bit shit?
So Massa might still be the best choice.
On a side note, I think nico, is starting to feel a bit like Button did in qualifying against Lewis.
I’ve heard Ferrari have been trialing fairly clever systems on Massa’s car. The incidents in Monaco and Germany are very strange. It is as though the car was bottoming out – removing control from the steering.
Remember the big piece I did on Felipe and the Ferrari family – that was a big vote of confidence for a driver who they think is useless.
Stafano is playing the game. The media think it’s another Massa time of trouble, but the team know exactly why these incidents have occurred.
Thanks for that, guess I missed the obvious , as always you know your stuff, brilliant brilliant web site.