F1 Insiders Est. 2012
By Adam Macdonald A true great who gave such a service to the sport, and someone that will always be remembered, not least for his blistering speed, but also his personality off the track. Of course, it is none other than Ayrton Senna, now 19 years on. World Championships 3 Grand Prix Entries 162 Grand … Read more
Contributor: Courtroom Reporter & Crime Analyst: James Parker DRS, it is a controversial device which has divided opinion to the very core. Since its introduction in 2011, the FIA have constantly tinkered with the gimmick to ensure it creates the correct blend of opportunity, without detracting away from the skill of achieving a successful overtake. It begs … Read more
On this day in F1 – 05 April, brought to you by TheJudge13 chronicler Bart De Pauw – 1992: Last participation by a female driver to an F1 Championship event The second qualifying session for the 1992 Brazilian Grand Prix was the scene for the last appearance of a female driver in an F1 championship … Read more
F1 Forensics is brought to thejudge13 readers in partnership with SomersF1, Like most of us, Matthew Somerfield has a day job and his is being the manager of a car & van rental company in the Isle of Wight. His passion is to try and bring us non-techies closer to F1 by bridging the gap between … Read more
Another week and another Bar Exam. I’ve said this before but I have to say it again. No sooner had the last exam question been published and I had the first answer. If it was the wrong one I’d have been delighted however TJ13 followers seem to be of a different kind and very switched on!
Last week’s question was: Name the engine manufacturer of the engine in the image, the engine model, the drivers that raced it in their car (including the team) and how many races it won.
Follow thejudge13: Why not follow thejudge13 by email. Click on the button at the top right of the page to receive an email when (and only when) a new article hits the interweb.
thejudge13 archive: Here’s an article I wrote after trawling the southern US media prior to the inaugural Austin GP. To this date, I have not heard this reported anywhere else, yet you would think the sale of nearly 10% of F1 for $900m to the pensioners of North America might be of Interest to someone (LINK).
Marrusia – missed media opportunity: If you look on Marussiaf1team.com today, you’ll see a Christmas wish from Timo and John says, “”We are very proud of what we achieved in 2012 and we take away so many highlights, all of which point towards a development path we can have great confidence in. Thank you for sharing some fantastic experiences with us. Wishing you the very best of Christmases.”
No announcement of Timo’s partner for 2013, yet over the weekend, there have been some rumours emanating from Russian reporters. Joe Saward has some interesting insights on the Marussia car company today, “Marussia is a funny company. It took over a controlling interest in the Virgin F1 team around a year ago, but since then there has been virtually no word about the progress of the Marussia road cars”.
Editor’s note: Many sites run driver polls after each race and we have done a couple. I’m not sure if it’s what thejudge13 readers want though. Let me know your thoughts. I am going to run 3 driver of the year polls – I’m thinking of splitting it into 1 poll for the bottom 4, 1 for the middle 4 and 1 for the top 4 teams.
Further, the end of season is swiftly upon us, and it may be there are not articles every day from thejudge13 after next week. So to save you from visiting the site unnecessarily – why not sign up for email notification (right hand side bar – top) and you will get an email when a new article is uploaded. I have no access to the email addresses submitted as in the software there is a ‘widget’ handles this.
Just in 17:18 GMT: Red Bull maybe using some fancy rear wing end plates, that have a ruffle sticking out of the back plate. Could be a defensive aero part to create dirty air behind the car making overtaking more difficult for the car behind.
This wouldn’t be an aero compromise because the cars normally in Interlagos run a lot of wing due to the altitude and thin air. Usually at sea level this would create more drag and affect the performance of the RB car too.
In no particular order, here are the post race threads to be gathered together…
The track and the race: Hat’s off to Mr. Tilke, it seems like he’s finally getting to grips with how to design a track. The topography makes the circuit visually really interesting and the combination of the 3 sectors made for an excellent race. “Turn 2 to turn 9 is probably the best sector I’ve driven in F1”, commented Jenson.
The race itself was tremendous with battles up and down the grid. There were concerns about overtaking but this was clearly not a problem, in fact at times we were back to the same old problem of the FOM TV director not really sure what to show.
For those of you who got an email yesterday saying “Fri post” I apologise – I hit the publish instead of save button. Was just getting things ready like “On this day” and “pics” etc for today’s post – still 90 plus postings in and first time I did it.
Anyway good to see so many of you getting ready for Winter when there won’t be an article every day and are signing up for the email alert when there is one (side bar – top right). Anyway here we go for FP1 day in Austin Texas. I’ll get to the point eh?
F1 blow it AGAIN in the USA: The week before every F1 weekend, I start trawling the national and local media looking for how each country is gearing up for the big event. I won’t use Abu Dhabi as an example because its only about 8 miles long by 4 miles wide, but India was the most recent ‘unnatural’ fit of a country where F1 has visited. I say ‘unnatural’ because India is a country of 1bn people all obsessed with cricket.
This year, Formula One returns to the USA after a 5 year absence. Austin, Texas is the first purpose built circuit for the sport since F1 racing began in the country back in 1950. It’s a modern F1 design and is quite unlike the slippery, tight and twisty corners found on the street circuits in Long Beach, Las Vegas, Detroit, Phoenix and Dallas that hosted US Grands Prix in the 70s, 80s, and early 90s.
The last race in the state of Texas was in 1984 and is an event remembered by many not for the immaculate layout like in Austin, but it was a street circuit and these venues in the US particular presented an extraordinary challenge for the drivers, since one mistake could result in a race-ending crash. The 1984 Dallas Grand Prix provided an additional challenge on top of the already difficult winding track. The enormous heat of well over 100 degrees Fahrenheit left the track crumbling down as it was tormented by the cars.
Here’s an article I found from Marcel Schot (Netherlands) and a now defunct publication. Makes a good read.
