Ham and his team always seem to get it wrong when there's a safety car. He never seems to benefit from it, others seem to have a better pre-plan for safety cars. Strange.

Just bad luck so far this season. Sometimes it goes the other way.

I think it has to do with any braking or cornering force changing the loading of the suspension enough to overpower the cyclic loading from the aerodynamics. Ferrari had horrendous porpoising this weekend, didn't really see it so much on the RB.

I'm very happy for Leclerc (and Ferrari after their long dry spell, and I like both their young drivers), but I can't help thinking it's not gonna last. They've been known to falter in the development race and there are 20 more races this year! I think their only chance is if it becomes a 3 way battle with Mercedes coming back and taking points from redbull and they can ride their point cushion to the end, like Brawn did back in the day.

The coolest thing of the w/e to me was Alonso almost nabbing Pole if not for the car breaking down on him...Ok and Albon, good for him! Another Helmut Marko casualty making a comeback.

This season is very topsy turvy, based on setup I guess... Haas goes from Q1 to nowhere, McLaren from nowhere to Q1, Alpine vies for Pole but nowhere special in the race, Mercedes flatters in the race with safety cars but otherwise would be so much further back, alfa is similarly up and down... interesting new rules seem to have teams roll the dice on setup race after race...

It is nice to See Russel beating Hamilton. It keeps the British announcers happy sine it is still a Brit doing well.

Redbull really has to get more reliable. Poor Max will have a long hard journey to the end if his car keeps breaking.

His excuse in interview was pitiful. It was totally his fault and he can't see it.

It only took Hammy 3 races to start blaming the team. He did the same at McLaren after the 2008 WDC.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1649705677.jpg

And they put him the BEST seat and best position of all of them for 8 years straight. Gotta whine about it now.

I thought for a second, and the announcers said the same, that Hammy was going to want George to give up position.

Somehow I don't see George going quietly into the night in the same way as Bottas did.

He might just tell James; "you are coming in broken and stupid" and continue racing.

It would be a different situation if it was later in the season, and Lewis was chasing points to stay in championship contention. But right now, three races in, Hamilton is 5th in the points, with Russell chasing LeClerc. So, from a points perspective, Russell was in the right position.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...d4f43e0e0f.jpg


-rb

The other reason you don't see as much porpoising in corners is it is speed related. Drop below 120mph and the aerodynamic forces are reduced.

Best
Les

Really enjoying watching Ferrari winning again!

At Ferrari the pressure to win is unlike any other team, anything less than a win is considered failure.

In no way a sign of arrogance but just the passion everyone in the team brings to their job as winning is what the whole of Italy expects

Talked to a friend there today and he remarked there is more pressure in the team now than when they were trying to get back to the front of the grid

Yeah, I can imagine the pressure is immense at Ferrari. They finally have a decent car, one that’s capable of winning a championship, if they can just keep the advantage they have.

Right now, I’m pretty happy that the engine rules are static for a while. Maybe Ferrari can be competitive for more than one year.

This guy is the "Bill Nye science guy" of F1, with a spanish "rhaccent", I love his demos each time. This one is about the F1 fuel tanks and pumps/cavitation, very nicely explained:

https://youtu.be/YQsvU8_bb4Q

Anyone else thinking this is Vettel's last year?

I used to dislike the "kid Vettel" (mostly because I liked Webber, multi 21, etc), but have grown fond of him as he aged and since he left red bull - seems like a genuinely nice guy and funny too... But he's been outclassed at Ferrari in his last years, and aside from one flash in the pan race at Aston (that didn't count if I recall?) he seems to do no better than - gasp - Stroll jr...

Combine that with all you hear about papa Stroll running Aston F1 wrong (Otmar is too careful or scared of a suit to say it out loud but he hinted), and spending piles of cash with no results - you don't see their season getting better... I expect this is his last year, especially as the car seems to be a POS providing little motivation, I would not be shocked if he even quit mid season to be replaced by Hulkenberg, or another.

Alpine is trying to place Piastri (seemingly a true talent) somewhere, until Alonso retires, so they may pay for some of that and use him instead if Aston will have him for free?

For that matter, if Mercedes doesn't recover, will Hamilton stay after a year of 5th places and the annoyance of his loss to Verstappen last year? Not sure..
Seems that with the budget cap, recovering from a crap car and spending more $$$ might be more difficult... I could see Mercedes shifting to a 2023 car early with their research $ instead of trying to make this dog better (irrespective of team loyalties, I like that this ugly mercedes car is not competitive and that the very pretty Ferrari is - we suffered enough ugly cars)

Vettel’s contract is up this year. Hamilton’s contract goes through 2023. Vettel deserves better than what he has now. He did well at Ferrari alongside Kimi, and then Ferrari got caught cheating, and Ferrari sucked after that.

Vettel’s race win record is really due to having four years in a dominant Red Bull. Just like Lewis had eight years in a dominant Mercedes. If Red Bull remained dominant after the switch from V8s, Vettel would have 100+ race wins, and more championships.

I think he still has what it takes to drive a top car to many wins, and maybe another championship. But the likelihood of him getting a contract for such a car is pretty slim now. If Lawrence Stroll would just hire a quality team and then get out of the way, Aston Martin has the potential to be a dominant car.


-rb

I can't imagine that Vettel wants to stay with AM past this year . The car is crap and top level management/owner are in a tailspin on how to fix the turd they developed. They may make it better but it will be a painful year .

I can't imagine he needs the money and if he wants there are a variety of series that would welcome him . He is a skilled driver. I just think he has lost motivation to be a F1 driver. I wish him the best on whatever he decides for his driving career.

I’ve gone hot and cold about Vettel through the years. I thought he gave up in his last year at Ferrari so that has left a bad impression on me. He has more personality than most on the grid. I enjoyed his scooter stunt in Melbourne.

That is pretty cool. I always wondered how they can supply full flow of fuel when the F1 cars are cornering left and right and stopping at 5G and then hit the go pedal. The doggie door like flaps are a simple solution if the tank has multiple fuel pumps. I figured they used the foam in the tank to help slow the sloshing of the fuel.

The other end of high tech is the fuel tank on my 1986 El Camino. I converted it to fuel injection myself 20 years or so ago. If I am in a sustained left hand turn like a 360 degree on ramp and my tank is down to under 1/4 full the pump will starve and the engine does not like that for some reason.

I don't think I will try baffles and multiple pumps however, just keeping the tank full is easier.

Oh come on man, now you know exactly what to do, doggie doors, baffles, foam, collector, 3 pumps, come on !!! ;-)

Yea, spend several grand on fuel tank mods to solve an issue I solved by keeping the tank above 1/4 tank. I am often amazed how well my 911 tank works. I was at Eagles Canyon race track flogging my 911 and having a blast getting 7 MPG. I looked at the gas gauge after one 25 minute session and saw it was just at E but the light had not come on. Not one hiccup. I had to pay the high price of track gas premium for the last session. Now all gas costs more than what I bought at the track last year.

Holley carbs came up with a cheap solution that is apparently pretty effective. I haven't had the need to try it, but it's been around for a while now. I doubt if it would be up to F1 standards, but for muscle cars that drag race and autocross I'm sure it's worth a look.

https://www.holley.com/products/fuel_systems/hydramat/

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1650038190.jpg

^^^ That is a slick solution !!!

Not sure if this has made the rounds, I saw it today:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/MvPGAtRdAqw" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Charles apparently had his Richard Mille stolen right off of his wrist.

That's be weird.

Yep it was a 320k watch !!!

So I was just reading the changes to the Sprint Race rules on Autosport and saw this little tidbit

"According to F1 regulations, each team will be permitted to spend $150,000 more per sprint race, with an added $100,000 allowed if one of the team’s cars retires from the sprint. An extra adjustment to the cost cap can be made to cover crash damage if it leads to the retirement of a team’s car."

How many cars will be retired to get the extra cash if they are not in points scoring position. I can see Aston doing it since they will probably dead last anyway.

This was great!

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/S7oMM6o96UU" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Pretty cool.
I bet that was fun to scream down the roads in NYC and Miami.

Haas finish practice in 4th and 5th place, it appears they have pace in the wet . Hamilton is 7 seconds off the pace . Ferrari fast with both cars . Now let's see what everyone can do in qualifying .

2022 F1 Thread
 

Max (1st) and LeClerc (2nd) on the front row, and K-Mag qualifying 4th for the Sprint Race! Norris 3rd. And both Bottas (8th) and Vettel (9th) made it into the top 10.

Russell 11th, Hamilton 13th.


-rb

Max looked after his tires better than Charles. Nice recovery drive by Carlos.

Best
Les

Well, that was satisfying.

Perez is showing great pace and driving, he’s a great addition to the RB team, doing more this year than he did early last year.

How’s Lewis going to defend his lack of pace when George Russell finished high in the points?

Glad to see Bottas getting the most from the Alfa and finishing well in the points.

Aston Martin finally got some points, and Vettel ran a good race.

Sainz had the most disappointing weekend of any driver. Too bad.

Albon doing some impressing racing, considering that he’s in a Williams.


-rb

2022 F1 Thread
 

Hamilton starts in 14th ends in 13th. I thought he was a great driver that could pass at will. Russell shows him how to drive a slow car and score points. George had a car with the wing set for wet weather and it was dry. He managed to get to 4th with a bad setup and a very average car.

Lando Norris had the worst helmet hair of them all. ;)

Natalie Pinkman is a decent announcer. Naomi Schiff does real well. Naomi is a driver, and most importantly can speak English. Paul Diresta is a decent driver but his accent is so heavy I can hardly understand him. He need to learn to speak clearly.

Enjoyed the race but felt bad for Sainz and Schumacher . Good for K-mag to continue to get points . Lando a great race and good for Vettel to get points . Albon getting everything out of the Williams. Bottas a strong finish. Latifi must be hanging by a string to keep his ride . Will Aston Martin be sold this year to Audi ?

Isn't Latifi paying a lot of Williams' bills?

He doesn't have to say anything. Apparently Toto is running that effort. His post race radio broadcast was a joke. Sorry Lewis for not doing our part it the garage. Nothing said about how his teammate managed 4th in the same car.

Think about this: have you ever seen Hammy perform well when his ride wasn't top shelf? He didn't exactly set the world on fire at McLaren when things weren't going well.

I like Natalie as well. And not hard to look at.

I'm on the fence about Naomi. She's gotten better from the 1st race when she couldn't stand still. I looked her up again today: W Series and some GT racing. I was a bit disappointed to read that she is the "Diversity and Inclusion Ambassador" for the W Series. It is a women only racing series, why need D and I anything? She should show some character and politely decline.

2022 F1 Thread
 

I looked it up, and after Lewis won his first F1 Championship in 2008, the following years with McLaren (through 2012) he finished fourth or fifth, finishing ahead of Jensen Button (his teammate) twice. Then in 2013, the last year before the turbo hybrid era, Lewis finished fourth for Mercedes, vs sixth for his teammate Nico Rosberg. So that’s really a wash, since the difference between Lewis and his teammates wasn’t so dramatic that it couldn’t be accounted for by he or his teammate losing some points in key races during a season. Could have been caused by a crash, a safety car, a pit screwup, etc.

But I still think Lewis proves that when the car is doing well, he outperforms his teammates more often. There are lots of Lewis haters out there, but his results speak more to his ability as a driver. The results so far this season look more favorably on George Russell, but I think it’s still too early to say whether George is that much better in the same car. George was fortunate to get a pass opportunity early in this last race, and maintained his position.

Conditions during the last race were varying, with rain, colder temperatures, no DRS for a long time. It was pretty funny that Lewis couldn’t get past Gasly, and Gasly was having a pretty crappy race.

Speaking of Gasly…he has been hoping to get back to the Red Bull grownup team, but Perez will be keeping him away, and he’s also getting embarrassed by his teammate Yuki Tsunoda, who’s only in F1 for his second year. If Tsunoda can start AND finish all of his races I think he will end up getting more points than Gasly. And I think Gasly will be the next casualty at contract time, in 2023.

Netflix did a good job showing the RB/AT contention between Gasly and Albon.


-rb