Mike Lawrence is a British author and reporter of the F1 scene. There's got to be some of his stuff in my library - juxtaposed amongst the Posthumus, Pritchard, Pomeroy, Boddy, and Setright. He has a wonderful set of random thoughts up at the PitPass site that I highly recommend taking the time to read if you are a fan of Formula 1.
The biggest chuckle I got out of it was his explanation of Ferrari's woes this season. He wrote, "I did warn that, having got rid of adult supervision, in the persons of Brawn and Todt, Ferrari would revert to being Italian. It has become Scuderia Shambles, its natural default."
Here's the link.
Showing posts with label Brawn F1. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Brawn F1. Show all posts
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Brawn Sweeps Monaco
Strength upon strength - the Brawn GP team finishes one/two yet again, this time in Monaco. Jensen Button takes a commanding lead in the driver's championship while Brawn GP stretches its lead in the manufacturers' championship.
The race lead was never really contested. Button led from the pole and became the first British driver to win from pole since Sir Jackie Stewart did the same in 1973.
Interesting radio chatter from the team to Button after he won, "Congratulations and pick up as much rubber as possible please." Formula 1 cars are weighed (as well as the drivers) at the end of the race and must make minimum weight to pass scrutiny. The soft, hot, slick tires will pick up cigarette butts, pieces of rubber shed from other tires, gravel, small animals - you name it - and add to the weight of the car.
Good way to start the day!
The race lead was never really contested. Button led from the pole and became the first British driver to win from pole since Sir Jackie Stewart did the same in 1973.
Interesting radio chatter from the team to Button after he won, "Congratulations and pick up as much rubber as possible please." Formula 1 cars are weighed (as well as the drivers) at the end of the race and must make minimum weight to pass scrutiny. The soft, hot, slick tires will pick up cigarette butts, pieces of rubber shed from other tires, gravel, small animals - you name it - and add to the weight of the car.
Good way to start the day!
Friday, May 22, 2009
Monaco Grand Prix
The Monaco Grand Prix runs this weekend - thankfully earlier in the morning here in flyover country than the Indy 500. Giancarlo Fisichella talks us through a lap of the circuit - the greatest street race of them all!
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Well, It's a Little Early for the Silly Season, but . . .
. . . Ferrari never fails to fulfill the fun factor by throwing a true hissy fit. They've decided to withdraw from F1 next year, because the governing body wants to limit costs.
More in this article from one of my favorite sites: MotorAuthority
More in this article from one of my favorite sites: MotorAuthority
Snooze in Spain
I love Formula 1 - it's been a soap opera extraodinaire these past couple of years, with rules changes, scandals, pouting drivers, the whole kit and kaboodle - but the race this last weekend in Spain was, baring an early wreck fest, a snoozer. Watching Indy practice and qualifying has been much more fun!
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
F1 Follies
We are two races into the F1 season and the winner of both races, Brawn, may be stripped of those wins if a ruling on the legality of their rear diffuser goes against them.
Then, if that weren't enough silliness to deal with, there is talk that the current F1 Champion, Lewis Hamilton, and the team he drives for, McLaren-Mercedes, may face more penalties and potentially be tossed from the lineup for the rest of the season. That coming from an incident at the end of the Australian GP where Lewis Hamilton's veracity under questioning regarding the incident was found wanting.
NASCAR used to be the arbitrary, over-officious, types but I think the F1 folks are taking them to school. ;-)
Read more @ http://www.pitpass.com/
Then, if that weren't enough silliness to deal with, there is talk that the current F1 Champion, Lewis Hamilton, and the team he drives for, McLaren-Mercedes, may face more penalties and potentially be tossed from the lineup for the rest of the season. That coming from an incident at the end of the Australian GP where Lewis Hamilton's veracity under questioning regarding the incident was found wanting.
NASCAR used to be the arbitrary, over-officious, types but I think the F1 folks are taking them to school. ;-)
Read more @ http://www.pitpass.com/
Sunday, March 29, 2009
The (Formula 1) World Turned Upside Down
Yes the season opening Grand Prix was held in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia and was held 'upside down' (according to those bigots in the northern hemisphere. ; -) But the real reason it was upside down was the results. Neither Ferrari finished the race and reigning F1 champion, Lewis Hamilton, missed the podium when he placed fourth.
Even more amazing was the Brawn team's 1-2 finish. This is the team that Honda discarded. Now running with Mercedes power, the team managed spectacular results despite the staggering odds against them. (And what does that say about Honda power? ;-)
But Brawn may have had a bit of an edge. Grip, the ability to stick to the track, in F1 cars comes from two sources, mechanical grip (tires) and aerodynamic grip (wings/diffusers/barge boards and the like.)
The governing body of F1 instituted a number of significant rules changes this year to reduce aerodynamic grip in the hopes of providing a better on track product (namely passing - which has been rare in F1 races). They gave back a bit of mechanical grip when they returned to running slick tires (unlike the grooved tires they had used in previous seasons).
Mechanical grip is fairly constant regardless of speed but aerodynamic grip is not. Airflow across the surfaces is critical to producing the grip. Reduce the airflow, by following to closely to the car ahead or going to slowly in a corner, and you lose grip. The upshot is that the car does not handle well and more speed is lost whilst attempting to regain control.
Ross Brawn is the principal of Brawn racing and he has a long and successful racing record (think Ferrari F1 during the Schumacher days). They found a 'hole' in the rules that allowed them to gain a bit of an aero advantage over their competitors (and why the rest of the teams, save two others, failed to exploit that hole too is THE big question).
While the rest of teams had some issues with rear grip, both Brawn cars were near perfect (Barrichello's driving during the race was anything but however). It was as if the Brawn cars were in mid-season form at the first race. This is going to be an interesting season.
PS - Well the stewards taketh away - Jarno Trulli, in P3 at the end of the race was penalized 25 seconds after the race and third place was awarded to Hamilton. What's an F1 race without the intervention of the stewards. It's almost as bad as NASCAR. ; -)
Even more amazing was the Brawn team's 1-2 finish. This is the team that Honda discarded. Now running with Mercedes power, the team managed spectacular results despite the staggering odds against them. (And what does that say about Honda power? ;-)
But Brawn may have had a bit of an edge. Grip, the ability to stick to the track, in F1 cars comes from two sources, mechanical grip (tires) and aerodynamic grip (wings/diffusers/barge boards and the like.)
The governing body of F1 instituted a number of significant rules changes this year to reduce aerodynamic grip in the hopes of providing a better on track product (namely passing - which has been rare in F1 races). They gave back a bit of mechanical grip when they returned to running slick tires (unlike the grooved tires they had used in previous seasons).
Mechanical grip is fairly constant regardless of speed but aerodynamic grip is not. Airflow across the surfaces is critical to producing the grip. Reduce the airflow, by following to closely to the car ahead or going to slowly in a corner, and you lose grip. The upshot is that the car does not handle well and more speed is lost whilst attempting to regain control.
Ross Brawn is the principal of Brawn racing and he has a long and successful racing record (think Ferrari F1 during the Schumacher days). They found a 'hole' in the rules that allowed them to gain a bit of an aero advantage over their competitors (and why the rest of the teams, save two others, failed to exploit that hole too is THE big question).
While the rest of teams had some issues with rear grip, both Brawn cars were near perfect (Barrichello's driving during the race was anything but however). It was as if the Brawn cars were in mid-season form at the first race. This is going to be an interesting season.
PS - Well the stewards taketh away - Jarno Trulli, in P3 at the end of the race was penalized 25 seconds after the race and third place was awarded to Hamilton. What's an F1 race without the intervention of the stewards. It's almost as bad as NASCAR. ; -)
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