2020 Formula One

[drd23]

 

[DamoESP]

Been checking out Marc Priestley's (former McLaren mechanic) youtube channel and he is seems to be a doing a video on each teams new car, discussing the changes they've made, the concepts behind new bits of body work etc etc. Seems to be really informative little series he is doing.

Here is the one he just released on RBR's new car


The Ferrari one is good as well. Really worth checking out.

 

[drd23]

Craig Scarborough is doing a similar thing on Peter Windsor's Youtube channel, only with better production quality

 

[Sven]

Testing starts tomorrow, and although pre-season test times don't mean much I'd expect the car to be pretty quick straight out of the box due to the evolutionary nature of this year's rules (ie not much change to last year).

The fastest times of the 2019 Barcelona Test are outlined below:

Week 1:
Day 1, Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:18.161, C3
Day 2, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari 1:18.247, C3
Day 3, Daniil Kvyat, Toro Rosso, 1:18.897, C4
Day 4, Nico Hülkenberg, Renault, 1:17.393, C5

Week 2:
Day 1, Lando Norris, McLaren, 1:17.709, C4
Day 2, Carlos Sainz, McLaren, 1:17.144, C4
Day 3, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari, 1:16.231, C5
Day 4, Sebastian Vettel, Ferrari, 1:16.221, C5

The type of tyre used for the times is also listed with C5 being the softest.

There are only three days of testing each week this year compared to 4 days last year.

 

[Sven]

The Alfa livery for 2020

 

[Sven]

One of these things is a lot like the other.....

 

[DamoESP]

HAHAHAHA RIC taking the piss again before the 2020 drivers photo in Barcelona

 

[Sven]

One of these things is a lot like the other.....

Racing Point would appear to be the Mercedes B team, ala Haas (Ferrari) and AlphaTauri (Red Bull)

first I‘ve heard of a team using the front as well as rear suspension setup of another team. I’m pretty sure Haas and AlphaTauri only use the rear set up.

Rival teams unhappy with RP20 being 'Mercedes copy' | PlanetF1

According to a report by Auto Motor und Sport, teams aren't too impressed with Racing Point using an "exact copy" of Mercedes' W10.

www.planetf1.com

 

[Sven]

Awesome news for Williams fans....

Williams made a 'real point' with very first lap in testing | PlanetF1

Last year Williams only left the pits after lunch on Day 3, this year the team was the very first out on track as testing began in Spain.

www.planetf1.com

I’m not saying they won’t be the back markers again, but this season is off to a much better start than last season’s disaster.

 

[drd23]

From that Racing Point article:

[Racing Point’s technical director Andrew Green] "also expects Racing Point to take a big step forwards in the midfield battle"

You'd hope so if they were basically copying last year's winning car

 

[happy_eagle]

Hopefully an improved Williams allows George Russell to showcase some of his ability. I wonder how far up the grid Racing Point will go with a 2019 Mercedes Car.
Podiums would be a chance ?

 

[Sven]

Hopefully an improved Williams allows George Russell to showcase some of his ability. I wonder how far up the grid Racing Point will go with a 2019 Mercedes Car.
Podiums would be a chance ?

I still think the top three will be ahead of the rest, but you never know until the racing starts for real. Their competitiveness will come down to how much in-season development Racing Point can achieve. The top teams normally get about 2 seconds a lap faster over the year, which means they need a similar amount to compete against the top teams. I doubt Racing Point will have the budget to keep up with them.

The other question is whether or not Mercedes will give their customers the full range of qually modes that Hamilton and Bottas have. I doubt it and as a result Racing Point will struggle to qualify in the top half of the top 10

 

[Sven]

Technical trickery with the new Mercedes

 

[drd23]

In case you're like me and didn't know what you're supposed to be looking at



No way that can be legal

 

[DamoESP]

So if Merc have now conquered tyre wear and everyone else will spend all season struggling to catch up, I suppose...see you guys all in 2021?

 

[DamoESP]

So from this post on Reddit, it appears that the FIA have known about this DAS for at least 5 months as they have already banned it in the 2021 regulations (that were released in Oct 2019). So if true, I'm not sure how many teams will throw massive resources at trying to develop their own system if its useless for 2021.

 

[drd23]

Assuming it provides a sporting benefit (and it should, otherwise there'd be no point in devising it), that will make 2020 even less competitive up front given its unlikely it'll be ruled illegal for this season

 

[DamoESP]

Well there it is, confirmed by F1.com that DAS is not legal in 2021 but legal in 2020.

Mercedes trick DAS steering system won’t be legal under 2021 rules | Formula 1®

Mercedes’ trick steering system has been the talk of the paddock, but it has emerged it’ll only be permissible for 2020 as the draft regulations for next season, which will see a radical overhaul of the championship, would not allow the device to be used…

www.formula1.com

 

[drd23]

Mercedes not even sandbagging this year

 

[happy_eagle]

Well there it is, confirmed by F1.com that DAS is not legal in 2021 but legal in 2020.

Mercedes trick DAS steering system won’t be legal under 2021 rules | Formula 1®

Mercedes’ trick steering system has been the talk of the paddock, but it has emerged it’ll only be permissible for 2020 as the draft regulations for next season, which will see a radical overhaul of the championship, would not allow the device to be used…

www.formula1.com

On a scale of 0 to a Brawn double diffuser, how much of an impact will Mercedes DAS have on performance ?
Will be hard to judge because they are likely to be the fastest car again anyway.

 

[Skull Face]

Going to be a snooze of a season if the Mercs can go miles longer then anyone else unless they are stuck in traffic.

 

[Black_White]

I agree that this would be a massive advantage, to the detriment of the show for all us punters.
But you’ve got to admire the engineering. Very smart stuff.

 

[Sven]

I agree that this would be a massive advantage, to the detriment of the show for all us punters.
But you’ve got to admire the engineering. Very smart stuff.

DAS is a very clever idea and needs to be crash tested before other teams can put it on their cars. Merc have definitely pulled a rabbit out of the bag.

 

[DamoESP]

Well then.....if thats the case we might as well just call the 2020 season done and bring on 2021!

No 'DAS' for Ferrari until mid-season at best says Binotto

Mattia Binotto believes Ferrari would have to wait until mid-season before deploying their own DAS system on this year's Formula 1 car.

www.gpfans.com

 

[Black_White]

Well then.....if thats the case we might as well just call the 2020 season done and bring on 2021!

No 'DAS' for Ferrari until mid-season at best says Binotto

Mattia Binotto believes Ferrari would have to wait until mid-season before deploying their own DAS system on this year's Formula 1 car.

www.gpfans.com

Aren’t we just treading water waiting for 2021 anyway?
And wasn’t that always the case once the new 2021 rules were announced?
I don’t blame racing point for lifting as much of the best car out there as possible when it’s a one year competition before having to trash it completely.
Economics while advancing the brand.