2012 FIA Formula 1 World Championship Pre-Season Thread

[dnvrdrvr]

Originally Posted by gary88

I heard a horse whip in my head when I saw this.

[stefan]

Don't know if you guys have seen it yet, but the guys at http://www.f1calendar.com/ just updated their site for ease with exporting. Very handy in the ol' google calendar.

[UltimateBMW]

So, lets talk about Reactive Suspension.

It was tested at the end of last year, in secret. And it has now been banned before a single public test or official event. http://pitpass.com/45499-Exclusive-R...pension-banned

I for one am a little disappointed and the idea behind this invention was great. I would have liked to see it working on a car at least. I shouldn't have to say this, but it's too bad that Lotus was sloppy and let the cat out.

[stefan]

Mega disappointed. I for one am disgusted with the criteria used to ban innovations in F1 at the moment. The FIA is so quick to jump the gun. The reactive suspension system sounded like it was going to be excellent for competition while still promoting FIA's focus on aero. They banned reactive suspension under 3.15:

3.15 Aerodynamic influence :
With the exception of the driver adjustable bodywork described in Article 3.18 (in addition to minimal parts
solely associated with its actuation) and the ducts described in Article 11.4, any specific part of the car
influencing its aerodynamic performance :
- must comply with the rules relating to bodywork.
- must be rigidly secured to the entirely sprung part of the car (rigidly secured means not having any degree of freedom).
- must remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car.
Any device or construction that is designed to bridge the gap between the sprung part of the car and the ground is prohibited under all circumstances.
No part having an aerodynamic influence and no part of the bodywork, with the exception of the skid block in 3.13 above, may under any circumstances be located below the reference plane.
With the exception of the parts necessary for the adjustment described in Article 3.18, any car system,
device or procedure which uses, or is suspected of using, driver movement as a means of altering the aerodynamic characteristics of the car is prohibited.

Key thing here is "having an influence of part of the bodywork", though the regulation almost makes it sound like that would apply only to actively controlled influences, while the reactive system is fairly organic and sensible. Oh well.

[BrokenVert]

What happened to F1 being about innovation?

[E90SLAM]

FIA banned it too early, no fun.
It was used to be fun to see teams trying to catch up with innovative technology every season, such as F-Duct, Double Deck Diffusor, Blown Diffusor, Flex-Front Wing, etc etc.

[UltimateBMW]

Originally Posted by E90SLAM

FIA banned it too early, no fun.
It was used to be fun to see teams trying to catch up with innovative technology every season, such as F-Duct, Double Deck Diffusor, Blown Diffusor, Flex-Front Wing, etc etc.

A few years ago, it seemed like new tech wouldn't get banned until after it had run a race. I would like to see this become a rule so as to not instantly bin possibly months of hard work.

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by UltimateBMW

A few years ago, it seemed like new tech wouldn't get banned until after it had run a race. I would like to see this become a rule so as to not instantly bin possibly months of hard work.

I think FIA banned it right away so they don't have to deal with the drama happened last summer during British GP. It was embarrassing to changing the rule mid-season and regulate some team's engine mapping.

Btw, the 2012 Caterham CT01 leaked from twitter...

[gary88]

[RingBredE90]

Originally Posted by gary88

Awesome!

[BrokenVert]

That video is amazing!

[ptack]

Shouldn't they be practicing tire changes?

[gary88]

[speedfan]

Originally Posted by jonasaurus

Now that Redbull and Ferrari and more recently Sauber have left FOTA should make for potentially greater disparity in R&D and ultimately dominance in the next season.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/form...e/16009873.stm

Could someone please explain to me what it means?

Ferrari & Redbull wanted to spend more money on their R&D, but couldnt reach the agreement with FOTA, so they quit?

How does that effect the sport?

[raisemyrent]

it means that they won't all be in agreement over how much to spend and what certain technologies and strategies to use and not use. so we could be back to the days where the big spenders earn the most and that is it (which affects the smaller fish trying to just get by).

[speedfan]

Originally Posted by raisemyrent

it means that they won't all be in agreement over how much to spend and what certain technologies and strategies to use and not use. so we could be back to the days where the big spenders earn the most and that is it (which affects the smaller fish trying to just get by).

I see. Thanks.

[RingBredE90]

Picked up these classics recently...

The legends...Bernie Ecclestone's money shot.




Biggest ever rivalry...




The car Schumi drove in his first ever F1 race, and his only race for Jordan.

[gary88]

Awesome.

[gary88]

Looks like Ferrari is going to have the stepped nose too. I bet everyone will. Ugly cars here we come.

http://www.formula1.com/news/technical/2012/0/929.html

[E90SLAM]

[E90SLAM]

Nice!!! No step-nose!!!
Hope it doesn't compromise the performance...McLaren has been playing catch up since 2009....

Still hiding the diffusor...

[BrokenVert]

Nice one, the Mclaren looks good