Formula One 2014

[sh@un]

goin' for the jugular

[djr81]

Pretty ordinary effort really. Why are Merc involved in it all anyway?

[hrd-hr30]

Pretty ordinary effort really. Why are Merc involved in it all anyway?

The rules allow other teams to be involved in proceedings. Merc said;

"We are here to seek to ensure that that does not happen, we must have a level playing field going forward for the remainder of the season.

"We apprehend that the other teams represented here today [Lotus, Williams, McLaren and Force India] take the same view, which is why they are here today."

[djr81]

http://www.speedcafe.com/2014/04/14/brabham-secures-maiden-indy-lights-podium/

[hrd-hr30]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-04-15/red-bull-and-ricciardo-await-verdict-after-appeal/5390198

...Red Bull apparently ignored FIA's advice to reduce the flow of fuel a little so as not to break the rule.

"We really tried, between the 8th and 16th lap, but that was costing us 0.4 second a lap and going at that rhythm we wouldn't have been able to retain second place," argued Red Bull's technical director Adrian Newey at the appeal.

compelling argument!

[djr81]

Mercedes-AMG lawyer Paul Harris told the appeal he believed Red Bull should face a stiffer punishment as their offence was worse than that of the now defunct BAR-Honda team, who in 2005 were found to have used two hidden fuel tanks inside their main fuel tank.

Who are they kidding?

[89CAL]

Mercedes-AMG lawyer Paul Harris told the appeal he believed Red Bull should face a stiffer punishment as their offence was worse than that of the now defunct BAR-Honda team, who in 2005 were found to have used two hidden fuel tanks inside their main fuel tank.

Who are they kidding?

Ahhhh I remember that now! Must google the Honda thing now.....

[Aggroman]

just lost like 2 hrs reading wikipedia started at BAR then onto honda, Brawn, mercedes then back to tyrell

oh how the giant that is F1 has fallen

[stR33ter]

Appeal lost

Dans disqualification upheld

[MatthewT85]

yep

[Aggroman]

gayyy

[Roy]

CARNTS!!!!! Though predictable So i guess we see cars tank performance based on rol of dice, with viewers not knowing whether the driver is sucking on a given day or they are giving away 1.5-2% of power which is easily 12-15hp

[hrd-hr30]

That's simply not the case. The meters are extremely precise. When they 'fail' the precision goes and is very easy to identify. This isn't the case with the RBR meter in question. RBR simply didn't like the offset they were given by the FIA because they couldn't hang onto 2nd place using the same amount of fuel as everyone else.

No other team has supported RBR's position that the meters are complete arse and not good enough for the job, or argued with the FIA's offsets and processes. In fact most of them where there in court against RBR. The only major team missing was Ferrari, who no longer had a head honcho to send to court...

RBR have been caught cheating. Plain and simple. The Tech guys thought so, the Stewards thought so, and the five independant judges of the Appeals Court think so.

Edited April 15, 2014 by hrd-hr30

[MatthewT85]

it would be interesting to see how far over the FIA's sensor RBR went

[89CAL]

it would be interesting to see how far over the FIA's sensor RBR went

They were 0.4 seconds a lap slower when following FIA's reccomendations to turn the engine down. Not sure on percentage. Will have to find the article I read

[Roy]

You really think RBR were "cheating" or trying to when the FIA had live data?

And yes...there have been two other team owners that I know if who know they are shagged but shrug their shoulders and say "tow the line in the interest of the sport"

[hrd-hr30]

cheat

tʃiːt/

verb

gerund or present participle: cheating

1. act dishonestly or unfairly in order to gain an advantage.

yep, that's exactly what they were doing.

Horner has repeatedly used the justification that with the correct offset applied they would have lost second place, even in the court submission. They certainly did it to gain an advantage. And they certainly broke the protocols every other team was following - to use offsets supplied by the FIA and make adjustments as necccesary during the race. They also broke the protocols about how/when to switch to the backup measurement method. And they broke the fuel flow limit repeatedly despite warnings and many chances to correct it during the race.

And thier whole justification for doing so was that the 'rules' everyone else was playing by don't actually apply, and we'll do exactly as we please thankyou very much.

Not a whole lot of acting fairly in there.

Edited April 15, 2014 by hrd-hr30

[Kinks]

Seems to me the judgement is as much about maintaining the FIA's authority as anything else. If you have a faulty FIA sensor it's clear you have a choice between languishing in the midfield with a crippled car or not finishing at all due to DSQ. Even if the FIA's sensor is wrong, it's up to them to admit it you can't do your own thing without their permission.

Will be interesting to see how often these sensor issues crop up across all teams during the season. If it's exclusively a RBR issue then they are playing silly buggers somehow.

[hrd-hr30]

what on earth are you talking about?

The sensor was not faulty. If RBR could have demonstrated the sensor was faulty, how on earth could they have lost the appeal???

You don't think the sensor at the center of this dispute would have been thoroughly tested after the race???

I think it's time to stop believing the team's claim the sensor was faulty.

And of course it's up to the governing body to police the use of the sensors rather than each individual team to decide what's right and wrong during the course of the race. That's the only fair way to get everyone playing by the same fuel flow parameters!

The FIA and the manufacturer say faulty sensors are VERY obvious. It's not a thing to be disputed. If it was as dodgy as RBR claimed, the other teams would have jumped on board and lobbied against the meters as well. No-one would want to be disadvantaged by dodgy fuel flow meters. But the other teams are on the FIA's side - so you already have the answer to who's playing silly buggers.

Edited April 15, 2014 by hrd-hr30

[hrd-hr30]

anyway, there's a race this weekend. Renault have further updates...

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/9267211/Renault-We-re-getting-closer

Renault head of track operations Remi Taffin believes the engine constructor's power units will be approaching peak performance at this week's Chinese Grand Prix

Speaking to ESPN ahead of this week's race in Shanghai, though, Taffin revealed that a big improvement will be visible in China.

"Likewise we have been working on the energy management per lap, particularly in the slow corners. We know we are missing out on the straights but these new steps have given us greater traction in the turns, which should in turn extend tyre life and give greater flexibility on strategies. In fact the greater part of our work has been concentrated on race modes and performance as this is where we believe the bigger steps can be taken, rather than in qualifying," he continued.

"All of these improvements should put us a bit closer to the front in China...

Considering the Red Bulls have been very close to the front anyway, and were not slow at the end of Bahrain GP, and China being low in terms of full throttle per lap, it will be interesting to see how the cheats go this weekend