F1 2020



Ross Brawn was a master of exploiting loopholes so he's the best for poacher-turned-gamekeeper. He also now has a whole department looking for loopholes to close so I doubt he'd be too happy about what the Merc bods have done!

Mercs 1.4 seconds a lap quicker than anyone else today. Even if the other teams are sandbaggging they are so far ahead of the game.
Even if other teams are sandbagging, I wouldn't be surprised if Merc are as well, very few teams show their hands this early in testing, especially front runners.

Assuming they haven't shown their true pace yet, a gap like that could see them utterly dominating this season, even to the point of not showing their true pace in Melbourne, though that would be unlikely admittedly.
 
ferrari breaks down... bottas sets lap records... not sure what you're suggesting...

i wasnt coming at it from that point of view, more that some of the reports from yesterday had it up there with the advantage brawn had in 09 with the double diffuser...

Yeah it won't be that big, they were something silly like 4 seconds quicker in testing, 2-3 when everyone was going for it in races.
 
they must be confident it'll take other teams awhile to implement. When did mclaren bring the f-duct in, what that the final day of practice?

The FIA are playing into their hands really, the other teams now have to decide if it’s worth the development cost against what the reward might be and how quickly they can get it done also.
 
The FIA are playing into their hands really, the other teams now have to decide if it’s worth the development cost against what the reward might be and how quickly they can get it done also.

This could be such a damp squib as only Ferrari / Red Bull see themselves as serious competitors to Merc

I reckon Ferrari / RB try to develop their trick steering but it's not as good and Merc win the title easily
 
I do enjoy going back and watching old races even if it means the blurriness of standard definition in 4:3, I remember the first time it went HD it was light putting some glasses on.

This is the 2000 Italian GP, major accident in the 2nd chicane. 2 jordans running into each other taking our a ferrari and a mclaren. The view from the BAR where you can see a wheel 20-30meters in the air. The poor marshall who was killed from one of them hitting him :(Moan about the halo as much as you want but it just shows how far we have come
 
I do enjoy going back and watching old races even if it means the blurriness of standard definition in 4:3, I remember the first time it went HD it was light putting some glasses on.

This is the 2000 Italian GP, major accident in the 2nd chicane. 2 jordans running into each other taking our a ferrari and a mclaren. The view from the BAR where you can see a wheel 20-30meters in the air. The poor marshall who was killed from one of them hitting him :(Moan about the halo as much as you want but it just shows how far we have come
Some of the old races will stand the test of time for ever I think, Silverstone 2003 and Suzuka 2005 are a couple that standout for me from the V10 era. Oh for that noise to return now.
 
I reckon Ferrari / RB try to develop their trick steering but it's not as good and Merc win the title easily
From a standing start they won’t be in a position to do anything on the car until after the initial fly-away races... Spanish GP towards the end of April? 4-5 races down and the season can be already over if DAS is actually a game changer.
Moan about the halo as much as you want but it just shows how far we have come
Having seen the Indy car ‘screen’ for the first time this week I’ll never complain about the halo...
Yeah it won't be that big, they were something silly like 4 seconds quicker in testing
I’ll eat humble pie if it’s like that in Melbourne.
 
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Ross Brawn was a master of exploiting loopholes so he's the best for poacher-turned-gamekeeper. He also now has a whole department looking for loopholes to close so I doubt he'd be too happy about what the Merc bods have done!

Mercs 1.4 seconds a lap quicker than anyone else today. Even if the other teams are sandbaggging they are so far ahead of the game.

The FIA actually banned DAS from 2021 4 months ago when the technical regulations came out. Nobody at any of the other teams clicked on as to what the rule actually meant.

Article 10.5.2 in the official 2021 F1 regulations states the following:

"The re-alignment of the steered wheels, as defined by the position of the inboard attachment of the relevant suspensions members that remain a fixed distance from each other, must be uniquely defined by a monotonic function of the rotational position of a single steering wheel."

The FIA can't just quickly make up a new rule on the go. They need the permission of all 10 teams to do so. However, the FIA recently changed this. From the 2021 season and onwards they can in fact change the rules in between races. So if one team finds a loophole, the FIA has the right to fix it. This was in direct response to Mercedes and their DAS system.

What this means is that Article 10.5.2 in the 2021 regulations wasn't added today or yesterday following the massive media attention that came after the DAS discovery.

It was added 4 months ago when the 2021 regulations were revealed.
 
So if one team finds a loophole, the FIA has the right to fix it. This was in direct response to Mercedes and their DAS system.
What this means is that Article 10.5.2 in the 2021 regulations wasn't added today or yesterday following the massive media attention that came after the DAS discovery.
You mean "wasn't" ?

Brawn was saying all last season that the new 2021 regs would include a "loophole clause" that they would be able to ban things on the fly if they didn't fit with the new ethos of F1.
 
You mean "wasn't" ?

Brawn was saying all last season that the new 2021 regs would include a "loophole clause" that they would be able to ban things on the fly if they didn't fit with the new ethos of F1.

I think Mercedes have been planning this for a while - it isn’t the matter of a few weeks work and I suspect Brawn would have been fully aware of the fact it wasn’t covered in the rules. Just an opinion like.
what is the new ethos of f1?

so does that mean that merc went to the FIA back then, got the green light - the 2021 reg were amended at that point - merc then obvs sat on DAS till barca - and no one else noticed?

Well the 2021 regs were released in October last year and that was when the new section about steering was included. I think the other teams must have just read the section and thought nothing more of it.
 
I think Mercedes have been planning this for a while - it isn’t the matter of a few weeks work and I suspect Brawn would have been fully aware of the fact it wasn’t covered in the rules. Just an opinion like.


Well the 2021 regs were released in October last year and that was when the new section about steering was included. I think the other teams must have just read the section and thought nothing more of it.
Most motor racing rules amendments are either safety, or closing loopholes. Amazing the other teams missed it.
 
I may sound like a bit of a cynic but Ferrari, Mercedes and Renault (possibly Red Bull too) will soon put paid to that
I think Brawn might have started out beyond what he really wants so that he can "compromise" to what is really the right way forward. Here's hoping.

F1 needs the big brands, of course. But more than anything, it needs fair and varied competition. I miss 26 cars on the grid far more than any loud engine noise.
 

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