2014 Formula 1 Season Thread

What are they afraid of? Other teams being lapped less than they will be?
Nah, they probably don't want to be lynched instantly for having the most fuck-ugly nose on the grid.
With Lotus being in financial trouble, Force India have a good chance of aiming at the top five (top four if McLaren fucks up again) this year.
 
Well a power advantage would be useful in 2014 but much less relevant than in previous years. Now it's all about the boring energy & fuel consumption management.
 
Unless he had USD 15 million in sponsorship lined up (the rumored amount Kamui and Marcus are each brining to their Caterham seats), I'm guessing his time was done even if he had stayed with Caterham or had done well at Lotus.

Heikki has previously said that he would never pay to drive anyway, even if he did have the cash.

Commendable, but at the end of the day it means he's out of F1 and Kamui's back in.
 
Well a power advantage would be useful in 2014 but much less relevant than in previous years. Now it's all about the boring energy & fuel consumption management.
Actually, it isn't. Fuel flow is limited by the ECU, so more power from the same amount of fuel means an advantage.
 
Actually, it isn't. Fuel flow is limited by the ECU, so more power from the same amount of fuel means an advantage.

That's assuming all the teams are running at engines at the max fuel flow limit. I bet some engine manufacturers can run even less fuel while still making significant power just so they can go longer in the races.
 
Surely Lotus are the champions of Points-To-Budget ratio, Boullier achieved a lot with very little. That should attract offers.
 
Actually, it isn't. Fuel flow is limited by the ECU, so more power from the same amount of fuel means an advantage.

Am I the only one that's worried the mandated fuel load and fuel economy emphasis is going to neuter the racing even more? I was hoping a return to turbocharged engines would herald a return to 1400HP monsters that took genuine driver's skill to handle, but if they're 200HP weaker than the old V8s it's putting the outcome of the race even more into the crew's hands than it was before. Which means parades.
 
These engines are more about torque then power. Plus all the energy recovery systems add on power... So its not like they will be slow. But the drivers will have to respect the throttle pedal more then they used to with the V8's. It'll be fine I'm sure.
 
And at least in qualifying they will be going at full chat, no worries about fuel allocation (although fuel flow will still be restricted), and a full charge of recovered energy for a lap => banzai quali runs will still be around and still be spectacular.
 
Am I the only one that's worried the mandated fuel load and fuel economy emphasis is going to neuter the racing even more? I was hoping a return to turbocharged engines would herald a return to 1400HP monsters that took genuine driver's skill to handle, but if they're 200HP weaker than the old V8s it's putting the outcome of the race even more into the crew's hands than it was before. Which means parades.
I don't think this will be the case. There is only a small relation between power (or, more precisely, power-to-weight-ratio) and the driver skill it needs to handle a racing car. One could argue that the massively reduced amount of downforce from banning coanda exhausts will make the cars harder to drive, even with less or about the same power compared to last year. You have to keep in mind that the new engine formula is in it's first year. If the engines would already have the same or an higher power output as the old engines, they'd be dangerously powerful in two year's time and there would be the need for an development clampdown once again.

Second, a lack of power compared to F1 does not directly translate into parades and races being decided by "the crews" (I guess by that you mean both strategy and pit stop times) in lower single-seater classes and touring car racing.
 
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If the engines would already have the same or an higher power output as the old engines, they'd be dangerously powerful in two year's time and there would be the need for an development clampdown once again.

The engines will be frozen from this year anyway (exeptions for parts which add reliability or are cheaper/easier to make or install). The internal combustion engines will be less powerful than the old V8's but with the added ERS power the total output will be very similar (if not a bit higher than the old V8's. And this without even mentioning torque which will be far greater than before.

massively reduced amount of downforce
Massively reduced is an overstatement and by the end of the year teams will be running approx. the same as last year. The absence of coanda exhausts/blown diffusers will impact the driving style required to be fast (a style which Vettel has mastered far better than the others) far greater than the total ammount of produced downforce.
 
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The engines will be frozen from this year anyway (exeptions for parts which add reliability or are cheaper/easier to make or install). The internal combustion engines will be less powerful than the old V8's but with the added ERS power the total output will be very similar (if not a bit higher than the old V8's. And this without even mentioning torque which will be far greater than before.


Massively reduced is an overstatement and by the end of the year teams will be running approx. the same as last year. The absence of coanda exhausts/blown diffusers will impact the driving style required to be fast (a style which Vettel has mastered far better than the others) far greater than the total ammount of produced downforce.

The engine design may be frozen, but that doesn't mean that they won't be able to increase the power output. I've had the same engine in my Subaru for 10 years, but I could put new "more reliable" pistons and internals of the same basic design but new materials, and get 300 more horsepower if I wanted to (not cheap, but doable). I can just do a re-calibration of the PCM and it will give me 20-30hp. Obviously the F1 engines are already built to the edge of the failure to performance line and not de-tuned for longevity like my Subaru is, but they are also new designs and will continue to be refined. In my experience, a v6 turbo can often be as powerful if not more so then a Naturally Aspirated V8 too. The complication comes with fuel flow restrictions. If those weren't there we would probably be seeing a possible 1500+ horsepower versions of these engines. They were getting close to that in the previous V6 Turbo era, and technology has progressed hugely in that time.

I agree about the Aero though, no blown diffuser stuff will equalize the field a bit. That is assuming that someone hasn't figured out the next "championship breaking" thing that will make one team run away from the rest of the field.
 
I was not saying engines will not continue to get better because of the engine freeze, but they won't reach those mad power outputs of the last turbo era nor their performance will increase exponentially like in the first turbo era :).
 
welp...here she is, the F14 T:

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