Stealing the Start.

Imagine that, the Microsoft powered, Mclaren built computers that all Formula 1 teams will be running this year have a bug...
This bug allowed team to circumvent the control software and in effect implement a "launch control" outlawed by the 2008 regulations.

I'll translate and paraphrase excerpts from an article in this week's Autosprint,

Five weeks to the start of the championship and we have the first electronics case. The issue is related to the starts: the Mclaren supplied electronic control unit used by all teams has a bug. To explain in a simplified manner: the new units allow control over a set number of vehicle parameters though a more limited amount than in the past.  To counter the absence of traction control, all teams worked on regulating engine mapping and torque to the wheels. The knobs you see on Ferrari (and other teams) steering wheels are used to choose these different engine maps.

As part of the new regulations and to avoid extreme settings that would in effect allow for robot starts, the Mclaren Electronic System is set up so that whatever setting you chose for the start would stay locked until the car crossed the start finish line after one lap.  Choose a map that allowed for a quick start and you might be penalized on the fast turns for the rest of the first lap.

It did not take long however for teams to discover that if three control buttons are pressed in a specific sequence the computer would give up its electronic protection. In other words the computer could not prevent the driver from changing settings right after a start. This would explain some of the lightning starts seen in testing and Jarno Trulli's remarks on traction control and start assist.  If a team could use a map which would assist the start and then quickly switch to a "speed" map well, in effect, you would have a form of electronic aid.

The FIA, once this was brought to their attention recognized there was a defect in the software and will introduce a fix, but insiders ask how many more bugs might still be in the spec. computers. Once again we face the prospect of the winner being the most clever rather than the best driver, but at least this time it's not the teams that are at fault.

Flying Felipe

Woah there Felipe, you almost pulled a Joey Hand on your first day back!

First look ar the cars from Jerez on 1/14/08. Ferrari, Mclaren, Renault Toyota, STR, Williams and Force India on track.

The cars look wonderfully twitchy and there is plenty of extra yaw and wheelspin.....it will be a fun season.

I see that one unfortunate side effect of the new cockpit sorround safety regulations (the Wurtz-Coulthard rule...) is that the side of the drivers helmet is no fully obscured by the car. I wonder if helmet decoration design will change in the future.

Home On the Range

© The Cahier Archive.





If you watched the podium ceremony after the eventful European GP, you saw Michael Schumacher reluctantly, it seemed, hand the constructor's cup to Ron Dennis.
Schumi had spent the whole of the race behind Jean Todt rigorously dressed in Ferrari team red, but for the Prize ceremony he had to appear more "de-badged". Apparently Schumi has a german cowboy thing going these days and UK's ITV picked up on it and produced this little clip to honor his fashion sense. Speaking of looks...someone should REALLY speak to Ron Dennis about the McLaren uniforms...last year is was pretty bad, this year with those pleated shoulder pads they look downright silly!

Cat and Mouse

It's usually extremely hard to visually pick out whatever performance advantage top Formula 1 teams may have on their peers. It is after all a game of 10ths if not 100ths of a second and without telemetry data it can be a challenge .

In this clip from the British Grand Prix however, it is fairly obvious that the Ferrari had quite a large performance differential from Lewis Hamilton's McLaren (...of course we all knew from Ron Dennis that it's not the Ferrari that is faster, it's the McLaren that's slower! Read Here and Here).

Kimi seems to be able to reel in Hamilton at will but what is most impressive is how well the Ferrari works in the dirty air of the McLaren. Look at how the red car tracks with very little push though the Maggotts Becketts complex and conversely how twitchy the McLaren looks especially at Stowe.
Kimi even tries some blatant super late apex, slow in, early on the throttle moves on Lewis and almost pulls it off at Brooklands before Hamilton shuts the door hard. Raikkonen was smart enough to wait until the McLaren's fuel stop to pull off a stunning series of fast laps and gain the lead.

(note, some audio drop outs in the middle of the clip are there in the original...it's not your computer...)

...well, you should see the other guy!

Ron Dennis has unleashed another world class spin attack (in collaboration with his technology partners, of course). After the sound beating in the French GP where his third place car finished thirty seconds behind and never in contention, Dennis took credit for McLaren being bad enough to make Ferrari look good! Now THAT is a talent.

Speaking of talent, Alonso's pass on Heidfeld in the Le Mans chicane at Magny Cours was one of the highlights of the race and shows the amazing talent of both: Alonso for passing where nobody would dare and the BMW-Sauber driver for realizing what was going on and not crashing into the World Champion.



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photo by AEF1

Monaco GP 2007

Mokanino, our super secret special reporter on the scene, sent us a couple of shots from this morning's free practice. Traditionally free practice takes place on the Thursday before the race in Monaco. Looks like our special reporter scored himself an ultra sweet vantage point from the high rise at Saint Devote....Nice!

$3000 a gallon.

The 1970 US GP at Watkins Glen. Emo, Jo Siffert, Pedro Rodriguez, Regazzoni, Ickx, the wee Scot... all the tough guys some of whom actually lived through the era.
$3000 a gallon is what the commentator figures it cost Pedro Rodriguez (in the Yardley BRM) to stop for a slash and go.



We post other assorted YouTube finds in our Forum HERE

Let's ride with El Nano.

Sepang is very interesting with many odd corners with non intuitive apexes. Check out where Alonso gives up some to set up the next more crucial corner. There is the super fast left right that just takes you breath away. The McLaren gets loose there and you get the idea of the sort of reflexes needed for the job. Amazingly if you look at the track map, those turns, 5 and 6 are quite wide, but in an F1 car it looks more like a chicane.
And take a look at turn 4, a more than 90 degree turn, the speed Alonso carries through there is just astounding. Imagine taking that turn in even your nicely tuned sports car...

The tendency is to think that F1 cars drive themselves, I think this clip will make the case otherwise.

this is an .avi file and it might not stream, have faith, it's worth the wait.

Axis of Oversteer uncovers evidence that Lewis Hamilton...

...much to the disappointment of the british motorsport press, is actually human and not the second coming or the illegitimate son of Mika Hakkinen and Ayrton Senna.

Don't blink though!

Malaysia Onboard

I'm travelling right now, not too much time to post but here some choice YouTube clips from Malaysia you will enjoy.

Massa's glory....


and Massa's disaster...

Get yer Red Bulletin, Malaysia edition.

Make sure you check out the best F1 publication out there...

Red Bulletin Friday
RB for Saturday


also Red Bull is sponsoring some kind of Air Racing league, maybe BadbadM can jump in a clarify wha this is all about. Click on the images below for some slick videos.

Be Cool

The buzzword for this week end's Malaysian Gp is Overheating, not only because F1 seems bent on a masochistic self flagellation of wanting to run machines which normally operate just this side of molten metal in tropical climates but also because of the BIG QUESTION on everyone's mind: what's up with Kimi Raikkonen's engine.

Ferrari engineers saw a spike in operating temperatures in the later stages of the Australian GP and because Kimi's radio broke at the start of the race, could do nothing but watch as the iceman boiled away the chances for a successful repeat. The engine was shipped back to Maranello where it was tested by Luca Badoer on a different chassis before being sent back to Sepang. It was determined that it was indeeed subjected to overheating stress but that the engine could likely run the distance albeit only by giving up significan power towards reliability/survival.

I'm guessing they might opt to change it and take the 10 place penalty. Sepang is a pretty wide open track and passing is actually possible. (UPDATE: looks like I guessed wrong: no engine change as of friday night)

This of course brings up the intramural rivalry with Massa, if Felipe does well this week end Ferrari will have to wait to in effect name its #1 driver. Massa is not giving signs of being ready to take on the Rubens role just yet.

Always on the issue of cooling, take a look at this animation from Gazzetta Dello Sport highlighting the technical solution Ferrari has adopted to channel airflow to the gearbox oil cooler. Quite clever. Also note the fourteen individual oil sprayers inside the box. Cool indeed.

Rumor of the century: Schumacher to buy STR!

Think about it: he could just write a personal check, he could get all the financing in the world but won't have to because Red Bull will be behind it, no way Bernie will give him a hard time and he will get to tinker with cars again (at 38 would you really retire to Switzerland and grow edelweiss?).

the rumor

Fluid management

Italy's Gazzetta dell Sport has these nice little short movies that illustrate the amazing work applied to a modern F1 car's aerodynamics.

Even if your italian is a little rusty, it's clear enough that the function of all those aero appendages you see on the cars is to split the airflow into three distinct streams: a slower top stream to the rear wing, a faster low pressure flow to the sides and finally one to the radiators for cooling.

The key being to slice through keeping turbulence and drag to a minimum while getting the air to work for the car.

If I understand correctly the lower, low pressure flow is used to prevent infiltrations of air to the underbody of the car. Skirts made of air? I think I might have to consult the Axis STFU 3000 supercomputer for that one.

If anyone out there has any nice illustrations or explanations on the subject, drop me a line.

F1 whine of the week end

©The Cahier Archive

Has to go to Ron Dennis who complained BMW dared to not move over to let them by: "Of course as always we came to Australia to win, but a somewhat unexpected strategy adopted by BMW was very disruptive to our race.""

The nerve of BMW! The ex Sauber team is really showing Toyota and even Honda who really should know better, the right way to proceed in building a first tier team.


©The Cahier Archive

Red Bulletin

Surprisingly good and surprisingly free of corporate P.R. , Red Bull's Red Bulletin is now available as a .pdf download in seven languages!. Previously it had only been distributed in the F1 paddock. Take a look.

Rookie

When CG and I were in Monaco for the GP last year, we saw Lewis Hamilton dominate GP2. The race was pretty boring but I remember noticing how Hamilton would place his car on the track within millimeters lap after lap after lap. Even in a field of very good drivers he stood out for that and his "no drama" style, almost boring.
We'll see what happens today in qualifying down in Australia, but a rookie coming to a track he has never seen and setting 3rd fastest time and beating his team mate (who just happens to be one Fernando Alonso) is pretty impressive. Jenson must be wondering...

Art...

...was walking past the Museum of Modern Art in NYC today.





Alain Prost's Ferrari 641 from 1990. John Barnard's Ferrari is truly deserving.
Gordon Murray would be there too if only he had ever designed something in red!

Aaaaaah!

I think people have forgotten why Kimi was hired by Ferrari and why, if finally provided with reliable equipment, he will ruin Ron Dennis' day often!

Somebody from Finland translate that commentary please...it sounds great!

From the knee slapper department: Nascar Schumi

“I think he'd find them technical enough to keep him happy." according to NASCAR team owner Ray Evernham “These cars are looked on as much more sophisticated than they used to be."

Evernham apparently extended an open invitation for Michael Schumacher to join Juan Pablo Montoya in the left turn only championship.
Hey, who knows, Schumacher is obviously going through some sort of speed withdrawal, he tested for Tony Kart recently and has been making Mark Webber all jealous by showing up at Ferrari test sessions.

Maybe he was already thinking about it last season. CG and I were in Monaco for the Grand Prix when Schumi trotted out the most ridiculous NASCAR inspired driving suit.




UPDATE:

Somehow, I don't think he would find doing most of a lap in the same gear "technically challenging".