MitsuJDM

iTrader: (6)

I like Hamilton first, but I've always liked Vettel as well and I'm glad he won it instead of Alonso or Webber, because I really dislike Alonso. And Webber, well, I don't like or dislike him.

I'm happy for Vettel, he really deserved this years championship. He worked really hard and his car let him down on a number of occasions.

I'd be interested to see Kobayashi with a good team and good car. He doesn't mind mixing it up with the top contenders and doesn't back down. If he could refine his skills just a bit, I think he'd be a serious threat to the top drivers.

And it'll be nice to see Schumacher come back in a new chassis that he's been working on. I never expected him to come back and dominate this year. Come-backs rarely ever do. But I think he did decently well for not only being old, but being out for 3 years and having to deal with a crappy car. And thank goodness he still has his head after yesterday! Literally.

DaWorstPlaya

iTrader: (31)

Increasing mechanical grip will dramatically increase grip at lower and mid speed corners, however the effect aren't as pronounced at higher speeds. If you really want to increase grip at mid to high speed corners aero makes a bigger difference. That is why the FIA is doing a lot to reel in aero dynamic mods.

Eg: Double diffuse gone! Instead of the front wings being adjustable, the rear wings are adjustable. Rear wings with high AOA usually cause more aerodynamic drag on a car. I think the reason for skinnier front tires may have to do with higher straight line speeds and thus better passing opportunities.

I'm pretty sure all the guys were driving to the best of their abilities but there's only so much you can do when you are stuck behind a slower car that is fast in the straights and slower in the corners. You can't pass in the corners due to all the turbulence it creates behind it. And you can't pass in the straights because it has better straight line speeds. Basically you're stuck!

There were a few passes, however it isn't Tilke's fault there wasn't much passing. Please see my aero reference above, it's just the sad truth of things.

Note that, Kubica and Hamilton had cars with the highest straight line speeds and were able to pass the opponents cars at the end of the long straight away. Weber was able to pass Alguesari as they were driving similar cars and Weber got a good toe off the corner. If it was Hami or Kubi were in front of Weber or Vettel there is no way either of them could've passed the other 2 on the straights, IMHO.

bougs

iTrader: (2)

The reason FIA put small fronts on is because of the balance problem the teams had in 2009 with the huge front wing implement. FOTA made FIA change the front tires for 2010 season. What FOTA didnt know is that FIA 2010 regulation changed the front aero to drastically to reduce front aero and no refueling, compounding the problem (McLaren struggled most of the year with mechanical front grip).

I believe we dont have the Villeneuve/Senna of today is because the fact that cars dont run fast sideways and sliding any more. Tire/Chassis development caused the drivers to keep the car balanced.

Tilke is trying to for see the future of racing and is trying to develop tracks for later using. Adu Dhabi has fast technical sections like Suzuka Circuit and tight street circuits of Singapore. To me he is doing a very good job of developing tracks that have a good balance. The Renault was holding off a Red Bull and McLaren because the layout of the track making the drivers, well drive.

Crester

Looks like Williams has just dumped Nico Hulkenberg despite being on pole in the last race. Apparently it doesn't have to do with his performance over the season... Williams is just looking to bring in a pay driver to help fund the team. Rubino will be a Williams driver in 2011.

GG06MR

iTrader: (9)

From what I've read it sounds like it has more to do with him not being willing to sign a long-term contract with a huge buy-out clause than anything else. Reminds me of when BAR Honda had to pay something like $20M to get Jenson out of his contract with Williams back in the day.

Ludikraut

iTrader: (17)

So now that the season is officially over, do we turn this into the F1 2010 video game discussion?

Had to restart my season as I somehow managed to corrupt the save file half-way through my first season. Just won at SPA and am 2nd in drivers standings, driving for Toro Rosso.

l8r)

KevinD

iTrader: (56)

i have to play on easy cause i haven't gotten the hang of braking yet. the steering is ultra sensitive so i had to practice a bunch on that.

Crester

^^^^ Please tell me you are playing with a steering wheel!

Crester

Make sure you get the patch for F1 2010. It made a big difference in performance for me. I used to suffer from the mentioned memory leaks... and the game would stall in the menus. I don't notice that anymore!

I was so frustrated before because the game was amazing... but it would keep stalling on me. Now I can enjoy the game!

KPerez

If U want to see passing, ignore the front of the line and look at the backmarkers being passed as they R lapped...At the top of the grid, the cars are fractions of a second apart...so unless there is a driver mistake or there is a part of the track that one car has a major advantage, it is going to be very, very difficult to pass...as U R aware, the format for Qualy is designed to place the fastest up front, slowest in back...this results in limited passing in the race except at the start when the field is most concentrated and one or more drivers screws up the drag race.

Now next year there will be changes in the reg's, i.e., adjustable rear wings, KERS, etc. that will result in more passing but only initially until all the teams copy the one that is fastest resulting in parity at the top again...yeilding little passing...although different tire strategies can and will yeild some limited passing but usually only at the end of each race.

BTW, is it time to start a new thread for 2011?
Later, Ken

Ludikraut

iTrader: (17)

I was wondering if they had come out with a patch yet. Guess it's time to connect my xbox to my network again.

l8r)

GT-One

iTrader: (2)

[QUOTE=KPerez;8843890]If U want to see passing, ignore the front of the line and look at the backmarkers being passed as they R lapped...At the top of the grid, the cars are fractions of a second apart...so unless there is a driver mistake or there is a part of the track that one car has a major advantage, it is going to be very, very difficult to pass...as U R aware, the format for Qualy is designed to place the fastest up front, slowest in back...this results in limited passing in the race except at the start when the field is most concentrated and one or more drivers screws up the drag race. QUOTE]

...passing after pit stops when the faster cars (with fresh tires) are mixed back into the lesser (slower) teams, that's what I was referring to.

KPerez

^Yup...agree. But what happened at Abu Dabha (sp?) was, according to some, the result of the track configuration. This from Mansell and Whitmarsh: "Alonso is known for his charging, and to have a car which seems to be quicker than the car in front and not being able to overtake doesn't make sense," added Mansell.... Whitmarsh said he thinks the Yas Marina layout should therefore be changed. I personally would like to see it changed. I think it is a fantastic facility that we come to, but the end of the straight they need a wide challenging corner, not a chicane that has got one line through it"

Now these arguments suggest that if such changes were, in fact, realized last Sunday, Alonso would have been able to pass Petrov and Kubica. While it is impossible to NO, I think it is doubtful...the Renault had the more straight line speed than the Ferrari...so when Alonso was closing the gap in the turns, he had to watch the Renaults pull away from him on the straights...so even if there were these changes after the straight, it is unlikely he could have passed either...in fact, the Renaults may have been able to increase their gaps further.

Also, speaking of track configurations, there was someone that noted this track and many of the new ones have provided these runoff areas which allow for more sloppy driving w/o the penalty of the wall/Armco a la Monaco...this IMHO is not in the best interests of creating an exciting race.

Later, Ken

martinPL

iTrader: (3)

This was quite interesting season. I must say that I would like Webber to be WDC than Alonso but when I see how he behaves after race in Abu Dhabi I have different feelings. Of course Ferrari strategy for that race was ubelievable bad. They would like to block Webber and they didn't realize that Alonso won't be able to pass Petrov for almost all race.

Red Bull were beyond competition. Great car but in my opinion Vettel made a lot of mistakes over all season. If other cars were much more competetive I think he won't be WDC.

It was also very good race for Kubica and Petrov. I can't believe Petrov didn't make any mistakes pushing by Alonso. And Kubica, was 14 after race starts and finally 5th place, great drive. I think it was very good strategy to use tough tyres from the beginning of the race. If they had done it before I am sure Kubica will be before Massa in the final classification.

Martin

Crester

I agree that the change at the end of the straights would probably not have changed Alonso's result. The Renault was just pulling away from him on the straights. In order for a change at the end of the straight to help Alonso... Alonso would need to be right on Petrov's a$$ going into the corner. And that was not the case!