Formula 1 2003

Anyone here getting the F1 itch yet?<br /><br />At the moment it looks like i'll be heading down to the Melbourne GP in March to hopefully watch a race and not just a ferrari test session.<br /><br />

 

Ferrari have been very secretive about their new stallion, but I reckon it's going to be another stonker. I've also got a sneaky feeling that this will be Coulthards last season at McLaren too.<br /><br />Forza Ferrari!

 

[quote author=Duckwah link=board=6;threadid=2842;start=0#msg24025 date=1041916037]<br />Anyone here getting the F1 itch yet?<br /><br />At the moment it looks like i'll be heading down to the Melbourne GP in March to hopefully watch a race and not just a ferrari test session.<br /><br /><br />[/quote]<br /><br />I once went to watch F1 racing at Kyalami a few years back (1994?) - it was the most boring race I have ever watched. Sat at the pits, but had no idea who was winning/losing. My advice to you Duckwah is to watch it on TV! If you insist on going to feel the **atmosphere**, take some earplugs, and a portable radio so that you can at least find out who is in the lead!<br /><br />Still, it is quite fun now to ride around Kyalami on my bike and wonder what speed the racing cars were taking the corners at ...

 

yeah sometimes it can be better to watch it on TV i know but i went to Indy car in Queensland last year which was very cool until it rained just before the race &gt;<br /><br />i spent two hours standing in the photogrpahers pit at Honda hairpin only to watch the safety car lead for the whole race <br /><br />anyway its got to be done at least once

 

Just as a change, something that has to be watched is stock car racing, or historic car racing. I have watched a bit of that, and it is immense fun, with cars you can recognise spinning all over the place and going into the dirt, and guys thinking nothing of hitting into each other. Great fun and definitely more than a F1 procession

 

What you guys think of the new changes in F1? This is going to be the season to watch!

1. Bi-directional telemetry, which enables teams to remotely control systems on the cars, a system that returned to F1 last year and used several times such as at Monaco by McLaren when it needed to redirect oil flow in the engine powering David Coulthard’s car, will be banned.
2. Radio communication between the team and driver will also be outlawed, placing great importance on pit-board communication between officials and their drivers.
3. Only two cars will be allowed on race weekends, which means teams cannot take spare cars to events. However, while it was not explained, it is expected those who have signed up for the
4. Friday testing plan will still be able to use their t-cars because the two-hour session before the free practice session on Friday morning is not part of the race weekend, even though it will be run on the host circuit.
5. Cars will also be placed in parc fermé after the second Saturday afternoon qualifying session and kept there until just before the race. For this period teams will not be able to work on the cars except under strict supervision although the FIA said it would be open to negotiations over releasing cars temporarily from impoundment so teams can run during the half-hour warm-up on Sunday morning.
6. Driver aids will be banned, including traction control, launch control, and fully automatic gearboxes, which have been used by teams since May 2001 when the FIA agreed let them use unrestricted engine electronics having had to back down on its stance on the grounds that its equipment was not able to detect control software within complex lines of programming code.
   The FIA said that if teams incurred high costs by switching over in time for the 2003 season it would a allow them to carry on using them for all of or part of the season but that 2004 would see a complete ban. This will more than likely see standardised ECUs brought into the sport, each governed by a universal software programme.
7. Finally, there will be a provision in the rules for teams to share components other than engines and gearboxes as part of cost-saving initiatives.
   [/list=1]
   
   I reckon point number 6 is going to seperate the boys from the men.

 

Where did you get that info?

i think that you will find that most of those changes aren't coming into effect this year.

personally i think the rules banning driver aids and such are a load of crap, F1 has always been a manufacturers championship first and a showcase for cutting edge technology.

if you want to watch everyone race on an even footing go watch Indycar where they have only two chassis and i think soon to be one engine for the whole field.

 

Click here for the whole story...

 

Generally, I think most of the changes are reasonable.

I don't really like removal of car->pit telemetry and team/driver radio communication (might rob us of some interesting adaptable strategies, for instance to cater for changeable weather or out-of-position qualifying; such strategies might have been more widely used than in past years with the team now not being table to tinker much with the car between qualifying and race) but I'm not going to spew about it. Drivers would still be able to communicate basic info to the team, even if they have to resort to something as crude as pre-arranged hand gestures when passing the pits or when passing team spotters. Safety is another concern about radio communication, but presumably there'll still be radio between driver and race control.

I'm not all that keen on the spare care ban either, if it means the grids are smaller. Have to see how that one works out in practice (how drivers tackle qualifying, etc.).

Banning of driver aids (traction control, launch control, fully automatic gearboxes) is OK with me, even though I'm a geek and would probably be working on those aspects if I were in the industry. Raw skill and differences in driving style should become more apparent.

I'm not too fussed about the standardised rear wing either (although I'd prefer it if the regulations regarding number of elements, total area, maximum chord, etc., had just been tightened instead, leaving it up to the individual teams to come up with their own solutions). There are still plenty of areas open for innovation... just don't standardise much more stuff!

The only changes I really, really dislike are the extensions of the single engine rule to two events in 2005, and to six events in 2006. Sheesh! Even if you can start from the back of the grid if your engine detonated in the previous event, it just isn't reasonable to incur such a penalty for 35% of the season (assuming there are 17 races in 2006).