Formula 1

(25-11-2014 21:45 )babelover48 Wrote:  what would be his age then - just over 30?

He's almost 30 now.

I apologise to Lewis most humbly Tumble!! I think a lot depends on what new changes come into place for 2015 and what sort of car Lewis will have next season that will determine if he can dominate next season.

Also I think Jenson leaving F1 would be a big loss to the sport.

Mercedes think they can get another 60bhp out of the engine with minimal effort. The only way I can see anyone challenging them is if they allow Williams to turn their engines up to the same level or if the McLaren-Honda is on the pace straight out of the box.

I think Mercedes will see Honda as a threat for sure.
It's interesting because Mercedes have had this year all to themselves albeit with a few reliability problem's. The rest are simply playing catch-up now so will we see another Red Bull style dominance by Mercedes over the next few years? They certainly have the head start.
So whilst the others play catch up Mercedes can concentrate on their next phase of pushing the advantage even further to remain ahead of all rivals.
As far as I know Adrian Newey isn't going to be as involved with Red Bull (whatever that means) so how far will their engineering progress for 2015? Doesn't look like Vettel is convinced.
Another real interest is William's? What have they got up their sleeves for 2015?

If Renault sort their engine out RedBull will become a force again, but i suspect it will still be less powerful than the Merc unit. Adrian Newey has said for a long time that he wants to "retire" and design Racing Yachts and Ben Ainslie has supposedly approached him to design a Yacht for the 2017 Americas Cup.

My personal opinion is that the Williams chassis is close to, if not an equal to the Mercedes. Massa and Bottas have challenged them several times this year and the extra power could make things very interesting if they had access to it. That engine is a piece of design genius. They spent a hell of a lot of money on it and the Split Turbine / Compressor is revolutionary...i'm looking forward to the day it ends up in road cars.

What's your honest opinion of the hybrid's first season?

Great video Tumble, I saw that when it was shown live and was pleased to watch it again. The idea of splitting the turbocharger really is genius since it provided many advantages. I suspect the idea originated to help keep induction temperatures down, and the following advantages were further extracted from a great idea.
As far as I can remember, the other cars running the Mercedes engine have the same turbocharger system, but they didn't have the time to create the car around it like Mercedes did in order to extract it's full potential.
The problem now is the cat is out of the bag so the others will surely follow suit. So now Mercedes need to use their holiday period time wisely, whilst the others try to replicate the 2014 Mercedes car to some degree.

(26-11-2014 22:11 )babelover48 Wrote:  What's your honest opinion of the hybrid's first season?

At first I wasn't convinced, mainly because the high pitched traditional F1 scream had been severely lowered.
But after a few races I warmed to the new sound, the whistle of the forced induction sounds sweet! Also the ship-to-shore intercom system is much clearer now to listen- in on all the talk.
I suppose Mercedes pulling a rabbit out of the hat and providing Lewis with a championship winning car helped matters too!
So yeah I've quite enjoyed this season, just pleased the silly double points didn't ruin anything which would have been a joke.

^^^ Wot 'e said...

Damon Hill made an interesting comment last Sunday about being able to hear the Fans cheering with the "quieter" engines. The V8s (and even more so the V10s) were almost painful. I've not had the opportunity to hear the new engines at a track yet but from what i've heard on TV i quite like them.

If anyone has even been to Le Mans or a World Endurance Championship race, they'll know the range of different engine sounds you get from the whispering Audi TDi V12/V10/V6s that they've used over the years, to the Petrol V8 in the Toyotas to the screaming V4 petrol in the Porsche 919....that's without the assorted V8s in the GT cars and the V8 Petrols in the LMP2 cars.

The "problem" with F1 over recent years is the fact that the engines all sound pretty much the same! They're so tightly regulated that you could close your eyes and not have a clue which car was passing you.

Anyway....nothing beats the sound of an F5000 or a Can Am car. You can feel your lungs vibrate when one of those goes past

Another great video Tumble, awesome sounding machine that bellows of power and ferocity. I especially like the crackling sound of the unburnt fuel when he comes off the throttle, it's like sex in my ear.
I also like the Luguna Seca track too, it provides some great racing in Moto Gp.

But a real eye opener that I think everybody should go and experience is drag racing.
I visit Santa pod every year to go see the Top Fuel dragsters. These 8 litre supercharged bad boys running on Nitromethane can reach noise levels of 150dB.
They use 100 Litres of fuel for only one run reaching speeds of 300mph posting times under 4 seconds over the 1000 foot drag strip. The first 100mph is achieved in under a second from a standing start - Wow!
"Did that shit just really happen"
It's a sight and feeling to behold, it simply blows your mind from the sheer noise to the rumbling of the ground beneath your feet not to mention the obvious visuals.

Another great bonus is the pit access - you can walk around freely getting up close and personal to these beasts of engineering, even having a chat to the team if you wish.
If you haven't been and your a petrol head then get it done! I promise you won't be disappointed.
In fact you'll come away still not believing what you've just witnessed, it really is that impressive.