Topic: Formula 1 2024 season

[Funky_Gibbons]

Good to see the 2026 regulations look to be going well;

As part of the effort to increase car performance to help accommodate the characteristics of the new turbo hybrid engines that feature a 50/50 power split between the internal combustion engine and battery, the new cars are going to have moveable aero.

The idea is that the car’s wings will be able to run in a high-downforce configuration in corners to help deliver grip, before shifting to a low drag configuration on the straights to help boost straightline speed.

One path being explored was for only the rear wing to be moveable, as it could then work easily in conjunction with DRS and would be the least complicated solution.

However, with some teams having recently been evaluating what is known as the baseline ‘Fangio’ car model in simulators to try to understand how this would work, some concerning characteristics emerged.

According to sources, when the rear wing was in its most low-drag configuration and the engine was at full power, the car was almost undriveable – with multiple examples of drivers spinning on straights under acceleration or being unable to take the smallest of curves without the rear stepping out.

This was triggered by a shift in aero balance that was estimated to be three times as much as is currently experienced when DRS is open.

One insider even suggested that the only way to prevent the cars spinning was to drive so conservatively that the lap times ended up being slower than current Formula 2 machinery.

It is understood that FIA representatives visited team facilities recently to get a better understanding of what is going on and what can be learned from the simulator findings.

And FIA sources have revealed that the conclusion has been reached that the moveable aero plan will not work with only the rear wing changing configuration.

Instead, the FIA has decided that the 2026 aero plan will need to incorporate both the front and rear wing moving in conjunction with each other if the cars are going to deliver the performance characteristics hoped for.

By ensuring that the two wings work together, it should help reduce the aero balance offset that has been causing trouble in the simulator.

As efforts continue to frame the aerodynamic regulations before the end of June, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he welcomed the FIA listening to team concerns about what they were finding out.

He famously warned last year that there was a risk of F1 being left with ‘Frankenstein cars’ because of the way that the chassis rules had to fit around the choice of power unit.

“I think there's been some good progression,” Horner told Motorsport.com. “I think that the FIA have taken on board some of the feedback and some alterations have been made.

“We're waiting for the chassis regulations, which will be a fundamental part of the 2026 package now and how that interacts with these power units.

“The various working groups are working hard on that and it's important that we conclude something in the near future.”

Asked if the simulator findings from teams had been a cause for concern, Horner said: “The rules are the same for everybody at the end of the day.

“So, it's how you apply them and translate them. I don't think we're afraid of whatever the rules will be, as it's the same starting point for everybody.

“When they're finalised, that's when we'll no doubt discover whatever issues there are with the rules, but that's no different to any other regulation change.”

[TepidT2O]

Road cars have movable aero (well the very top one anyway) so this is logical

[clinical]

So we're heading for bigger faster F1 cars and even more boring races.

[gazzalfc]

Alonso has signed a new multi year deal with Aston Martin

[voodoo ray]

Alonso has signed a new multi year deal with Aston Martin

merc/red bull must have told his people that they're not interested.

So we're heading for bigger faster F1 cars and even more boring races.

where does it say anything about the size?

[bradders1011]

merc/red bull must have told his people that they're not interested.

where does it say anything about the size?

Or that they are interested and Papa Stroll likes being paid to break contracts.

Ted Toleman has died, RIP.

[Graeme]

Schedule for this week....

Friday
4:30am - FP1
8:30am - Sprint Qualifying

Saturday
4:00am - Sprint race
8:00am - Race Qualifying

Sunday
8:00am - Race

Shit circuit, empty grandstands and a sprint thrown in just to make it worse.

[bradders1011]

Don't mind the circuit, some challenging corners and decent overtaking spots. Despise the regime holding it.

[clinical]

merc/red bull must have told his people that they're not interested.

where does it say anything about the size?

Generally more electric power the bigger the car is going to be. For the power they need anyway.

[voodoo ray]

Generally more electric power the bigger the car is going to be. For the power they need anyway.

So it's an assumption then. Sound. There's enough to actually be annoyed about without moaning about hypotheticals

[iamnant]

Nice seeing the Saubers in SQ3 for a change, and this rain at least causing some unpredictability.

[Trump's tiny tiny hands]

This could be anyone's pole

[voodoo ray]

no grip makes things pretty funny. never seen a lap deleted and then undeleted.

[iamnant]

Hahaha yesss gwan Lando!

[Trump's tiny tiny hands]

WHAT IS GOING ON?!?!

[CornerFlag]

Well, that was odd. Please explain, race control!

Crofty's explanation makes kinda sense, I guess...

[Trump's tiny tiny hands]

What I couldn't make sense of was Norris' timing sectors showing yellow, yellow and then he goes fastest 

[iamnant]

Well, that was odd. Please explain, race control!

Crofty's explanation makes kinda sense, I guess...

Nico made a great point by pointing out that he went off in a gravel trap and in no way he would have gained an advantage for the next lap.

Always forget how similar Alex Brundle's voice is to his dad's!

[Elzar]

Nico made a great point by pointing out that he went off in a gravel trap and in no way he would have gained an advantage for the next lap.

Always forget how similar Alex Brundle's voice is to his dad's!

It was basically decided he had to come off throttle completely, so was disadvantaged if anything, is that correct?

That was a fun bit of chaos, would love a little rain to throw a spanner in the works during the race. Not too much though, they would just red flag it.

[sminp]

I hope it chucks it down in Shanghai all weekend, makes for a much more interesting weekend. When the rain comes you get to see who the best drivers truly are.

[voodoo ray]

I hope it chucks it down in Shanghai all weekend, makes for a much more interesting weekend. When the rain comes you get to see who the best drivers truly are.

It'd be more fun if it just rained really heavily for 3 minutes at about 3 occasions in the race.

[Elzar]

I hope it chucks it down in Shanghai all weekend, makes for a much more interesting weekend. When the rain comes you get to see who the best drivers truly are.

They’ll just go all wets and red flag when they start to struggle on them!!

We need rain randomly throughout enough to unsettle tactics and make drivers struggle to stay on.

[Graeme]

Not a sprint fan usually but the battle between Alonso, Sainz, Leclerc and Perez was brilliant.

[Darren G]

  Hamilton

[Graeme]

P18 Lewis oh dear.

[Darren G]

Red Bull 1-2. Shocked. Just shocked.   

[jillc]

So glad I didn't get up and watch it, so boring so predictable.

[voodoo ray]

I stuck the sprint on after recording it, which was alright. looks like I'm glad I skipped quali though

[west_london_red]

Generally more electric power the bigger the car is going to be. For the power they need anyway.

While a larger battery may need more space, a smaller fuel tank frees up space on the flip side, if the engine is ICE is doing less work might be able to save space on things like cooling, exhausts etc too, and most importantly don’t forget this isn’t like an electric road car where you need a battery large enough to last the distance your traveling, the battery is charged up during the race’by alternators, breaking etc so only needs to hold a laps worth of charge at any one time, not 50-70 laps.

[Lisan Al Gaib]

So glad I didn't get up and watch it, so boring so predictable.

Barely watched this year, can't be arsed with another Verstappen dominated year of races

[CornerFlag]

Stroll in shit driving shocker. He had plenty of time not to go into the back of Ricciardo...

[west_london_red]

Stroll in shit driving shocker. He had plenty of time not to go into the back of Ricciardo...

It was a very ‘Stroll’ accident, crashing at the end of a safety car before they’ve even crossed the start/finish line

[jillc]

Stroll in shit driving shocker. He had plenty of time not to go into the back of Ricciardo...

It's also buggered up Piastri as well. Stroll is a nightmare to everyone.

[voodoo ray]

I can't quite get as excited as croft did over 2 people fighting over what was last place.

[jillc]

I can't quite get as excited as croft did over 2 people fighting over what was last place.

I am listening to 5 Live they are much more measured on there.

[jillc]

A good performance from Lando to split the Red Bulls.

[Trump's tiny tiny hands]

Impressive by Lando and McLaren. Have they figured out their tire degradation problems?

[TepidT2O]

Max won. Didn’t  see that coming.

[jillc]

Impressive by Lando and McLaren. Have they figured out their tire degradation problems?

Let's hope so, we need some excitement from somewhere.

[Darren G]

A good performance from Lando to split the Red Bulls.

Yeah, really good drive from Lando that. That being said, Perez is so poor.  I know that Max is brilliant, but the pace discrepancy here between him and Perez today was borderline ridiculous.  Lovely moment for Zhou at the end.