The OFFICIAL 2013 Formula 1 thread!

[unevolved]

I love F1.

Agreed. This race had all kinds of things to enjoy and be talking about.

[z31maniac]

Having to limp the last 10+ laps shouldn't be a part of any team's race strategy. My question is why the FIA can't use a smaller sample of fuel rather than an entire (at times, race-deciding) one liter.

If they changed it to 1/10 of liter, the teams would just put 9/10 of a liter less in the car.

Almost every car is underfueled to start with the expectation at some point in the race the car will run a "conservation stint".

The race started wet (which uses less fuel) and the cars were still conserving at the end.

[z31maniac]

The Rosberg Hami battle is not going as expected, and Hami's pit move was the funniest thing I have ever seen in an F1 race.

I think Button or someone did something similar last year or the year before.

[naplesE30]

Button did the same last year only he came to a full stop I believe. How good were the redbull stops. Flawless. Everyone of them.

[Alex Mc]

A pretty exciting race but Vettel has done some reputational damage. Also, why Alonso didn't pit on L1 is beyond comprehension.

FTW
-RBR
-Mercedes
-Vettel

Fail
-Force India
-Alonso
-Vettel

[naplesE30]

Im sure the engineers found it to be more advantageous to be light throughout the race and conserve at the end as opposed to carry more weight for the entire duration of the race.

[naplesE30]

Dominicali has said it was a team error but he is prob just covering for alonso. However its the teams responsibility to call him in as he can't see the extent of the damage.

[rav320uk]

[TDE30]

If they changed it to 1/10 of liter, the teams would just put 9/10 of a liter less in the car.

Almost every car is underfueled to start with the expectation at some point in the race the car will run a "conservation stint".

The race started wet (which uses less fuel) and the cars were still conserving at the end.

Heh, I figured that was the next argument. Yes, teams could simply just run with more fuel on board, much in the same way that the FIA could reduce the size of their fuel sample. Anyways, I don't see the answer to this dilemma being found in this thread, so hopefully it won't continue to be a problem like it has been the last few seasons.


And the picture (above) is hilarious, I like Vettel and I still don't place him completely in the wrong, but I see him going through PR hell this season for that stunt.

[Alex Mc]

The fuel situation is pretty straight-forward:

A race car requires a certain Quantity (Q) of fuel to cover the race distance and that amount falls somewhere between:

Qmin = Optimal consumption rate X distance - 1L
Qmax = Optimal performance rate X distance - 1L

From there it is up to the strategists to determine what is the proper tradeoff between fuel load and performance; nobody wants a heavy car in a sport where a few lbs = a tenth or whatever the math is at that particular circuit. When the race pace is faster than the model they decide on, then you can end up short of fuel.

Bottom line: Sometimes you get it wrong!

And the FIA requirement is an arbitrary fixed number that is the same for all teams, so it makes no difference if it's a little more or less than a liter as it's an absolute value.

[unevolved]

The fuel situation is pretty straight-forward:

A race car requires a certain Quantity (Q) of fuel to cover the race distance and that amount falls somewhere between:

Qmin = Optimal consumption rate X distance - 1L
Qmax = Optimal performance rate X distance - 1L

From there it is up to the strategists to determine what is the proper tradeoff between fuel load and performance; nobody wants a heavy car in a sport where a few lbs = a tenth or whatever the math is at that particular circuit. When the race pace is faster than the model they decide on, then you can end up short of fuel.

Bottom line: Sometimes you get it wrong!

And the FIA requirement is an arbitrary fixed number that is the same for all teams, so it makes no difference if it's a little more or less than a liter as it's an absolute value.

This time a million. The FIA's regs (aside from the actual test) has nothing to do with how much fuel the cars have left over. That's 100% on the engineers. Could they change the rules/design requirements to eliminate the cars running out of fuel? Theoretically, yes. Probably not happening, though.

[naplesE30]

Teams will always error on the side of to little fuel as the start of the race is so crucial. One pass or lack of a pass at the start can make or ruin your race. As the race goes on the field gets more strung out so the conseving fuel isn't usually a big issue but yeah that's a downside to no in race refuelling. I really do rue the artificially slow pace of the current formula.

One day hopefully their will be a series of balls out fast as hell engineering to the max racing in open wheel form. No restrictions other than displacement. Wouldn't that be cool to see.

[R3Z3N]

I honestly like that Vettel was driven enough to disobey team order and push for the win as a driver should do.

F1 is interesting due to its team nature, but it is still driver vs driver, and should be fought to the line. Team orders? Screw em if you can take the position, just be aware of the political fallout.

[ethirtysix36]

this is from 2012, but i found it relevant to this topic. im not an avid watcher of formula 1, but i do enjoy watching it when its on. so seeing this for the first time, i was impressed, very.

[Jand3rson]

I honestly like that Vettel was driven enough to disobey team order and push for the win as a driver should do.

F1 is interesting due to its team nature, but it is still driver vs driver, and should be fought to the line. Team orders? Screw em if you can take the position, just be aware of the political fallout.

Exactly. If you ask me, the secondary driver on the team (WEBBER) is there to ensure that the primary driver (VETTEL) wins races. People may come to races to watch RBR. People may come to watch Webber. But for the most part, the major fans of RBR are coming to watch Vettel WIN. Not to watch him hang back behind the secondary driver while he limps his car into a checkered flag in P1. If you honestly believe this is how racing should be, we have vastly different opinions of what racing is.

Even Vettel fanboys have to think less of him after this...

Please pop a cork in that crap. I hate this social convention that when someone likes something that other people don't, they're a "fanboy". If that's the case, then to all of the homosexuals in the world, I'm a vagina fanboy.

Regardless, this too, shall pass. This is nothing more than this week's F1 drama, and next race, someone else will do something foolish that half the fans will get all sandy-in-the-vag over, while the other half defends it with their lives.

:hitler: