Grand Prix Rejects

East Londoner wrote:Some teams are testing Pirelli's new 18 inch tyres at this test. Here's a rendering

DO NOT WANT. Thanks a bunch Michelin.

Though I shudder at the thought, I'd like to actually see them on the Lotus before I dismiss the whole idea.

It could be worse, they could be 20 inch tires, which Paul Hembrey suggested as a future possibility. Then they'll want to make them all chrome.

Didn't someone say this was a bad idea because the slimmer (and stiffer) sidewalls puts more stress on the suspension members?

F1000X wrote:

East Londoner wrote:Some teams are testing Pirelli's new 18 inch tyres at this test. Here's a rendering

DO NOT WANT. Thanks a bunch Michelin.

Though I shudder at the thought, I'd like to actually see them on the Lotus before I dismiss the whole idea.

It could be worse, they could be 20 inch tires, which Paul Hembrey suggested as a future possibility. Then they'll want to make them all chrome.

Oh well, Hamilton will approve because of the bling bling

maybe he'll even put neon underneath the car on the night races

So we'll go NFS: Underground if that happens? Got it.

So if F1 goes to 18" rims, then so will GP2? Would their suspension have to adapt to take these too?

F1000X wrote:

East Londoner wrote:Some teams are testing Pirelli's new 18 inch tyres at this test. Here's a rendering

DO NOT WANT. Thanks a bunch Michelin.

Though I shudder at the thought, I'd like to actually see them on the Lotus before I dismiss the whole idea.

It could be worse, they could be 20 inch tires, which Paul Hembrey suggested as a future possibility. Then they'll want to make them all chrome.

Didn't someone say this was a bad idea because the slimmer (and stiffer) sidewalls puts more stress on the suspension members?

A number of teams have suggested that it would potentially require an entirely different chassis design in order to cope with the modified suspension layouts that such a change would require, so such a change could potentially have a sizeable impact on the design of the cars.

dr-baker wrote:So if F1 goes to 18" rims, then so will GP2? Would their suspension have to adapt to take these too?

I imagine that GP2 would also have to adopt the larger rims, and in that instance it is likely that there would have to be changes to the suspension of those cars too.

The majority of people on social media and F1 websites seem to like this, I very much don't I'm afraid. Maybe because I'm so used to the 13 inch tyres that any change was gonna be hard to accept. It looks like a toy car!

I like the look, just because 13" has always looked weirdly small to me, but I'm pretty worried about what it will mean for teams as far as costs go. Surely this isn't going to cut costs...

Plus I hope it doesn't tame the cars - I'm liking the torquey, difficult to drive cars we have this year.

I'm kind of sitting on the fence on this one because on one hand, I am so used the the 13" wheels we have right now, on the other hand, the increesed relevenc to road cars is important IMO. I am concerned abot the costs of having to redesign the suspension though!

East Londoner wrote:

The majority of people on social media and F1 websites seem to like this, I very much don't I'm afraid. Maybe because I'm so used to the 13 inch tyres that any change was gonna be hard to accept. It looks like a toy car!

That actually looks alright in my opinion.

However... didn't Lotus have EMC2 on the sidepods during the race? Do they also constantly switch sponsor placement on the car like Caterham?

I don't want this nonsense of 18" wheels. If it was an improvement over 13", I am sure someone in the 70s or 80s would have came up with this already. It is aesthetically hideous in such small cars and aero wise it will probably be a nightmare for the teams. Safety wise will also be worse, I reckon, if they manage to get loose. There is absolutely nothing to gain from this. Pirelli should be lobbying to scratch the two compound per race rule if they really wanted to save money...

As for the increased relevance to road cars, why not race with those in the first place? Then we can just stop this idiot notion of making single-seaters look like road cars. I also came to like F1 because the cars looked nothing like the boxy stuff we drive on the road, not because I wanted to see them similar. Jesus! When this will stop?

Ferrari have unveiled their car with the new tyres...

East Londoner wrote:

The majority of people on social media and F1 websites seem to like this, I very much don't I'm afraid. Maybe because I'm so used to the 13 inch tyres that any change was gonna be hard to accept. It looks like a toy car!

I really don't see the issue. If they do introduce them, F1 fans will bitch and moan for a few weeks, then accept that they've gotten used to them and will move on.

Ataxia wrote:

East Londoner wrote:

The majority of people on social media and F1 websites seem to like this, I very much don't I'm afraid. Maybe because I'm so used to the 13 inch tyres that any change was gonna be hard to accept. It looks like a toy car!

I really don't see the issue. If they do introduce them, F1 fans will bitch and moan for a few weeks, then accept that they've gotten used to them and will move on.

You just explained how people react to changes in general - aka what actually happened during the "they changed it, now it sucks" effect/cycle.

I don't really like them, it seems a fairly pointless thing to do to me, but I don't really care either way to be honest, it's not like it'll actually change anything.

It doesn't look quite right to my eye, but I could get used to it. The road relevance would be increased if there were more than one manufacturer involved, preferably three or four. Of course then they'd almost have to do away with the two compound rule.

Bianchi the quickest of the day

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114896

No surprise if Ferrari hires him for next season (well, if Alonso allows it...).

Van der Garde has huge smash at Copse whilst testing without FRIC this afternoon.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.ph ... ostpopular

Row Man Gross-Gene wrote:It doesn't look quite right to my eye, but I could get used to it. The road relevance would be increased if there were more than one manufacturer involved, preferably three or four. Of course then they'd almost have to do away with the two compound rule.

To be honest, I don't buy the "road relevance" argument - even Pirelli themselves have more or less indicated that the reason for the change is purely for aesthetics and marketing.

"The tyres today look a lot more like the tyres we sell on a regular basis, so there is certainly a good argument for that. The other side is that there is less advertising space, so you have this strange conundrum between the two. I think you'd have to do it and find out, because it's something you can leverage better from a link from motorsport through to the roadcar business."

http://www.espn.co.uk/f1/motorsport/story/166653.html

DanielPT wrote:I don't want this nonsense of 18" wheels. If it was an improvement over 13", I am sure someone in the 70s or 80s would have came up with this already. It is aesthetically hideous in such small cars and aero wise it will probably be a nightmare for the teams. Safety wise will also be worse, I reckon, if they manage to get loose. There is absolutely nothing to gain from this. Pirelli should be lobbying to scratch the two compound per race rule if they really wanted to save money...

As for the increased relevance to road cars, why not race with those in the first place? Then we can just stop this idiot notion of making single-seaters look like road cars. I also came to like F1 because the cars looked nothing like the boxy stuff we drive on the road, not because I wanted to see them similar. Jesus! When this will stop?

In the case of the 13" rims, I believe that the rim size has been fixed at 13" since the 1970's as a way of restricting braking performance by physically limiting the size of the brake disk that could be fitted to the car.

That said, it is true that the teams are rather reluctant to fit large rims to the cars - van der Garde commented that making a change of that magnitude would require a complete redesign of the suspension and brake ducting as well as causing a major alteration in the aerodynamic wake of the wheels. The other aspect is that it would require a change to the wheel tethering system that the FIA has developed - Pirelli have announced that each tyre is 4kg heavier than the current 13" rims, which I believe is a not insubstantial increase in the relative weight of the wheels and would no doubt require the wheel tethering system to be beefed up (which, in turn, would require changes to the chassis where the wheel tethers are attached).

Dj_bereta wrote:Bianchi the quickest of the day

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/114896

No surprise if Ferrari hires him for next season (well, if Alonso allows it...).

I seriously think this session was an evaluation of giving him a better car next year.

On the other note, we saw a return which many would have liked to see!

See the number on the car.

GO PEDROOOOOO!!!!!!!! I guess the No.28 was chosen for Pedro by Ferrari, but one reason why he might have taken that number is that he was 28 when he made his F1 debut.

Bleu wrote:On the other note, we saw a return which many would have liked to see!

See the number on the car.

He's like Greece our Pedro. He just doesn't know when he's beat.

good_Ralf wrote:GO PEDROOOOOO!!!!!!!! I guess the No.28 was chosen for Pedro by Ferrari, but one reason why he might have taken that number is that he was 28 when he made his F1 debut.

I can easily imagine that the 28 is now locked forever just in case Pedro decides to make a comeback in order to test a car.

Apparently test drivers don't select their numbers, at least that's what Susie Wolff told.

Bleu wrote:Apparently test drivers don't select their numbers, at least that's what Susie Wolff told.

I thought that was the case, but was just feeling too tired to bother checking. Why am I saying that? I dunno, just tired I suppose...