Same here. In spite of all the flaws of its organisation, F1 has still my interest. But I sure wish they could clean up their act !
There is good reason to believe the new aero rules have tilted the advantage from MB to RB--mostly from the cutout on the rear of the floor.
Yes I realise that but the point of the conversation is that the FIA know full well what power output is via other sensors, so any mysterious increase would be detected anyway.
We haven't won a championship in over 12 yrs, who cares about a single race? I'm looking forward to the RB vs Merc battle this season though!
Ferrari can renew with endurance and join the WEC as it indends to, but Indycar is out of bounds since it's a specs series as it stands now. F1 is too prestigious for them to give up that easily, but they have to do better.
Bottom line: F1 is a business, mixed with politics. Agendas are contingent on who chairs it during any given era.
I am a big fan of Porsche, I just wish they made a car I wanted to be seen inside. The inverted bathtub remains so 1950s.
But that look is what makes it attractive to me: I like continuity in design. After the 356, the 911 shape is Porsche trademark, as seen on Cayman, Taycan, Panamera, etc ... That and the flat 4 or 6 engine of course, mostly in a rear position, I love it! Porsche has mastered with succes some technologies that others have given up long time ago.
Both Mercedes and 2 other team voiced this opinion in the working group. The dis-advantage to the low rake was a touch obvious they have stated.
Ferrari are hoping for improvement for next year with new regs. Im a bit amazed how little that matters in this thread. More than Binotto have stated Ferrari are not at all focused for this year. It is known. We have a good season it appears with other teams. Hope we are somehow surprised with some good Ferrari results no matter.
Hearing "We will try next year" gets really old when it is said year after year. We are ONE race in and they've already given up. These people are an embarrassment.
They already said it last year, before the season started. Come on, don´t be naive, this season is just a filler with old cars, caused by the corona thing. I´d be disappointed if they said that they´d trying hard this year: that would be being short sighted and a waste of time and money. Ultimately, the timing got terribly bad for Ferrari, with the engine penalty, the factory shut down and the delay of the new regs all together, but it´s what it is.
That doesn't make any sense whatsoever. Either the effect is obvious as the rules are drawn up, or it's simply the excuse they give now that they're not as fast as they hoped to be. Proper (ex) F1 race designers well before the season started had no clue what would be better. It's simply not as clear cut as Aston Martin/Mercedes say it suddenly is. They all had tokens to spend. Mercedes started their 2021 car back in August last year. If it was THAT clear cut, why are they not running a high rake? It's utter ********. Utter, utter ********. One of the biggest reasons why Red Bull is now competitive with them is because of their new engine, it's compactness and it's got decent power. Compare the Red Bull rear vs Mercedes. The work that went in all that is insane. Throwing it all on ''oh well the rules drawn up are against us'' is just pure ******** and it diminishes the work Red Bull and Honda have put in.
Call Mercedes and Aston and tell their engineers and analysts they should hire you lol. Its not rocket science but is science. Testing showed that RedBull had developed well. No one is saying they DID NOT! They have a nice motor and aero package and wisdom in the paddock believes the rules did help them. WOW a first for F1???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? Low-rake F1 teams warned of rules impact last year By: Adam Cooper Apr 1, 2021, 10:43 AM Aston Martin team principal Otmar Szafnauer says that Formula 1 teams following the low-rake route cautioned last year that they would lose out under the FIA's 2021 aero regulation changes. Image Unavailable, Please Login Szafnauer has blamed the rule tweaks for the team's loss of competitiveness since the end of last season, when - as Racing Point - it was a regular podium challenger and took victory in the Sakhir Grand Prix. Racing Point followed the Mercedes low-rake concept for its 2020 car and was committed to it for 2021 due to the chassis freeze and token system, which limited changes over the winter. The FIA introduced a package of aero changes, notably involving the floor ahead of the rear wheels, in order to trim downforce levels for this season. Szafnauer believes that the new rules disadvantaged the low-rake runners more than the teams that follow the high-rake concept. Mercedes bounced back from a poor test to win last weekend's Bahrain GP, but the Brackley-based team has clearly lost any advantage it had over main rival Red Bull in 2020. Aston Martin struggled for pace throughout, and could manage only a 10th place finish through Lance Stroll. "I'm not a conspiracy theorist," said Szafnauer. "But it was pointed out last year by the low-rake runners, that this would have a bigger effect than on the high-rake runners. "And we were correct. At the time, the regulations were being made this was pointed out." Image Unavailable, Please Login Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR21 Photo by: Zak Mauger / Motorsport Images Szafnauer denied the suggestion that the teams had voted unanimously to support the regulation changes. "No. Number one, there was never a vote," he said. "Number two, there was an indicative vote. So that was just at the technical under committee [working group], that all the technical directors had to have an indicative vote, and three teams voted against it. "You've got to remember only two teams have a low-rake concept. So even one of the high-rake teams voted against it. So nowhere near unanimity. And it wouldn't have even passed on the eight out of 10 rule. Because three voted against." Read Also: The F1 performance swing that highlights Mercedes' low-rake problem New aero regulations cost low-rake cars 1s per lap - Aston Martin Mercedes: Low-rake concept affected more by new F1 aero rules Regarding the team's current form, he added: "In race conditions we were a bit more competitive than we were over one lap. "But compared to where we were just a few months ago here, before the regulation change I mean, we've got a lot of a lot of work to do."
"Racing Point followed the Mercedes low-rake concept for its 2020 car" Made me chuckle! I guess that's one way to put it! Kevin