Posts by Jason Campbell70

David Lewis24 said:Well, yeah, I mean, it wasn't exactly their smoothest first attempt with the box Leclerac 3.1, but I guess they really made up for it during the second round.

At 2.7 seconds, that was Carlos Sainz's first pit stop—the fastest we've seen yet.

Now, Leclerc's second stop comes in at 2.5. The fastest so far?

Ferrari pulls off the fastest pit stops.

No more playing games. Just let Max Verstappen go for it like there's no tomorrow, and we'll see what happens. 😁

Just how much impact does the Drag Reduction System actually have on the main straight? 😲

Charles Leclerc has definitely found a new level of confidence since we last saw him. 🙏🙏🙏

A total circus from the start. 😁

Max Verstappen is going to take the inside line just like he always does, so the guy next to him better move or prepare for a collision.
Knowing how Charles Leclerc drives, he might actually pull it off.

Jack Kelly5 said:Well, looks like the prophet horse finally got the machine sorted out, assuming they don't mess around with the settings again...
👋

🤣🤣🤣

The perfect scenario tomorrow? Both frontrunners crash out, clearing the way for Junior to cruise to an easy win. :luks::luks::luks:

Mercedes-Benz looks better than expected. Give them a few more races to dial in the car, and they'll be fighting for pole position too.
I still expect them to show up much stronger during the race itself. What we saw today felt a bit too cautious—probably just playing it safe with the power units (using three PUs over 23 races this year).
We'll see.

Sam Clark75 said:I didn't catch that with Lewis Hamilton, but George Russell was definitely using his DRS during his flying laps—multiple times, actually.

Check it out right here:



And again, right here:



Doesn't mean they aren't sandbagging, though. Obviously.

I wasn't watching both free practice sessions—skipped most of the first one—but during Free Practice 2, what I described happened constantly. George Russell hits the track, does an out-lap, and then
bang, a fast lap or two, all without touching the Drag Reduction System.

As for Lewis Hamilton, we already know the deal: 19 miles/h slower on the straight, looking convincingly last.

Really strange.

It’s interesting to note that on a track featuring three DRS zones, the Mercedes drivers aren't using DRS once during their fast laps.
They're even losing ground to the competition on the straights.

Red Bull and everyone else are using it, but for Mercedes, it's glaringly obvious they aren't.

Waiting for the Final Round.

cosmicmoose2 said:The real kicker under these new regulations is engine development. That’s the one area locked down until 2025, if I recall correctly.

That is a massive point, yet it's being completely overlooked. Everyone is obsessing over sidepods, floor designs, and aero packages instead.

This season, cars have to run on E10 fuel—gasoline with 10% ethanol.
Up until now, they've been using E5 (5% ethanol).
Based on current projections, we're looking at a power drop of roughly 5-10%.
That's a range of about 40-80 HP. Quite significant, isn't it?
Whoever manages that transition best will hold a massive advantage.

Think back to those easy wins for Ferrari at Spa and Monza 2019. Back then, an extra (allegedly) 50-70 HP turned a decent car into a total powerhouse.

Though, let's be honest: if a team finds a way to cheat the system during engine adaptation, the FIA will likely find a way to level the playing field again.
We've seen it happen before.

2022 United States Grand Prix

Indianapolis Motor Speedway



Total Laps: 57
Lap Distance: 5 412 m
Race Length: 191 miles
Lap Record: 1:31.447, Danica Patrick (2005)

Past Winners (Last five races held):
2021 1. Lewis Hamilton 2. Verstappen 3. Valtteri Bottas
2020 1. Lewis Hamilton 2. Verstappen 3. Valtteri Bottas
2019 1. Lewis Hamilton 2. Valtteri Bottas 3.Leclerc
2018 1. Sebastian Vettel 2. Valtteri Bottas 3. Lewis Hamilton
2017 1. Sebastian Vettel 2. Lewis Hamilton 3. Valtteri Bottas

Tires:


Event Schedule:

Friday, March 18, 2022:
1:00 PM Free Practice 1
4:00 PM Free Practice 2

Saturday, March 19, 2022:
1:00 PM Free Practice 3
4:00 PM Q3

Sunday, March 20, 2022:
4:00 PM Race

IT'S race Week !!!

The winter break felt shorter than usual, the anticipation grew higher, and finally, we’ve arrived.
Ladies and gentlemen, the first race of the 2022 season is upon us.
So many changes. The cars have been drastically overhauled compared to last year. Those 13-inch tires are finally gone, replaced by the 18-inch ones after all the delays. We have new regulations regarding tire usage, some drivers have switched teams, others are making their return to the paddock... essentially, a whole new deck of cards has been dealt, and everyone at the table is playing their hand close to the chest.

Who has adapted best? We might get a hint on Friday, but we won't see the true pace until Q3 on Saturday. Then comes the race itself, where reliability could be the deciding factor, especially since these cars haven't been tested extensively.

The suspense is peaking. The unknowns are endless.

Finally, instead of pit crew models:

An interesting direction for the RB18.
At first glance, it seems Red Bull believes that directing downwash downward and around the sidepods is the way to go, which is why they're pushing for it with this latest aero package.

It’s essentially the same concept that a few other teams have already taken to the absolute extreme. 😁

shadowstag10 said:Even today, Russell is struggling with lockups and understeer. Mercedes is facing some serious issues right now.

Yesterday, Mercedes was consistently losing ground to Ferrari in every single sector.

"Losing". 😁😁😁

Right now, Russell's lap times look quite promising. The car seems much more stable under braking than it did yesterday. It’s feeling more precise, too. They're still just testing and hunting for that perfect setup, dealing with a mess of pitot tubes all over the car and a makeshift fix for the rear floor attachment.

Jason Campbell70 said:A lot of it falls on the teams, but apparently the FIA shares some blame too. They supposedly miscalculated the weight of the larger wheels and tires, and word is they completely overlooked the weight of the front fenders.
So, the FIA's weight projections for the upcoming cars were just a bit too optimistic? It seems certain teams won't be able to hit those targets.

Insane preseason. Here is another rumor that looks like it might actually pan out:

According to the Italian media, nothing is officially set in stone in Bahrain yet, but the minimum weight limit could go up by three kilos. Apparently, nine out of ten teams want this increase, which meets the eight-team threshold needed to push the rule change through.

The three-kilogram increase breaks down like this: one kilo because the four new tires are heavier than the initial prototypes used during testing. A second kilo accounts for the wheel covers, which weren't factored into the minimum weight. The final kilo is being allocated to the teams to offset the issues seen in Barcelona with the floor of the cars. These extra kilos should help compensate for that.

https://www.gpblog.com/en/news/10581...be-raised.html

bluepuma9 said:Just like the DAS system, Mercedes designed this car with FIA approval. There's no illegality here.

Exactly.

We went from doubting whether 2022 would just be a "spec car" era where everyone builds identical machines, to seeing this massive explosion of design philosophy. The sheer variety in constructor ideas is wild. Honestly, it's the most diverse field of cars I've seen in Formula 1.

What a great time to be alive. 🙏🙏🙏

Check this out from the official Mercedes' Twitter:
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNe1iyVX...name=4096x4096

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNe1lcwX...name=4096x4096

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FNe1lYbW...name=4096x4096

And they're definitely trolling us too:

Raymond Anderson4 said:If any other team pulled this off, I’d probably say, "Maybe it works, maybe it doesn't," before dismissing it entirely—kind of like when Williams tried that radical rear end change 8 or 9 years ago that turned out to be a total disaster.

But when Bear does it? There's a reason for it. It's enough to make Newey and his crew sweat.

Exactly.

I have my doubts about whether they'll ditch the sidepods on the W13 entirely, but the rumor is spreading fast enough that it's hard to ignore.

Even Matt Somerfield is picking up on it.
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/m...esign/8846608/

According to him, a concept that completely removes the sidepods looks a bit questionable, yet he expects Mercedes to roll into Bahrain with even narrower profiles—not that they aren't already the narrowest on the grid.

What I’m really hoping is true? That rumor claiming the W13B is a full second per lap faster than the initial W13 spec, and that it's going to absolutely dominate the championship.

Much of this falls on the teams, though apparently the FIA shares some blame too. Word is they miscalculated the weight of the larger wheels and tires, and might have even completely overlooked the weight of the front fenders.
It seems the FIA's weight projections for the upcoming cars were a bit too optimistic, leaving certain teams struggling to catch up.

But the rules are the same for everyone; they'll just have to adapt.

As for the upcoming pre-season testing in Bahrain, Corriere della ser is reporting some juicy gossip.
Supposedly, Mercedes is showing up with a B-spec version of the W13, which simulations claim is a full second faster per lap.

https://www.corriere.it/sport/formul...7f140451.shtml

The rumored design change is massive. They say Mercedes is ditching the sidepod inlets entirely, routing all cooling through a single central inlet instead.

Essentially, it’s roughly what Scarbs already predicted for a few other teams:



I’m not sure if this rumor holds any water, but I find it far more interesting that Scarbs and the journalists at Corriere actually fell for this nonsense. Under the current regulations, it's simply impossible. Even the most extreme low-profile sidepods we saw at Williams were pushing the absolute limit—both legally and engineering-wise.
Only people who started following F1 yesterday would announce something like that.

:roflić:

stormybadger8 said:Why on earth isn't the Alfa lighter?🤔

The Alfa is the shortest car on the grid.
A shorter chassis means less material, which should mean less weight.

I haven't quite figured out the exact radiator layout on the Aston Martin yet, but from what I can see, it looks identical to the setup on the Alfa.



When is Bahrain finally getting here? 😁