2009 Car Reveal

Word on the street is the RB5 was still limping a bit during yesterday's reveal. Tomorrow should be his first time getting back behind the wheel after that crash...

stormybadger8 said:There he is 👍

Today's results 👋

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:19.660 104
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.177 61
3. Hulkenberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.443 82
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.643 58
5. Piquet Renault (B) 1:23.313 35

Toro rosso is the only one running last year's car, so once they roll out the next RB, Vettel is gonna be sitting ahead of Renault, Williams, and McLaren all season long. You reap what you sow.😁

I just can't remember if it was dry or raining out there.🤷

Besides that, there are some other interesting numbers

1. Glock Toyota 1:33.501 82
2. Massa Ferrari 1:33.615 98
3. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:33.702 95

Toyota isn't looking half bad either.😉

It was dry/rain/dry in Phoenix.
It would be wild if the RB5 absolutely crushed it this season...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbgQlmqKhvA - video from today's testing.
Around the 3:20 mark, Piquet has this super weird spin. My first thought? KERS.

stormybadger8 said:There he is 👍

Today's results 👋

Pos Driver Team Time Laps
1. Buemi Toro Rosso-Ferrari (B) 1:19.660 104
2. Vettel Red Bull-Renault (B) 1:22.177 61
3. Hulkenberg Williams-Toyota (B) 1:22.443 82
4. Kovalainen McLaren-Mercedes (B) 1:22.643 58
5. Piquet Renault (B) 1:23.313 35

TBF, were these the lead drivers or the second drivers running today? 😁

You also forgot to mention that Red Bull had some mechanical issues. But whatever, I guess that's fine after 60 laps.

Roger Williams3 said:It was dry, then rain, then dry again in Phoenix.
It would be fascinating if the RB5 actually delivered this season...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbgQlmqKhvA Video from today's testing.
Around the 3:20 mark, there’s a really bizarre spin from Piquet. What was that all about? The first thing that popped into my head? KERS.

Well, that should really be happening on the exit if you're turning in too early, shouldn't it?

Are they activating?

vividfalcon7 said:Is anyone actually reading the rulebook? Apparently, Red Bull thinks they should be the ones explaining how the game is played. They just dropped this breakdown of the regulations on their site. Useful? Maybe. Necessary? Probably not if you've been paying attention. It’s all there—the fine print, the technicalities, the stuff that usually gets buried in legal jargon. Why bother? Because in this sport, the details aren't just details. They're everything.

The RB5. It’s just... different from everything else on the grid. 🙂

Roger Wright94 said:To be fair, were those the lead drivers or the second drivers out there today? 😁

You also forgot to mention the mechanical issues for Red Bull. But hey, I guess that's fine after 60 laps.

aha, the second drivers, obviously.🤣

1. Glock Toyota 1:33.501 82
2. Massa Ferrari 1:33.615 98
3. Kubica BMW Sauber 1:33.702 9

same exact thing here 😬

Roger Williams3 said:The weather in Jerez was dry, then rain, then dry again.
It would be wild if the RB5 dominated this season...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbgQlmqKhvA - footage from today's testing.
Around the 3:20 mark, there's this bizarre spin by Piquet. The first thing that popped into my head? KERS.

It's KERS. But I don't think it's about turning it on—it's more likely due to the charging process. If it's charging through the rear axle, it’s bound to mess with the stability.

And for everyone betting against Webber, he managed to beat Vettel's time by nearly a full second just a few hours later. :-D

His current best time is sitting at 1'21''321.

Renault had some brake issues yesterday, so they decided to pull out of the Jerez tests next week to focus on fixing those flaws back at the factory.

Meanwhile, McLaren has been out there since morning running that 2008-style rear wing. :-)

On a side note, totally off-topic, but something feels fishy with McLaren. Their times aren't bad, but the constant experimenting is weird. Last time it was the 2008 wing, then flow-vis fluid, now we're back to the 2008 rear wing. Wouldn't it make more sense to actually test the 2009 aero?

vividfalcon7 said:It’s about the KERS, though I wouldn't say it's just the deployment; more like the charging process itself. If they are charging through the rear axle, there’s almost certainly going to be an impact there.

And for those skeptics who think Webber can't keep up, give it a few hours—he’ll probably be shaving nearly a full second off Vettel’s time anyway. :-D

His current best lap is sitting at 1'21''321.

Renault had some brake issues yesterday, so they’ve decided to pull out of the testing sessions in Phoenix next week to focus on fixing those flaws back at the factory instead.

Meanwhile, McLaren has been out there since this morning running that 2008-style rear wing. :-)

On a bit of a tangent, though—something feels slightly off regarding McLaren. Their times aren't terrible, but the constant experimentation is curious. Last time it was the 2008 wing, then it was flow-vis testing, and now we're back to the 2008 rear wing again. Wouldn't it have been more productive to spend this time testing the 2009 aero?

The effect of KERS on the rear axle is negligible; it offers minimal drag, and you can rest assured they’ve built in safety failsafes in case the electric motor jams or anything similar happens.

Besides, not every KERS setup is tied directly to the axle; some are mounted straight to the gearbox.

And don't worry too much about McLaren; they aren't foolish and certainly know what they're doing. They might be dealing with specific car issues that require this kind of troubleshooting, so they aren't just testing things for the sake of it. 😬

A disco helmet for the guy everyone can't stop talking about before the new season kicks off:

http://en.f1-live.com/f1/en/headline...11100708.shtml

Red Bull and Ferrari might look like absolute masterpieces compared to the rest of the field, but honestly, Renault is the one actually packing the heat needed to snatch those championships

That's a pretty interesting helmet...

darkmarlin16 said:Red Bull and Ferrari look three steps ahead of everyone else when it comes to pure aesthetics, but Renault has the actual ingredients needed to win championships.

I've been saying that forever (even if it's not really the point here).

Renault is seriously going to shake up the whole field, honestly, who even thinks they can compete with

Here are today's practice session results, specifically for those who have been insisting that McLaren is struggling lately.😂😂😂
Time Laps
1.Sebastian Vettel AlphaTauri 1m17.591 143
2.Heikki Kovalainen McLaren 1m20.799 110
3.Mark Webber Red Bull 1m21.321 83
4.Kazuki Nakajima Williams 1m21.451 125
5.Nelson Piquet Jr. Renault 1m21.908 49

so honestly, it doesn't necessarily mean anything at all

darkmarlin16 said:that doesn't necessarily mean anything specific.

...but it is still nice to see.🤣🤣🤣

McLaren was running last year's rear wing, which pulls more downforce, so that explains the faster lap time.

Plus, they clocked that time during the final half hour of testing—a five-lap stint, basically. It’s an easy time when you're sitting on that old '08 wing.

They're waiting on the updated '09 version. Honestly, there's a good chance Lewis will have that new wing on the car tomorrow.

And hey, sepa, I can't think of anything else that could have screwed over Nelson Piquet Jr. in that situation (other than his own choices, obviously). Usually, it's the front tires that lock up, not the rears, and even then, it isn't usually that aggressive... besides, I read somewhere that at Toyota, their biggest headache is how KERS affects braking...

vividfalcon7 said:McLaren was running last year's rear wing, which packs more downforce, so that explains the faster time.

Plus, they hit that time in the final half hour of testing during a 5-lap stint. It was an easy run using that '08 wing.

They're waiting on the new '09 version; there's a good chance Lewis will have it on the car tomorrow.

And Sepa, I can't think of anything else that would screw over Nelson Piquet Jr. in that situation (besides him being himself). Usually, it's the front tires locking up, not the rears, and even then it's not that intense... I also read somewhere that Toyota is mostly worried about how KERS affects braking...

😁looks like Williams and Toyota actually nailed something😉 damn it, if McLaren doesn't change things up and install a new wing modeled after the Williams or Toyota design, they definitely ripped them off. Thieves, the lot of them. 😬

Other than that, it means the fastest standard car is Red Bull. 👋

stormybadger8 said:😁It looks like Williams and Toyota actually managed to pull something impressive off for once.😉 Honestly, it’s driving me insane—if McLaren doesn't switch things up right now and ditch that wing design for something more like what Williams or Toyota is running, I’m convinced they've just been playing copycat. They're nothing but thieves. 😬

Besides that, it just means they're the fastest. Just another standard car on the grid. I guess we're talking about Red Bull again. 👋

I can't even begin to tell you how much I miss those days when racing actually felt real, though looking back, everything was probably just a different flavor of chaos. It feels like it's been forever since we had drivers who didn't feel like they were programmed by a committee in Silicon Valley.
Heikki Kovalainen was easily the quickest guy out there in that '09 car, even if his MP4-24 was basically running a tweaked version of the '08 rear wing. The team is basically just sitting on their hands right now, stuck in limbo while they wait for that new high-downforce package to finally show up.


Still grinding away at it. 😁

Look, Red Bull actually nailed something here too. It’s not just Williams and Toyota; all three teams are running these non-traditional diffusers, except Red Bull takes it a step further by stretching those rear wing endplates almost all the way down to the floor...

Honestly, this one photo from Red Bull says it all... everyone is dying to get a closer look at the RB5 🙂

vividfalcon7 said:look, even Red Bull actually nailed something here, it’s not just Williams and Toyota; all three teams are running some kind of non-traditional diffuser setup, though Red Bull is taking it way further by stretching those endplate pieces almost all the way down to the floor...

honestly, this one photo tells you everything you need to know about Red Bull...everyone would kill to get a closer look at the RB5🙂

who's the guy hanging out there in the Renault gear? what's he doing, what does he have to do with the engine🤷or did he just happen to wander into the wrong spot, since he's clearly rocking that Renault F1 Team jacket