2009 Grand Prix of China - April 19th

Wait, so Brawn was actually suggesting they tweak the regulations just to shut down the double diffuser?

This is news to me; from everything I’ve gathered reading Brawn's own statements, he dove straight into car development with that double diffuser concept already baked in. He even mentioned recently—right before the hearing—that they were told their cars were perfectly legal...

Now, I’m not necessarily trying to paint Brawn as some kind of righteous crusader fighting for justice, but it’s worth noting that even when he was busy filing complaints in the past, he was essentially trying to stop other teams from developing their cars however they saw fit.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74490

Fernando Alonso 🙏

is by far the most blunt and direct when he speaks 🙏

has some pretty interesting observations regarding those supersoft tires... he’s predicting they’ll have to pit after just 5 or 6 laps because there will inevitably be a moment where they drop off and become up to 6 seconds slower than the prime tires 😁

Jonathan Booth5 said:The front wings—specifically those winglets that direct airflow underneath the chassis toward the diffuser—are essentially just amplifying the Venturi effect. It’s all quite fascinating when you look at how Ross explained it, but people like Flavio Briatore were far too preoccupied with buying up soccer teams to bother with such technical minutiae. Now, those same folks are acting shocked that these things are banned. Funny, isn't it? Especially considering how helpful Ross was back in the nineties at Benetton, keeping that whole TC situation under wraps.

I was actually referring to the barge boards; I didn't have those specific under-nose winglets in mind at all. 🙂

hollowhawk412 said:Did Brawn actually suggest changing the rules just to shut down the Double Diffuser concept???

This is news to me. From everything I've read regarding Brawn's own statements, he jumped straight into car development using the Double Diffuser concept from day one. He even mentioned recently—just before the hearing—that they were told their cars were perfectly legal...

Brawn was suggesting rule changes
He never told anyone he was going to build a Double Diffuser.
When the other teams refused to go along with his suggestions, they just kept developing the Double Diffuser. If the other teams had accepted his proposal, nobody would have been using the Double Diffuser at all. It’s really that simple.

hollowhawk412 said:Now, we don't want to go painting Brawn as some sort of crusader for justice, but it's worth remembering that even with his past complaints, he was essentially trying to stop other teams from developing their cars however they saw fit.

At the end of the day, everyone is just fighting for their own spot in the sun, himself included.😉

mistybear87 said:Everyone is out there clawing for their own piece of the pie, and honestly, he’s no different from the rest of us. 😉

Look, you have to understand how this actually played out... it wasn't just that Renault's Mass Damper was somehow cleared by the officials; the reality is that every single team on the grid was essentially running them, and they had been doing so for well over a year.
I find myself wondering, though I suppose it’s futile to ask, whose sudden whim or misguided initiative actually led to the decision to declare movable aerodynamics legal in the first place.
It’s all happening in stages, I suppose... though I recall quite clearly that Ferrari and Brawn were among the most vocal agitators when they realized the TMD on those Michelins was providing such an unfair advantage.

The MCM faithful surely haven't forgotten that whole mess involving Berlie... and let me tell you, Brawn was probably the one making the most noise about the whole thing.

I honestly can't make heads or tails of this 🙂

hollowhawk412 said:look, it wasn't just that Renault's Mass Damper was ruled legal; every single team was running them, and they'd been doing it for over a year before
someone decided on a whim to reclassify them as movable aerodynamic
components. I know for a fact that Ferrari and Brawn were among the loudest voices calling for a ban once they realized how much better the TMD worked with the Michelin tires.

I'm sure the MCM fans still have nightmares about that whole Berlie situation... and Brawn was right there leading the charge back then too.

That wasn't an episode, it was a straight-up horror movie. ☕
I will admit one thing though, the teams shouting the loudest about banning diffusers were the exact same ones who were most vocal about... well, le Brawn's proposal. On the flip side, this season's start has so many loopholes in the rulebook that I honestly believe even if the proposal passed, we'd just end up back in court over some other system, thanks to the FIA's predictably idiotic regulations...

hollowhawk412 said:Look, it wasn't just that Renault's Mass Damper was ruled legal; every single team was actually using them for over a year
before someone decided—on whose whim, who knows?—to suddenly classify them as movable aerodynamic
components. Though, I do recall that Ferrari and Brawn, in particular, were among the loudest voices calling for a ban once they realized the TMD worked so much better on Michelins.

I'm sure MCM fans still remember that whole Berlie episode... and Brawn was right at the forefront of that one too.

And now, he’s the loudest one arguing to legalize diffusers. He's fighting tooth and nail to secure his spot in the sun, much like how other teams fought against diffusers in the past.
Even McLaren protested against moving floors on the Ferrari, and teams used to grumble about TC on the Benetton cars back in the early nineties; remember Bridgestone going up against Michelin tires that acted like slicks once they wore down? It goes on forever.

At the end of the day, every team is either going to fight against someone exploiting a "loophole" in the regulations, or they'll jump right in and join them. It’s just part of the game. There's really no reason to start pointing fingers or labeling anyone a villain.

I'm not exactly a huge Brawn fan, but the man has every right to look out for himself.

mistybear87 said:I've never been much of a fan of Brawn, but hey, the man is entitled to his own opinion.

this time 😉

Morgan Murphy7 said:I honestly don't follow any of this 🙂

To be perfectly honest, I'm just as lost as everyone else in this whole mess 🙂 😁

Arthur Doyle70 said:It wasn't just an episode; it was a straight-up horror movie. ☕
I have to admit one thing though, the loudest voices screaming about banning the diffuser are usually the exact same teams making the most noise about... well, let's just say Brawn's proposal... On the flip side, the start of this season has been so riddled with regulatory loopholes that I honestly believe if they had even voted on that proposal, we'd be stuck in courtrooms all over again because of some other system, not to mention the sheer stupidity of the FIA's rules, which I won't even get started on...

I honestly can't say I've heard anything about that specific proposal...

but they'll just have to figure it out as they go. 🙂
They are going to need at least two more races before any of these teams can even pull together a first version of the DD diffuser. 😁

hollowhawk412 said:I’ll be honest, I hadn't even heard that suggestion floating around...

but they can figure it out on their own for now 🙂
it'll probably take them at least two more races to get a first version of the DD diffuser Ma put together 😁

They'll get it sorted, don't sweat it; it doesn't matter which race it lands, because the DD diffuser Ma will be ready, especially since Renault has already been testing different versions and the prototypes are already sitting there waiting...

hollowhawk412 said:Look, it wasn't just that Renault's Mass Damper was ruled legal; every single team was actually using them for over a year
before they were suddenly reclassified as moving aerodynamic
parts on someone's whim. I do recall that Ferrari and Brawn, in particular, were among the loudest voices calling for a ban once they realized how much better the TMD performed on Michelin tires.

I'm sure MCM fans vividly remember that whole situation involving Berilie... and Brawn was definitely leading the charge there.

McLaren pushed to ban the mass damper because their own version just wouldn't work, even though they were running the exact same rubber as Renault.
Honestly, the whole lot of them are cut from the same cloth, but hey, I haven't missed a single race in twenty years. 😁

Jonathan Booth5 said:but then again, I haven't missed a single race in the last twenty years 😁

Are you absolutely sure about that? ☕

You’re absolutely right, I was mistaken. I missed the race at Hockenheim back in 1998. My wife actually recorded it so I could watch it now ☕

Jonathan Booth5 said:but then again, I haven't missed a single race in the last twenty years :D

🙏

I can't even begin to explain to myself why you'd ever find yourself questioning things so certainly 🙂

hollowhawk412 said:http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/74490

Alonso 🙏

is definitely the most blunt guy when he speaks. 🙏

He's got some interesting takes on those supersoft tires... predicting they'll have to be swapped after just 5 or 6 laps and that at one point they'll be up to 6 seconds slower than the prime tires. 😁

Here's the translation 😉

http://www.f1racing.com/...latest-news

Seriously unbelievable. 😲 Totally normal, rational thinking from Alonso there. 😬 I mean, this tire situation is pure stupidity. ☕

Instead of getting more speed and grip from Slick's, the geniuses managed to screw that up too. 🙄 It's a complete disaster. All they need to do now is let Bernie and Max decide to put wooden wheels on the F1 cars. 🙄

stormybadger8 said:Here is the translation 😉

http://www.f1racing.com/index.php...latest-news

It is truly unbelievable 😲 how completely normal and rational the thinking is on Alonso's part 😬 because this whole tire situation is pure idiocy ☕

Instead of actually gaining speed and grip from using Slicks, the geniuses managed to screw that up entirely 🙄 It’s an absolute disaster; they might as well just announce that Bernie and Max should decide to put wooden wheels on the F1 cars at this rate 🙄

the moment those supersofts are spent, the crew finds themselves lagging by as much as 6 seconds 🤣

for the first two laps they look like they're catching everyone in sight, and then suddenly, it's like they don't even exist anymore 😂

Lewis Hamilton, essentially an engineer among drivers 🙏 🙏 🙏