Open Wheel Racing 2020

[alfablue]

Some good racing happened this weekend- Iowa on Friday was a pretty fun race to watch, Saturday was ok.

F1 is pretty interesting, even if the racing isn't. It's been noted that Ferrari's cheating (lets not beat around the bush here) prompted Mercedes to really work on their engine, which is now more powerful than ever. And this is the engine to go into the new era with very few changes. On top of that, they have also addressed some of the high speed stability in the car. The result is that Mercedes is even more dominating than they have been before- 1.2s to Max in 3rd on the grid. Holy cow.

The Red Bull looks REALLY unstable and hard to drive. And I'm sure before they admit that, Albon will be the next sacrifice vs a more robust car.

Ferrari is just slow- no power, no aero, no nothing.

Racing Point is filling in nicely for them at the front of the grid. And I'm totally ok with their copy of last year's Merc. IMHO, it's embarrassing for the rest of the field to not be able to close on LAST YEAR's car that a photocopy of it is faster than they are.

Renault is doing a great job confirming Danny Ric's move to McLaren. And McLaren is also showing the same thing- which is really cool.

Williams looks much better in qualifying, but, sadly, the same in the race. Progress is progress, though.

AT, yea. AR- no. Haas- got lucky, but penalized.

I actually feel bad for Haas, as they buy so much from Ferrari that they are forced to follow a flawed concept and also gets a much less powerful engine.

[manurespreader]

You have to give it to Red Bull though. To rebuild that suspension in 20 minutes and make it in by mere seconds is impressive. I think McLaren is who might be challenging the others. At least I can hope right. I'm not a fan of Racing Point copying something where they would have to have the drawings to make it. At some point don't they have to build something of their own? I would sure like to see Williams actually compete in a race at some point. Right now I'm hoping for rain from here on.

[alfablue]

You have to give it to Red Bull though. To rebuild that suspension in 20 minutes and make it in by mere seconds is impressive. I think McLaren is who might be challenging the others. At least I can hope right. I'm not a fan of Racing Point copying something where they would have to have the drawings to make it. At some point don't they have to build something of their own? I would sure like to see Williams actually compete in a race at some point. Right now I'm hoping for rain from here on.

Racing Point did their entire car with the FIA looking over their shoulder- so that they could make the copy showing that they made the drawings themselves. Probably from very good pictures. I don't see a problem with copying- when you are in a big hole, copy the best, and then develop from there. It's not as if nobody else copies- just not to the same obvious level.

IMHO, it's better than what Haas does, who gets more drawings from Ferrari, since they get more stuff from the red team. Once you see the drawings, you can't just forget and ignore them. And Haas has looked very much like last years Ferrari, as well (in the past).

[Russell Jaslow]

The Red Bull looks REALLY unstable and hard to drive. And I'm sure before they admit that, Albon will be the next sacrifice vs a more robust car.

Which would tick me off. And who would they get? There's nobody in the pipeline, especially to throw right into the main team. Promoting past failures is ridiculous.

Unless they go the Vettel route, but I don't see that happening. Perez? If they really want to go outside their stable, that's a very good possibility.

Ferrari is just slow- no power, no aero, no nothing.

Well, they do have good drivers. That's it.

IMHO, it's embarrassing for the rest of the field to not be able to close on LAST YEAR's car that a photocopy of it is faster than they are.

That's really sad when you put it that way...

[Russell Jaslow]

I'm not a fan of Racing Point copying something where they would have to have the drawings to make it. At some point don't they have to build something of their own?

They have to design and build all the listed parts themselves. Which is why Renault specifically protested the brake ducts, as they were put on the listed parts list just this year, and you can't just take a picture of it and know how the inside looks. There could be some interesting "loophole" arguments in the next few weeks...

As for liking or not liking what they did (remember when everyone got all boiled up over what Haas did to get into F1?), they followed the rules. And as Adrian Newey so famously and correctly once said, "There is no such thing as the spirit of the regulations. There are only the regulations."

[manurespreader]

If you haven't read "How to Build a Car" by Adrain Newey, you should, it's great. I'd say the Red Bull has always been pretty touchy. The high rake is a result of the upright design, which is unique, but it makes it more touchy to drive.. Their cars have typically always had high limits. It's just is very easy to go past them, witness Gasly being unable to do it last year. They could probably alter the set up to make it more forgiving, but it would also be slower if they did that. Right now I'd bet they are trying to figure out why it's doing it more now vs not doing it as much last season.

[solovsfett]

Jimmie Johnson tested an indycar on the Indy road course yesterday. Sounds like he’ll race 12 indycar races next year and now may be considering the 500.

now that would be pretty cool!


btw. Gd this site is a mess to look at and locate anything. Bring back the old format stat.

[Russell Jaslow]

Jimmie Johnson tested an indycar on the Indy road course yesterday. Sounds like he’ll race 12 indycar races next year and now may be considering the 500.

Where did you see that? Nobody has said anything about what he might do next year. The only quote from Johnson I've seen is he would like to put something together, but it might not be for 2021. And he admits he has to first find some sponsorship.

[solovsfett]

Where did you see that? Nobody has said anything about what he might do next year. The only quote from Johnson I've seen is he would like to put something together, but it might not be for 2021. And he admits he has to first find some sponsorship.

Robin Miller. There’s no signed contract to discuss but it’s been an open secret 2021 he wants to race the road courses and now he’s changing his tune on Indy.

he will race indycar 1-2 times this year iirc

[manurespreader]

And he did quite well in the virtual series earlier and was pretty enthusiastic about it. I think it would be great to see him. I'd also like to see Robert Wickens back in a car.

[Russell Jaslow]

Sergio Perez tests positive for COVID- and will miss both races at Silverstone. Stuck in his hotel room by himself for at least 10 days.

That rule used to be seven days. They just changed it to 10 this week before Perez tested positive.

[Jimjamesak]

And Nico Hulkenburg got the open seat. Looks reasonably strong in P2.

Can you imagine what happens if he finishes 3rd Sunday? First podium as a replacement?

Honest question, how many are out there with a Super License that are available?

[Russell Jaslow]

Honest question, how many are out there with a Super License that are available?

Not many. Pretty much the pool consists of any former F1 driver. And a very few F2 and maybe some Indy car drivers.

They should have gotten Alonso... LOL

[Russell Jaslow]

And Nico Hulkenburg got the open seat. Looks reasonably strong in P2.

Can you imagine what happens if he finishes 3rd Sunday? First podium as a replacement?

Otmar was asked that during FP1. He said, "That would be the ironies of ironies."

They also mentioned that Hulkenberg was working out with the Racing Point trainers all this time, which I thought was very interesting.

[Russell Jaslow]

Good question- Sky mentioned 2 or 3 other drivers that could take the seat, but some were tied up with other commitments. IIRC, Racing Point is allowed to use Mercedes reserve drivers for the seat- which Hulk isn't one of those...

That’s true. They have access to Mercedes drivers, but they don’t have to use them. The two Mercedes drivers who were mentioned were Esteban Gutierrez and Stoffel Vandoorne.