US Forumla1 GP

[halz]

So, what do our American brothers think of last weekend's US F1 Grand Prix? Did anyone on this forum attend? How do you rate the F1 cars compared to your IRL cars? (and doesn't IRL stand for International Rugby League?!)

Comments anyone?

[Bambikiller240]

Didn't attend, but watched ALL of the practices. ALL of the Qual Sessions, and ENTIRE the Race. (as usual )

Compare an F1 car to an IRL car!?? Drivers? Equipment? No comparison, none whatsoever.

No passing in F1? Two words.........Alonzo & Sato! These guys are going to be fantastic to watch throughout their careers!

Two apparent Michelin tire failures at critical points on the track. Scary!! :tapemouth Thank goodness Ralf wil be OK! Fernando was lucky as well.

Bit of a fiasco by the rule makers. Was NASCAR handling the officiating? Criminal to allow Montoya to race for 60 laps (from starting last to 3rd place!) then Black Flag him for a pre-race rules violation!! I want someone's head on a stick! :devious:

IRL stands for Injury Racing League.

[halz]

No comparison - how so? What sort of engines to IRL cars have? How much power? How much do they weigh? Which type laps Indianapolis faster?

You're right about the tyres... or was it suspension on Ralf's car that failed? What was criminal was the amount of time it took the Marshalls to get their act together to help him. And the safety car should have taken the field through the pits instead of through the crash site...

Thanks for the comments - any more?

[Bambikiller240]

Must agree 100% about the marshalls letting Ralf sit there for 3 minutes before anyone arrived at the accident scene. It must be investigated and they have to ensure it never happens again!! Safety car should have gone through the pits as well, agreed!

IRL SPECIFICATIONS

Type: Open-wheel, single-seat, open-cockpit and ground-effect underbody; outboard wings front and rear

Construction: Monocoque contains cockpit, fuel cell and front suspension; engine is stressed (integral) member of chassis; rear assembly contains gearbox and rear suspension members

Materials: Carbon fiber and composites

Weight: 1,525 pounds minimum, including all lubricants and coolants used during the event, but does not include fuel or driver

Length: 192 inches minimum

Width: 78.5 inches (outside wheel rims) maximum, 74 inches minimum (measured at the hub centerline)

Height: Approximately 38 inches

Wheelbase: 120 inches minimum, plus or minus 2 inches

Front Wheel Size: 15 inches diameter, 11.2 inches wide

Tires: 26 inches maximum, 25 inches minimum @ 35 psi

Minimum weight: 13.48 pounds

Rear Wheel Size: 15 inches diameter, 15 inches wide

Tires: 27.5 inches maximum, 26.5 inches minimum @ 35 psi

Minimum weight: 14.7 pounds

Tires: Firestone Firehawk (spec)

Front hub assembly - IRL spec component that contains hub bearings and mounting points for braking system and wheel/tire assembly.

Engine - Normally aspirated 3.0 liter V-8 . The current engine produces approx. 700 horsepower @ 10,300 RPM (rules limited) and gets an average of two miles per gallon of methanol fuel.

Gearbox: XTRAC #295 gearbox (gears forward) Six forward gears, sequential shifter

Fuel Cell: Single, rupture-proof cell, 35 U.S. gallons (standard)

Cost: $309,000 (maximum)

Manufacturers: Dallara Automobili, Italy

Panoz G Force, Braselton, Ga./England

*chassis and engine manufacturers must be "approved" by League management.

[halz]

That sounds like a very restrictive formula...but I suppose it promotes close racing? F1 engines are 3.0litre naturally aspirated V10s with max rpm typically around 16-18000.

There are moves afoot to forther constrain the design of F1 cars in the hope of limiting costs and improving competition. Its a shame because this is widely regarded as the pinnacle of motorsport. IMHO there should be no limit on no. cylinders, weight or induction type. The F1 racing spectacle is beginning to border on the mundane and further restriction will make it even more so...

[Bambikiller240]

Yes. it is very restrictive. Racing is "close" but you would expect that given that currently they only race on Oval tracks. :mad: No road racing, though they claim to be considering it for future years.

I'm hoping the idea of 2.4L V8's that Max Mosley was mumbling about is just a "stick" to prod the manufacturer into some other form of financial restraint.

On our SPEED TV channel they have telemetry showing RPM of some of the racecars. Mercedes and Minardi were the only ones I noticed that were shifting at 18,000 or below. Ferrari, BAR, and Renault were shifting at 19,000 +

[26th-Z]

We are watching history in the making. F1 could not be more interesting. I could not attend because I was all tied up with some Z thing and the airport televisions were showing golf !?!!? WTF? I'll watch the tape tomorrow.

[Bambikiller240]

Ralf's Tyre Failure

[Fun_in_my_z]

I didnt see it eather i was working on the z at the time.:classic:

It sounds like this could get very interesting.:devious:

[gramercyjam]

Originally posted by Bambikiller240

Criminal to allow Montoya to race for 60 laps (from starting last to 3rd place!) then Black Flag him for a pre-race rules violation!! I want someone's head on a stick! :devious:

Look on the bright side. At least his sponsors got some exposure before the black flag.

[Bambikiller240]

Originally posted by gramercyjam

Look on the bright side. At least his sponsors got some exposure before the black flag.

Yeah, and they got a lot of exposure while Ralf sat in the middle of the track while the safety workers ignored him! :stupid:

[Dan Baldwin]

F1 sucks. Yeah I watch it. Geez could the rules be any worse? It's like the cars are DESIGNED to not be able to pass. Flat stepped undertray => almost all downforce comes from wings => lose all front downforce when you get up behind a competitor => you have to be 2+seconds a lap faster to actually be able to pass. STUPID.

Grooved tires: STUPID and ugly. The DOT-legal Hoosiers I do track events on look more like real race tires.

Punishing Montoya repeatedly year after year for having the gall to be competitive with Schumacher: STUPID and maddening to witness. Challenge for a corner? DQ or penalty.

Mandated V10 engine configuration: STUPID. It was fantastic when Honda V12s, Renault V10s and Ford V8s were all competitive. Music!

Pressurized refuelling: STUPID and dangerous. I LOVED it when they had to carry ALL the fuel for the race on board. Different setups would dominate in different phases of the race. 5-second tire-change-only pit stops. Pit crews wore shorts and short-sleeves and actually looked like they were ENJOYING themselves, where now they're in those ridiculous space suits.

Yellow flags/caution cars, bleh

pit lane speed limits, ditto.

OK, the last two have merits, but it WAS more fun to watch before these rules were implemented.

Basically, F1 copied all the WRONG things about CART, and didn't copy any of the RIGHT things (spec venturi undertray for one).

CART was awesome through the 90s, but has been mismanaged to near death (Tony George keeping them out of the Indy 500 starting in 95/96 (?) didn't help things either).

IRL? Hate it.

NASCAR? Hate it.

O' course, if you wanna watch REAL racing, MotoGP is where it's at!