Arena FIA Formula 1 Racing

Racing suits look great in the Martini livery.

 

Martini should've paired with Toro Rosso.

 

I'll pick up some gear. Got my Montreal tickets for June. Can"t wait!

 

So, first training in Australia completed. As expected, Mercedes first and second with Hamilton in front of Rosberg. The surprises came behind them, with Vettel fourth and his RBR teammate Daniel Ricciardo sixth. Alonso was third.

 

Yeah and P1 Button, Ricciardo, and Bottas looked strong.

 

Amazing drive from Ricciardo in quali so far!

 

Was his car set up very different than Vettel's. Seb said his car was pretty much not drivable, making Ricciardo's drive incredible.


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Well, that was an interesting start …


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Good driving from the newcomers so far.

 

Kobayashi crashed. Unusual.

 

I was expecting more to die at the starting line.

 

Very happy for Ricciardo. Great performance.

 

This here guy. This guy, here. This. Guy.

What a race! Sure, we traded one dominant German for another (notice there's no Polish drivers?) but Ricciardo's drive surely has to stand there as the best of the day, along with Magnussen. Sure, some people will wonder what if about Lewis and Seb not finishing, but Ricciardo I still think would've finished in P2.

I mean, Ricciardo, under pressure, doesn't do a Hulk or a Perez and lock his wheels. He just keeps it perfect. With tyres that had an extra 3 laps on them, he managed a gap of about 1.2s to Magnussen for most of it, never really getting in danger. Whilst behind him, the Dane drove an incredible race! When McLaren said to map back his power levels (I assume to charge up the full 33s of neo-KERS or whatever it's called) he did that, without pushing too hard to thinking his arrogance could outperform their analysis. Lewis wouldn't have done that, or would've been unhappy to dial it back. Magnussen in that sense is a thinking driver, like Prost or Button.

Bottas! What a drive, even fighting back so hard from that tragic tyre failure.

I really enjoyed this race. Good to see McLaren ahead in Constructors, good to see Maldonado out of the race (haw haw) and good to see Kamui Kamakaze is no less idiotic than his last time on the grid.

 

Nice race by the Ricciardo and Magnussen. Love to see the young guys do well. As a Ferrari fan I'm a little disheartened by the lack of straight line speed. If that is power plant issues or there isn't harmony between the ERS and the engine, they better figure it out fast because the Mercedes package looks really good despite LH not finishing.

 

LOL @ Red Bull. Shame for Ricciardo though. Not his fault.

 

hope the appeal is successful.

 

Steward's findings. Actually bodes well for Red Bull whilst also showing a bit of their trademark arrogance:
1) The Technical Delegate reported to the Stewards that Car 3 exceeded the required fuel mass flow of 100kg/h. (Article 5.1.4 of the Formula One Technical Regulations)
2) This parameter is outside of the control of the driver, Daniel Ricciardo.
3) The fuel flow is measured using the fuel flow sensor (Art. 5.10.3 & 5.10.4 of the Technical Regulations) which is homologated by the FIA and owned and operated by the team.
4) The stewards considered the history of the fitted fuel flow sensor, as described by the team and the Technical Delegate’s representative who administers the program. Their description of the history of the sensor matches.
a. During Practice 1 a difference in reading between the first three and Run 4 was detected. The same readings as Run 4 were observed throughout Practice 2.
b. The team used a different sensor on Saturday but did not get readings that were satisfactory to them or the FIA, so they were instructed to change the sensor within Parc Ferme on Saturday night.
c. They operated the original sensor during the race, which provided the same readings as Run 4 of Practice 1, and Practice 2.
5) The Stewards heard from the technical representative that when the sensor was installed on Saturday night, he instructed the team to apply an offset to their fuel flow such that the fuel flow would have been legal. He presented an email to the stewards that verified his instruction.
6) The technical representative stated to the Stewards that there is variation in the sensors. However, the sensors fall within a known range, and are individually calibrated. They then become the standard which the teams must use for their fuel flow.
7) The team stated that based on the difference observed between the two readings in P1, they considered the fuel flow sensor to be unreliable. Therefore, for the start of the race they chose to use their internal fuel flow model, rather than the values provided by the sensor, with the required offset.
8) Technical Directive 01614 (1 March 2014) provides the methodology by which the sensor will be used, and, should the sensor fail, the method by which the alternate model could be used.
a. The Technical Directive starts by stating: “The homologated fuel flow sensor will be the primary measurement of the fuel flow and will be used to check compliance with Articles 5.1.4 and 5.1.5 of the F1 Technical Regulations…” This is in conformity with Articles 5.10.3 and 5.10.4 of the Technical Regulations.
b. The Technical Directive goes on to state: “If at any time WE consider that the sensor has an issue which has not been detected by the system WE will communicate this to the team concerned and switch to a backup system” (emphasis added.)
c. The backup system is the calculated fuel flow model with a correction factor decided by the FIA.
9) The FIA technical representative observed thought the telemetry during the race that the fuel flow was too high and contacted the team, giving them the opportunity to follow his previous instruction, and reduce the fuel flow such that it was within the limit, as measured by the homologated sensor – and thus gave the team the opportunity to be within compliance. The team chose not to make this correction.
10) Under Art. 3.2 of the Sporting Regulations it is the duty of the team to ensure compliance with the Technical Regulations throughout the Event. Thus the Stewards find that:
A) The team chose to run the car using their fuel flow model, without direction from the FIA. This is a violation of the procedure within TD/ 01614.
B) That although the sensor showed a difference in readings between runs in P1, it remains the homologated and required sensor against which the team is obliged to measure their fuel flow, unless given permission by the FIA to do otherwise.
C) The Stewards were satisfied by the explanation of the technical representative that by making an adjustment as instructed, the team could have run within the allowable fuel flow.
D) That regardless of the team’s assertion that the sensor was fault, it is not within their discretion to run a different fuel flow measurement method without the permission of the FIA.

Part D is key for me. The team will argue that the fuel issue is not material. Teams cannot exceed 100kgs of fuel nor 100kg/h. Since the FIA sensor had failed it's impossible to state the telemetry data was conclusive proof of irregular flow. Red Bull will argue as a competitive outfit it is unreasonable to expect they would accept limitations on performance that arise from faulty or inaccurate, FIA mandated data if it undermines their competitiveness.

Such a BS reason to be disqualified.

 

I hope you are right that Ricciardo is re-instated.

Query though - why the hell would you re-install the faulty sensor on the car?

 

To comply with an idiotic FIA ruling?

 

Australian Grand Prix organizers may sue Formula One over lack of noise

 

Yeah that's not a real story.

 

But...but... I've seen it everywhere

 

Well, its a story.

But not likely to go anywhere, since Australia GP's contract probably did not have a decibel enforcement clause, and other countries and venues would be only too pleased to take on the event if Melbourne does not want it.

 

Your fault for believing it

http://joesaward.wordpress.com/2014/03/25/tosh-in-the-papers/

 

Love F1 drama!

I was disappointed at the sound of the cars but Le Mans cars have sounded like vacuum cleaners since Peugot brought in their LMP1 Diesel car and that hasn't effected the racing, which is really all we can ask for. Here's to good racing and not sweating the small stuff. I hope Riccardo gets his points back even though that will drop the cavallinos even farther back.