F1 Tyre Testing Kicks off in Abu Dhabi

[Paul Jeffrey]

I think more downforce is a mistake. A big mistake.

Downforce kills racing, it's been proven time and time again so why on earth they decided to do it in Formula One I have no idea at all. They had to introduce stupid DRS to combat the lack of overtaking (another mistake imho) and now they go do the one thing that pretty much kills the ability to run in close proximity to other cars.

I'm probably over simplifying things too much, but for me the solution really is simply. Dramatically reduce downforce so the cars have something like 80% mechanical grip / 20% aero. Pump up the power so power delivery outweighs grip and ensure (however that is possible) that the cars understeer so using throttle control (i.e. sideways) is the best way to get round the corners. This way the cars will look spectacular out on track (sideways action not running on rails like they do now and increased chances of driver error), and the cars will be able to circulate close together as the "dirty air" wont have such a negative affect on the following car.

Add to this a move away from those lousy new tracks with crap layouts and zero fans, and hey presto, suddenly Formula One is worth watching again!

Oh yeah and bring back decent engine rules, so we have noise and variety once again. For me, Formula One isn't a green sport, nor is it a test bed for manufacturers to make road relevant technology. That's what WEC is for. Formula One should be the best, most spectacular form of motor racing in the world. In all my years of motorsport experience, that usually means burning a colossal amount of fossil fuel in an attempt to circulate a track quicker than you rivals. Not develop new technologies and pander to fly by night manufacturers and their needs (because lets be honest, does a factory entered Renault look any better than a privateer Williams on track? No, it doesn't).

Rant over

 

[lukas005]

The Ferrari with that rear wing and tyres is just amazing looking forward to the new season.

btw: is anyone going to make a mod with this modified SF-15 T to AC??

 

[Ben Lee]

They could have kept downforce at the current levels and simply added the wider tyres and wider track. The cars would still be a few seconds faster with those two things alone. Not getting rid of the multi element front wings is a mistake, they are too sensitive to dirty air. One step forward and two back.

 

[paracletus]

Bring on the quick cars; for sure they can't be any worse than the quick-wear tyres on 2016 cars.
Cars will be more of a challenge to the drivers too -- 5-6 seconds a lap quicker isn't going to be a walk in the park anymore.
A greater portion of downforce is coming from the underside of the car, that's another good thing.

Most of all - looking forward to trying out reiza rendition of these beasts

 

[gamer19]

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton pulled out of the Pirelli F1 test in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday after feeling unwell

The Briton, who won the Yas Marina race on Sunday but lost the championship to teammate Nico Rosberg, had joined the test to work on Pirelli's 2017 Formula 1 tyres.
Hamilton was not scheduled to drive today, with Pascal Wehrlein expected to be in the Mercedes cockpit, but Pirelli announced a change of plans this morning.

The German was scheduled to take over from Hamilton in the afternoon.
However, Hamilton was replaced by Wehrlein early as he was not feeling well after a few runs.
The test is the final one Pirelli is carrying out to evaluate next year's wider tyres.
Also on track are Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.


Not well ? Amazingly he was so well on all 21 races, including qualifying and practices. Bull...

Just thinking...
Maybe Lewis "driving miss Daisy" Hamilton (he even kind of look alike Morgan, isn't he?) is not that unwell just... disappointed to find out that new tires, even wider than old ones, are not wide enough for him to easily block Nico.
Next time when opportunity arises.

 

[Tobiman]

I personally feel more downforce is needed to regain the impression of speed the 1998-2005 cars had. Not saying these new cars are slow by any means, but having less downforce ruined the impression of speed in the corners, massively.

 

[Tobiman]

Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton pulled out of the Pirelli F1 test in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday after feeling unwell

The Briton, who won the Yas Marina race on Sunday but lost the championship to teammate Nico Rosberg, had joined the test to work on Pirelli's 2017 Formula 1 tyres.
Hamilton was not scheduled to drive today, with Pascal Wehrlein expected to be in the Mercedes cockpit, but Pirelli announced a change of plans this morning.

The German was scheduled to take over from Hamilton in the afternoon.
However, Hamilton was replaced by Wehrlein early as he was not feeling well after a few runs.
The test is the final one Pirelli is carrying out to evaluate next year's wider tyres.
Also on track are Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen and Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo.


Not well ? Amazingly he was so well on all 21 races, including qualifying and practices. Bull...

Just thinking...
Maybe he's not that unwell just... disappointed to find out that new tires, even wider than old ones, are not wide enough for him to easily block Nico.
Next time when opportunity arises.

I am definitely looking forward to 2017. I doubt Nico will be that much of a player with just as quick Ferraris and Red Bulls.

 

[Hor-hay]

How to fix F1, everyone except first can use DRS as much as they dare.

 

[Nick Gregory]

Thicc.

 

[Chris]

Maybe Lewis "driving miss Daisy" Hamilton (he even kind of look alike Morgan, isn't he?)

Really dude?
I hope you didn't mean it like that, but what you've said could be taken very offensively.

You're welcome to give your opinion on theories, no matter how tinfoil hatted they may be, but if your intention was to bring racial comments into the discussion then you will not be welcome in this community at all.

 

[Knoxstar]

Again it appears that I have a different perspective to most. I love the big fat 70's tires. I don't disagree with less downforce either and while this flies in the face of F1 and advancing technology through racing the old school driver will tell you that most passing happens in the corners. With carbon fibre brakes the braking zone is a very small window and incredibly late. Optimum grip, incredible downforce and ridiculous braking combined make it nigh on impossible unless you have superior power or DRS. Unless.....dare I say good old steel disc brakes! They aren't as temperamental as carbon fibre, they will wear out or fade if you stand on them all the time so skill and babying them for the right moment might spice things up and will widen the brake zone. Just sayin'..........

 

[Yapci]

And they want to restart the races when SC is out, which surely will make races last loooooooonger!

And voted no to the 2 races of 40 minutes separated in between 40 minutes, which would make things more funny for sure...

It's not like they take good decisions in my opinion, and it doesn't look like there are gonna be much of a difference between what we have seen this year. Just a facelift of the cars but...what the sense of have better lap times if there's no show, overtakes, driver mistakes...just few seconds less per lap and DRS overtakes (which looks stupid because it's not like drivers are better or worse, just have a button to press).

 

[Bazooka_Joe]

Imagine the rear wheel pit crew guy's face now. Heard rumours that some pit crew will be sourced from any sort of Strong Man competitions for 2017 season

 

[grahamw]

Now changing tyres will make little or no difference to the competitiveness of the lesser teams so we basically at best have Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes competing for top spot and surely the down force increase will counter act any changes it might have made changing the tyres.

May be they need to look at more radical changes such as different tyre providers like the good old days and even refuelling (yes I know the reasons for that are may be safety rather than sport considerations) and may be even giving every team the same budget or some other limitation on richer teams. May be it needs more of the wall ideas look how much more exciting a wet race is than a dry one.

Now of course that wouldn't make all teams equal but it would certainly give lesser teams a bigger chance of points and that might be more exciting.

 

[mikrowelle1407]

Absolutely looking forward to next season - but winter is going to be horrible...

 

[mikrowelle1407]

Martini isn't just a drink

 

[Grand Tourist]

Larger wings :
Wider tyres :
No power upgrade : 1200hp should be a standard for such grip improvements.
I wonder if anyone has thought over unsafe conditions that come along with these wider tyres ? can not think of anything for now though .

 

[fortyfivekev]

Larger wings :
Wider tyres :
No power upgrade : 1200hp should be a standard for such grip improvements.
I wonder if anyone has thought over unsafe conditions that come along with these wider tyres ? can not think of anything for now though .

Wider tyres often equals more aquaplaning in the wet but in the dry they are safer as a spinning car will stop quicker.

 

[Runic]

F1 is most likely going to be sh*t (hopefully I'm proven wrong). Cars are going to be way too easy to drive. We need less downforce, more unpredictability and more competitive cars to make F1 as good as it can be. This is why I don't think Verstappen should be named a new Senna because back when Senna was driving, you had to be talented to drive a car fast.

 

[Ben Lee]

I think the current downforce levels are fine. If you look back to footage from 1990-1993, what strikes me isn't how fast the cars are around fast corners, more the speed they carry through the slow corners. They are just so fast and look much more composed than today's cars.