2009 European Grand Prix

With an altogether lack of traction control, wouldn't using KERS immediately out of a low-speed corner just create wheel-spin? Or the potential for wheel-spin? I see how using it at the fastest point of a circuit is a waste, but every time we get an on-board lap with telemetry, the drivers don't use it until the're well clear of the corner.
 
KERS won't help below 100km/h because of wheelspin. And it won't help above 230km/h because the car is drag-limited. But it helps by reducing the 100-200km/h accelertation time. Effectively, this means that KERS will be a benefit in any flat-out section longer than 250m (of which there are only 2 at Monaco).

(ref here: http://www.formula1.com/races/in_detail/europe_816/circuit_diagram.html)

I expect KERS to be of benefit on the run to turn 2 (turn 1 is flat), plus between turns 6 & 8, and massively between 10 & 12.
 
Watching the lap, there are a couple of not so fast corners after the hairpin. But Alonso still seems to be accelerating through all them so it seems like KERS could be of use in that section. But there is less downforce this year so it may be more tricky.
 
GilesGuthrie
I expect KERS to be of benefit on the run to turn 2 (turn 1 is flat), plus between turns 6 & 8, and massively between 10 & 12.
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The run from ten down to twelve is the obvious choice, as is coming out of the final corner. But I also think it would be useful coming out of fourteen en route to seventeen. Turns fifteen and sixteen don't look like much, so it may be possible for a quick burst (especially since it's longer than the section trhough six, seven and eight). The same may even apply from turns twenty to twenty five, because I recall reading the F1 Rejects review of last year's race saying that those few corners were barely even deserving of the title 'corner' at all.
 
Do you race?
Did you even read my post? I clearly said the drivers aren't going to use it in places where the corners are close together because it would be a waste; by the time they've pressed the button, they'll have to dip the brakes again. How about you maybe put a little thought into what you're posting before you actually post it?
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Gentlemen, I daresay KERS will not be relevant at Valencia. I think pole position will be the dominant factor, of course. Qual's will decide the race barring mechanical issues. I look for Alonso and Webber here. Fantastic vid on-board of the Spaniard by the way. Ció!
 
mustang245
Gentlemen, I daresay KERS will not be relevant at Valencia. I think pole position will be the dominant factor, of course. Qual's will decide the race barring mechanical issues. I look for Alonso and Webber here. Fantastic vid on-board of the Spaniard by the way. Ció!
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I think KERS will be relevant until the first corner.
 
Barrichello P1. Button P4, after leading for a while. The Brawns are back.

EDIT: Badoer seems aptly named - he's a bad-doer. Of course, there's still a long way to go.
 
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Do you race?
Barrichello P1. Button P4, after leading for a while. The Brawns are back.

EDIT: Badoer seems aptly named - he's a bad-doer. Of course, there's still a long way to go.
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Yeah I think his abbreviation on the time sheet is summing it up so far. BAD
 
peterjford
I think KERS will be relevant until the first corner.
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I see. What if Hamilton takes pole? Race over? It could happen, considering how fast he closed on Alonso at Hungary... Pole plus KERS? I digress.
Barrichello, what a pleasant surprise.
 
Jeez, people already burning Badoer in Practice 1...can't people wait till Qualifying until they judge his performance? I mean a whole second behind everyone else is bad but this is only practice, it doesn't mean anything yet.
 
Ardius
Jeez, people already burning Badoer in Practice 1...can't people wait till Qualifying until they judge his performance? I mean a whole second behind everyone else is bad but this is only practice, it doesn't mean anything yet.
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👍
 
Ardius
Jeez, people already burning Badoer in Practice 1...can't people wait till Qualifying until they judge his performance? I mean a whole second behind everyone else is bad but this is only practice, it doesn't mean anything yet.
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Its going to surprise me if he makes it out of Q1. Badoer's not that great of a driver.

Ill never figure out why they choose him over Gene :odd:
 
nissan tuner
Its going to surprise me if he makes it out of Q1. Badoer's not that great of a driver.

Ill never figure out why they choose him over Gene :odd:
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Perhaps because Badoer has better statistics in F1? He beat him when they were teammates, in fact Badoer beat all his teammates. He even beat the likes of Barrichello and Coulthard back in their F3000 days.
I suggest everyone reads his profile on F1Rejects, as he is a lot better than his results would show.
 
Ardius
I suggest everyone reads his profile on F1Rejects, as he is a lot better than his results would show.
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If he does well, it may be the first time they have to remove his profile.
 
Ardius
Jeez, people already burning Badoer in Practice 1...can't people wait till Qualifying until they judge his performance? I mean a whole second behind everyone else is bad but this is only practice, it doesn't mean anything yet.
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It's not just being a second off, his times were all over the place.

Mistakes everywhere, not like Alguersuari in Hungary.
 
LMAO @ Dori Dori Hamilton. That was incredible.
 
Schumacher was right not to comeback, he saw the reason for retiring in FP2. Alonso would have humiliated him. Heidfeld should have known better, too. A new wing and back out for a 1'39... priceless.
 
I think after reading Badoer's comments and hearing his interviews for today, he's done a good job so far. He's said that Ferrari haven't given him any specific goals and that he spent today really getting used to racing again, knowing the track and the car. He said the team understand this and so he just wants to get through the weekend like a test session.

Sensible basically. Expecting him to be straight on the pace and up with Kimi was unrealistic. If he manages to finish the race tomorrow it will be impressive, beating anyone would be very impressive.
And we haven't even reached the end of qualifying yet, so its a little early to judge if he is a worthy replacement.
 
well badoer managed to beat alguesari so it looks like ferrari where right with the brake issue. but god give a guy a chance hes a test driver which means he only gets to drive the thing in the winter now. so its not surprising hes got to get back acclimated with the car.
 
He did manage to get fined three times for speeding on the pits at least.
 
Badoer has a long way to go, I might have chosen Gene instead, but Ferrari didn't because of broken ribs, if i'm correct.
 
PJ-FFL
Badoer has a long way to go, I might have chosen Gene instead, but Ferrari didn't because of broken ribs, if i'm correct.
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Yep. Badoer and Raikkonen are the only two (of five) currently uninjured Ferrari drivers.

I don't think Luca did badly today, given it's his first visit to the track in a car that's pretty much new to him.

As for Heidfeld/Alonso - Heidfeld gave as much room as ought to have been necessary, and no blame should be apportioned to him. Fernando just made a mistake.
 
I'm very surprised how Force India is doing. They are doing very well.
 
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned Alonso's lap yet.

Okay, it was a PR stunt for the home crowd. Alonso says they weren't running on fumes, but given that he was seven-hundredths of a second quicker than Jenson Button - pretty much quicker than anyone else has ever been all season - there was a light fuel load involved. I'd be surprised if many people come close to that benchmark in Q2 later today.

More to the point, is this what we can expect next year in the qualifying sessions? Mid-race refuelling is banned, so the cars will be fully fuelled after Q3. I know the practice sessions don't count for much, but there's the thing: at some point or another, drivers like Sutil, Buemi and Nakajima were pretty high in the standings, and for most of the session, the top ten were covered by just half a second. Have someone finally cracked the magic formula to make the sport more competitive than ever before?
 
Do you race?
Have someone finally cracked the magic formula to make the sport more competitive than ever before?
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I think it's because they widened the tire gap between the soft and hard tires. Though I haven't been keeping track of who's running what.
 
ROAD_DOGG33J
I think it's because they widened the tire gap between the soft and hard tires. Though I haven't been keeping track of who's running what.
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The speed announcers during practice today had said the teams will be using the Super Soft and Soft compounds. Also that the gap between the performance of the tires is negligible. Though they have been wrong before, I'm not in the mood to research what they have said, but I believe it's been said on many of their broadcasts. I could be wrong. I know those compounds aren't ran every race, just the softest two compounds as the prime and option.
 
I guess I'll see in qualifying. I think there was one other race where they ran the two grades that were next to each other.

The simplified aero probably has a bigger part.
 
LSX
The speed announcers during practice today had said the teams will be using the Super Soft and Soft compounds. Also that the gap between the performance of the tires is negligible. Though they have been wrong before, I'm not in the mood to research what they have said, but I believe it's been said on many of their broadcasts. I could be wrong. I know those compounds aren't ran every race, just the softest two compounds as the prime and option.
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I'm pretty sure they've abandoned non-sequential tyre compounds for the year.
 
^Yup, Bridgestone announced it before Hungary.

Do you race?
I'm surprised no-one has mentioned Alonso's lap yet.

Okay, it was a PR stunt for the home crowd. Alonso says they weren't running on fumes, but given that he was seven-hundredths of a second quicker than Jenson Button - pretty much quicker than anyone else has ever been all season - there was a light fuel load involved. I'd be surprised if many people come close to that benchmark in Q2 later today.

More to the point, is this what we can expect next year in the qualifying sessions? Mid-race refuelling is banned, so the cars will be fully fuelled after Q3. I know the practice sessions don't count for much, but there's the thing: at some point or another, drivers like Sutil, Buemi and Nakajima were pretty high in the standings, and for most of the session, the top ten were covered by just half a second. Have someone finally cracked the magic formula to make the sport more competitive than ever before?
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I think its a combination of new regulations, a grid full of excellent teams and drivers and finally having some logical thinking with things like FOTA and the OWG.
 
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