Less drag on cars for 2009 and KERS=new lap records?

[Peter]

Cars have less drag in for 2009. Less grip might be made up in wind resistance. Could this mean some new lap records for 2009? Plus the KERS for extra hp at the times you want.

 

[NapoleonMikey]

only on the low downforce tracks like fuji (though i belive they race at sazuka this year). but on the high downforce tracks i doubt it.

 

[niky]

KERS will only be an advantage a few seconds every lap... and will be a disadvantage the rest of the time, due to weight. Only time will tell if the teams will match or exceed previous season records with the new cars, but I highly doubt it.

Of course, having full-on slicks might make up for everything else. We'll only know when the season opens later this month.

 

[prisonermonkeys]

They'll certainly be setting lap records at Abu Dhabi ...

 

[Ardius]

The idea of KERS is to mainly help overtaking, not necessarily make the cars faster over a lap, which is why the KERS vs. non-KERS battle will be so interesting, cars without KERS will have the ability to pull a gap whereas the KERS cars will more easily pass on straights and have generally better starts off the line.

 

[Peter]

Well, cars this year are a lot slimmer than before and so less drag which means they're quicker than the older ones. This i'm sure will help out alot at probably Monza and Fuji.

 

[JamboGT]

Less drag and much less aero grip though, the slicks claw some of that back though. Add in further rev limited V8's and lap records may still stand. We shall see.

 

[mustang245]

If I am not mistaken, young Rossberg blasted last years pole position time set by Hamilton by nearly .7 tenths! Please feel quite free to correct me.

 

[Tired Tyres]

He did but he didn't get anywhere need Schumacher's best pole time which is in the 24's.

 

[MagpieRacer]

I think tis unlikely that will be beaten.

 

[Ardius]

If I am not mistaken, young Rossberg blasted last years pole position time set by Hamilton by nearly .7 tenths! Please feel quite free to correct me.

And without KERS...in fact, all the KERS cars were at the back of the field.

Its been said that KERS cars may be able to jump two whole rows of non-KERS cars at the start, so we will see their advantage there, but like I said before, probably not in laptimes.

 

[peterjford]

And without KERS...in fact, all the KERS cars were at the back of the field.

Its been said that KERS cars may be able to jump two whole rows of non-KERS cars at the start, so we will see their advantage there, but like I said before, probably not in laptimes.

Is one parade lap enough to fully charge the KERS system, or are they going to put them on the grid with fully charged batteries/spinning flywheels?

 

[mu22stang]

I believe they are allowed at least one charge per race, if not just one, but it takes several hours to charge the battery. So, teams will probably charge before the race.

 

[NapoleonMikey]

they got the parade lap and also the lap before that to line up on the grid. all they have to do is alot of hard braking on both laps and i hink the battery should get enough of a charge to give them a good start. seeing as 1 normal full speed lap is enough to charge the battery for the bust 2 slow laps with heavy braking should be able to do the same.

 

[Tired Tyres]

Nope. They can fully charge KERS in the garage. There's no rule saying they can't.

it was me that pointed out the two row advantage KERS cars might have. That was said by Anthony Davidson on Five live during first practice. I think he might be mistaken though. He said KERS gave a 90 BHP boost. I think it's 60 or so BHP boost at the moment. I'm not sure though.

It was either Morris Hamilton or Ian Phillips that said KERS can be charged in the garage in the Five live footage of the second practice session.

 

[Alex.]

It's an 80hp boost

 

[mu22stang]

they got the parade lap and also the lap before that to line up on the grid. all they have to do is alot of hard braking on both laps and i hink the battery should get enough of a charge to give them a good start. seeing as 1 normal full speed lap is enough to charge the battery for the bust 2 slow laps with heavy braking should be able to do the same.

Not quite. For reference, the amount of recoverable energy from the braking under a race laps pales that of a parade lap. A charge from the pits to get things going will be the norm.

 

[Metar]

Cars have marginally less drag, but significantly less downforce - around 70%-80%, depending on the car (some might joke the BrawnGP car has as much downforce as the old Honda had - or didn't have). At the same time, we also have slicks. KERS is pretty neutral - a tenth or two of gains at most - but the downforce vs slicks is where it's at this season.

I believe they are allowed at least one charge per race, if not just one, but it takes several hours to charge the battery. So, teams will probably charge before the race.

Nope. These systems are recharged every time the car is braking - they easily achieve the full 400kJ charge once per lap. 400kJ isn't that much.

they got the parade lap and also the lap before that to line up on the grid. all they have to do is alot of hard braking on both laps and i hink the battery should get enough of a charge to give them a good start. seeing as 1 normal full speed lap is enough to charge the battery for the bust 2 slow laps with heavy braking should be able to do the same.

Bingo. A bit of aggressive braking, like they usually do to warm up the tyres, is enough to charge the KERS up enough for the first straight. 👍

Nope. They can fully charge KERS in the garage. There's no rule saying they can't.

Not quite. For reference, the amount of recoverable energy from the braking under a race laps pales that of a parade lap. A charge from the pits to get things going will be the norm.

Actually, there's a clause in the rules that states that cars must leave the pits completely discharged.

 

['11R' Skippy]

With less drag on the cars, They might be a bit faster in a straight line. But from what I have seen in the past opening races, The speed trap times seem to be a bit slower than they were last season in 2008.

The slicks are the things making up for all the lost downforce and the 19000 down to 18000 Rev Range... you put back the old grooved tyres and you can see how much slower the cars will be everywhere else, even in a straight-line.

 

[MustangSVT]

With less drag on the cars, They might be a bit faster in a straight line. But from what I have seen in the past opening races, The speed trap times seem to be a bit slower than they were last season in 2008.

The slicks are the things making up for all the lost downforce and the 19000 down to 18000 Rev Range... you put back the old grooved tyres and you can see how much slower the cars will be everywhere else, even in a straight-line.

We're not gonna see new lap records. Just because the cars have a bit less drag doesn't mean all that much. It's not like last year they would increase the downforce on cars and slow them down. They still had aero configurations such as at Monza where they ran with low downforce and hit high speeds. Besides, this year they've lowered the rev limit, so cars are gonna be slower than last year.

As for lap records, most of the lap records are from 03-05. They had V10s back then pushing nearly 900HP-950HP, so I'm pretty sure they're not gonna beat those lap records.

 

[chrisbroughton]

They seem a little quicker than last year but I can't see them getting near to 2004 pace.

Although everyone is saying that because of the low drag they will be quicker on Monza etc, in 2004 they had V10s so they would still be faster in a straight line.

Where they may get close is on short tracks as the KERS is 6.5s a lap no matter how long the lap is.

Perhaps Interlagos for example.