Turkish Grand Prix

ltr317 · « **on:** 5 May 2011, 03:54 am »

After a three week layoff, the F1 circus is commencing with its European leg this weekend with the Turkish Grand Prix. I wonder if either Mercedes, Ferrari or Renault have made enough improvements to challenge front runners Red Bull and McLaren. Can't wait until the weekend to find out.

Renault's 2011 F1 car. She's a sexy beast!

richidoo · « **Reply #1 on:** 5 May 2011, 04:43 am »

I'm looking forward to the race too, Paul. 3 weeks off is too long!

mgalusha · « **Reply #2 on:** 5 May 2011, 05:55 pm »

Checked my DVR yesterday, it's got practice, qualifying and the race all queued up.

mgalusha · « **Reply #3 on:** 5 May 2011, 05:57 pm »

Quote from: ltr317 on 5 May 2011, 03:54 am

Renault's 2011 F1 car. She's a sexy beast!

There is just something about black and gold livery on an F1 car. I remember having the JPS Lotus as slot car when I was a youth, it was so much sexier than the other kids.

avahifi · « **Reply #4 on:** 5 May 2011, 07:26 pm »

So just why did Renault decide to name their cars, "Lotus"?

At they at least do seem to do better than the old Dauphine models on sale here in the 1960s.

Frank Van Alstine

mfsoa · « **Reply #5 on:** 5 May 2011, 07:33 pm »

Turn 8, baby!!

jonwb · « **Reply #6 on:** 5 May 2011, 08:31 pm »

Quote from: ltr317 on 5 May 2011, 03:54 am

Renault's 2011 F1 car. She's a sexy beast!

...sure is!! Gotta love that black & gold scheme.

I can't wait for the race weekend. It will be interesting to see how the competitive landscape has shifted. Williams really needs to get their act together. Who would've thought they'd be behind Force India? Will Red Bull finally get KERS sorted? Will it leave the rest of the field fighting for 3 place? (I think it will BTW....) Lots of storylines!

nonoise · « **Reply #7 on:** 5 May 2011, 08:41 pm »

Since Team Lotus bought Caterham, Tony Fernandez will consider renaming his F1 team as
Team Caterham. The courts still haven't fully sorted out the naming rights re: 'Lotus' as there are two parties fighting for the rights to the marque. Since the chassis are Lotus and the engines provided are Renault, it should fall to the chassis maker. An example would be one of the Red Bull privateers that use Ferrari engines but they're called Red Bull. But they're not the official Red Bull team. Its confusing.

ltr317 · « **Reply #8 on:** 6 May 2011, 04:38 am »

Quote from: avahifi on 5 May 2011, 07:26 pm

So just why did Renault decide to name their cars, "Lotus"?

At they at least do seem to do better than the old Dauphine models on sale here in the 1960s.

Frank Van Alstine

Hi Frank,

Lotus and its parent company are big sponsors of the Renault F1 cars, starting this year. The official team name is Lotus Renault GP. Here's a link from Renault F1's official website: http://www.lotusrenaultgp.com/3994-Genii-Capital-and-Group-Lotus-join.html

Cheers,
Paul

lonewolfny42 · « **Reply #9 on:** 6 May 2011, 05:10 am »

"Renault's 2011 F1 car"....that is a nice looking Renault....

Better looking than my old Renault from 1979....Link...

(They could never work on it here - in the U.S.A. ....but it was fun...

)

ltr317 · « **Reply #10 on:** 6 May 2011, 09:43 pm »

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 6 May 2011, 05:10 am

"Renault's 2011 F1 car"....that is a nice looking Renault....

Better looking than my old Renault from 1979....Link...

(They could never work on it here - in the U.S.A. ....but it was fun... )

Chris,
My rental racer (see avatar) had a Renault engine and tranny (from the Reliance I think), and both were pretty trouble free. I was at the rpm limiter most of the time, waiting for the engine to blow but it never did. I had other problems a few times with the racer though.

richidoo · « **Reply #11 on:** 6 May 2011, 10:27 pm »

Sadly, this may be the last Turkish Grand Prix. Turkish government has changed drastically since the track was built.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110428/F1/110429865

Practice was fun to watch this morning. Nice crash for Vettel

Alonso's car sounded so rough before he stalled. Imagine that sound just from engine management settings? 5 minutes later he was back out with normal engine sound. They are really messing with the engines this year. Continuing to develop new engine performance around the freeze. Is there really any money savings?

What's the likelihood of rain in quali or the race?

Scottdazzle · « **Reply #12 on:** 6 May 2011, 10:37 pm »

I had a '79 Le Car, too! That car was fun to drive, but more trouble than it was worth to keep on the road. In my fading memory it was a lot better looking than it is in that ad.

Quote from: lonewolfny42 on 6 May 2011, 05:10 am

"Renault's 2011 F1 car"....that is a nice looking Renault....

Better looking than my old Renault from 1979....Link...

(They could never work on it here - in the U.S.A. ....but it was fun... )

ltr317 · « **Reply #13 on:** 7 May 2011, 05:46 am »

Quote from: richidoo on 6 May 2011, 10:27 pm

Sadly, this may be the last Turkish Grand Prix. Turkish government has changed drastically since the track was built.

http://www.autoweek.com/article/20110428/F1/110429865

Practice was fun to watch this morning. Nice crash for Vettel Alonso's car sounded so rough before he stalled. Imagine that sound just from engine management settings? 5 minutes later he was back out with normal engine sound. They are really messing with the engines this year. Continuing to develop new engine performance around the freeze. Is there really any money savings?

What's the likelihood of rain in quali or the race?

Rich - Right now the forecast for Saturday and Sunday is overcast.

ltr317 · « **Reply #14 on:** 7 May 2011, 05:46 pm »

Interesting third qualifying session today. For those who haven't seen qualifying yet, I won't give it away.

mfsoa · « **Reply #15 on:** 7 May 2011, 06:01 pm »

Personally I don't like it when qualifying has so much impact on race strategy, aside from the obvious grid position placement.

I didn't like it when the qualifying fuel load used to create a two-tiered race, where the folks outside the top ten would be on a different fuel strategy than the rest.

And now it's all about tire management - Use too many in quali and you're screwed for the race and vice-versa. One team who looks to be in much better shape soft-tire-wise tomorrow will have a big advantage. I guess you could argue that they earned it by having such a great car, but I don't like how other teams essentially have to scrap their race hopes just to get out of Q2. And it really limits the amount of running the good guys do - Does F1 really want the top teams to do only 1 hot lap in Q1 and Q2, and then only 1 (for the best team) in Q3?

I don't know why Bernie won't listen to me...

-Mike

ltr317 · « **Reply #16 on:** 7 May 2011, 08:45 pm »

Quote from: mfsoa on 7 May 2011, 06:01 pm

Personally I don't like it when qualifying has so much impact on race strategy, aside from the obvious grid position placement.

I didn't like it when the qualifying fuel load used to create a two-tiered race, where the folks outside the top ten would be on a different fuel strategy than the rest.

And now it's all about tire management - Use too many in quali and you're screwed for the race and vice-versa. One team who looks to be in much better shape soft-tire-wise tomorrow will have a big advantage. I guess you could argue that they earned it by having such a great car, but I don't like how other teams essentially have to scrap their race hopes just to get out of Q2. And it really limits the amount of running the good guys do - Does F1 really want the top teams to do only 1 hot lap in Q1 and Q2, and then only 1 (for the best team) in Q3?

I don't know why Bernie won't listen to me...

-Mike

Mike - You need to get Bernie's cell phone number, and let him have a piece of your mind.

richidoo · « **Reply #17 on:** 7 May 2011, 10:44 pm »

F1 doesn't know what it wants. They did the junk tire scheme to force more pitstops and tire strategy, but it backfires when the world champ and points leader doing only one lap in quali (gutsy.) Pirelli could make a tire that lasts the whole race, but FIA wants tires that only last 10 laps to add to the excitement.

A couple weeks ago Christian Horner supposed that qualifying position is not much more important than tire strategy now. Starting at the back with 6 new sets of tires equals pole position with only three new sets for a driver who can pass well. I think Adrian Newey has more to do with Webber's China results than tire strategy, but he was able to run hard all race.

The rear wing trick seem to be paying off with all the main straight passing and heroic come from behind drives.

mfsoa · « **Reply #18 on:** 8 May 2011, 11:29 am »

Anyone else going to watch (or did watch) w/ the live timing and scoring feed?

It's my first chance of the season due to the start time.

I find that it really enhances the race experience to have the t+s feed on my laptop during the race.

-Mike

ltr317 · « **Reply #19 on:** 8 May 2011, 07:25 pm »

I usually watch practice and sometimes qualifying on live timing feed. For races though, I want to concentrate on race craft, and using live timing takes my concentration away and is too distracting.