Formula 1, 2020

[woodenhead]

I'm not sure they return wholesale to base whilst they are touring the far away places, some of them might be away till the European tour begins.

[Hobby]

 

Sorry, could resist!

[Oldddudders]

40 minutes ago, Andrew P said:

If the Italian based Teams, and Pirelli  cannot get back into, or out of Italy between Bahrain and Vietnam it will seriously effect how they operate, or where they would stay in that period.

We then have another 4 weeks after Vietnam so time then for things to go either way, and for the better one would hope.

This is perhaps where CAD/CAM tech comes in? If new parts were needed and could not be sent from Italy, could other factories elsewhere produce the parts? I think the tyres themselves come from other countries than Italy. I would hope all teams are examining their options to outsource etc. 

[woodenhead]

15 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

This is perhaps where CAD/CAM tech comes in? If new parts were needed and could not be sent from Italy, could other factories elsewhere produce the parts? I think the tyres themselves come from other countries than Italy. I would hope all teams are examining their options to outsource etc. 

Memo from Ferrarri to Mercedes

 

Dear Wolfie

 

Can you print us some new rear wings, here are our latest CADs

 

Love to the family

 

Bino

[PaulRhB]

Tyres and parts are fairly easy to quarantine or decontaminate in time and ship two weeks early to be held at airside warehouses. It’s the people that are difficult as if you quarantine them and just one then becomes ill it all starts again. 
The viability though as more large gatherings are restricted becomes the issue as much of the money in each country comes from the hotels and businesses working at or in support of it. How many of those will go to the wall if this carries on for months? Insurance can’t cover international level shutdowns for long so there will be get out clauses and businesses left with no cash flow. 
The human impact is bad because of the risk to health for a serious number with medical conditions, the fallout for jobs lost and stress that spreads even wider within the whole associated industries. 

Edited March 10, 2020 by PaulRhB

[PaulRhB]

39 minutes ago, Hobby said:

 

Sorry, could resist!

While I agree on the racing side, I bet you know people though who overtime is considered ‘necessary to pay the bills’ so the panic will set in if there’s are travel restrictions here that dry it up. The panic around the media hype is totally unpredictable in its consequences 

Look at the way the markets panicked yesterday even though China is starting to ramp up production again. 

[Hobby]

35 minutes ago, PaulRhB said:

the media hype

 

And there is the problem...

 

And uninformed people reading too much into that hype and speculating and making matters worse...

 

The fact that China is starting to turn the corner should tell us all we need to know.

Edited March 10, 2020 by Hobby

[PhilJ W]

1 hour ago, PaulRhB said:

 the media hype

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nR0lOtdvqyg

 

[Andrew P]

F1 / Aramco Sponsorship deal.

https://www.espn.co.uk/f1/story/_/id/28876704/f1-announces-sponsorship-deal-saudi-oil-giant-aramco

 

Edited March 10, 2020 by Andrew P

[ejstubbs]

Hmm, IMO not a great look for F1 if it's trying to claim low carbon credentials...

[Oldddudders]

14 minutes ago, ejstubbs said:

Hmm, IMO not a great look for F1 if it's trying to claim low carbon credentials...

But another sponsor, Emirates, is hardly a bastion of green travel, either. And electric airliners may still be some way off. 

[Andrew P]

 

Coronavirus quarantine areas at Races.

https://www.racefans.net/2020/03/09/f1-planning-coronavirus-quarantine-areas-for-race-weekends/

[PhilJ W]

4 hours ago, Andrew P said:

 

Coronavirus quarantine areas at Races.

https://www.racefans.net/2020/03/09/f1-planning-coronavirus-quarantine-areas-for-race-weekends/

All very well but I can't see any airline transporting anyone who has not been tested clear of the virus so unless a race is in your doorstep how are the fans going to get there. 

[RJS1977]

9 hours ago, PaulRhB said:

Tyres and parts are fairly easy to quarantine or decontaminate in time and ship two weeks early to be held at airside warehouses. It’s the people that are difficult as if you quarantine them and just one then becomes ill it all starts again. 
The viability though as more large gatherings are restricted becomes the issue as much of the money in each country comes from the hotels and businesses working at or in support of it. How many of those will go to the wall if this carries on for months? Insurance can’t cover international level shutdowns for long so there will be get out clauses and businesses left with no cash flow. 
The human impact is bad because of the risk to health for a serious number with medical conditions, the fallout for jobs lost and stress that spreads even wider within the whole associated industries. 

 

I do wonder about the impact if other races are held behind closed doors (like Bahrain).

 

We know that certain races (including Silverstone) have been running at a loss for years. If a circuit can't sell tickets/has to refund them, will F1 refund their race fees? Otherwise that's going to be a big financial hit for circuit owners, which could put races in jeopardy for future seasons.

[Jonboy]

As mentioned a couple of pages back the Pirelli tyres and the trucks for f1 are stored here in Didcot (directly behind where the Oxford line splits for Swindon and didcot parkway curves if your interested).

 

I did some digging and they are made in Turkey, so unless the fitters are Italian it shouldn’t impact Pirelli at all.

[RJS1977]

1 hour ago, Jonboy said:

As mentioned a couple of pages back the Pirelli tyres and the trucks for f1 are stored here in Didcot (directly behind where the Oxford line splits for Swindon and didcot parkway curves if your interested).

 

 

Or right opposite the Transfer Shed :-)

[Hobby]

19 hours ago, ejstubbs said:

F1 if it's trying to claim low carbon credentials...

 

Contradiction in terms, surely...

[Pete the Elaner]

8 minutes ago, Hobby said:

 

Contradiction in terms, surely...

Not really.

F1 has always led the way in car technology, much of it filtering down into everyday cars.

The current hybrid engines & the limit on fuel were introduced to make car tech more efficient.

In 2018, Mercedes were the first to develop a power unit 50% efficient, which was a massive milestone.

It was not their road car division who did this, it was their F1 engineers.

If they can make the energy recovery systems more affordable, then in 10 years time, some of us may well be driving around in family cars capable of 60mpg made possible by today's F1 engineering.

[Kingzance]

42 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

 

If they can make the energy recovery systems more affordable, then in 10 years time, some of us may well be driving around in family cars capable of 60mpg made possible by today's F1 engineering.

I think that unlikely for two reasons, the first is that electric vehicle development is taking priority over further general IC development (Toto and Mercedes Formula E team and Jaguar is now only investing in EVs I believe) and the second is the knee-jerk reactions of politicians to limit/ reduce pollution.
As I have long argued, the switch to electricity requires a massive investment in generating capacity and in storage technologies. An average of 10% of the UK’s power today comes from electrical interconnectors from France, Belgium and The Netherlands. A further 30% is generated in the UK from natural gas, mostly imported from beyond Europe’s eastern borders. Any interruption to those supplies will hugely affect our ability to keep lights on, heat homes and move food, people and even basic goods around. Much more joined-up thinking to offset the use of fossil fuels is required.

[PaulRhB]

1 hour ago, Pete the Elaner said:

then in 10 years time, some of us may well be driving around in family cars capable of 60mpg made possible by today's F1 engineering.

Ironically I said goodbye to my 2lt Turbo Octavia last September that had 204,000 miles on the clock and averaged 58mpg and did 70mpg on long runs!

[Oldddudders]

Jean Todt has been identified as the one who signed off the "agreement" with Ferrari about their 2019 engine. Yes, the same Jean Todt who used to be top banana there in the Schumacher era. 

 

The other seven teams (non-Ferrari-powered, natch) are querying the FIA's fitness to run the sport, at a time when a new Concorde Agreement is being negotiated.

 

Pitpass.com says "Demanding clarity from the FIA and Formula One Management, the seven teams posed 21 questions relating to the case that they wanted answered, setting a deadline that expired at midnight on Tuesday."

 

This season is really hotting up before the first practice session!

 

[4630]

The BBC are reporting on their 'Corona Virus Latest' news feed the following;

 

Three in quarantine before Australian Grand Prix

Two members of the Haas Formula One team and one from McLaren were quarantined in Melbourne on Wednesday as a precaution before Sunday's season-opening Australian Grand Prix. 

"Two members showed some cold-like symptoms this morning. With the guidelines we've followed, they have been tested (for coronavirus)," a Haas spokesman told Reuters.

 

Link now on their main web pages;

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/51831409

 

 

Edited March 11, 2020 by 4630
To add web page link

[Hobby]

1 hour ago, Pete the Elaner said:

Not really.

F1 has always led the way in car technology, much of it filtering down into everyday cars.

The current hybrid engines & the limit on fuel were introduced to make car tech more efficient.

In 2018, Mercedes were the first to develop a power unit 50% efficient, which was a massive milestone.

It was not their road car division who did this, it was their F1 engineers.

If they can make the energy recovery systems more affordable, then in 10 years time, some of us may well be driving around in family cars capable of 60mpg made possible by today's F1 engineering.

 

Shame about the massive carbon footprint the sport leaves, though... All those "good" things just to ruin it... 

 

Hybrid cars were around long before F1 started using them, hybrid technology in F1 is just a smokescreen to try to make them look good and stop people looking too deep... Lets be honest, F1 is an international entertainment that uses massive amounts of fossil fuel to complete it's circus, it's not green or clean and the so called technology gains would have been developed whether it used them or not. It's about time people realised it for what it is and stopped pretending it's something else.

 

Just enjoy it for what it is, an anachronism,  while we still can...

Edited March 11, 2020 by Hobby

[Pete the Elaner]

37 minutes ago, Kingzance said:

I think that unlikely for two reasons, the first is that electric vehicle development is taking priority over further general IC development (Toto and Mercedes Formula E team and Jaguar is now only investing in EVs I believe) and the second is the knee-jerk reactions of politicians to limit/ reduce pollution.
As I have long argued, the switch to electricity requires a massive investment in generating capacity and in storage technologies. An average of 10% of the UK’s power today comes from electrical interconnectors from France, Belgium and The Netherlands. A further 30% is generated in the UK from natural gas, mostly imported from beyond Europe’s eastern borders. Any interruption to those supplies will hugely affect our ability to keep lights on, heat homes and move food, people and even basic goods around. Much more joined-up thinking to offset the use of fossil fuels is required.

While I agree that carrying energy around in the form of fossil fuel liquids is not the way forward, I think carrying heavy batteries is only a short term solution.

I expect some scientists will discover a more efficient way to store & release energy. Nuclear power is physically possible, but unsuitable for road vehicles because it takes specialist management & several highly trained engineers to keep it safe.

[PhilJ W]

8 minutes ago, Pete the Elaner said:

 I think carrying heavy batteries is only a short term solution.

 

Modern batteries are not very heavy, in fact their light weight is encouraging the current (no pun intended) interest in electric vehicles. Lithium batteries are so light that some electric buses carry them on the roof and still pass the tilt test.