Tag Archives: reliability

Mar201031

Rob

0

Looking ahead to Malaysia – what’s in store at the next race?

The Malaysian Grand Prix has had a few shows in the past and has been a Ferrari stronghold at times but it’s the torrential rain that it’s famous for. Last year was the worst rain in recent history though for race day and the race had to be abandoned after just 36 laps with the win eventually going to Jenson Button though he only got half points.
The race retains it’s late afternoon start time so we’ll be hoping that the rain we had last year doesn’t make a reappearance on Sunday. The forecast doesn’t look that great though with Sunday having the least chance of rain at only 80%. If it does rain all weekend then the track is likely to be very green and the tyres will have a hard time, though if it rains in the race this won’t be an issue.
McLaren are trying to manage expectations ahead [...]

Mar201026

Rob

0

Virgin fail to make their fuel tank large enough to last the race distance

Virgin seem to have managed to build themselves a car that doesn’t actually have a big enough fuel tank to last the race distance. That finishes off their chance of completing the next few races then, with them unable to get a new design together and built before the Spanish GP that means that something has to give at the next three races – will they run at half pace for some laps or will they just see how far they get?
It seems strange that they have managed to design themselves into this position, the refueling rules were the big change this year and all the other teams have managed it. It seems that they will have to cut the back off of their chassis and bond a new longer section to the back so that they can add the capacity to the fuel tank. Their application to the FIA [...]

Mar201019

Rob

0

What happened to BMW Sauber Ferrari in Bahrain?

In pre-season testing the Sauber cars were quick, they weren’t the fastest but they showed a turn of pace that was going to challenge for those last points positions and maybe the big four on occasion. However they turn up at Bahrain and were nowhere – were they running light in testing, and if they were why?
Some of the problem may come from the fact that the weather was so different at the two venues that tyre wear would have been very different and the cars would have required a completely different setup. Which leads into the first option – the car is very difficult to setup. This would explain some of the lack of pace as they have much less time at a GP than in testing to optimise the settings, and know the trade offs for the race.
Another option is that the team were simply running light in [...]

Feb201009

Rob

0

The new Force India is unveiled to the world

The new Force India is unveiled to the world

The new Force India has a lot to live up to, last year they placed second at GP and so this year, logically they should be aiming for a win. I doubt whether that is there aim though, more likely reliability and constant points finishes would be, helped in no small part by the new points system.
With rumours about the financial uncertainty of the parent company circling they will want to ensure that they speak through the times on the track and I guess there is no reason to suspect that the new car will be any slower than the old one. They have two drivers who have a decent amount of experience though no one like Giancarlo Fisichella this year to develop the car. The new car looks much the same as the others that have been released, I guess that’s not all that surprising given the stability of [...]