British GP first round qualifying review..

[Alex Mc]

Well, Schumacher set the pace with a 1min 19.474secs, happily though, BMW.Williams was able to respond with a 2-3 arrangement with JPM and Ralf only 0.275sec and 0.314sec off respectively. Behind them were the two Renaults of Alonse and Trulli, followed by Panis' Toyota. The McLarens were way back.. and Barichello's Ferrari spun putting him in last, which means he'll start first in qualifying tomorrow, a big disadvantage.

Anyway, solid start for BMW, hopefully tomorrow they can move into first to take pole for the race!

Here are some pics from F1-live.net from today's qualifying.

Juan Pablo in his Nomex


Schuey's P1 performance


JPM's response!


Ralf's just a tick slower!


And now for some technical analysis!

Ferrari has improved barge-boards (the boards behind the front wheels) with an interesting serrated section along the bottom. There are also more more fins and splitters added to sidepod, but note the Z3-style sidepod vents are gone. Interesting!


Instead of massive barge-boards, BMW.Williams uses a combination of whats called a "tuning vane" and a smaller barge board. Here is a great shot of the twin-keel front suspension and the tuning vane on the left side. Very trick.


Also, McLaren's new MP4/18 chassis has yet to be revealed- it failed initial crash-testing, so its debut has not occured in a race weekend yet. Its possible that they've delayed its new release so much that it will never be raced, but instead be superceded by the MP4/19.

At any rate, it would appear the MP4/17, which has been fairly quick anyway, is running an MP4/18 style front wing and of course the triple-foil rear wing, which will be illegal next year.


Oh and if anyone needs spare sidepod bodywork, lemme know..


That's all folks!

[Vitolo]

Thanks Alex, nice (illustrated!) cliffs notes

[dct325]

Big Thumb Up! You should do this on every race!

[Alex Mc]

Thanks guys, I enjoy the play-by-play with the small images from F1-live. I'll happily do this every race Glad you guys enjoy it!

[Sulax34]

Wow.....its amazing how complex those machines are......very impressive.....thanks for the great pictures!!

[Alex Mc]

Originally posted by Sulax34
Wow.....its amazing how complex those machines are......very impressive.....thanks for the great pictures!!

Yeah, it really is.. here's an interesting tid-bit on what McLaren is doing for their nosecose struture.

"A semi active polymer skin built into the nosecone of the car. It has been rumoured that in conjunction with TAG semiconductors that they have applied a thin film of a compound polymer active material that reacts to the pressures of the air applied to it to produce the most aerodynamic solution given to a particular air-pressure situation.

It is believed that this polymer skin consists of small microscopic hairs that could never be seen to the naked human eye but align themselves naturally to produce the best aero efficiently in both low and high wind speed applications and thus producing much needed down force for tyre traction from even apparently flat surfaces."

Craziness.. that an 19,000rpm! haha

Oh and the pics are from www.f1-live.net

[Sulax34]

All I can think to say is WOW

[Alex Mc]

The detail that goes into F1 engineering and setup is truly wild. JPM's engineer said that a ride-height difference of just .5mm nets a noteable difference in downforce and handling abilities.

Ferrari's new gearbox has a carbon casing.. all suspension components are carbon, and the engines are making 900hp on commercially available pump gas (er, 99% commercial plus 1% team choice mixture).

What i would do to be a fly on the wall in the pit garages for setup.

And then there's the story of Mika Hakkinen's suspension issues at Monte Carlo back a few years ago. He was hitting the barrier coming out of the Rascasse hairpin because it was faster for him, but he was damaging the CF suspension pieces in the process. So in less than 15 hours, the British HQ modled and constructed Titanium replacements, flew them to Monaco and installed them on the car in time for qualifying. Now that is crazy!

[Sulax34]

That really is quite impressive. Whenever you push performance to the limit, everything has to be EXACTLY right. You have to be careful with those carbon fiber components. Its quite strong, but almost too rigid. I was watching a F1 race a while ago, and the front part of the chassis just shattered, where a metal component would have just bent a little. Other then that though, Carbon Fiber is an incredible material.

[Alex Mc]

Well, official qualifying took place this morning and the grid is really quite crazy with a dissapointing result for BMW.Williams. The race will start tomorrow morning with the following positions, BMW being 5th and 7th


1. 2 BARRICHELLO Ferrari
2. 7 TRULLI Renault
3. 6 RAIKKONEN McLaren Mercedes
4. 4 R.SCHUMACHER Williams BMW
5. 1 M.SCHUMACHER Ferrari
6. 21 DA MATTA Toyota
7. 3 MONTOYA Williams BMW
8. 8 ALONSO Renault
9. 16 VILLENEUVE BAR Honda
10. 15 PIZZONIA Jaguar Cosworth
11. 14 WEBBER Jaguar Cosworth
12. 5 COULTHARD McLaren Mercedes
13. 20 PANIS Toyota
14. 10 FRENTZEN Sauber Petronas
15. 11 FISICHELLA Jordan Ford
16. 9 HEIDFELD Sauber Petronas
17. 12 FIRMAN Jordan Ford
18. 18 WILSON Minardi Cosworth
19. 19 VERSTAPPEN Minardi Cosworth
20. 17 BUTTON BAR Honda

[E30mademepoor]

Wow Alex, great write-up! Thanks for all the info, and I too would appreciate this on every race! Thanks again!
-Ted

[SI///M3]

Thanks for the info Alex! Too bad theres an autocross tomorrow morning so I won't be able to watch it live...that means no clicking on any F1 related threads until Speeds replay tomorrow evening. Isn't this the first race with traction control outlawed? Don't some other rule changes come into effect tomorrow too? Not sure if thats right, but thats what I'm thinking...

[Prfctyon]

Alex, don't forget that BMW engine can reach more that 20k rmp ... They were the first to cross the 20k line...

Anyway, yeah, the starting grid is quite disappointing for us, but Michael is only 5th and Coulthard 12th so it's about the same for Ferrari and Mercedes, I think that they all have some interesting tactics to show off during the race ...

So, I hope to see a good race!!!

[Alex Mc]

BMW has not crossed 20k, last season they reached an official 19,250 with the P82. The P83 this season runs to 18,600 due to increased life of the motors (they must now last through qualifying).

20k is still a couple seasons off.. but its coming.

[Sulax34]

I didn't get a chance to check on the qualifying, any particular reason why the qualifying field is so wierd?