All true! The Haas pitstop issue is quite simply unbelievable. Maybe they were caught out somehow by Australia being upside down, being on the backside of world and all…
Interesting reddit thread:
I’m going to assume it’s a parody account, even though the bio doesn’t say so, which it should in terms of Twitter’s TOS.
Lookie here folks:
I like the look, wonder how much of that we will actually see
I’m wondering what the point is of those little winglets over the front wheels?
Must be something to do with the aero I am assuming
Here’s something you don’t see everyday:
Fernando is in South Africa with Toyota and went for a test with Giniel in his Gazoo Dakar Hilux in the Kalahari.
Nice image gallery at the end of the article.
Awesome! Hello Nando!
Yeah, obviously… But why over the wheel itself? Is this just a conceptual idea or is this based on something in the new rules?
Must be conceptual, it doesnt make sense rule wise, but then again I dont know the new rules well enough
It might be a rule. That wing will be very instrumental in guiding the wake from the tires, which might make for less dirty air behind the car, which will make for easier following. Dirty air and turbulence has been one of the big issues these last few years, making overtaking and following cars more difficult.
If the wings are angled correctly, they can create a negative pressure behind the wheels, which may lead to better tire temperature control as well.
Well, if the health and safety crowd had their way F1 cars would look a lot more like LMP1 cars
Am seeing strong Indy car hints in that 2021 concept, especially from the front view. And as others mentioned, those front wheel wings are visually odd, but I think Hammer may be onto something with how it’ll effect air around the wheels. Guess we’ll just have to wait a little longer and see how far apart concept and reality are.
There’s very little detail in the official report on the 2021 rules change meeting held on Tuesday:
But, in terms of the areo changes, Racing Point 's TD told Autosport that the 2021 regulations are a…
…departure from all of [this year’s] changes, a different animal completely. 2021 is the biggest set of aero regulations ever. Since say we got rid of ground-effect cars, that sort of change. [There’s] a tsunami of work that’s about to land on us for '21.
The 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix
Welcome Formula One Fans to the Kingdom of Bahrain and the Formula 1 Gulf Air Bahrain Grand Prix 2019! This is Round 2 of the 21 scheduled races in the 2019 F1 season. It will officially be the 999th Formula One Championship Grand Prix.
Following an initial period of Arab rule, Bahrain was occupied by the Portuguese in 1521, who in turn were expelled in 1602 by the Safavid dynasty under the Persian Empire. In 1783, the Bani Utbah clan captured Bahrain and it has since been ruled by the Al Khalifa royal family. In the late 1800s Bahrain became a protectorate of the United Kingdom before declaring independence. Formerly an emirate, the Arab constitutional monarchy of Bahrain was formally declared a kingdom in 2002.
The Bahrain Grand Prix first took place at the Bahrain International Circuit in 2004. It made history as the first Formula One Grand Prix to be held in the Middle East. Although it has been 16 years since that first race, 2019 will be only the 15th running of the race after the scheduled 2011 race was cancelled in the midst of the 2011 Bahraini protests. The BIC on the south-eastern side of the Kingdom has hosted all of the Bahrain Grands Prix.
Run in the cool of the desert evening, the race typically starts around sunset and finishes in darkness under lights, making for a visually spectacular finish. And really, who doesn’t love a well lit F1 car under a radiant desert sunset?
With four wins to his name, Sebastian Vettel holds the most Bahrain titles. He achieved two of those wins with Red Bull in 2012 and 2013, and the other two with Ferrari over the last two years. The only other driver on the current grid with multiple Bahrain wins is Lewis Hamilton with his two wins in 2014 and 2015. By contrast, all four of the constructors with multiple wins are competing the current season: Ferrari (6), Mercedes (3), Red Bull and Renault (2).
The Schedule
With the Kingdom just one hour ahead of us on the old ticker-tocker, and the race run as the desert sun sets, the times for this weekend’s racing action are pretty well suited to a late-Summer Sunday evening social braai on the patio. I’ll bring beer.
The Circuit
The Bahrain International Circuit is a permanent 5,4km motorsport circuit located in Sakhir, Bahrain. Construction of the Hermann Tilke designed circuit took over two years at an estimated cost of $150-million. The circuit has held a FIA Grade 1 license since its opening, and, in 2007 became the first Grand Prix circuit to be awarded the FIA Institute Centre of Excellence Award, given for excellent safety, race marshal and medical facilities, and high standards of technology.
The standing race lap record of 1:31.447 was set way back in 2005 by Spaniard Pedro de la Rosa driving for McLaren. The fastest outright lap time is Sebastian Vettel’s 1:27.958 set during qualifying last year. That time beat the previous record of 1:28.769 set by Valtteri Bottas that he had set during qualifying the year prior to that.
Will we see another 1 second shaved off that fast ever time again this year? I think it’s very likely. Will de la Rosa’s race lap record survive for another year? With a bonus point available to the Fastest Lap winner this year, I think it’s going to come under some pressure.
An important circuit note: it was announced yesterday that the circuit would get a third DRS zone for the race this year. The additional zone will be on the straight between Turns 3 and 4 at the start of the lap, with the detection point coming at the end of the main straight, 50 metres before Turn 1. Effectively, this becomes DRS Zone 1.
Here’s Round 1 victor Valtteri Bottas to show us around the circuit:
The Tyres
The surface of the track is made of graywacke aggregate, shipped to Bahrain all the way from a quarry in sunny Shropshire, England. The material is highly acclaimed by the drivers for the high level of grip it offers. At the same time though, it makes for a very abrasive track surface. This image should give you an idea of just how rough the surface is:
As a result, the Milanese rubber traders have opted for the harder side of the tyre compounds available, and have offered the C1, C2 and C3 compounds to the teams. Here’s the Pirelli preview, and the selected sets for this weekend:
The Weather
The weather forecast for Bahrain this weekend holds no huge surprises. It should be good all weekend. Perhaps that 28kph wind speed on race day may have an impact depending on its direction and whether it’s constant or gusts.
The Pre-Race Drivers Press Conference
The Digital Grand Prix Guide
Luckily for all us broke “no way I can afford to go to a GP” fans, with just the right setting and through half-closed eyes, we can pretend we’re virtually there on Sunday. Here’s the full 118-page Official Race Programme in digital format to help you get into character more effectively.
https://secure.viewer.zmags.com/publication/6bb3bbe8#/6bb3bbe8/1
Finally, remember that the first round (of twelve) of the 2019 Formula 2 season is also run in Bahrain this weekend. With Alex Albon, Lando Norris and George Russell all moving up to F1 seats this year, the F2 series is beginning to become more and more important to key an eye on for the future stars of Formula One.
Among a host of team and driver changes in F2 for this year (the swings and roundabouts of the F1 driver changes in 2018-2019 has nothing on the F2 changes!) keep eye out for the sons of two former F1 drivers: Mick Schumacher and Giuliano Alesi join the F2 grid. Reigning GP3 Series champion Anthoine Hubert and GP3 Series regular Tatiana Calderón both move up to F2. And the reigning F2 Constructor Champions, Carlin, have two new drivers
Enjoy the race!
The 2019 Bahrain Grand Prix
(why have the flag emojis lost their transparency?)