re: 2023 Formula 1 season Thread

let's see if albon can keep this up.

They qualified in the 1:17s last year so I don't know that you can read much into today's session

I agree but Yuki is starting at the back of the grid for new parts.

Aston Martin has fallen off a cliff

Watching FP2.. wish they would mess around and race more often in the end like Valtteri and Max did. Good stuff.

On the Haas B car;

Correction on Sunday brought the turning point

In an effort to find the optimal setup from little data and at the same time understand the new aero package, the simplest task went wrong. The engineers decided on far too little downforce when setting the wings. This cost us speed in the fast corners and caused severe tire wear during sprints.

So as before. "At least we learned how not to do it," Komatsu admitted. "We observed in the first training session that many teams were one level below the maximum downforce. That confirmed to us that we were right. But many then went back to having more wings before parc fermé."

Haas took the step on Sunday. At the price that both drivers had to start from the pits. “It was worth it because we now have a lot more data,” Steiner agreed with his engineers. Nico Hülkenberg also saw it this way: "It wasn't ideal to bring such a big upgrade in a sprint. You just don't have a night where you can sleep on it and let the experience sink in. The conversion and the start out of the box have "It was worth it. We learned a lot from it."

Two seconds away from a World Championship point
After the disqualifications, Hülkenberg even came close to World Championship points. Logan Sargeant was only 1.9 seconds away. That's why his conclusion is cautiously optimistic: "Despite starting from the pits, we were close to the Williams. For the first time in a long time, I overtook other cars and I wasn't always overtaken. If we could have qualified in the middle of the field , points would have been possible."

The perplexity after the sprint was followed by at least a bit of enlightenment. “The car has improved in some areas, but it has also adopted a few weaknesses from its predecessor,” says Hülkenberg. The contact pressure seems a bit more stable and the car overall more predictable.

Tire wear is no longer quite as critical, but is still a long way from what is hoped for with the new concept. “When we were alone on the track, the tires no longer overheated as much as before. We still have a problem in traffic,” say the engineers. Team boss Steiner believes: "To completely solve the problem, we need a different rear suspension. That won't be available until next year. We're dependent on Ferrari for that."

The new car takes time
Austin was the first of five lessons. Magnussen encourages his technicians: "Things went better in the race because the setup was better. But we still need more." The Dane was driving with a handicap after the first pit stop. The steering wheel was crooked due to a problem with the power steering. Magnussen needed a stint to get used to it.

In Steiner's opinion, Hülkenberg should have extended the second stint a little instead of reacting to the Williams' pit stops. "The tires would have lasted for a longer stint. But we also lack a bit of self-confidence because of the bad experiences with the old car."

The South Tyrolean is happy that the premiere of the B version wasn't a crash. "There is always this danger with such major modifications. It was a step in the right direction. We'll only see in a few races whether it was enough." Hülkenberg also urges patience: "It will take time until we find out how we have to adjust the car to get the most out of it."

Operations manager Komatsu sees positive approaches: "There are signs that we are getting more downforce from the underbody. This creates more potential to improve the driving characteristics and protect the tires better." The show of strength with the new car should also give the engineers the direction for 2024. “We still have time to react now. It’s too late during the test drives before next season,” warns Steiner.

https://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/formel-1/haas-upgrade-us-gp-austin-erstes-urteil/

I’m all in on albon this weekend.

Qualifying up let's see Albon on the front row

The parking lot shite at the end of the pitlane needs to be stopped. Whole session was a shitshow