No Monaco Disaster!
Thursday, May 13, 2010 at 10:43AM
So far so good. Despite dire predictions of a disaster waiting to happen with 24 cars on the narrow and short Monaco track it seems that so far no one has hit anything other than the barrier. We did not see the morning practice, but the only blocking I saw in the second session was Massa's Ferrari on the Lotus! Practice went largely uneventful, with both Ferrari's doing well, but being the first day the times are not always a good indication. Last weeks winner, Mark Webber finishing well down the order while his team mate was third. Rosberg recovered his form, or his car was back the way he liked it, finishing second and three spots in front of Michael who did not seem happy. Interesting that di Grassi quicker than Glock.
How do we feel about the success of the virtual design of the Virgin? As most will know I am no fan of the over-reliance on simulation, so going down the route of only using it was a gamble for Nick Worth. Yes it seemed to work on the Acura LMP2 car, but it certainly has not shown to be any improvement over the other two new cars, one of which, the HRT, is reported to be not up to F1 standard.
It was interesting to hear during the telecast of practice that part of the Mercedes problem with the front end is their misreading of the performance predictions of this years Bridgestone tire. So, there is nothing like actually trying it. Or maybe I'm wrong because most of the other teams seemed to work it out OK.
Alexander Rossi continues to shine, with third place in the first practice session for the World Series 3.5. Let's hope that some sponsors are watching that can help him to get a ride in a competitive car wherever he goes next. We've seen too often that great talent does not guarantee success in this business, particularly for US and Australian drivers.
Rumors about the Korean GP track not being ready continue to circulate, with Magny Cours of all places being touted to replace it. I was told in New York at the Circuits Forum that the Koreans said thank you very much to Mr. Tilke after he had designed the track, we can build it ourselves. Well they have had a few goes at this before without success, so watch this space.
It appears we have another US would-be F1 team, Cypher. Anyone know who these guys are? It seems they have sent a letter to the FIA expressing interest, or is it intent? Hard to see the FIA going past some established teams such as Epsilon Euskadi, and it seems a bit late to start looking for funds as they are reported as saying. I see no reason why a US Team cannot succeed except that a US sponsor is probably hard to find given the lack of interest here, but perhaps an overseas sponsor might be interested in getting an entree to the US market.
How do we feel about the success of the virtual design of the Virgin? As most will know I am no fan of the over-reliance on simulation, so going down the route of only using it was a gamble for Nick Worth. Yes it seemed to work on the Acura LMP2 car, but it certainly has not shown to be any improvement over the other two new cars, one of which, the HRT, is reported to be not up to F1 standard.
It was interesting to hear during the telecast of practice that part of the Mercedes problem with the front end is their misreading of the performance predictions of this years Bridgestone tire. So, there is nothing like actually trying it. Or maybe I'm wrong because most of the other teams seemed to work it out OK.
Alexander Rossi continues to shine, with third place in the first practice session for the World Series 3.5. Let's hope that some sponsors are watching that can help him to get a ride in a competitive car wherever he goes next. We've seen too often that great talent does not guarantee success in this business, particularly for US and Australian drivers.
Rumors about the Korean GP track not being ready continue to circulate, with Magny Cours of all places being touted to replace it. I was told in New York at the Circuits Forum that the Koreans said thank you very much to Mr. Tilke after he had designed the track, we can build it ourselves. Well they have had a few goes at this before without success, so watch this space.
It appears we have another US would-be F1 team, Cypher. Anyone know who these guys are? It seems they have sent a letter to the FIA expressing interest, or is it intent? Hard to see the FIA going past some established teams such as Epsilon Euskadi, and it seems a bit late to start looking for funds as they are reported as saying. I see no reason why a US Team cannot succeed except that a US sponsor is probably hard to find given the lack of interest here, but perhaps an overseas sponsor might be interested in getting an entree to the US market.
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