The Flying Lap with Peter Windsor

Good evening Mr. Wilson.

From what you saw of Vettel’s onboards, what do you think it was that gave him such fantastic pace, while having the best tyre life out of the frontrunners? Was it something specific he was doing?

For both Mr. Windsor and Mr. Wilson,

With RBR seemingly finding some of their lost mojo in their latest update, they seem to be able to extract pace AND life from their tyres. Do you foresee a return of Vettel’s 2011 domination? Or will the FIA deem it non-sporting and ban it altogether? He would’ve won that race easily had it not been for his alternator failure…

The safety car was first used at Mosport in 1973. I was there!

Probably too late now, but one I’ve always wanted to know the answer to… In terms of aerodynamic downforce, which era of cars produced the most – 2008 (before the latest big change in regs), 2010 (with double diffusers), 2011 (with EBDs) or 2012?

why E20 has problem getting heat into tyres instantly after pits or Sc???

Hi Peter & Rob.

Since 2008, Vettel has been absolutely stonking quick in Valencia. What is it that separates him from the others over a Valencia lap?

If a driver “shortens” a corner, you will get a quicker direction change and you can hold a flatter exit to the car. However, by virtue of taking a tighter radius around the apex, wouldn’t you have to take a slower minimum speed? I suspect that in some cases, taking a higher minimum speed across, but an exit that isn’t as flat, will be more useful in some situations, than having a shorter corner and flatter exit, wouldn’t it?

Also, different cars have different characteristics. If for example you had a car that had very very bad traction and braking, but could give you very good cornering grip, shortening the corner would mean you’re making little use of your cornering strength, but relying on your traction and braking, which are your weak points anyways. Would it not be better in this case to run the line of a U-shape and carry a higher minimum speed, rather than a soft V-shape? Would the “better” technique itself differ from car to car, and corner to corner?

Thanks!

Hi Peter, Craig & Rob,

I have a question to all of you:) First one for you Peter, do you know how exactly the FIA delivers to the drivers their minimum times during SC period? Do they have to be going around at a certain speed or they just need to go through the sector slower than a given time?

To Craig: Do you think that current tires are making mechanical developments in the suspension as important as aero?

To Rob: How do you think Vettel finds so much time at the last lap in Q3!? Especially when they push at 100% for Q2!? Is it all to do w/ confidence and absolute concentration higher than his rivals or he’s just building himself all the time for this incredible flying lap?

Hi Guys,

With the 2014 rules being under debate currently, is it not possible to open up the rules with regard to engines. Surely if a set fuel flow rate is specified and a kers system agreed then it should be free reign on engine design. (provided they don’t use more than the allocated number and exceed rra on materials). As turbo’s are talked about, how are F1 going to make themselves appeal to turbocharger manufacturers?

Keep up the great work!
Tim

SUBJECT: TIRE ENERGY
Peter, Scarbs & Ralph – You have spoken so much about the challenge of putting energy into tires – can you quantify that? Is the energy measurement tire temperature? If so, that would seem to be the result of driver input, track temp, etc. Are there target temperatures that the teams have established based on each chassis and set-up? Love the show and all of the insight you offer. JO

A question from a strategy point of view I would expect the hard tire to take more punishment and are harder to warm up. So why is it that there are rather few people starting on the hard tire when the tanks are full and the tires get worked a lot, saving the soft cars for later, when the car is light.

What are Scarbs’ thoughts on the two overheated Renault alternators?

McLaren MP4-27 was the fastest cars straight from the box. Now Red Bull is in front and the gap is quite big. Does McLaren missed something or other teams made more to improve their cars? All the best from sunny Poland!

whats about the redbull rear suspension updates? passed scrutineering so tightly after the race

While it cannot be denied that Pastor Maldonado generally gets into too many accidents as things stand, do you agree with me that the amount of criticism he receives for this seems disproportionately high? After all it’s hardly unheard of for a driver in their second year in F1 to be fast but still a bit wild, and I don’t believe he gets into more accidents than some other F1 drivers. Do you think a lot of people refuse to see beyond Maldonado’s ‘pay driver’ tag?

Hi Peter, For the first time this year we witnessed a team and driver combination of Vettel and RedBull in complete dominance. He was consistently nearly a second faster than any other competitor during every stage of the race . Was this a one off (i.e car suiting track)? Have the recent upgrades suddenly found them this speed or more worryingly for the rest of the competition, have they unlocked the Pirelli mystery?
Pani from Woking

I hear the FIA really gave Webber’s car a good look at post race inspectionin Valencia. Reports say it barely passed and the FIA is looking at the rear suspension. A second per lap gain by Vettel with the double floor design is impressive. can you elaborate on what the FIA was looking at with Webber;’s rear suspension?

Webbers’s car barely passed post race inspection at valencia. I hear the FIA was looking at the rear suspension. can you elbaorate on this and the new double floor design?

I know aircraft hydraulic systems run approx 2000-3000psi; how much psi is in the hydraulics system of an F1 car?

Craig, is it pure aerodynamics or something else that makes that big difference between teams running the same engine-manufacturer? Do they all get the same engine or is Force India getting a different Ferrari engine as Toro Rosso or Ferrari?

why is adjusting the brake bias from side to side not allowed? and if it was do you think it can be beneficial?

Do you think this is the beginning of redbull’s dominance again? and do you think it is the new sidepod tunnel/ exhaust solution which gave them the extra speed?

What exactly is the benefit of the tunnel in the Red Bull?
Does it have something to do to improve the exhaust flow or general flow to the diffuser deck?

Will Renault be able to increase the performance of their engine, while solving the reliabilty problems of the alternator?

A couple of Questions,
1. How was that crash not Hamilton’s fault?
2. What do you think of Vettel’s & Marko’s claim the Safety car was a NASCAR Yellow to kill the 20 second gap?

What is your viewpoint on the Maldonado/Hamilton conflagration on the penultimate lap? Should Hamilton have left him room or should Maldonado have abandoned trying to take the place for that lap. Additionally, for Hamilton, he was complaining over his team radio that he would not be able to maintain the pace he was running at with Raikkonen behind him near the end of the race. Should he have let him through and nursed the tyres home instead of pressing on?

Hi,

From the beginning of Alonsos career in Ferrari he genuenly seems to be emotionally attached to the whole team.
Could this be one of the bigger factors helping him to extract absolute from the car and every situation.
Is there any other driver who has similar relationship with his team? Grosjean maybe?

Whats Scarbs views/feelings on the Pirellis, and how unpredictable they are. I think its great for the F1 show, but understand the teams being upset.

Peter, Craig & Rob,

The FIA is due to propose the latest Resource Restriction limits to the teams in a June 30 fax vote. What do you think about the move to further restrict the formula. Is it workable? I fear we’ll need as many inspectors as HM Revenue, or that the sport will start to fade in its technical innovation and leadership.

Heading towards Silverstone, Lewis Hamilton made mention that McLaren’s development timeline has been somewhat lackluster compared to previous seasons; do you think that it is because they already have a good car and it is posing more difficult to push forward? Or, because of the long talked about Tires?

Gents, is Alonso’s run over now as F1 switches to Aerodynamic type circuits where Ferrari may not be as good as RedBull and McLaren amongst others?

It’s so close – Michael was just 2 tenths off Rosberg’s pace in qualifing, Rosbergs fastest lap was caused by his super fresh tires and has to be evaluated with caution. But Schumachers tire strategy is interesing: Why do so few people start on the hard tires, where the hard tires are expected to be harder to warm up and able to take more punishment from a heavy car?

What does Rob think of the way how Vettel uses more track during his Q3 laps than others, he takes a wider line from the braking zone and then uses more of the inside, why don’t others do this? He also seems to have almost zero oversteer in the car.

To Scarbs: Is there something in the new rear design of the RedBull which eliminates oversteer? What about the off-throttle blowing sound they allegedly still make?

I hear Webber’s car barely pasted post race inspection at Valencia and the FIA gave the rear suspension a very good look over. Can you elaborate what they are digging into there?

Why do McLaren not seem to be producing the same level of updates as some of the other top teams this year? Does it demonstrate how good their car really is on one hand, yet how much they’ve suffered to get the best from the tyres this year? Where does Scarbs think they could/should develop?

CRAIG: If you were an Engineering Director for McLaren, what 3 areas would you focus on to attempt to gain more performance?

Hi Peter. Just want to let you know how much I apreciate your show! As an old F1 romantic (I actually named my first son Gilles!) it is so nice to listen to somebody who really knows! So here comes my question:
Reading your article about the friction circle in an ancient issue of F1 Racing, I wonder why droving styles like Senna, Villeneuve, Hamilton and Alonso still prove to be quick. In theory nobody would stand a chance against the likes of Prost, Button etc..

What do you think is the current pecking order of the teams in terms of ultimate one-lap car performance alone?

Do you guys think Ferrari is sacrificing qualifying to concentrate on the race efforts? Or is more Alonzo dragging the car to the front?

Rob,
What is wrong with Pastor Maldonado, and is it treatable?

What do you think is the current pecking order of the teams in terms of ultimate one-lap car performance alone?

Question to Rob: Massa seems to struggle a lot and it looks as if he might get replaced soon, people talk about Webber and Perez as a possible replacement and seem to forget Adrian Sutil, who is standing on the sidelines. How do you rate him, do you think he has got what it takes to be Alonsos team mate? How would you compare his driving style to Alonsos and Massas? Is it any closer to Alonsos than Massas?

Peter, new words to replace “steering wheel” in F1; ‘Direction Positioning System w/integrated race management’ :P

Hi,

Do you think there is any chance that Schumacher will retire after this season if he keeps fighting for podiums?

Are we seeing the affect of the step nosed cars having been more developed than the much more pretty Mclaren low nose. With higher volume rear air flow are they controlling the tires more? turning on and off? wear rate?

p.s.
Peter… so (Ford or Holden) or is it (Cosworth or Repco)?

great show.

1) Could the latest ongoing in the Gribkowsky trial drive Daimler AG out of F-1 ?

2) What next if there is no Concord Agreement ?