The Flying Lap with Peter Windsor

Please! Rob and Peter, how do you rate Ronnie Peterson?

is it possible to adjust the brake bias on the cars from side to side and if it is would it be beneficial?

If there are more races added will that mean the end to the “Summer Break”? and does shutting things down for a month really save money?
I’d guess the Mechanics & engineers really like the down time.

How can Seb think it was ok to pass over the white line. All circuits should go back to grass and gravel run off areas.

I have a question for Rob and for Peter. What do you think about the scarcity of coaches in F1 when held in comparison to other top level sports such as tennis, golf, athletics etc. Are there peculiar reason that coaching is so rarely used in F1 by comparison to other sports? Is the main reason that drivers’ pride gets in the way? I ask with particular reference to Romain Grosejan last week turning down the offer of help from Sir Jackie Stewart, a snub that I personally found astonishing.

Is there any indication that Red Bull might have disabled or reverted their questionable engine mapping just before the German GP? Could that explain Mark Webber’s complaint about pacing?

How is it possible that the Lotus team has such a big difference in competitiveness between dry and wet weather? Kimi was the fastest driver in Q1 in the dry, but over 4 seconds off in the wet in Q3. I can’t wrap my head around how that is possible.

I thought the Mclaren control ECU was supposed to prevent teams fiddling with the engine mapping, discuss

Good to see you again gentelmen!
Does Craig know anything about supposedly ingenious devise/method worming up front tyres at Ferrari and RBR?

For Scarbs: Force India pace seems very good at the start, but drops very rapidly with tyre degradation, whereas in other teamas the transition from full grip tyres to worn out tyres seems more smooth. AM I right in noticing that and, if so what could be the reason?

For Rob: Teammates head to head performance in qualifying: Ferrari (ALO-MAS 10-0), HRT (DLR-KRT 10-0),, McLaren (HAM-BUT 9-1). What does it say about Massa, Jenson, Khartikayen and what can they do to bounce back?

To Peter: I now agree that Alonso is going to win 2012 F1 championship, but I think this is not because he has Massa as a teammate. If Massa is not taking points from him, because he finishes in low points, then neither is he taking points from Mclaren, Red Bulls, Lotus etc. I think in F1 everyone drives for himself.

How much of the final result is now attributed to the driver performance and how much to the car? Is it more about the driver and less about the car in 2012 compared to 2010 an 2011?

I can’t believe how far removed F1 is getting from the sport I fell in love with 50 years ago. Mario Kart wings and tires deliberately designed to fall apart to try and make up for spec cars with spec engines racing on spec tracks and now the FIA is trying to enforce spec driving as well. What do you think of the current trend towards the homogenization of everything F1?

How much of the final result is now attributed to the driver performance and how much to the car? Is it more about the driver and less about the car in 2012 compared to 2010 an 2011?

Hi Rob.

You always talk about shortening corners and flattening the car whenever you can. Different cars have different strengths and weaknesses – shouldn’t you then alter your style to maximise the use of each car’s strenghts, and minimise the weaknesses?

Rob what car from current F1 season would You like to drive yourself?

What happened to Pastor Maldonado? Was the penalty too drastic, and as a result turned him to a shadow of previous Pastor?

Peter you should be very proud of your prediction atthe start of the year that Fernando would win…well done…Do the backmarker teams have so little power in the commercial agreements that they can’t get a TINY bit of airtime? They are racing too..??

Hi Peter and Craig -

Do you think Red Bull had their controversial and aggressive torque map for Germany or do you think they reverted back to compliant map to avoid protested result?

In other words, will we see Red Bull drop off in performance in Hungary?

Thanks

On question of Vettel’s pass on Button, Schumi made exact move on Jarno Trulli in 2003 on the same corner. There was no peep out of anyone back then. So what has changed since 2003? I guess the design by committee as Rob said

Did You notice that Alonso positioned his car at an angle on the starting line, suggesting a quick move to the right to defend his position. He did not change his line in the end (perhaps he felt his start was very good). But is there a rule saying that the car at the start line should be straight or can it be positioned at a slight angle?

Do you think Pastor’s ‘agressivnes’ is partly calculated so other drivers stay aware, cautious when he chase them. similiar to Alonso or Hamilton?

Rob, what specifically was Brabham’s Cosworth tweak?

How much communication is there between a driver and the team to let the team know the condition of the car and tyres when the track is wet ?

Good evening Peter, Scarbs and Rob, Following on from Hockenheim, where the FIA wanted the Stewards to punish Red Bull for their changes to the engine ECU but were unable to due to the wording of the technical regulation. Now the regulation has been changed, how much of an effect do you think this will make to Red Bulls weekend in Hungary and the rest of the season?

Is kimi the fairest driver on the grid? The way he overtake consists more element of skills than blindly push other away from the racing line~~ he seems to prefer undercut by forcing others into inside line~~

Rob -
Who do you think will become the quickest F1 driver in the next few years based on how you see some of the young drivers developing both in F1 as well as GP2/3?

Two questions (to Scarbs): I thought that the governing body wanted to get rid of all the winglets, bargeboards, dumbo-wings etc. which sprouted from the cars in the past. It was very well under control in the first year, but now more and more of them are seen. Last as fins on the side pods of the McLaren.
Why can they be there?

Second: why on earth did the FIA put the legality box of the exhausts in such a place that any half-witted person must see, that an exploitation of the rule WILL happen. To say, “you must not use the exhaust gases for an aero advantage” and in the same instance put the exhausts at such a place where it is possible is at best naive…

thanks for the great show. I really do enjoy every single episode.

Any insights re: F1 driver oral supplements being consumed in front of Sky F1 Hockenheim pitwalk

With various cars better/less able to get temperature into the wets/intermediate tyres, is the wet becoming less of a car equaliser now? Is it now becoming more about the car, than the driver skill, in the wet?

The German Grand Prix was broadcasted on FOX in the US. Why is the USGP going to be on SPEED channel instead of FOX in the US? In a down economy there are millions of F1 fans that do not have SPEED channel who will not be able to see the race. Doesn’t F1 want to reach as many fans as possible with this race in the US?

Hiya Rob, Peter.

If we put Alonso, Vettel, and Hamilton in the same car, who do you think would be quickest? Who would be champion of these three? Who would win more races? Get more poles?

Hi Rob,

In a circuit as busy as Hungaroring, where Sector 2 is just corner after corner after corner, how much should you balance between carrying speed through those corners, and shortening them to create flat spots in between them?

Fox broadcasts Football in November

What’s up with Jenson Button’s overplayed acting?… its like he’s auditioning for a drama

Rob, Mark Webber said something after Monaco that was interesting – he said that there were so many marbles that he was forced to “conform” to the other drivers’ lines, because his own preferred line had marbles on it, around Casino Square.

In this era where the marbles can seemingly narrow the road down to one clean line, what can the driver do, when he can no longer shorten the corner, due to the lack of grip of the marbles?

Wonderful show,Peter !

Question for Rob:

I recently read Scarb’s article about the sequential gearbox at gocar.gr which made me wonder how important are downshifts while entering a corner?

I’ve noticed that during damp/wet conditions drivers do not downshift as aggressively as they do in the dry.
Does the timing of a downshift matter in maneuvering a corner entry/exit ?
Kindly discuss

Many Thanks,
Alfons

Do you think Bruno is at risk of losing his Williams drive to Bottas next year?

Hi Rob,

Is it possible to really tell how much of a laptime is down to the driver, and how much is on the car? How are we able to know how close to the limit a driver is, through watching him drive?

For example, how do we know, that Fernando Alonso’s Ferrari isn’t actually supposed to be 2 seconds quicker (but he’s driving 2 seconds slower!)? I’m not saying this is the case, but hypothetically speaking?

How would a driver drive different cars from different teams on the same track based on the technical specifications of each car from each team ?