Getting ready for F1 2005.

Fri Feb 25 14:39:01 2005 EST (-0500 GMT)

As is my habit, more information about each link can be found via the WikiPedia links – they’ll open in a new window, but they’ll all share it.

F1Why do I love Formula 1 racing? If I had to give on reason it would be the sound. The 3.0-litre, ten-cylinder naturally aspirated engines sound amazing as they rev to 17,000 rpm, 18,000 RPM, and perhaps more. It’s one thing to hear these things on TV, but the two GPs I’ve been to in Montreal’s took that experience to a new level. Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is on an island, and as you approach it during warm-up the whole waterfront is consumed by the sound of cars screaming to the hair-pin, thundering down the gears to break, then screaming off again.

F1 EngineAn F1 Car the 3.0-litre, six-cylinder naturally aspirated engine in most mini-vans put out between 170HP and 200HP and can hit about 6,500 RPM. The 3.0-litre in an F1 car puts out around 900HP. F1 Engine The valves in F1 cars (which let in the air for the combustion inside the cylinders and allow the exhaust to escape afterwards) use hydraulics because conventional springs can’t open and close fast enough to handle 18,000RPM. The aerodynamics and tyres enable these cars to corner at speeds fast enough to create G-forces that would make you or I black out. The engine, the aerodynamics and the tyres combine to make F1 cars faster than any other single-seater circuit racers and the ‘Formula’ behind Formula 1 the most high-tech and expensive there is.

Montoya & GordonLastly, F1 is a world championship with drivers and circuits from around the world. Compare this to NASCAR, which is old technology, American-based and only turns left. Jeff Gordon, for example, is an incredible driver, but I base that more on his results in Juan Pablo Montoya’s F1 car and the International Race of Champions. Despite the fact that NASCAR cars have fenders, they contribute as much to your road car as F1 cars do (if not less). I do want to stop short of calling NASCAR an easier competition, as the drivers are very talented at what they do, it’s just that what they do is so limited in racing scope and puts a huge emphasis on crashes (it’s quite the contradiction that they don’t race in the wet).

F1 Pit StopF1’s talent has to complement it’s high level of technology. There is a large amount of strategy in the decisions surrounding when to bring the car in for a pit stop, how much fuel will keep a car racing without adding so much weight as to slow it down, how pitting affects staggering/spacing on the track, suspension setup that can cut over a curb but still be stiff enough to corner at 200KmH…….. A lot of these decisions fall on the technical director, and the best at it is Ferrari’s Ross Brawn (who I spotted and briefly talked to at a road-side stop in France).

Similarly, the best driver ever is Ferrari’s driver Michael Schumacher. My personal favourite would be Jacques Villeneuve, the Canadian former world champion known as much for his surly attitude as his driving. Well I have a high level of respect for Schmacher, this recent review of his carrier from The Australian, “New challenge gets Schu’s motor running” will perhaps explain my nuanced opinion of this driver who holds almost every record:
Shumi

Schumacher is 36 and in his 14th season, yet he insists he still relishes every moment.

… and goes on to quote Schumacer about how no car he has driven has achieved perfect balance, even the one in which he won 11 races in 2002, is one good reason to go on, but the article also adds….

Many will never excuse him for the way he won his first championship in 1994 (deliberately or otherwise taking out Damon Hill in Australia as the Briton began the passing manoeuvre that would have made him champion), and the way he tried to win his third in 1997 (a blatant if unsuccessful attempt to do the same to Jacques Villeneuve in Jerez) will always mean he is widely perceived as a flawed, as well as boring, character.

JVSo I throw my support behind the rowdy challengers Juan Pablo Montoya and Jacques Villeneuve. Villeneuve was recently in the news announcing the movie Villeneuve, which is about his legendary father, Gilles Villeneuve. Gilles Villeneuve drove for Ferrari at time when you could still hang the back of the car out and go quickly. Both Villeneuves drive without fear and had the ability to over extend a car and not get caught out doing it — all though I must mention that Gilles died in a huge wreck at the Spa Circuit in Belgium. The movie is to be told through Jacques’ eyes, and should have more of a story than recent racing movies have had.

The first race of the year will be on March 6th, live from Australia.
Button burn out

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