BMW Sauber F1
Part3 of post-Australia insight: results to remain
By Various sources
March 31 2009
Once again, thanks to AFCA, for compiling and translating this information
- Horner on Williams lodging a
complaint against Red Bull and Ferrari. ''Williams would never have
gotten by on this. They knew it because the stewards told them so,
that's why they backed down.''
As said, if the stewards had declared that Williams were right then
more than half of the cars would have started from the pitlane. Horner:
''Then simply all the teams would have appealed and then nothing would
have changed to the starting line up.''
I believe Williams is actually risking a € 130,000 penalty for lodging
a 'frivolous complaint', wasting the time of the governing body.
- Rampf on Brawn GP's diffuser: ''It brings 0.5 seconds, that's equal
to 15 'points' of downforce. You can't gain that amount by (working on)
the bodywork. (As another team - AFCA) you may obtain the effect of
that part but you can't copy it 1:1. The BGP0001 is very tight at the
rear, it's been designed for it from the start.''
At an early stage of 2009 BMW Sauber sent letters to the FIA asking if
the regulations could be clarified. Theissen: ''But we never got an
answer, only an acknowledgement of receipt.''
The teamboss would actually be willing to wait for the definite
decision in the court of appeal. ''It would cost a lot of money. You
can start working on the bodywork but at a later stage you will also
have to modify other parts. This development won't ever stop.''
However, some teams fear that BMW Sauber (and McLaren) will already come up with a double-decker diffuser in China.
Symonds has acknowledged the legality of the diffusers and has admitted Renault is working on an own version.
For Red Bull and Toro Rosso it's a difficult story. Eeckelaert
explains: ''Williams, Toyota and Brawn GP have designed the rear end
crach structure in such a way that it has an own aerodynamical purpose:
the central part of the diffuser no is a double decker.'' So Red Bull
would need a whole new concept of the car with a completely different
rear end.
The prospects in this area for Force India are pretty good, Philips:
''We're already working on one since we know that these diffusers are
alllowed. We're working on own version that is, we can't take the one
from McLaren. Apperanty the aim is to introduce the new diffuser in
China as well.
Ferrari asked their star-laywer Nigel Tozzi to fly to Melbourne. He's
one of those top class lawyers that earns € 10,000 a day. Domenicali:
''We already asked the FIA about the diffusers in January.''
Unfortunately for Ferrari the protest from Ferrari (and some others)
was rejected on Thursday night.
In case the diffusers will be banned on the 14th of April after all,
then the teams will be allowed to keep their points tally they have,
however they will have to pay a fine not to make the sport lose face.
Howett isn't afraid: ''In England the only thing that's important is
the exact wording, in French law there's a greater tendency to look at
the interpretation. With our court of apeal we're somewhere in the
middle. But we're certain that we've got nothing to fear.''
- Compared to its 'original/debut version' the BGP001 gained another 9% of downforce.
Meadows: ''We didn't lie or bluff during testing. And when people think
that the good performance is solely down to the diffuser then they
better think again.''
Barrichello proved this during the race after his collision in the
first corner of the first lap: ''Due to the impact at the rear the
diffuser was completely ruined. But after that the car was still very
strong.''
Button on Brawn: ''Brawn isn't often lost for words. But in the final
15 minutes of the race he no longer said anything over the radio. And
he didn't say anything on the podium either. The big bear was standing
there, speechless.''
Brawn: ''Our aerodynamic package is very strong. But our boys also had
a close look at the demands of the slick tyres because especially in
slow and middle-fast corners our car produces a lot of grip.''
On the Mercedes engine: ''Its driveability is very good.''
Sepang should suit the BGP001 even better but there's still a little
question mark over the reliability. In Australia the two cars completed
their first full race distance. During the testsessions the team was
never able to do that due to the gearbox playing up twice. Brawn
admits: ''At the moment that's still our Achilles' heel.''
The reason behind this is the change of engine. In last year's car the
oil supply of the gearbox was actuated by the engine. With the Mercedes
V8 this happens seperately. During testing several parts of the gearbox
were not lubricated sufficiently. That's why the oil system has been
changed once more prior to Melbourne. Brawn ''We're not out of the
woods yet. An element of risk remains, which worries us.''
One of Button's pitstops during the race took too long, Brawn defends
his mechanics: ''During the seven days of testing we only had two
opportunities to practice tankstops. ''The guys first had to get used
to it again.'' It was actually Button himself who braked too late and
it took 5 seconds to get the fuel hose on...
Brawn on Theissen sustaining that they would have won if it wasn't for
Kubica's crash: ''If he likes to think that...But the problems with the
tyres only start to arise when they start to grain. The trick is to
manage the laptimes in such a way that you avoid graining. Then you're
on the safe side. It's exactly what Jenson did in the final phase of
the race.''
Button on Vettel's performance: ''Vettel's pace was a surprise to me. I
didn't expect Red Bull to be so fast. We will have to watch out for
them.''
Barrichello on his poor start: ''The car rolled to its place on the
grid, then suddenly the anti-stall mode was activated which prevents
the engine to stall when the revs go down too much. In such a case the
system first makes the car switch to neutral. You have to push a number
of buttons on the steering wheel and hit the accelerator hard. The
tyres spun too much when I the car finally switched in first gear.''
As is known by now Brawn GP is forced to say goodbye to a lot of
employees. On the 31st of March (today) is the deadline on which
employees can resign voluntarily (don't think many are going to do
that...). After that operational dismissals will be announced in total
cutting 270 members of staff.
As for the financial situation: the team is a 'new entry' although the
corporate management sustains that the English Commercial Registry says
it's still the same company since 1946: starting off with Tyrell later
becoming BAR and then Honda. I believe Brawn GP has managed to get FOM
money for the coming three years after all.
Meanwhile Brawn GP has Virgin on board, well for two races at least but
the cooperation is likely to continue since Branson has financed the
Barcelona update package. Allegedly the upgrade will make the jaws of
the other team drop and it will be something they won't be able to
copy. The important elements here are radical sidepods. They failed
during their first attempt of the FIA crash test but have already been
improved.
- Glock on being stuck behind KERS-equipped cars: ''I had a
KERS-allergy ! Alonso's car produced so much turbulence that I was at
least a second slower than him. Behind Raikkonen it was clearly
easier.'' Glock even asked the team if he could change his strategy to
get out his situation behind Alonso but Toyota at most wanted Glock to
do 8 laps on soft tyres.
- Kubica mostly did his laps on the soft tyres before the Safety Car
period caused by Nakajima. Theissen: ''In the end that was our trump
card. We actually expected that compound to last for 15 laps but we
nevertheless called in Kubica earlier.'' After 8 laps the Pole already
started complaining about the lack of grip.
At the start of the race the track temperature was 32 °C, at the end of
the race it was 24 °C. Gass explains why the soft tyres were so bad:
''They didn't drop off due to the heat, it was because of the graining
and with those cool circumstances it doesn't get any better.''
- Baldisserri: ''In Malaysia the situation will be different because
there we will have the 352 compound, which does well everywhere, and
the hardest compound which we've never used before.''
The Ferrari chassis were already flown to Kuala Lumpur on Sunday night
while certain parts of the car that caused failures throughout the
weekend have been sent back to Maranello for examination.
- Whitmarsh on Hamilton: ''He's not used to driving at the back of
field at all and you need a lot of discipline to retain the clarity.''
McLaren is one of two teams that will introduce new parts in Malaysia
(they'll be aerodynamical parts). ''We're having a very aggresive
development programme. But Malaysia will be difficult for us because
there are a lot of fast and technical corners there.''
- In Malaysia Williams will introduce some small improvements as far as the mechanical side is concerned.
- Rampf on Kubica being on front of Heidfeld on the starting grid, is
KERS the culprit ? ''No. Heidfeld lost three tenths on his flying
lap.''
''With Kubica without KERS we have exactly the same ballast weight as
Heidfeld with KERS.'' So the same amount of tungsten can be used on
both cars, but Heidfeld has the advantage of extra power.
The F1.09 has batteries in both sidepods. In order for the polar moment
of inertia to be the same on both cars ''we put ballast where the
batteries are, or vice versa.''
''The Malaysian track is predestined for KERS because there are longer straights than in Australia there.''
KERS will probably used one time a lap for 6,66 seconds instead of
several times shortly (like Heidfeld did in Melbourne, usually 5 times
a lap).
- Fisichella on almost driving past his team in the pitlane: ''It was a
stupid mistake. Last year we always had the last box in the pitlane.
This year we have the penultimate one. It confused me.''
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31/03/2009 13:10
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I'll highlight the important ones regarding BMW:
Quote:- Rampf on Kubica being on front of Heidfeld on the starting grid, is KERS the culprit ? ''No. Heidfeld lost three tenths on his flying lap.''
''With Kubica without KERS we have exactly the same ballast weight as Heidfeld with KERS.'' So the same amount of tungsten can be used on both cars, but Heidfeld has the advantage of extra power.
The F1.09 has batteries in both sidepods. In order for the polar moment of inertia to be the same on both cars ''we put ballast where the batteries are, or vice versa.''
''The Malaysian track is predestined for KERS because there are longer straights than in Australia there.''
KERS will probably used one time a lap for 6,66 seconds instead of several times shortly (like Heidfeld did in Melbourne, usually 5 times a lap).
Quote:- Rampf on Brawn GP's diffuser: ''It brings 0.5 seconds, that's equal to 15 'points' of downforce. You can't gain that amount by (working on) the bodywork. (As another team - AFCA) you may obtain the effect of that part but you can't copy it 1:1. The BGP0001 is very tight at the rear, it's been designed for it from the start.''
At an early stage of 2009 BMW Sauber sent letters to the FIA asking if the regulations could be clarified. Theissen: ''But we never got an answer, only an acknowledgement of receipt.''
The teamboss would actually be willing to wait for the definite decision in the court of appeal. ''It would cost a lot of money. You can start working on the bodywork but at a later stage you will also have to modify other parts. This development won't ever stop.''
However, some teams fear that BMW Sauber (and McLaren) will already come up with a double-decker diffuser in China.
Racing against the machine!
It would mean the weight difference between Nick and Robert is equal weight of KERS, right?
Quote:- Kubica mostly did his laps on the soft tyres under the Safety Car period caused by Nakajima. Theissen: ''In the end that was our trump card. We actually expected that compound to last for 15 laps but we nevertheless called in Kubica earlier.'' After 8 laps the Pole already started complaining about the lack of grip.
I think it should read "before" not "under"
Guess it's translation error
Quote:Gemm
same amount of ballast?
It would mean the weight difference between Nick and Robert is equal weight of KERS, right?
yeah?
but it cant be true, that Kers is only about 10kg.
Quote:patgawQuote:Gemm
same amount of ballast?
It would mean the weight difference between Nick and Robert is equal weight of KERS, right?
yeah?
but it cant be true, that Kers is only about 10kg.
I think it would be KERS without batteries as Rampf suggest that they put ballast were normally batteries are.
My guess is that actually part of the KERS is acting as ballast. That is the lowest part of the batteries, although not as dense as tungsten, are still heavy and low, so in some way they work similarly. Its the upper part of the batteries what is @#$%& off the CoG and the weight distribution.
OR, that actually BMW only needs 10kg of ballast at the medium-rear part, while the rest is placed in the fornt, in a same quantity aprox for both drivers.
BTW, interesting talk about polar momentum of inertia. I have re-check me techs books on this matter, but I didn't remember that it was so crucial to keep high the transversal P.M. of I.
I do know its bad to have a high one longitudinally, thats why its not very desirable to put too much weight too far from the CoG.
For those who are clueless right know, that momentum is simply a sum of the all the (mases*distance to the CoG). To better understand it, image the car was simply formed by for example 4 separated objects/mases (ie one the driver, another the engine, etc), concentrated in one point each. SO the polar momentum would be obteined by simply adding the (mass of the object*distance of that object to the car's CoG) of all the objects.
ANd now imagine the car is formed by thousends of objects! Not and easy task it would seem, but computers nowadays make it simple
Racing against the machine!
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