[Muinarc]

Very interesting race indeed. I think the fuel management was the unspoken story at that race. There is no way Button would yo-yo from a 2 sec gap..... then to 6-8 sec... then back to 3 at the end unless they kept changing fuel mappings. Same goes for Magnussen and his gap, you never saw that kind of gain late in a race unless tires were dying and that wasn't the case here.

 

[62ohm]

I am genuinely stunned by Button though, a clear evidence that experience can worth more than raw speed alone.. He essentially didn't overtake anyone, he got that place by timing his pit stops impeccably.

 

[oqvist]

  I am genuinely stunned by Button though, a clear evidence that experience can worth more than raw speed alone.. He essentially didn't overtake anyone, he got that place by timing his pit stops impeccably.

Well he got beaten by the rookie Magnussen... So I dunno how you can be super impressed by his race particularly since he didn´t manage to overtake anybody if I am allowed to turn it around
But he hardly got any screen time whatsoever.

 

[62ohm]

  Well he got beaten by the rookie Magnussen... So I dunno how you can be super impressed by his race particularly since he didn´t manage to overtake anybody if I am allowed to turn it around
But he hardly got any screen time whatsoever.

 
Magnussen starts from the second row, Button starts from way back of the grid (13th was it?) and finished only a place behind him so yeah, I am impressed by the fact that he can get that 4th (3rd now) place finish solely by timing his pit stops.

 

[wuwhere]

After Vettel retired with an engine problem, in the interview after he said that the car is fast but just unreliable for now. Once they sort that out, they will be competitive. I'm not a fan of Vettel or RB, but I believe what he said.

 

[Pudu]

Even that is currently hard to tell. Merc was earlier accused of being the team to run with a too high fuel flow.

[COLOR=FF00AA]"Toto Wolff denies that the FIA tweak has anything to do with Mercedes.

"We actually voluntarily reduced our fuel flow rate," he insisted.

"Had we not done that, we would have been five tenths faster yesterday."[/COLOR]​

So IF RB was running a higher fuel flow, their pace is still a bit of a mystery.

 

[wuwhere]

With the new fuel flow rule, they need to put in a fuel flow limiter.
 
"In order to promote fuel efficiency, fuel will be flow restricted to 100 kg/h above 10,500rpm;^[87] below 10,500rpm a formula for the maximum flow must be applied based on the rpm in use.^"

 

[oqvist]

Don´t think it´s much of a mystery with Red Bull. They do run the best of the Renault powered cars. Wouldn´t surprise me if they have problems with the ERS and cooling considering the problem they had with KERS last year. 
 
They do seem to have a great chassi though.

 

[Pudu]

Half a second is huge, if that is a real assessment of the advantage of a higher than legal fuel flow.

I fully expect RB to have the best chassis of the entire field, but I guess the real question is whether it will function at peak performance under real race conditions and distances this year. Gonna be a few races before things start to become clearer about all the teams, the tyres, and the fuel saving issues (if there are any). Between Sepang, Bahrain, Barcelona, and maybe even Monaco, it should be a good test of RB's ability to handle the heat.

I just hope we don't have every podium being decided 5 hours after the race has ended.

 

[Exediron]

The problem with this Red Bull appeal is that the way I see it, they're screwed either way. Basically it can go one of three ways:
 
They lose the appeal, and not only lose their points but are forced to use the original sensor readings in future races
They win the appeal, but the FIA rules that in the future they have to use the original sensor, meaning their pace this past weekend won't be repeated
They win the appeal, and the FIA agrees that teams can use their own readings; everyone else promptly ups their own fuel rate as well, negating the pace advantage and pushing RBR back
 
If the 0.5 second difference is representative of the whole field and not just Mercedes, that's a pretty massive difference. That would mean that at the same fuel flow rate as the rest Ricciardo would have been roughly 20 seconds further back, so well behind both McLarens and Alonso as well.
 
At the end of the day I don't think it matters if Red Bull are correct about their fuel rate - it's clear enough that right or wrong they were using a different rate than all the other teams (different than the rate everyone was supposed to be using), giving them a competitive advantage over the rest. Gaining a competitive advantage by breaking the rules is clear penalty territory, so I think this is fairly cut and dried.

 

[Exediron]

Gettin' closer now!

 
Interesting first session - they don't seem to have really ironed out their setups yet, lots of people struggling for grip and even a rare spin from Alonso. Kimi's looking a bit more comfortable. Vettel's back ahead of Ricciardo, where we expect to see him for the qualy and race as well.

 

[oqvist]

It´s more difficult to operate F1 cars 2014 it´s that we see when all the drivers struggle as they do. It once again require skill to moderate the throttle in dry conditions

 

[Muinarc]

Yeah I was so happy when they killed traction control (again) in 2008 but surprised it took until now for us to see some of the fruits of that regulation change.

 

[Astrozombie]

The fuel restrictions and the new engine sound, pretty blah start to the season

 

 

[Eee Pee]

Personally, I have no qualms about the sound at all, but, I've never been to a live race so I miss out on the visceral aspect of it.  Been to MANY races of all sorts in my life, just not F1.  I like the whooshes and whirly sounds of forced induction and electric motors.  
 
Time to move on, you grumpy old fellas and accept change.  

 
And it's cheaper for the fan going to the racetrack now.  Don't need to buy ear protection.