Formula 1 2015 - pre season testing.

Luckily he has only a concussion...

Fernando Alonso: McLaren driver concussed after crash

The two-time champion hit the wall on the exit of the 150mph Turn Three at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, one of Formula 1's most demanding corners.

McLaren said results of hospital scans showed the driver was concussed but otherwise uninjured.

Source

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien
Luckily he has only a concussion...

Fernando Alonso: McLaren driver concussed after crash

The two-time champion hit the wall on the exit of the 150mph Turn Three at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, one of Formula 1's most demanding corners.

McLaren said results of hospital scans showed the driver was concussed but otherwise uninjured.

Source

Very confusing.

Eric Boullier, McLaren-Honda Racing Director, says Alonso was uninjured, though he had a concussion.

Was Alonso knocked unconscious, or not?

A concussion is a traumatic brain injury that can affect normal functioning.

I'd call that an "injury".

If he dings a wall again, and it doesn't need to be very hard judging by what happened today, Alonso could be done.

McLaren-Honda seem to be falling further and further behind.

Maybe they should consider putting Magnussen in?

a reply to: Psynic

The accident seems to be rather odd, there`s even speculation he got an electric shock.

Link

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

What Vettel said is quite telling and more believable than the official story.
Almost no damage on the car and it is parked on the inside of the track just after turn 3.

Ma Russia is back!

They've signed former Caterham driver, Will Stevens to pilot the new car, which Marussia are working hard to have ready for Australia in two weeks.

Meanwhile McLaren have announced that Alonso is home in Spain recovering from the concussion he suffered last week.

Magnussen will drive for McLaren in the final test, and if you ask me, should drive in Melbourne too.

a reply to: BornAgainAlien
Just commenting to keep an eye on this thread.
And while I'm here, I gotta say....I LOVE IN CAR CAM COVERAGE! (thanks for sharing)
Why they dont do it more during P/Q/R, is absolutely crazy to me.
IMO, it could change ratings a bit to the good.
Also gotta add.....SUZUKA is in my top 3 favorite road courses in the world.

a reply to: earthling42

Appreciate the thread!
Was a thing or two i hadnt realized. Been in and outta town lately.

a reply to: RoadCourse

Thanks

Do you guys think FT says this because he needs to give CS also confidence or is it really the case ?

Franz Tost Q&A: Verstappen and Sainz will be evenly matched

Q: You’ve had the opportunity to observe Max and Carlos in both Jerez and Barcelona - what are your first impressions?

FT: I have quite positive impressions from both of them. Both are much more mature than people maybe would expect. Both have shown very good performance - they are very committed and very motivated. I expect that they will be closely matched - one might sometimes have an advantage in qualifying and the other will maybe be faster in the race, but in the end I think both of them, on the performance side, will be quite equal.

Source

I have my doubts about that statement, but as a manager you have the obligation to stand behind both your drivers.

The differences will be not that big of course, but I think MV will proof to be a bit faster. We have a whole season to check that out and we need about 1/3 of a season to have some idea about it.

I LOVE IN CAR CAM COVERAGE !

Me 2, they pay services has more the option to chose that, but I can live with the commercials just fine...in earlier days when I started to watch back in the beginning of the 80s there never was onboard, but it would be nice to show them at certain times a bit longer.

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

I think it is certainly important for any race driver that the team has confidence in them, this in turn will make the race driver more confident about himself and more committed to a good result i think.
So i agree with you about the manager has the obligation to stand behind both drivers.
Personally i think we will see some mistakes from both Max and Carlos in the first races, that is not bad as they will surely learn from it.
What is important i think, is how good they can translate car behaviour into usable feedback for the setup of the car.
A good balance will surely translate itself into faster lap times and less tire wear.

a reply to: earthling42

You`re right about the ability to understand the car and the importance towards tire degradation.

What I have seen from MV is that he makes mistakes (everyone does) and rookie mistakes also, but he`s also emotionally more stable as his dad. Have you heard the English commentary when he lost the F3 Championship because his engine blew (with the hard rules about it in F3 it lost him the Championship), they were really impressed with him being able to stay calm enough to put back in his steer while it wouldn`t go in right away.

Besides, I have seen him also correct mistakes because of excellent car control...


He didn`t damage his car in 3 free practices and 2 x 2 test days himself (Suzuka engine was not his fault I think), and yet he still showed good pace. He can go fast without too much pressure like others, because he doesn`t have to try to hard with his talent.

It was funny to read that the head engineer of STR was asking for a lot of feedback from Jos during testing.

I only hope the car is competitive enough, the last test showed to be somewhat promising, but Sauber and Lotus are doing well as far as I have seen. It would be nice if they are close enough to them and not have a gap of 0.3/0.5 on them the whole season, and after them an even bigger gap.

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

Thanks for the clip, this was a great moment to watch.

Yes, i agree wholeheartedly that he is emotionally more stable as his dad, i did not hear the english commentary on that, but i do know they were quite impressed with his driving skills and overtaking.
The slogan 'overtaking is an art' will surely be seen on the circuits again, only not for Jos the boss but for his son.

Do you have the link for me to that story? Jos certainly has great knowledge but would he really be able to give valuable input since formula 1 is quite different from 12 years ago.

I hope with you, but i think they will be fighting for place 10 to 12 because Ferrari, Williams, Mercedes, Red Bull and Lotus are faster.
Sauber is a great question, if they are indeed as fast as they have shown in Jerez, place 13 and 14 will be realistic for Toro Rosso.
I cannot wait till the first practice in Melbourne

a reply to: earthling42

His dad was the best starter I have seen in F1 (from when Prost came in F1), the last couple of years of his driving I was actually disappointed when he didn`t overtake 5 or 6 cars in his first lap.

The worst one was Webber, he was really bad, almost always losing several places with the start.

The cars in the early 90s were already incredible high tech. I remember when active suspension and the contoured bottoms were banned already back then. The active suspension took 2-3 laps going down the circuit and it would know before a hole or bump if there was one, and would adjust itself before it hit it with lightning speed. The contoured bottoms made the cars also being sucked on the track like crazy.

In the 90s the cars were already able to ride upside down with 160 km/h (100 mi/h).

Jos having been in F1 for over 10 years and already working with high tech stuff still know a thing or two when it goes about suspension, camber, toe, tire pressure, etc...,to give advice about things to try out and see how it effects the car speed.

Dutch

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a reply to: BornAgainAlien

Thanks for the article

They sure were, i believe active suspension was banned when Jos debuted in F1.
I do not know of the Footwork had active suspension in 1993 but Jos, coming from F3 had set some amazing lap times during his first F1 test at Estoril.

From what i remember in 1994 the wooden plates underneath the car were introduced during the 1994 season to reduce the downforce of the car.

While Jos certainly knows a lot, the bridgestones were quite hard and tire wear was much less compared to the current pirelli tires.

But Toro Rosso should not be unformiliar to Jos, it is the former Minardi team which he joined in 2003.

speaking of Minardi.

a reply to: earthling42

They had all kinds of channels on the bottom of the car which made them pull vacuum, they are also ordered to have now more clearance to the track.

The tires are deliberately made to wear more so we can have enough pit stops without tanking. We also now have that they need to safe fuel. But you want them to push the limits like in the old days...more crashes and more fun when they ride on the edge most of the time in the races.

Thanks for that video !

Actually, when he went carting with Schumacher, which they did every now and then, he was just as fast as him. He could have gotten way more out of his career if he had different manager, sure he got enough money because of it, but having H. Rothengatter wasn`t good for his career.

I still remember in Interlagos Jos could have won that rain race, so sad...


But this was fun...

a reply to: earthling42

It must have been really difficult to get those old engines to be able to work well again.

They made them to only last 500km, 300km for the race and the rest could be used to test. Every tenth of a millimetre was removed to make them as light as possible before it would blow up (you wanted the weight to be as low as possible for the balance (much better to put the excess minimum weight close to the bottom)).

originally posted by: BornAgainAlien
a reply to: earthling42

The active suspension took 2-3 laps going down the circuit and it would know before a hole or bump if there was one, and would adjust itself before it hit it with lightning speed.

Wait, what?

How would the car know of an upcoming bump?

a reply to: BornAgainAlien

Sad indeed, due to inferior material he often had to retire, but he showed he can race and be fast despite having less horse power and grip.
Obviously he has shared his secret with Max, he too seems to be phenomenal in the rain so let's hope for lots of rain during the races

The arrows A20 in my view is the most beautiful car he has driven.

a reply to: Psynic

The suspension was computer controlled, so every shock absorber knew what to expect and was put in the right position just before it. In 2-3 laps the system had learned what to expect and adjusted itself according to what would come.

F1 has always been incredible high tech.

a reply to: earthling42

He`s got race DNA from his dad, mother and granddad.

(pssst, don`t tell anyone, but we have finally found out how to be good in sports...breeding of ex-top athletes (Mathieu vd. Poel and the v. Poppels too).