ltc

Some say that on his days away from F1, Sato is in fact The Stig ...

enduro911

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=feJsXOGQFPo

I don't doubt it. Here he is testing out the structural rigidity of the Koenigsegg.

ltc

The CARBON FIBRE Koenigsegg ... need I say more.

Taku IS the Cookie Monster of Carbon Fibre

f8vr993

bump!

chris walrod

I voted LH -- I think the McLarens can run more downforce give their power levels. In other words they wont have to trim-out as mush as others to be trap speed competitive.

I think aero and HP always shine at Monza.

boxsey911

Button
Hamilton
Webber

but the order of the first two could change in the last few laps if they can figure a way of doing it without it looking like they have the F factor.

mrepka

I'm giving up on Sato. Karun Chandhok for the win

bobt993

Alonso, Ham, Vettel,Web,Massa, Kub, Button

TwentySix

Ferrari escapes further punishment
8 September 2010

Ferrari went before the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council (WMSC) in Paris today and despite what happened at the German Grand Prix back in July, when Felipe Massa yielded in order to allow team-mate Fernando Alonso through to take victory, the Scuderia has seemingly escaped further punishment.

According to Reuters, Angelo Sticchi Damiani, president of Italy's CAI Motorsport Federation said a meeting of the FIA's world motor sport council agreed 'unanimously not to impose a further punishment', although the 100,000 dollar fine remains.

Other sources suggest that the FIA will now review the regulations which prohibit team orders.

fast_freddy

Ferrari
International
Assistance

TwentySix

Alonso
Hammy
Button

RajDatta

Justice has been served.

MJSpeed

Rules forces McLaren to make changes...

www.formula1.com

Tougher floor tests prompt minor changes to McLaren

McLaren have revealed they have carried out minor modifications to the MP4-25’s floor ahead of this weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, in light of the more stringent tests to be applied by the FIA at the Monza event.

The sport’s governing body revised their scrutineering checks following July’s Hungarian race after some teams, namely Red Bull and Ferrari, were accused by rivals of running flexible front wings. After introducing tougher front-wing tests at the last round in Spa, the FIA will carry out a stricter floor test in Italy, with weight applied to the side of a car’s floor as well as its centre.

“The new offset load test is a little challenging,” explained Tim Goss, the MP4-25’s chief engineer during a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes 'Phone-In' session. “We’ve had to make some minor modifications just to make sure we’re well inside the deflection limits the FIA are going to set on that. We’ve modified our bib and taken the opportunity to roll it up into a minor performance upgrade as well.”

The load tests check to see if a car’s floor flexes beyond the permitted 5mm when a 200 kilogramme load is applied. As well as the new test on the side of the floor, it is now prohibited to run a section of plank less than 100cm in length. The plank is a hard wooden strip (also known as a skid block) fitted down the middle of a car’s underside.

Goss believes this new rule, and the stricter tests, will have prompted other teams to make modifications too.

“I think as far as the offset bib test is concerned, then I would expect most teams would have had to have made changes to comply with that,” he said. “As far as articulated planks are concerned, there are a number of teams who run floor skids in multiple pieces. The FIA have tightened up on that to ban articulated skid blocks, and I imagine other teams will have to make modifications for that.”

Even with the minor changes made to the MP4-25, Goss is optimistic the team will maintain the performance they enjoyed at the Belgian Grand Prix this weekend in Monza and at the season’s remaining tracks.

“I think most people would say we’re unlikely to see Red Bull Racing with the substantial advantage they had at the Hungarian Grand Prix,” he concluded. “I bet Monza will be very tight. We have a very efficient car aerodynamically so we think we have a good chance of occupying the front row and a good chance of challenging for a race win.

“Our pace at Spa was partly due to circuit characteristics, but also we did bring some substantial and significant performance upgrades to the car. We made some significant developments there and that hopefully is going to carry us on, not just at circuits like Spa and Monza but through the remaining tracks that we’ve got this season.”

RajDatta

It was noted by Christian Horner that McLaren's front wings were flexing the most at Spa. So McLaren puts Redbull and Ferrari under the light and then do the exact same that they accused their opposition of.
Nice!

enduro911

RE: MJ's article, the MP4-25 has been designed this year so that parts can be swapped for new designs at a relatively fast pace without compromising other areas of the car and thus affecting its overall performance. Last year, the team learned the hard way about needing to go back and make wholesale changes to the design of the car in order to get more downforce and fine tune things like weight distribution. This year's car has been a pretty radical change in Mclaren's "aggresiveness" of the design. I think we've seen that it has been one of the better developed cars on the grid, and I believe there's a lot left in it. It's good to hear that teams are avoiding backing themselves into a development corner, where a small change in the interpretation of the rules or variations in the requirements of each track will lead to a very hit or miss car (see the Ferrari F2008).