Selection box - Really just trial and error - Previews for Russia, audio thoughts on Alonso, and much more
Published by Christine
The Russian Grand Prix is just around the corner now, and we've been celebrating by gathering together as many F1 podcasts as we could find, posting our regularly scheduled F1 preview, and building up to the big event by scouring the internet for the rest that the web has to offer fans. Here are some of our findings!
As always, it's best to start with the race relevant content, and we're not the only ones previewing the F1 action this weekend.
For race-day, the weather is predicted to be sunny and relatively warm for the time of year but Sochi’s billiard-table smooth surface hasn’t punished the tyres in the past. Indeed, Nico Rosberg completed almost the entire 2014 race on one set of tyres. That coupled with the increased durability in Pirelli’s rubber should mean that we have another one-stopper on our hands. Some may see that as being dull, but nobody will dread the fact that these harder tyres should allow the drivers to follow more closely, push to their limit and have more battles up and down the field.
This is the home race for Daniil Kvyat, so join him for an hotlap around the Sochi Autodrom! Enjoy this 360 video, surrounded by all of the Scuderia Toro Rosso past cars, and find out all the secrets of the home to the Russian Grand Prix.
3 down, 17 to go. The 2017 F1 season is underway and already there are some hot topics to discuss. Using the Pure Pit Wall, this week we're talking about tyre degradation, overtakes and key learnings from Australia, China and Bahrain.
It's no surprise that much of the attention this weekend will continue to be on Honda and McLaren, with the news of Alonso's brief impending departure still ringing in everyone's ears. Here are a couple of links on power units new and old, plus some thoughts on Alonso's new hobby.
Sam Collins joins Jennie Gow to reveal his thoughts on the lack of performance and unreliability Honda is providing.
Simultaneously, there is a will to review the concept of the power unit. The current V6 turbo hybrid, including its two energy recovery systems, might be replaced by a simpler and less costly concept, although retaining hybrid features. That last point remains a requirement of the car manufacturers involved in F1 (and the FIA) since such technology represents the future of the industry.
This week Fernando Alonso's decision to race at Indianapolis sparks a nostalgic journey down memory lane of years gone by at the Indy 500. We also preview the Russian GP at the Sochi Autodrom this weekend, plus all the latest Formula 1 news.
Finally, a couple of posts about circuits - the potential for a second US event as well as a look back at some of the more unusual tracks that F1 has visited. There's also a great podcast recapping a stellar championship season, and those incredibly talented students getting their design skills on.
The success of the Circuit of the America's race, first held in 2014, has encouraged beliefs that America is ready to embrace Formula One. Couple to that the success of Mexico's return to the sport, as well as IndyCar's ludicrous recent rule changes, and it seems like there's great scope to expand across the pond.
At the other end of the spectrum, AVUS – two long and wide straights linked by a hairpin and a ‘Berlin Wall’ of a brick banking – hosted the 1959 German GP, the only such race to be decided by two planned heats. Tony Brooks finger-tipped his Ferrari Dino to victory and Hans Herrmann somehow escaped with cuts and bruises when his BRM P25 tipped him out as it tumbled down the road.
In episode three, Rob takes you through the entire 1998 Formula 1 world championship, one of the most under-rated seasons in the sports history, featuring the epic season long battle between Mika Häkkinen and Michael Schumacher.
Designing our car from scratch, extrusion after extrusion and design after design, was quite an arduous but meaningful experience. We were uncertain about how to design- when we first got our hands on the Autodesk software, everything was just a jumble of functions and really just trial and error. We soon managed to get the hang of the designing tools and started to think of the different ways we could incorporate the reasoning and science behind aerodynamics into our design.
