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Official 2007 Auto Racing thread (F1, Moto GP, WRC, NASCAR, etc)

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T

Tenacious-V

Thinks his PR is better than yours.
WMSC finds Renault guilty, but does not impose a penalty.

http://www.itv-f1.com/News_Article.aspx?PO_ID=41406

Renault has welcomed the decision of the FIA World Motor Sport Council not to punish the team for possessing confidential information belonging to rival McLaren.

At the WMSC hearing in Monaco on Thursday, Renault was found to have breached Article 151c of Formula 1’s International Sporting Code, but escaped penalty for reasons which are expected to be disclosed on Friday.

Managing director Flavio Briatore paid tribute to the way the team and its sponsors had weathered the controversy.

“I would like to thank Renault, our title sponsor ING and all our partners for their whole-hearted support during this sensitive period,” he said in a statement.

“I also wish to pay tribute to the team, which has handled the matter with integrity and dignity.

“We are pleased that we can now focus fully on our preparations for the 2008 championship.”
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B

Big Takeover

Member
Mmmm, slicks.

They were running two different DF configs with slicks at Jerez, 2008, and 2009 (-30%). This picture of Heidfeld looks like 2008. 2009 looks like a Monza setup.

45655_2.jpg
 
R

reilo

learning some important life lessons from magical Negroes
Goldrusher said:
Renault 2008

89169.jpg


Renault 2009

89437.jpg
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Interesting! The rear wing is half the size as the old one. How are they achieving any downforce?
 
A

avaya

Member
2009 is going to have slicks and much less downforce.

Schumacher ran a time yesterday which was within one second of a 2008-level time set by Vettel in his Torro Rosso.

Although Nico Rosberg, also on slicks, ended up third quickest despite a spectacular engine blow-up in the afternoon, a lot of eyebrows were raised when Michael Schumacher set the fourth quickest time running slick tyres but with 2009 levels of downforce.

A lot of drivers have struggled to get speed out of the estimated 30 percent cut in downforce levels experienced this week but, despite a spin at Turn Two early in the day, Schumacher still managed to set a time less than one second off Vettel's best.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64318
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Also FIA Monaco Gala Official 2007 Highlights

http://www.megaupload.com/?d=2U31DOAM (123MB MP4)
 
M

mrklaw

MrArseFace
I guess slicks will give you back mechanical grip lost with the grooved tyres. switching from emphasis on aero to mechanical grip will be a good thing, hopefully.
 
H

hadareud

The Translator
that looks like proper F1 again. Slicks are just part of racing, it was very silly to get rid of them in the first place I thought.

Shame that we have to wait another year though.
 
A

avaya

Member
Car is far more predictable with slicks. Apparently they are not as good as grooves in slow corners. That seems strange but that's what some of them are reporting.
 
O

OnkelC

Hail to the Chef
Alonso back at Renault:
http://www.formula1.com/news/headlines/2007/12/7167.html

Fernando Alonso will race for Renault next season alongside Nelson Piquet Jr, it was confirmed on Monday. The move marks Alonso’s return to the team with whom he won two world titles and follows a troubled 2007 season with McLaren.

Piquet’s promotion from test driver to race seat means Renault will field an all-new line-up for next season - and leaves current stars Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen without confirmed drives for 2008.
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S

Shinobi

Member
I assume Kova will go to Red Bull, pretty sure they have one seat open (probably for Alonso, if the Renault ruling last week went bad).

I assume this deal was made in principle a while ago, but waited till the ruling came down to rubber stamp it. Expect to see Renault mixing it up with the big boys again, forcing Alonso's haters to eat their words once more.
 
D

DarkJediKnight

Member
Yea, Heikki will likely end up at Mclaren or Toyota. He's too good of a driver not to find a seat.

Of course, Michael Schumacher can always say that he wants the Mclaren seat as he owes Mercedez a lot for his early beginings.

Schumacher at Mclaren would result in Lewis Hamilton and his "crew" gasp in a collective sign of dissapointment. I am seriously getting sick of Hamilton opening his mouth every minute about how he's destined to be the best ever. Schumacher would destroy him mentally if he took the Mclaren seat.
 
T

Tenacious-V

Thinks his PR is better than yours.
BCD2 said:
I'm thinking HK will end up with McLaren for the year. He'll go back to Renault next year after Alonso goes to Ferrari as speculated.
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Well considering Massa inked a deal up to 2010, I'm pretty sure Alonso is going to be with Renault for at least a couple years before the switch over to Ferrari. I doubt he will be replacing Kimi, so Ferrari is covered is out for the next 2 seasons.
 
R

reilo

learning some important life lessons from magical Negroes
BERLIN (Reuters) - Michael Schumacher can add the unofficial title of Germany's fastest taxi driver to his other achievements after taking over behind the wheel to get his family to the airport on time.

The retired Formula One champion drove the cab back to the airport himself after a trip out to the village of Gehuelz, near Coburg in southern Germany, left the family short of time to make their flight home, the Muenchner Abendzeitung newspaper reported.

"It was crazy having Schumi driving, with me in the passenger seat," the taxi driver was quoted as saying.

The seven-times world champion, who stopped racing last year but is still involved in the sport as an occasional tester for Ferrari, gave the driver a 100 euro ($146.6) tip on top of the 60 euro fare, the newspaper said.
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GOD among men.

:bow
 
S

skybaby

Member
celestial body said:
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/64369

Oh snap, oh thnapples, holy shit, holy fucking shit, oh shit etc.

McLaren came clean, they admit everything. Tifosi rejoice, everything we suspected was real. Brundle fuck off the FIA were right. Holy shit.

The FIA have dropped the case as there's no point pissing, shitting and vomiting over the red cross.
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OMG, let's quote the whole thing!
McLaren apologise unreservedly to the FIA
Thursday, December 13th 2007, 16:01 GMT

McLaren have offered to impose a moratorium on developing parts on their 2008 car that could have been inspired by Ferrari intellectual property, after apologising to the FIA over their failure to realise how much data from their rivals had spread within their team.

In a letter sent to FIA president Max Mosley on December 5 and published on McLaren's website today, the team admitted that Ferrari information had been more widely 'disseminated' within the team than they previously thought.

And in light of an inspection of their 2008 car by FIA appointed officials throwing up the suggestions that the deployment of quickshift, fast fill, or the use of CO2 as a tyre gas could have come from the Ferrari information, McLaren have offered to hold back on developing these systems.

A statement issued on McLaren's website said: "To avoid even the possibility of Ferrari information influencing our performance during 2008, McLaren has offered a set of detailed undertakings to the FIA which will impose a moratorium on development in relation to three separate systems.

"During the course of these incidents, McLaren has conducted a thorough review of its policies and procedures regarding the recruitment and management of staff. The proposals arising from this thorough review have been disclosed to the FIA and McLaren has agreed to demonstrate that all of these policies and procedures have been fully implemented.

"McLaren wish to make a public apology to the FIA, Ferrari, the Formula One community and to Formula One fans throughout the world and offer their assurance that changes are now being made which will ensure that nothing comparable to what has taken place will ever happen again. McLaren have also agreed to pay the costs incurred by the FIA for their investigation.

"McLaren now wishes to put these matters behind it and to move forward focusing on the 2008 season."
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To everyone who said the FIA was after Mclaren or that they were too hard on them: EAT THE CROW AND STFU!
 
P

Pimpwerx

Member
Did anyone actually doubt that McLaren cheated? Ha!

Also, Schuey!!! :bow The man can do no wrong. Too bad we never heard about this sort of stuff from him while he was still racing. That driver is the luckiest man alive. I'd kill to ride shotty while Michael wrings a car out on city streets. :) PEACE.
 
S

SCHUEY F1

Unconfirmed Member
BCD2 said:
God, what a cock tease. I don't want to wait!
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Me too, I can't wait for the new season to start! I hate the month of the December for the F1 offseason. January starts to get a bit better with the car launches.

Its weird seeing F1 cars with slicks again!
 
S

Shinobi

Member
McLOLren

Raikkonen happy without limelight.

Fri 14 Dec, 09:15 AM


Finn says he aims to win more titles, but will only do so at Maranello.

Kimi Raikkonen has admitted that he is content to keep his name out of the newspapers following his world championship success and allow his rivals to steal the headlines.

The claim is more than slightly ironic given the Finn's penchant for behaviour that found favour with tabloids worldwide, but Raikkonen insists that his success hasn't changed him. Instead, he is just keeping his head down after a controversial season in which he came through to deprive warring McLaren team-mates Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso of the title.

"I wouldn't say winning has changed my life, but it is good to get what I have always dreamed of," he told Britain's Daily Mail newspaper, "If there is focus on Lewis Hamilton getting prizes, Michael Schumacher testing with us, or where Fernando Alonso is going, I'm happy. I have a nice quiet life. I've got the trophy they probably all wanted. I'd rather take the world title than any other prize."

Although his crown took some time to be confirmed, following the 'cool fuel' saga that dogged the season finale in Brazil, Raikkonen enjoyed his celebrations, but is now focused on winning another title - and doing so with Ferrari, despite rumours that Alonso may be on is way to Maranello in 2009.

"I think I was at home in Finland, or maybe in Switzerland," he said of hearing the result of McLaren's appeal, "I think I was sent a text message. I expected it to be a good result anyhow, so it didn't change much. I'm happy with this, but I want to win it again. I don't want to win it, say, ten times just because someone else has. I just want to win each race and each championship.

"For sure, Ferrari will be my last team. I'm not interested in going anywhere else. I'm happy here. The place suits me. It is more fun for me than any other team. I have two years to run on my contract and it may not be the last."

Raikkonen, who returned to testing at Jerez this week, admits that his success was made all the sweeter after being written off, both mid-season and with two races remaining when he was 17 points adrift of Hamilton, but insists that there was nothing awry with the situation that saw him clinch the crown at Interlagos.

"It was especially nice because it did not look like we could do it," he confirmed, "'Hamilton made a mistake in China and then had something wrong with the gearbox, or whatever, in Brazil. We won it fair and square. He would say it wasn't pressure that got to him, but it wasn't an easy thing for him to do. Everyone is under pressure."
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http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com/14122007/23/raikkonen-happy-limelight.html

2008 season can't start soon enough.
 
S

Shinobi

Member
Why? Last season was the best we've had in many a year. I mean it's not like Schumacher wouldn't add to the drama, but he really isn't needed. And more to the point, he doesn't really need it.
 
H

HolyCheck

I want a tag give me a tag
It's about having the worlds best tho... and if he's still better than 95% of them... why the hell not! lol.

Whats the go with alonso? Is he going to renault?
 
C

celestial body

Member
No one really knows. Usually they use old front/rear wings for launch. It would be silly to expect a revolution from a title winning car but the sidepods are definitely changed though.
 
A

avaya

Member
celestial body said:
No one really knows. Usually they use old front/rear wings for launch. It would be silly to expect a revolution from a title winning car but the sidepods are definitely changed though.
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Yeah I guess so, but shorter wheelbase is a definite, confirmed by Costa sometime ago wasn't it?
 
T

Tenacious-V

Thinks his PR is better than yours.
McLaren MP4-23

As McLaren unveiled their 2008 machine, the MP4-23, on Monday, the team also revealed some of key features of the car’s development and the technology behind it…

The first design meeting for the MP4-23 took place back in November 2006 with early layout work starting in March 2007.

Wind tunnel work commenced in late May 2007.

Since then the MP4-23 has spent over 3000 hours being developed in the wind tunnel.

The first MP4-23 chassis was ready for bonding in mid November 2007.

Lewis Hamilton, Pedro de la Rosa and Gary Paffett had their provisional seat fittings for the MP4-23 back in September 2007. Heikki Kovalainen was fitted for his seat shortly after being announced as a Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver.

The car build process for chassis 1 began in early December 2007 and was finished in early January 2008.

Throughout the development process 150 different engineers have been involved in the whole project in all disciplines.

14000 engineering man hours have so far been put into the MP4-23 development project.

A similar number applies to the manufacturing man hours involved to produce the MP4-23 in time for its track debut on the 9th January 2008.

The MP4-23 is an evolution of the MP4-22 and as such there is no significant visual difference currently, however between now and the first race in Australia there are planned upgrades on most of the aerodynamic surfaces, wings, bodywork, bargeboards and additional bodywork components.

Alongside the development of the 2008 challenger, concept work has been started for the 2009 car since November 2007, with the KERS project (energy storage) beginning a year ago.

McLaren MP4-23 technical specification - engine:

Type
Mercedes-Benz FO 108V

Capacity
2.4 litre

No. of cylinders
8

Max. rpm
19,000 (FIA regulatory limit since 2007)

Bank angle
90 degrees

Piston bore maximum
98 mm (FIA regulation)

Bore spacing
106.5 mm

Number of valves
32

Fuel
Mobil 1 Unleaded (5.75% bio fuel)

Lubricants
Mobil 1, newly developed 2008 formula for lower friction and better wear resistance

Engine
95kg (minimum FIA regulation weight)

Transmission:

Gearbox Speeds
Seven forward and one reverse

Semi-auto
Yes

Driveshafts
McLaren

Clutch
Hand-operated

Chassis:

McLaren moulded carbon fibre/aluminium honeycomb composite incorporating front and side impact structures. Contains integral safety fuel cell

Front Suspension
Inboard torsion bar/damper system operated by pushrod and bell crank with a double wishbone arrangement

Rear Suspension
Inboard torsion bar/damper system operated by pushrod and bell crank with a double wishbone arrangement

Suspension Dampers
Koni

Electronics
McLaren Electronic Systems control units incorporating electronics for chassis, engine and data acquisition. McLaren Electronic Systems also supplies the electronic dash board, alternator voltage control, sensors, data analysis and telemetry systems

Bodywork Construction:
One-piece engine cover; separate sidepod covers; separate floor section, structural nose with integral front wing.

Tyres
Bridgestone Potenza

Radios
Kenwood

Race Wheels
Enkei

Batteries
GS Yuasa Corporation

Steering
McLaren power-assisted

Instruments
McLaren Electronic Systems
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621533_1109225_3328_4992_vodafone_mclaren_mercedes_mp4-23.jpg

621616_1109441_3513_1662_08010703.jpg

621630_1109472_3543_2316_hochzwei_231877.jpg

MP4-23-004.jpg

mclaren-mp4-23-more-photos
 
D

DarkJediKnight

Member
I hope Mclaren gets trounced this year. After the stunt they pulled last season, I hpe they down in flames. I'd like to see BMW take the throne. Not gonna happen, but we'll see.
 
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