Diffusers ruled legal by the International Court of Appeal

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:36 am

I suspect that you might be right. I love F1, I just have to come to terms withe fact that the spectator, fan, whatever, is no longer of any importance whatsoever to the sport.

jacfan · Post by **jacfan** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:42 pm

This is going to be a very interesting year. Obviously Ferrari and McLaren would not be happy with the result but I personally am pleased to see Jenson will keep his points.

jacfan · Post by **jacfan** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:42 pm

Julian Mayo wrote:I suspect that you might be right. I love F1, I just have to come to terms withe fact that the spectator, fan, whatever, is no longer of any importance whatsoever to the sport.

Don't know that we ever where important.....

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:44 pm

jacfan wrote:This is going to be a very interesting year. Obviously Ferrari and McLaren would not be happy with the result but I personally am pleased to see Jenson will keep his points.

Agreed; if the season continues as it has, it will be an interesting season. FWIW, I still think Ferrari & Co. was trying to do through the courts what they couldn't do on the racetrack.........now they're just going to have to roll their sleeves up and get back to work.

mlittle · Post by **mlittle** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:48 pm

jacfan wrote:
Julian Mayo wrote:I suspect that you might be right. I love F1, I just have to come to terms withe fact that the spectator, fan, whatever, is no longer of any importance whatsoever to the sport.
Don't know that we ever where important.....

At least F1 hasn't tried to go down the splits-ville route AOWR went through........

There is one difference btwn. the stewards in F1 and those in N. American OWR..........the FIA still gives the stewards some credit for knowing what the rules are and abiding by them; sometimes during any number of Indycar races over the years, I've wondered if the stewards even know what they're doing..........

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 12:53 pm

jacfan wrote:This is going to be a very interesting year. Obviously Ferrari and McLaren would not be happy with the result but I personally am pleased to see Jenson will keep his points.

Yup, I am pleased for The Great Unbuttoned too, and it is great to see the traditional winning teams in unaccustomed positions.
I am just angry at the consistant FIA inconsistancy

JayVee · Post by **JayVee** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:07 pm

I am not totally unhappy with the decision although it would have been more interesting to see the diffusers banned just to see how much of an effect they really had.

Anyway, now we have to wait until Spain to see more teams with those diffusers.

Certainly this season is very interesting. I suspect Toyota will pass Brawn before Spain then Renault and possibly Red Bull will start closing on Toyota. BMW will be next while I think McLaren will try to get close but their problems will affect them badly and I think Ferrari are just struggling too much to make any grounds before much later in the season.

I am secretly hoping that Renault get that diffuser in for China

Now to my picks

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:36 pm

JayVee wrote:I am not totally unhappy with the decision although it would have been more interesting to see the diffusers banned just to see how much of an effect they really had.

Anyway, now we have to wait until Spain to see more teams with those diffusers.

Certainly this season is very interesting. I suspect Toyota will pass Brawn before Spain then Renault and possibly Red Bull will start closing on Toyota. BMW will be next while I think McLaren will try to get close but their problems will affect them badly and I think Ferrari are just struggling too much to make any grounds before much later in the season.

I am secretly hoping that Renault get that diffuser in for China

Now to my picks

What penalty do you think McLaren will receive for Fib-gate?

JayVee · Post by **JayVee** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 1:41 pm

Julian Mayo wrote:
What penalty do you think McLaren will receive for Fib-gate?

A 2 race ban for McLaren and a big fine for Hamilton (say $100,000 - his Dad can pay

)

No matter how they paint it, they were in it together. I think that is fair

What do you think ?

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 6:03 pm

JayVee wrote:
Julian Mayo wrote:
What penalty do you think McLaren will receive for Fib-gate?
A 2 race ban for McLaren and a big fine for Hamilton (say $100,000 - his Dad can pay )

No matter how they paint it, they were in it together. I think that is fair

What do you think ?

I am not in favor of bans, it angers team sponsors and penalises fans.
I think perhaps a rear of grid start for Hambone, so his fan can watch him come thru the pack, for 5 races, and as you say Daddy can stump up some dinero, along with McLaren.

jacfan · Post by **jacfan** » Thu Apr 16, 2009 9:41 pm

Julian Mayo wrote:
jacfan wrote:This is going to be a very interesting year. Obviously Ferrari and McLaren would not be happy with the result but I personally am pleased to see Jenson will keep his points.
Yup, I am pleased for The Great Unbuttoned too, and it is great to see the traditional winning teams in unaccustomed positions.
I am just angry at the consistant FIA inconsistancy

I think all race fans would be angry about the "consistant FIA inconsistancy". I have no idea what the hell they are trying to achieve.... and I doubt they know either.

Ed · Post by Ed » Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:30 am

As the diffusers have been declared legal the 7 other teams are rushing to implement their own 'double' or 'triple' diffuser designs.

It is reported that Renault will try a prototype on Alonso's car on Friday while McLaren are expected to do something similar for Bahrain. BMW are expected to deploy a solution in Barcelona.

Red Bull's Newey is reported to have stayed in the UK to work on a diffuser design for Red Bull rather than attend the Chinese race.

Related: Newey skips China to work on new diffuser

Many talking points as F1 gears up in China

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:05 am

Ed, I believe that for the designs to work as effectively as on the Brawn, the entire underside of the vehicle, including the spoiler have to work coefficiently. That is not going to be an overnight fix Particularly for this upcoming race, where a neutral handling vehicle is essential for speed, teams may be better off to "run what they brung"

Ed · Post by Ed » Fri Apr 17, 2009 3:54 pm

Julian Mayo wrote:Ed, I believe that for the designs to work as effectively as on the Brawn, the entire underside of the vehicle, including the spoiler have to work coefficiently. That is not going to be an overnight fix Particularly for this upcoming race, where a neutral handling vehicle is essential for speed, teams may be better off to "run what they brung"

That is very true but we know that those teams have some very clever people and in my view, they will catchup to the 3 diffuser teams in a few more races.

In the meantime, Renault boss Flavio Briatore has launched a scathing attack on the FIA for legalising the double diffusers calling them unsafe and costly, issues which the FIA claims to want to improve.

Describing one of the leading drivers as a 'paracarro' meaning a concrete roadblock (or perhaps a mobile chicane!) he said: "Our drivers are or have been world champions, and then you have a driver who was almost retired, and another who is a 'paracarro', fighting for the championship. I don't know how we can say we have credibility."
"It is impossible to recover the ground we have lost on those teams. In three or four races the championship will be decided and I don't know what the interest of the TV viewers will be when Button has 60 points and Nakajima 50. It will be better to listen only on radio and watch something else."

More: New pecking order leaves F1 without credibility

Julian Mayo · Post by **Julian Mayo** » Fri Apr 17, 2009 4:08 pm

Ed wrote:
Julian Mayo wrote:Ed, I believe that for the designs to work as effectively as on the Brawn, the entire underside of the vehicle, including the spoiler have to work coefficiently. That is not going to be an overnight fix Particularly for this upcoming race, where a neutral handling vehicle is essential for speed, teams may be better off to "run what they brung"
That is very true but we know that those teams have some very clever people and in my view, they will catchup to the 3 diffuser teams in a few more races.

In the meantime, Renault boss Flavio Briatore has launched a scathing attack on the FIA for legalising the double diffusers calling them unsafe and costly, issues which the FIA claims to want to improve.

Describing one of the leading drivers as a 'paracarro' meaning a concrete roadblock (or perhaps a mobile chicane!) he said: "Our drivers are or have been world champions, and then you have a driver who was almost retired, and another who is a 'paracarro', fighting for the championship. I don't know how we can say we have credibility."
"It is impossible to recover the ground we have lost on those teams. In three or four races the championship will be decided and I don't know what the interest of the TV viewers will be when Button has 60 points and Nakajima 50. It will be better to listen only on radio and watch something else."

More: New pecking order leaves F1 without credibility

AS Flavio says, in a few more races the championship will be decided...........if Button keeps winning....................

I do not begrudge The Great Unbuttoned a single point, but I am a tad cranky at Mad Max

It also makes a mockery of Max's attempts to keep costs down, when teams have to turn around and redesign cars.still, what's another 20 Mill Euros in theses times..........