Formula 1 2020 - General Discussion Thread (See MOD warning on first post)

AMKC

duploelabs wrote: »

Could be that the surfacing isn't up to spec for F1?

Maybe.

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

Without knowing much about Mondelo I'd say it's maintained to be fit for purpose and it would be crazy to maintain it to be fit for F1 if if doesn't host F1 events. Portimao is the only track to be used that hasn't hosted F1 before but it does host Moto GP which presumably has pretty high standards as these things go. Does Mondelo have room for F1 teams in the pits? And positions for TV cameras, F1 level medical facilities, along with all the questions about track surface?

Put surely I'd they were going to make money out of it then it would have been worth it. I am delighted to see Turkey back do as I always liked the races at that track. Always got a good race there and it's a good track.

duploelabs

AMKC wrote: »

Maybe.


Put surely I'd they were going to make money out of it then it would have been worth it. I am delighted to see Turkey back do as I always liked the races at that track. Always got a good race there and it's a good track.

Actually now that I think of it, doesn't an F1 track have to be within a certain distance of a specialised brain trauma department of a hospital, the nearest to Mondelo would be Beaumont so that could be outside the required range?

JC01

AMKC wrote: »

Would it ever have been viable for Mondelo to hold a modern F1 race under the current climate and if so why did they not try to get them to come here? It is 3.5km which is not a bad length for a track.

Mondello is nowhere near the level of an F1 track.

Tiny runoffs on certain corners, patchy (at best) surface, and a tiny staging area. The pit garages are about half the size they’d need to be for F1 and half of them flood when it rains.

Not knocking mondello, I love the place, but the above points are from an F1 viewpoint.

Frank Bullitt

Renault have withdrawn their protest against RP.

AMKC

Gintonious wrote: »

Renault have withdrawn their protest against RP.

Any idea why?

flazio

duploelabs wrote: »

Actually now that I think of it, doesn't an F1 track have to be within a certain distance of a specialised brain trauma department of a hospital, the nearest to Mondelo would be Beaumont so that could be outside the required range?

I would have thought Tallaght would be adequately equipped and within acceptable travel distance.
I reckon the issue here is that Mondello, if we were to compare to UK tracks, would be to the level of Goodwood or Brands Hatch, neither of which would be acceptable for Formula 1 cars. I reckon our best chance of top level Motorsports being held in Ireland would be either learning the lessons of why Rally Ireland failed or convincing Formula E to race around Phoenix Park.

Frank Bullitt

AMKC wrote: »

Any idea why?

https://twitter.com/RenaultF1Team/status/1298337414910484488?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Etweet

El_Duderino 09

duploelabs wrote: »

Actually now that I think of it, doesn't an F1 track have to be within a certain distance of a specialised brain trauma department of a hospital, the nearest to Mondelo would be Beaumont so that could be outside the required range?

It came up recently that it had to be within an hour (or 45 mins or wherever it is) of a brain trauma department but it can be by helicopter. The Spielberg track is in the middle of nowhere but it's within the range by helicopter.

The reason it same up is because if the weather prevented the helicopter from taking off and landing either at the track or at the hospital, the f1 had to be red flagged.

I'm sure mondelo would be within helicopter range of a hospital. But the track issues would surely be the actual issues that prevent it from being considered.

thefa

HighLine wrote: »

https://twitter.com/schumacher/status/1298235405918240768?s=20

That was a beautifully shaped car and the green and blue worked well. Hopefully Jaguar bring back the green to the grid next year.

H3llR4iser

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

It came up recently that it had to be within an hour (or 45 mins or wherever it is) of a brain trauma department but it can be by helicopter. The Spielberg track is in the middle of nowhere but it's within the range by helicopter.

The reason it same up is because if the weather prevented the helicopter from taking off and landing either at the track or at the hospital, the f1 had to be red flagged.

I'm sure mondelo would be within helicopter range of a hospital. But the track issues would surely be the actual issues that prevent it from being considered.

Probably the biggest issue would be space - the track can be resurfaced and the runoff areas aren't bad. Zandvoort is on a similar level - narrow, twisty, bumpy with feck-all runoff areas and a very small and tight paddock area - and it has been put on the calendar.

So maybe, and I say maybe, Mondello could be brought up-to-spec for a "closed doors" race where Liberty Media shouldered the costs.

What makes it an impossibility in normal circumstances is the cost of the upgrades compared to the next-to-zero interest the race would stir - there's no "Irish Verstappen" competing. It could easily be a Phoenix-like scenario, with some horse festival held nearby attracting more spectators than the race (in 1991, an ostrich festival attracted more spectator than the US Grand Prix).

PukkaStukka

As someone who has visited a number of F1 tracks abroad and Mondello, it's abundantly clear why it isn't up to F1 standards.

Not only that, there are a number of tracks used in the UK for non-F1 events that are way ahead of Mondello too.

That's not to be unfair to Mondello though. It is a good track for what races on it presently.

AMKC

thefa wrote: »

That was a beautifully shaped car and the green and blue worked well. Hopefully Jaguar bring back the green to the grid next year.

You mean Aston Martin I take it as I doubt Jaguar are coming back to F1 anytime soon.

tipp_tipp_tipp

Re Modello Park, we should offer to host a race at one of our airports, bit like the Clevand Grand Prix champ car used to do. Farranfore grand prix has a nice ring to it

Just saw on youtube f1 has put up an all the angles video on that famous pass by Webber on Alonso through Eau Rouge, don't think I've ever seen it from Alonso's view point.

RonanG86

The FIA rulebook isn't hard on track layout itself. It's mostly around gradients, drainage and runoff areas. There are stipulations on width for newly built tracks, but they can be waived for existing circuits. That's how Zandvoort was in despite being only 9.5m wide (narrower than Mondello which they state is 11m) according to the FIA's own documents when they look for new tracks to be at least 12m with 15m on the main straight.

I assume Mondello's main limitations would be around facilities, run off areas, access to the track, capacity of grandstands, ability to organise large crowds etc. Considering Mondello is FIA Grade 4, the gap to Grade 1 probably isn't easily bridged (may not even be possible in the confined site). As someone else said earlier, the money probably isn't there and it wouldn't attract the crowds to make it worthwhile even if the money was there.

SureYWouldntYa

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Probably the biggest issue would be space - the track can be resurfaced and the runoff areas aren't bad. Zandvoort is on a similar level - narrow, twisty, bumpy with feck-all runoff areas and a very small and tight paddock area - and it has been put on the calendar.

Every run off area at Zandvoort seems to be gravel, I've experienced it a few too many times in the F1 game, and overtaking is impossible at a lot of the circuit, very good to have a lap on in quali or clear air but wheel to wheel racing isn't the best

It seems circuits are only added to the calendar these days for money reasons so unless we get a Max Verstappen of our own I don't see an Irish Grand Prix ever

flazio

This kind of fell under the radar but last week the team treating Alex Zanardi say he's showing good improvement.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.zanardi-showing-significant-clinical-improvements-after-handbike-crash-say.46rrsSPXuylFDv68Ms6n6e.html

H3llR4iser

SureYWouldntYa wrote: »

Every run off area at Zandvoort seems to be gravel, I've experienced it a few too many times in the F1 game, and overtaking is impossible at a lot of the circuit, very good to have a lap on in quali or clear air but wheel to wheel racing isn't the best

It seems circuits are only added to the calendar these days for money reasons so unless we get a Max Verstappen of our own I don't see an Irish Grand Prix ever

Yeah Codemaster's representation of many tracks is...an "interpretation" at best and some are...uhu..."vague representations" in terms of grip, corner angles etc (Barcelona's turn 9's inaccuracy made it into real F1 when McLaren asked Lando Norris why he went down a gear in the middle of it, and he replied he picked up the habit in the game), but the "look and feel" is there.

I went to find a lot of footage from Zandvoort when it was announced - on board, lower formulae races, touring cars, even F1 races in the 1980s...the track has changed very little in terms of layout and "feel" - it does look like a relic out of time - in many way even more than Montecarlo is (at least Monaco is slow and it looks modernized on the surface).

It's got a good flow and as said "relic out of time", is a real track with proper corners, not "Castle sections" and cr@p out of Mario Kart; I'd be very curious to see the race next year, but I am afraid it will produce a processional affair.

That just to show - if say there was an Irish kid doing well, in a leading team and with the proper "marketing machine" behind him, a race at Mondello could be made to happen for the right amount of money.

Charlie-Bravo

Nice touch that. Remembering Antoine Hubert #AH19

https://twitter.com/FIA_F2/status/1298886701297938432?s=19

ELM327

H3llR4iser wrote: »

Yeah Codemaster's representation of many tracks is...an "interpretation" at best and some are...uhu..."vague representations" in terms of grip, corner angles etc (Barcelona's turn 9's inaccuracy made it into real F1 when McLaren asked Lando Norris why he went down a gear in the middle of it, and he replied he picked up the habit in the game), but the "look and feel" is there.

I went to find a lot of footage from Zandvoort when it was announced - on board, lower formulae races, touring cars, even F1 races in the 1980s...the track has changed very little in terms of layout and "feel" - it does look like a relic out of time - in many way even more than Montecarlo is (at least Monaco is slow and it looks modernized on the surface).

It's got a good flow and as said "relic out of time", is a real track with proper corners, not "Castle sections" and cr@p out of Mario Kart; I'd be very curious to see the race next year, but I am afraid it will produce a processional affair.

That just to show - if say there was an Irish kid doing well, in a leading team and with the proper "marketing machine" behind him, a race at Mondello could be made to happen for the right amount of money.

Turn 9 at barcelona is the right hander before the DRS zone, yes?
I always thought it was weird that you had to lift off or downshift there considering they don't in real F1.


It's worse in season 1 of myteam career mode when your car has very little R&D done.

Anjobe

Flavio Briatore in hospital with Covid-19: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-briatore/coronavirus-sceptic-businessman-briatore-hospitalized-with-virus-idUSKBN25L2AF

El_Duderino 09

LIGHTNING wrote: »

We wont have a F1 race here as long as there is a British GP. Plus there is zero market for it over here (IE Oil money). Plus we dont have a track for it either which is kinda important...

There's always the wider economic impact to consider. If Ireland could get a quarter of a million people into the event over the weekend, and most if them were tourists as and they spent an average of €1000 each on accommodation and living for the long weekend. Then there might be an argument for the government spending the money to upgrade the track.

But I doubt it would make much economic sense even in the long term and track and facilities upkeep etc. Probably much better ways to invest money in the economy.

PukkaStukka

El_Duderino 09 wrote: »

There's always the wider economic impact to consider. If Ireland could get a quarter of a million people into the event over the weekend, and most if them were tourists as and they spent an average of €1000 each on accommodation and living for the long weekend. Then there might be an argument for the government spending the money to upgrade the track.

But I doubt it would make much economic sense even in the long term and track and facilities upkeep etc. Probably much better ways to invest money in the economy.

€1000 a skull is optimistic. Many wouldn't pay that when continental races are markedly cheaper, and likely to have better weather

You wouldn't upgrade that track either as access and egress on adjoining country lanes would be a big constraint.

El_Duderino 09

PukkaStukka wrote: »

€1000 a skull is optimistic. Many wouldn't pay that when continental races are markedly cheaper, and likely to have better weather

You wouldn't upgrade that track either as access and egress on adjoining country lanes would be a big constraint.

Maybe so. You'd also have to consider all that the teams and sponsors spend which would be considerable. They would need grandstands and services for all those attending the race weekend. I just doubt it would ever be viable.

Harika

A temporary race track could be interesting if local international companies want to promote their products. Let's say Google and Apple want to market their self driving cars at formula E, then there is a window of opportunity to get it here.
For a F1 race you would need a fanatic to build it here like red bull did in Styria. Michael Leary maybe lol

mickdw

LIGHTNING wrote: »

They couldn't get 100k people to a free event (Phoenix Park races) located right bang in the capital city. Not a hope

I lived in dublin for a few years at the time that the phoenix park races were on and there was zero publicity. You really had to have an interest in motorsport to even hear about it.
An event with abit more money and drive behind it could do very well here.
BTCC at mondello was very busy the day i was there so a properly publicised and run event is certainly a runner in the park maybe.
Mondello i believe are maxing out their site at the minute so that is one problem and access to the circuit is terrible.
There will never be a gp at mondello.
Formula e somewhere around the city should be the target imo.

Frank Bullitt

https://twitter.com/UnracedF1/status/1298719235296772102

Not 2020 related (despite the date error in this tweet), but dear god that looks good, real bloody good.

flazio

Was that car Gary Anderson designed?
It's green, it has a 7 on it, Eddie at the wheel.
Could it be anymore of a Jordan throwback?

Frank Bullitt

There is something about an F1 car from the 90's/00's with no branding that just sits right with me.

H3llR4iser

ELM327 wrote: »

Turn 9 at barcelona is the right hander before the DRS zone, yes?
I always thought it was weird that you had to lift off or downshift there considering they don't in real F1.


It's worse in season 1 of myteam career mode when your car has very little R&D done.

That one exactly. It's easy flat out on the real track, and it's not the only one - Copse is another one that even the slowest cars with a full fuel load can tackle without a doubt, but it's a "will it stick" matter in the F1 series. Braking distances are also stupendously inconsistent and generally longer than in reality.

g1983d

Hulkenburg reported to be replacing Grosjean at Haas next year