Jealous much? Don't be. I had to
sacrifice my ears to the roaring engines at Silverstone last Friday, just for you lovely people. While the
Formula One teams were taking a break from the Grand Prix practice sessions, I was able to sneak into the pit area and get up close to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes' shiny stallions -- no touching allowed, naturally, but I did learn a thing or two about their pre-race preparation. And to top things off, legendary driver Jenson Button also popped by to share some thoughts on McLaren's F-duct system (a cunning and legal trickery that lets the driver's left leg redirect airflow over the rear wing in order to stall the flap, thus reducing drag when doing straights), as well as a few grumbles about the sharp corners on the recently renovated circuit. Video's after the break, and be sure to crank up your speakers for maximum sensation.
Full Jenson Button interview:
F-duct explained:
posted July 13th 2010 7:58PM
@bahathir
they'll be going back to 1.4 litre engines that are turbo'd soon. I always find it weird that they can get so much out of so little. (ok, there still v8s).
Then i see big american engines that have about 30bhp per tonne.
This is more exciting by far...orgasmic !
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1InrgZiv30
@bufbarnaby Be sure to CRANK IT UP !
Or try this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aBXUOomynxw&feature=related
If you want the REAL F1 engines sound ecstasy or misery, go to the F1 circuit during the race day. It will blow off your mind and ears!!!, if you are not wearing the ear plugs :)
If you have the chance to sit at the grand stand, you might can feel the rumbling and vibrations too... wow... Amazing experiences.
1.5L turbo engines comeback in F1? Wow, great, and looking forward for it... :)
@bahathir Agreed. I'll never live as a happy man unless I watch F1 at the circuit again.
Sometimes, the FIA limitations can be a good thing cause it drives innovation. I don't think we would have had the f-duct, the KERS system, if the FIA wasn't there to limit the easy things to upgrade like the engines etc
Nice video! Awesome to see technology like this here as well.
What's funny is the whole idea of the F duct came from the problems that McLaren had last year - that car had a problem that stalled its rear wing out when they didn't want to and it took all of Hamilton's considerable talent to make the car do anything at all. To take a problem like that, and figure out it could be made to be a genuine benefit is some really out of the box thinking. THAT's what makes F1 so cool.
The RBR chassis is really a better car than the MacLaren, it's obviously faster on long corners, making better mechanical grip and relatively efficient without a blown rear wing, but the Mp4-25 has a real chance this year because its straight line speed benefits the modern Tilke-Tracks that blight F1. That and a little RBR unreliability (or Seb and Webber crashing into each other again) and MacLaren have to be the odd-on favorite.
IF ITS NOT NASCAR, I don't care
/s