Austrian GP 2014 build up thread

We are back at the famous A1, ahem, Red bull Ring. After that highly intense race at Montreal, if you feel your heart can't take anymore then I suggest you see your GP before attempting to watch this one. Don't want folks passing out with fingers stuck on the A key( AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA.....AAAAAAAAA). 

For majority of the drivers, this will be their first visit to this track, so it will be interesting to see how they get on. Lewis Hamilton, who has never raced here already makes it clear that he will learn the track using the simulator.

http://www.pitpass.com/51809/Hamilton-to-focus-on-simulator-ahead-of-Austrian-GP

Renault trolls Mercedes

After trolling Mercedes at Montreal, Renault will want to carry that over to Austria. After figuring out why the Mercedes engine has so much grunt, the guys at Renault realized that it was all about the beans. Therefore a special version of french beans (Haricot de Taffin) was developed to match the Heinz that powers the Mercedes. Yay! It worked!. Both teams later took to twitter to start some sh*t but it seemed to die off just as quickly as it started. For the benefit of nosy fans here is an excerpt of the comments on social media;

@MercIsanAwesomeBeast: Great race shame for the reliability 

@RenaultNowAtfullPower:  Sorry guys but your run had to end

@MercIsanAwesomeBeast: Yeah, but can you smell what the Merc is cooking?

@RenaultNowAtfullPower:    Brakes?

That final word from Renault ended the banter. 

The track

The track is old-fashioned, which means you get punished by the track rather than the stewards for going off-track. So no chicanery   at this track am afraid.

From the final corner and onto the pit straight the track compresses and undulates giving it a SPAlicious feeling. The run off areas are less forgiving and you loose time rather than going off track and staying ahead.

How long for ferrari and/or Mclaren?

Mclaren and ferrari seem to be struggling with an eternal lack of design creativity. They both seem promising at the start of the season but are now losing ground to the leading teams. With the rules unchanged for next season this could be a long and hard episode for both teams. Meanwhile Force India are ROFL and scoring more points than they could ever have imagined. Austria is another track with long straights and some challenging corners, therefore it could be another struggle for these old warhorses.

I have a two point plan for a Ferrari revival:

1.Gain over 0.5s just by firing Luca di Montezemolo,

2.Retrieve the 0.6s Alonso insists he is hiding in his pocket before he takes it back to Mclaren and there is the gap to Mercedes sorted. Simples!  

That Sh*t Cray

Can Rosberg make it 3 in a row?. I don't mean wins, duh, I meant flirting with the stewards. Yellow flags at Monaco and the chicanery( Both incidents a cause of vicious debate and endless trolling in the forums)  at Montreal, Is there anything this guy can't get away with? Murder?. 

Lap-time, anyone?

The fastest lap around this awesome track is currently held by the great Michael Shoemaker, sorry, Schumacher,(keep pushing)....1'08.337. What kind of lap-time can the current hybrid V6s achieve?.

Here is Kimi Raikkonen  on-board the ring. Non 144 pixels version

http://www.youtube.c...h?v=CIZ-T8y9_9c

Can you predict it

In the last race, I told fans I had a direct line to Hamilton for those who would like to advise him about his banker laps. I am pleased to inform you that I now have the direct line to an East Asian Witch doctor his name?............ Nostradamus. By gazing into a massive bowl of cool water, Nostra, as I like to call him, is able to tell you everything you need to know about the future. Lap times, Pit-stop times and for a small token he can do the ultimate Rain dance. This is like a cheat code for the betting threads. The number is......0123456789-9876543210. For some reason he requires every caller to stroke his/her crotch gently, for as long as the call takes.

Are you not entertained?

A couple of years ago I thought formula 1 was like a ballerina with a bunch of pansies leaning on the exhaust for extra suction, Fast forward to last weekend and I must say it looks more like the white version of Boyz n' d Hood. Complete with dangerous drive-bys and drivers getting sucker punched into the barriers. The carbon fibre on the Marrusias, which by the way, is about as tough as the fabric that my Nan knits with, gave the race a nice dust of fun.  

I need a Dollar

If I had a dollar for every single time some forumer claims to have a relative that works for a certain F1 team, I'd be a........., well you get the message. So here is my own story......the mother of my Sister's friend who lives next to the guy who married the neighbour of his aunty's sister who is a friend of the guy who is Toto's personal trainer tells me all the tips I share on the forums. Do you believe me now?

The Race

With long straights and mostly non-asphalt run-offs this will be one hell of a race. Overtaking should be possible and lock-ups could be costly. Red bull with those extra beans could be close to the Mercedes here making it an exciting race and with this being their home race, they will be motivated to put on a good show.. So without further ado i introduce the Austrian GP. See you later MOFOs. 

Edited by AlmightyGod, 10 June 2014 - 21:53.

Looking at this video from a few weeks ago it doesn't seem like much, if anything, came of the once much publicised redevelopment, but perhaps I missed something.

In any case, the gravel traps still seem to be in place, so that's a plus.

I hope they got rid of the huge run off area at turn one. I always hated how much run off drivers used on that turn. Wondering if maybe Williams and Force India can show some of the speed they showed in Canada. Similar track characteristics for them to do it. Bad track for non Merc powered cars.

I wish they would just restore the old Österreichring layout.

Edited by Obi Offiah, 10 June 2014 - 22:31.

I wish they would just restore the old Österreichring layout.

You beat me to it!  This is a great in-car lap of the old Osterreichring from 1987.  It's a shame F1 doesn't have fast corners, flowing corners like these anymore.

What a great track! I'm glad it's back on the calendar. It must have been 15 years or so since the last race...

11 years is more like it. 

Michael Schumacher's 2003 pole lap:

These were the qualifying laps set in 2003. I wonder how much slower this years cars will be.

 wow , what a mess

Those qualifying lap times - is this the quickest lap (time-wise) on the calendar?

Its not a circuit I remember from 2003 so I am definitely looking forward to it - saw some photos/video from a Red Bull promotional event a few weeks ago and it looks a great track - lots of elevation changes and very picturesque.

This year's Canada pole was faster than in 2003, although at Austria I doubt they will let the drivers use the run off at the first corner.

You can't let it go 

That uphill runoff on the last corner looks pretty crazy coming towards you at speed (in the video). The circuit looks pretty good there, can't wait!

Watch out for the rain though... Up in the mountains, rain is likely!!

Well rain always spices things up but I am not sure we need any more rain this year

This year's Canada pole was faster than in 2003

They had race fuel onboard, yet were only 7 tenths slower.

I look at this circuit, then I think about some of the actual drivers' names and the only thing I can see coming from that combination are collisions, accidents and disaster...

How about NOT opening a 'practice, qualifying and race' thread 11 days before a race??

A discussion of the return to the track would be interesting, as would several others but threads for sessions belong on the day of the session.

Just about to put up my Brazil race thread, what of it baddog?

11 years is more like it. 

 

Michael Schumacher's 2003 pole lap:

 

Woah I remember that lap now. Schuey so nearly lost it at turn 2 there. I echo the sentiments of those that are pleased the Austrian GP is making a return.

Some shots!

So, if Red Bull owns the track, does anybody have an idea how much of a running did RBR actually do on it? with the new car? 

I don't seem to remember any recent private test days here, but surely they must have some advantages considering they're on the home turf. 

taking nothing away from the good OP,. but it is a bit way too early.

what happened to the good old days of 'X gp Build up threads' ??? 

@ ATM ... this isn't an good aero track for any sort of testing ... RBR might just well test on the motorways leading out of milton keynes 

How about NOT opening a 'practice, qualifying and race' thread 11 days before a race??

 

A discussion of the return to the track would be interesting, as would several others but threads for sessions belong on the day of the session.

ahhhh, you mean like a build-up thread?  

maybe mods can just change the title???

Edit: oops, sorry eronrules, missed your post 

So, if Red Bull owns the track, does anybody have an idea how much of a running did RBR actually do on it? with the new car? 

I don't seem to remember any recent private test days here, but surely they must have some advantages considering they're on the home turf. 

They did a promotional event a few weeks ago but not sure how much benefit it will give them? http://www.infiniti-.../trading-places

Video is in German - but that Ferrari  

Edited by Exb, 11 June 2014 - 07:14.

Has the track itself (not facilities) actually changed since the last time F1 was here?

Old teams might have useful data, Caterham/Marussia in the dark. Not?

I remember that run up to the second corner from Gp3 and Gp4. It goes very much uphill, and then it kind of flattens out through the corner. And every goddarned way I would apply the throttle a little bit too much and oops, there I was spinning again. If I tried to compensate it with hard bump settings at the front... then I would just understeer of the track

The current cars, with all the torque... I am very curious.

Definitely too early for the thread despite it being a good one (also personally I'm really not a fan of having a thread for buildup, practice, quali and the race all in 1, personally I think they're best separate).

How about NOT opening a 'practice, qualifying and race' thread 11 days before a race??

 

A discussion of the return to the track would be interesting, as would several others but threads for sessions belong on the day of the session.

Fully agree. I don't mind seeing a thread on Monday, 5 days before the qualifying. Not 14 days before any action. 

Awesome OP Lots of memories here, well surmised. The twitter feed   Also probably the worst memory I have from watching F1, what Ferrari and Schumacher did but let's not go into that and ruin what should be a great race weekend.

You beat me to it!  This is a great in-car lap of the old Osterreichring from 1987.  It's a shame F1 doesn't have fast corners, flowing corners like these anymore.

Yup. That is motorsport driving heaven at it's absolute best where only the brave and skilled in equal measure succeed. When I did high level sim racing I always excelled at the tracks with the biggest commitment corners like Spa and Suzuka. Getting that high speed turn in and throttle position absolutely nailed to the nearest thousandth of a second lap after lap, instantly loading the tyres to perfection for the duration of the corner. I would have done well at this track I'm sure! Never raced it in a sim though. Might have to crack out the G25 and get one of the historic F1 sims going around there with the turbo cars 

Can't wait for the Merc battle to resume and I'm sure Red Bull will be in the mix again at their home track. What a prospect!

all those cars that have trouble heating up fronts (i.e mclaren, ferrrari) and spinning up rears (i.e all) will have a nightmare of a race. 

i expect both ferrari and mclaren drivers to suffer. dark horse is FI and STR imo. 

These were the qualifying laps set in 2003. I wonder how much slower this years cars will be.

 

Join in the fun and see if you can beat the experts already competing! http://forums.autosp...8/#entry6755125

The game is to guess the difference of all three sessions to the modern F1 cars. Bit late to contend for the title but I do award medals for each session. Bernie prefers it this way!

I wonder if we see a horse with horns?

Haven't seen anywhere saying where the 2 DRS zones will be.

I wonder if we see a horse with horns?

above it's head or up it's bottom??

I wonder if we see a horse with horns?

Oh deer!

Classic bit of radio

Haven't seen anywhere saying where the 2 DRS zones will be.

Start - Finish straight and after Turn 2 (Remus corner)

Start - Finish straight and after Turn 2 (Remus corner)

I like Vettel's 'natural' voice more, he is not very good in over voicing a clip, Dan's voice fits better, he could be radio moderator 

Sorry Eon, I assumed everybody would understand the reference

http://content.bitso...3DBzBm-eM9L6ZHG

I just love the laugh. 

Has the track itself (not facilities) actually changed since the last time F1 was here?

 

Old teams might have useful data, Caterham/Marussia in the dark. Not?

As far as I'm aware the track itself is the same.

Undulations, gravel and trees..... THAT'S what an F1 circuit should be!

This was always one of my favourites - fast, short and great racing. There was rarely a boring GP here, even after Tilkification (I think this was his first F1 project, no?). 

I'm so glad the redesign didn't happen, although being on the old Osterreichring would have been nice, but Remus would have been ruined....

Also Red Bull have renamed the Niki Lauda Kurve, which has pissed him off somewhat!

weighs a thousand tons?? not kg?

They had race fuel onboard, yet were only 7 tenths slower.

Not a full race, just a stints worth.

Undulations, gravel and trees..... THAT'S what an F1 circuit should be!

 

This was always one of my favourites - fast, short and great racing. There was rarely a boring GP here, even after Tilkification (I think this was his first F1 project, no?). 

 

I'm so glad the redesign didn't happen, although being on the old Osterreichring would have been nice, but Remus would have been ruined....

 

 

Also Red Bull have renamed the Niki Lauda Kurve, which has pissed him off somewhat!

Remus is hardly a classic corner, but if that extension had been built, you'd have an almost identical corner at the end of that straight anyway.

Remus is hardly a classic corner, but if that extension had been built, you'd have an almost identical corner at the end of that straight anyway.

I disagree, its a hairpin with a pretty steep gradient up to it, so the braking zone can be very late - thus a place skilled drivers can get good time gain, and also brilliant for passing. Not to mention the scenry is stunning up there. 

The following hairpin would not have been as great a passsing place IMO. 

If that chicane had happened, you can guarantee it would have been an ugly asphalt paradise. 

Also what I love about the circuit is that its simple, fast, flowing and short - conditions which always seem to produce good racing (like Montreal). With that extension it would be back to an average speed, 56 lap jobby. 

Edited by Kristian, 11 June 2014 - 12:31.

I disagree, its a hairpin with a pretty steep gradient up to it, so the braking zone can be very late - thus a place skilled drivers can get good time gain, and also brilliant for passing. Not to mention the scenry is stunning up there. 

 

The following hairpin would not have been as great a passsing place IMO. 

 

If that chicane had happened, you can guarantee it would have been an ugly asphalt paradise. 

I mean the left hand, uphill hairpin that would have become turn 2. Just a mirror of Remus.

Remus is hardly a classic corner, but if that extension had been built, you'd have an almost identical corner at the end of that straight anyway.

I like Remus personally. Not a lot of corners like that one. I like the whole track really, its short but fast and enjoyable and there isn't any other place with such undulation.

I really hope RBR have closed up on the Mercs!