Post here all non technical related topics about Formula One. This includes race results, discussions, testing analysis etc. TV coverage and other personal questions should be in Off topic chat.
Faster? Or quicker? For the 2009 Indianapolis pole sitter, he qualified with a four-lap average speed of 224.864 mph. I doubt you will see such average lap speeds in Formula One.
Formula One cars and Indy cars, despite appearing similar, are totally different in their design and approach. The F1 cars accelerate, brake, and corner like no other. The Indy car, meanwhile, can run all day on ovals at mind-blowing speeds.
Indy cars are basically a spec series. All teams share the same engines and chassis. Since the IndyCar Series has only one engine manufacturer, that manufacturer concentrates on minimizing engine failure and minimizing costs instead of defeating rivals. The engines have proven themselves to be quite durable -- there have been no catastrophic engine failures at Indy for the past 2 years, which also lowers the number of crashes. Most of the engines, including those used for the Indy 500, are used for multiple races and are intended to last 1,200 miles (1,931 kilometers) between rebuilds. The Honda motors are only available via lease arrangement from Honda, which costs approximately $US 2.9 million per season per car. Honda techs travel with the series, as well as attending all IRL team testing sessions. IndyCar Series engines are rev-limited to 10,300 rpm and produce approximately 650 hp.
Racing should be decided on the track, not the court room.
In 2001 at Texas Motor Speedway Paul Tracy completed a lap at an average speed of 236 MPH. This is a comparison between the 2001 F1 and CART engines.
F-1: 825 HP/1323 Lb. = 0.623 HP/Lb.
CART: 875 HP/1700 Lb. = 0.515 HP/Lb. (Note - F1 cars are weighed with the driver, Champ cars are not. 1700 lbs = 1550 car + 150 driver)
In 2006 Toyota F1 announced an approximate 740 hp (552 kW) output at 19000 rpm for its new RVX-06 engine. If the engine development freeze halted further power increases, then the current engines have little more than 740 HP.
Racing should be decided on the track, not the court room.
I have not watched an indy car race since I watched Mansell lap every one but 2nd up here at NHIS. I was very boring turn left go straigth turn left go straight, oops he went right now the whole circuit has to slow down. F1 is much more interesting they turn both ways, run in the rain, and only slow down a section of the track when there is a crash.
“… the last time someone was as wrong as you, was when a politician stepped off an aeroplane in 1939 waving a piece of paper in the air saying there will be no war with Germany ”
