The Kubica solution and is Kimi... to heavy?

[Neophiliac]

Here's a hypothesis:

Factoid 1: Kubica lost a good deal of weight this past winter - with an aim of improving weight distribution in his car.

Factoid 2: Modern F1 cars have a pretty hefty dose of ballast in the front - to a point where weight distribution may be in some instances forward biased. This can be seen from the shots of the cars being lifted by a crane.

Factoid 3: Kubica had a problem last year getting the front tyres up to temperature. This has been solved since, but now Heidfeld is suffering from the same problem (at least relative to Kubica).

Theory 1: Kubica's lost weight was placed in form of ballast mostly to the front of the car (and lower, of course, but that's a separate issue) to help him warm up his front tyres. Now, I am uncertain of this, but it seems to make sense: the more weight up front, the more tyre thread deforms both in straight-line and in corners and the more heat is developed. It is also very likely that the weight-shifting was combined with some revisions in suspension layout/geometry, but it was probably not a minor factor in Kubica's improvement in form.

Factoid 4: Kimi has had and still has a problem getting heat into his front tyres for qualy. Massa fares much better.

Factoid 5: Massa is much smaller than Kimi and looks to be a good deal lighter. For that matter, Kimi does not look like a skinny guy anymore.

So does Kimi need to go on a Kubica diet? Any thoughts?

[bhall]

Factoid 2: Modern F1 cars have a pretty hefty dose of ballast in the front - to a point where weight distribution may be in some instances forward biased. This can be seen from the shots of the cars being lifted by a crane.

I only single this out because I'm tired of hearing it used an example of a front-heavy weight distribution, especially from people on TV who I think should know better. The lifting point of almost every F1 car is so far back on the chassis that it would take significant rear weight bias to make the car do anything but fall forward. Seeing a car fall forward during a lift only shows that the car will fall forward during a lift.

And to the point, Kimi is second in the Driver's Championship and defending World Champion, so I don't see why he needs to take such an extreme - in my view - step to get better. He may in fact get better performance during quali by losing a couple of pounds, but he can easily win races now at a perfectly healthy weight when he doesn't make mistakes - Monaco could have easily been a Ferrari one-two if it weren't for costly errors all around. As far as the qualifying disparity between Kimi and Felipe goes, it should be remembered that Kimi usually carries a greater fuel load than Felipe.

[zac510]

Geez there is some serious speculation there. Kudos for accepting that they are factoids not facts, but I think you're micro-analysing it all a little bit too much. Time to go out and get some sun.

If they need more weight up front they will find a way to move it there. If you think that Kimi is just in a slump these last couple of races you just need to look back over his career and see that he does this kind of thing every year - he's not really as consistent as the public perception of him is.

[ginsu]

Y'know Hamilton looks pretty skinny to me, and he certainly doesn't have any tyre temperature problems. The real reason why some drivers keep the heat and other don't is their ability to drive on the limit of adhesion. Some drivers are keeping it just under the limit, while others are happily dancing around on the line. I think it really comes down to either you have a lack of the fear of dying (Kubica), or you somehow get giddy when the car goes squiggly (Hamilton, Alonso).

BTW, I've heard from tyre manufactures that the best way to heat up the tyres is through extreme braking events, and that tossing the car from side to side (like, Alonso) does very little to heat up the rubber. I guess it's pretty dangerous to brake hard while people are following, especially behind a safety car, and braking off line will just coat your tyres with crap, so I don't know what the best solution is. Maybe it's a combination of wheel spin and controlled braking. I wonder if the loss of Traction Control has made it easier for some drivers to keep the heat in (like Hamilton).

Y'know, I just thought, when you're trying to get the tyres up to temp, why not keep the brake on while you're throttling the gas? You heat up the brakes, and the tyres both front and rear at the same time. Maybe some drivers already do this, I don't know.

[Shaddock]

Here's a hypothesis:

Factoid 1: Kubica lost a good deal of weight this past winter - with an aim of improving weight distribution in his car.

Factoid 2: Modern F1 cars have a pretty hefty dose of ballast in the front - to a point where weight distribution may be in some instances forward biased. This can be seen from the shots of the cars being lifted by a crane.

Factoid 3: Kubica had a problem last year getting the front tyres up to temperature. This has been solved since, but now Heidfeld is suffering from the same problem (at least relative to Kubica).

Theory 1: Kubica's lost weight was placed in form of ballast mostly to the front of the car (and lower, of course, but that's a separate issue) to help him warm up his front tyres. Now, I am uncertain of this, but it seems to make sense: the more weight up front, the more tyre thread deforms both in straight-line and in corners and the more heat is developed. It is also very likely that the weight-shifting was combined with some revisions in suspension layout/geometry, but it was probably not a minor factor in Kubica's improvement in form.

Factoid 4: Kimi has had and still has a problem getting heat into his front tyres for qualy. Massa fares much better.

Factoid 5: Massa is much smaller than Kimi and looks to be a good deal lighter. For that matter, Kimi does not look like a skinny guy anymore.

So does Kimi need to go on a Kubica diet? Any thoughts?

BMW have been able to put and extra 5kg ballast in the nose thanks to Kubica losing weight. This has helped the balance of his car which pre season was giving them trouble.

[bizadfar]

Y'know Hamilton looks pretty skinny to me, and he certainly doesn't have any tyre temperature problems. The real reason why some drivers keep the heat and other don't is their ability to drive on the limit of adhesion. Some drivers are keeping it just under the limit, while others are happily dancing around on the line. I think it really comes down to either you have a lack of the fear of dying (Kubica), or you somehow get giddy when the car goes squiggly (Hamilton, Alonso).

BTW, I've heard from tyre manufactures that the best way to heat up the tyres is through extreme braking events, and that tossing the car from side to side (like, Alonso) does very little to heat up the rubber. I guess it's pretty dangerous to brake hard while people are following, especially behind a safety car, and braking off line will just coat your tyres with crap, so I don't know what the best solution is. Maybe it's a combination of wheel spin and controlled braking. I wonder if the loss of Traction Control has made it easier for some drivers to keep the heat in (like Hamilton).

Y'know, I just thought, when you're trying to get the tyres up to temp, why not keep the brake on while you're throttling the gas? You heat up the brakes, and the tyres both front and rear at the same time. Maybe some drivers already do this, I don't know.

Hamilton being skinny if anything is a factor of NOT having any tyre temp issue or balance! lol.

The loss of TC has made easier for none. On the 2002-2007 cars, you had a button called TC Trip/override/off.

if you keep the brake while throttling the gas or constant light applications you glaze them. It is BAD!

[tinhouse]

Y'know, I just thought, when you're trying to get the tyres up to temp, why not keep the brake on while you're throttling the gas? You heat up the brakes, and the tyres both front and rear at the same time. Maybe some drivers already do this, I don't know.

I seem to recall (UK commentator) Martin Brundle doing just that in one of his technical features. He took an F1 car from being driven onto the grid before the start to the point that the lights go out. On what would have been the parade lap he was braking against the throttle but I can't for the life of me remember whether he was just heating the brakes or trying to warm the tyres to.

I can't see it on the ITV F1 site any more but you might be able to track it down on Youtube.

Matt.

[Neophiliac]

Geez there is some serious speculation there. Kudos for accepting that they are factoids not facts, but I think you're micro-analysing it all a little bit too much. Time to go out and get some sun.

If they need more weight up front they will find a way to move it there. If you think that Kimi is just in a slump these last couple of races you just need to look back over his career and see that he does this kind of thing every year - he's not really as consistent as the public perception of him is.

Perhaps. But then I am not really sure Kimi is really in what you call a slump - i.e. a temporary lack of form. His problems lie mainly in qualy and he has struggled with that rather consiever since he switched to Bridgestones (or joined Ferrari - take your pick). And if last year it may have been "the car does not suit him," this year Aldo Costa said explicitly that the car should suit Kimi better. And still, Massa is beating him in qualy pretty handily. I'm just trying to puzzle out if there is any reason other than Massa is just faster.

[modbaraban]

Let's spice this up a bit



Loosing a few grams of hair he indeed looks somewhat 'heavy'.

[WhiteBlue]

Let's spice this up a bit



Loosing a few grams of hair he indeed looks somewhat 'heavy'.

I love those blue green eyes. my girl friend got them as well.

[modbaraban]

I love those blue green eyes. my girl friend got them as well.

BTW you could see those eyes through the visor ( ) when in slow motion during Monaco GP footage!