The Flying Lap with Peter Windsor

Question on FIA.
Reading and following today’s action in Jerez, it look like there’s new exhaust controversy on the horizon, Newey’s own words. Why can’t FIA rules be black and white, without any gray area? Who are the technical people that are writing them? There are many sports with complicated rules, but very few have such inconsistency year after year. Yes, i know, F1 is one of the most advanced sports and that’s why we love it.
And one more thing on FIA … it’s very obvious that Bahrain situation is not good, and I don’t see any reason that sport like F1 should go there, except greedy, dirty money. What’s your view?

Are passive f-ducts (like Mercedes tested in 2010), either front or rear viable options for teams expecting to be running at the front to try and negate the advantage of the DRS? Do you expect anyone to try anything like this?

Peter, any idea if they are planning to stall the front wing as they did with f-duct? sorry if i missed that

Hi Peter! Do you think teams may test exhaust which maximize engine performance, because the aero gains on blowing are so little?

Peter, do you believe that RedBull will suffer much from perhaps starting development on the RB8 later than rivals?

Saw Romain in GT1, awesome drives, made everyone else look slow. How does he feel he’s changed?

A lot of mention about “intent”, how does one enforce intention without getting political?

Hey Peter,
there is this huge beamwing mount of the Sauber C31 seen on a presentation picture which looks a bit like an F-Duct system (like the one Scarbs bought)
Do you think a exhaust blown beamwing would enlarge the efficiancy of the beamwing that much that it would be worth it making some F-Duct System on it to reduce drag and could the gearbox state / position / gear control the function that it just disrupts airflow to reduce drag on high speeds (higher gears)
here is the pic:

http://img3.auto-motor-und-sport.de/Sauber-C31-2012-fotoshowImage-b0dbe2b6-568130.jpg

Are you surprised to see Kimi run quickly today or do you attribute his pace to the fact that there were many sponsors on hand?

First I want to thank you for your great efforts you are doing these days. Do pull-rod and push-rod suspensions have a different influence on the tyres wear?

Any word from any of the drivers on the new Pirelli tyres?

Peter, You and Scarbs make quite an awesome team, do you get a chance to work together much at the circuits when you are there on the same days?

Hello gents, aside from exhaust postioning, what other main areas of concern might there be for controversy?

Question on FIA.
Reading and following today’s action in Jerez, it look like there’s new exhaust controversy on the horizon, Newey’s own words. Why can’t FIA rules be black and white, without any gray area? Who are the technical people that are writing them? There are many sports with complicated rules, but very few have such inconsistency year after year. Yes, i know, F1 is one of the most advanced sports and that’s why we love it.
And one more thing on FIA … it’s very obvious that Bahrain situation is not good, and I don’t see any reason that sport like F1 should go there, except greedy, dirty money. What’s your view?

Hi Peter and Craig,

I don’t know if it’s already been asked/discussed, but I was just wondering, the Red Bull inlet on the stepped nose, is it possible it’s a similar feature to Ferrari’s F2008 nose hole, feeding the floor…?

Thanks

Regarding Mark’s comment about the Brazil car:

What’s the usual difference in laptime between an “Australia spec” car and a “Brazil spec” one?

Has any team taken a “completed” season’s car back to an earlier track to see how far they’ve developed?

Dear Peter, which car this year do you think will be the biggest surprise in performance?

Hi Peter – my question is about Exhaust Thrust Vectoring like in a F22 or F35 fighter Saw a nice photo of the rear end of the McLaren and the long slots cut out for exhaust. Is there a rule precluding movable exhaust pipes as long as they are tucked in out of the normal airflow? Since they have 30 degrees vertically and 10 laterally to play with they could direct exhaust to certain surfaces via the fly-by-wire throttle.

Is Jerez a good circuit to test Ferrari front pull rod susp.? I gues worry can be less mechanical grip sucrificed by lower COG. Any hints on how it behaves?

Hi guys, like Phillip said, thanks for getting down to jerez and putting on the show. I’d like to ask about which team(s) are the causing a stir with the positioning or usage of their exhausts and why?

How does the 2012 version of the ‘shake down’ and the initialization of a test program differ from when you were working on the grid?

What would be the reason that caused the MP4-27 burning on the floor of the car today, Skysports talked about in the morning report?

… more of the same from 2011 or will there be a step forward. It’s basically a new team of designers so surely thereist be progress.

Peter, thank you for taking the trouble to go down to Jerez and bring all of us this wonderful information sharing the whole testing experience with your followers. Question is with regard to to the Williams FW34, today did not show too much in relation to the other cars; do you anticipate more of the same from 2011 or

What’s your opinion on the FW34? I compared some pics from last year’s car and I can say the splitter, sidepods and monocoque shape are the exactly the same of the FW33. Isn’t that a bit of too much of carryover from a car that was a dud?

Hi Peter, being an avid Williams fan, today’s launch has been the most anticipated for me. Do you think the liw line gearbox will pay greater divedens this season with the ban on EBDs?

With Mercedes out of the 2011 race quite early I would have imagined they’d have started working on the 2012 contender early, à la Brawn 2009, aided by the new “brain-trust” of technical hirings, but it looks like they will be the last major team to release their car.
Where do you see Mercedes and what rumors have you heard for their future.

Do you think the teams know already whether they have any critical issues with the cars? Also, what time do the team’s staff arrive at the track in the morning and leave in the evening? Thanks

We’ve seen some novel unveilings this year (Caterham in a magazine, Lotus online etc.), do you think these mass-media unveilings will become the norm?

What did Mercedes try to learn at this test except the tires and what area of the car do you think they are still developing when they haven’t released the new car yet? Are they looking at the other teams for some clever ideas, although they cannot make a red bull nose at this point of time anymore if they’d want to!?

Apparently there are a lot less marbles than last year, could this mean the 2012 tyres are more durable which would allow drivers to push harder?

so i know its diffcult to tell whose car is the faster but any ideas at all?

With most cars having the flatt, platypus nose and the stepped up bodywork behind. With exception of Mc Laren do you think the boys at Woking gave missed a trick?

Toro Rosso have continued their double floor design from last year. If they think it is such a worthy solution why haven’t other teams tried to copy it?

Sahara Force India’s new car (VJM05) looks to be a real step forward this year, following from their pace at the end of last season can they take on Lotus and win this season? The midfield looks to be tighter than ever!

Peter, with all the unveils that have happened so far, how do you think it may affect those who are still in effect, running their 2011 cars with modifications to run in a similar downforce configuration as to their new challengers this year?

what’s the process the teams do to copy something from an other team

Do you believe when Adrian says the slit in the nose bulkhead step is for driver cooling? What else could it be? And the Sauber’s?

Lots of flo-viz on the back of the top element of the rear-wing Ferrari. Do you think that is part of Ferrari blowing it? The vertical angle of the exhausts doesn’t seem to indicate that?

Hi Craig/Peter,

What are your first impressions on the Williams FW34, barring the lack of running today?

Thanks

The McLaren is a sight for sore eyes amongst the rest of the field but, given that they are the only exception so far to the ugly platypus nose brigade, is your feeling that they know something the others don’t or have they missed a trick?

Dear Kimi, I’d to ask you as well wich days would you be in Barcelona.

Thanks!

With the clear and apparent changes to off throttle blown diffusers, how have you found the experience (audible) today in Jerez without that burble in the corners?

And another question: Ferrari tested today two exhaust solutions: how much difference is between
the exhaust solutions and what solutions do you think teams
will choose after what you`ve seen today at Jerez?

Kimi, you are fast as hell.Do you feel the E20 closer than the F2007 or the F2008? Plus: I’ve never seen anybody like you, as fast as Nigel Mansell was. Do you agree?

Does McLaren`s aproach in overall design with the MP4-27,
will make their solution regarding exhausts different from that of the stepped nose teams?