Downforce Tag

By Adam Tate, Associate Editor The fear espoused by many in the build up to the season looks like it may have come true; overtaking has been made significantly more difficult, at least so far. Many voices of reason and experience questioned the move to higher downforce cars, veteran drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Felipe Massa who experienced the high downforce machines of the mid 2000’s said that increased downforce wasn’t the answer. Some of the men who designed the notoriously quick but hard to pass cars of that era likeRead More
By Adam Tate, Associate Editor If Formula One’s new cars fail to live up to their considerable hype Ross Brawn is ready to step in and save the day. The new cars are so far fulfilling their design objectives of being far faster and more aggressive looking than their predecessors. They are some of the most attractive cars F1 has had in some time and in Free Practice 2 Lewis Hamilton lapped quicker than Michael Schumacher’s 2004 race lap record and came within one tenth of the outright lap record SebastianRead More
By Adam Tate, Associate Editor There is a reason Toto Wolff is so happy Valtteri Bottas has finally signed for Mercedes. Consequently, there is a reason Claire Williams is so happy Felipe Massa is back with her team as Bottas’ replacement. Teams with experienced veterans are rejoicing ahead of the 2017 regulations because they know that experience will count more than ever before. It is not unusual for cars and teams to be pushed to their breaking point during the debut season of major rule changes, but 2017 is going toRead More
By Adam Tate, Managing Editor Last Friday representatives from all 11 Formula One teams met with Charlie Whiting at Heathrow to finalize the 2017 rule book. It was a spectacular failure and since then the countdown to come to an agreement has begun ticking. A second meeting held this week at Pirelli HQ in Milan saw Pirelli’s chairman Marco Provera and motorsport director Paul Hembery meet with FIA President Jean Todt, Bernie Ecclestone, multiple team bosses and a group of drivers including Sebastian Vettel, Felipe Massa, Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas.Read More