traction control axed!

[ sepang, formula 1 ]

The World Motorsport Council met yesterday and the FIA today announced the decisions that were made with regard to the sporting and technical regulations for next season.

The most significant change to the previously published set of rules is that traction control will no longer be permitted.

Article 9.3 of the technical regulations states: ‘No car may be equipped with a system or device which is capable of preventing the driven wheels from spinning under power or of compensating for excessive throttle demand by the driver. Any device or system which notifies the driver of the onset of wheel spin is not permitted.'

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read complete article.

other views:
traction control banned in f1 from 2008



what is traction control?
f1technical:

Traction is the possibility for a car to accellerate. As a result of the driver pushing the throttle, an engine revs up and puts down all torque onto the rear wheels in order to speed up. In some cases, and especially with the high power today's F1 engines deliver, more torque is given to the wheels causing the wheels to spin and hence reducing accelleration. A traction control system is a device to prevent or limit such spinning in the wheels in order to increase the ability to accellerate.

How it works
Various traction control systems have been developed for either racing or road car purposes, some of them more efficient then others. Such a system always monitors car variables and intercepts if too much power is being applied to the wheels. Usually this is realised by sensors that measure rotational speed of the powered wheels and compare that to the speed of the car, measured with either sensors at the unpowered - front, in the case of Formula One - wheels or with a sensor (e.g. a pitot tube) that measures the speed of the car itself. In a few miliseconds after the system detect wheelspin in the rear wheels, power is cut to nullify that spin.

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read complete article on traction control



previous posts:
kimi happier at ferrari
melbourne gp... yawn
damage limitation

kimi happier at ferrari

[ ferrari, melbourne, kimi raikonnen, formula 1 ]

I've never hidden my joy, since the first day I came to Maranello. Now, after the success in the first race with the team, I am - in case this is possible - even more joyful.

totally understandable.

imagine if you've been working in a company, say for about five years, and you haven't achieved what you've expected to, wouldn't you be disappointed? you know you're a talent, and you know you could have done so much more, yet somehow everything just kept falling apart. that would have been five horrible years.

personally, i wouldn't want to work for a company that seems to have the best resources, but somehow lack in management. or a company that seems to have a fantastic brand, but lack results. beautiful office, but with high turnover. cash rich, but poor in spirit.

for a commoner like myself, i could only dream to have the opportunity to leave my shitty company behind, change an environment, and immediately see result. but commaners are not that lucky. but lucky for kimi, i think it's definitely a 'dream come true'.

with that said, nothing can be taken for granted. given the opportunity, you ought to work harder, concentrate, and continue to strive for results in order to remain motivated in the new company. i know i would.

so, 2007 will be a judgement year for kimi. will we see a successful kimi? or will we see him throw all that away?



previous posts:
melbourne gp... yawn
damage limitation

melbourne gp... yawn

[ mclaren, melbourne, lewis hamilton, formula 1 ]

the last i blogged was july of 2006, nearly a year ago. i don't remember why i stopped. i guess it just happened.

i have been busy. so yeah i've contemplated about starting again. so much have changed, and so much so foreign. but i'll try.

i won't start with all the pre-season and winter testing crap, and i definitely don't want to talk about the history. so i'm just going to mention a little about the melbourne gp. judging by the title of the post, i'm sure this will be straightforward.

yeah, yawn. i thought it wasn't the most exciting melbourne gp. looking back a year ago, the first race of the season was much more exciting as compared to this year's. the build-up wasn't there, and the melbourne gp just felt like a seat warmer for the upcoming races. and the result, just too predictable.

except for that wild crash involving senior citizen david coulthard and seasoned test driver alex wurz, it was basically a walk in the albert park. david, oh, david.

i got to say, mclaren look stunning. although a little slow-er, they are heading the constructor championship. with great hamilton and alonso in the team, the potential is definitely there. if mclaren were listed in the stock market, i'd suggest a 'strong buy' at the moment for great roi. renault, on the other hand, are utterly disappointing. 'sell', i'd say!

sepang is next, another one of those 'yawn' races. weather is the only unpredictable element that could pump some excitement to the race. if reliability is an issue, then prepare to see a whole bunch of engine failure and/or retirement. we will see if hamilton and kimi's melbourne display was a fluke or not. we will also know if massa is destined for ferrari driver number 2.

as for the melbourne gp:
winner of the race:
lewis hamilton. 1st rookie to be on the podium for the debut since jacque villeneuve. he could have come in second, but i think mclaren needed that alonso advantage (ie. 2 points) at the moment.


loser of the race:
honda 'myearthdream.com' is such a joke. honda is losing out to the super aguri team with the old honda car, that's how shit the car is. get real, and lose that fugly paint job.



previous posts:
damage limitation