#(f101)

15 drivers are set to be out of contract this season

for my best friend who wants to get into f1, but i'm sharing it here (also in the reblog, because it's too long otherwise)

The MB-1 'Genie' - The USAF's Unguided Air-To-Air Nuke

The MB-1/AIR-2 ‘Genie’ was the world’s first nuclear-armed air-to-air weapon and remains the most powerful missile ever deployed aboard U.S. Air Force interceptors. Developed as the Cold War began to heat up it would be carried aboard a succession of aircraft including the F-89, F-101B Voodoo, and the F-106 Delta Dart. With missile guidance systems in their infancy the unguided Genie was designed to break up and destroy incoming Soviet strategic bombers.

Check out the full accompanying article here.

As F1 cars have really sensitive aerodynamic components they are typically very sensitive to the wind, specifically the direction that the wind is blowing in regards to their direction of travel.

These wind directions can essentially be broken down into headwinds, tailwinds and sidewinds, and if there is wind at a circuit, a driver is likely going to be affected by all 3 at different points on the track.

Some circuits are more affected by wind than others namely Bahrain, Jeddah, Silverstone among others, and also some cars are more sensitive to the wind than others and that’s usually something to do with the inherent design of the car and can be tricky to try to dial out.

Headwind

As the above drawing shows, this is when the wind is hitting the car head on, so it travels from the front of the car to the back.

A headwind makes it harder for the car to accelerate, meaning that they will have a lower top speed, and the car will also consume more fuel in order to try to overcome this resistance. Aerodynamic drag will also increase. However a headwind is not all bad, if a headwind occurs on a straight, it’ll actually make DRS more effective, and the increased resistance will actually help the car to slow down when braking, which allows the drivers to brake later than they would without a headwind.

Tailwind

A tailwind occurs when the wind is coming from the back of the car, the gusts of air will push the accelerating car giving it more speed in less time. This actually reduces the fuel consumption of the car but allows it to reach faster speeds. However when there is a tailwind, drivers have to brake earlier and they have to judge how much earlier in the moment. Also if there’s a tailwind in a corner it could result in the car experiencing a sudden loss of downforce which could case the car snap unexpectedly.

Sidewind

When the wind blows towards the side of the car, it is called a sidewind or a crosswind. These don’t come with any advantages unlike headwinds and tailwinds, and they are also quite hard for the drivers to predict. When the wind blows sideways it can cause the car to yaw (move left to right) which is specifically hard to deal with whilst cornering. There is also the risk of a gust of wind causing a sudden loss of downforce resulting in the car oversteering.

I’ve been asked a few times about what F1 sources I deem as being reliable and here’s a mostly conclusive list

Some of these are particularly reliable for news about certain teams/drivers, and some are all rounders

Magazines/Media Outlets

- AMuS (Auto Motor und Sport), German Motorsport publication, personally my holy grail. Very good for reports on technical stuff.

- Canal+, reliable particularly for Alpine related stuff

- Sky Sports UK, typically don’t comment on rumours until they’re essentially confirmed but sometimes say the wildest shit with no real bearing

- Sky Italia, reliable about Ferrari

- Autosport

- Motorsport.com

People

- Chris Medland, honestly my favourite journalist, he won’t report on anything until it’s verified. Very handy during race weekends

- Giuliano Duchessa, great technical information and also really good for Ferrari news

- Tobi Grüner, AMuS journalist. Does tech stuff but also paddock news

- Albert Fabrega, credible Spanish journalist. Good technical source, especially for upgrades

- Craig Scarborough, excellent technical source

- Andrew Benson, BBC journalist pretty decent information

- Jolyon Palmer, very good technical information (but be aware he is employed by FOM so some things that he says may be influenced by that)

- Erik van Haren, this one is so-so in my opinion. Usually has very accurate news about Red Bull/Verstappen but also has occasionally been used in the past as a mouthpiece of sorts

Less reliable sources (imo)

- ESPN, a bit of a FOM mouthpiece (compared to other sources)

- Lawrence Barretto, FOM employee typically says/writes what they want

- Will Buxton, FOM employee typically says/writes what they want

- Joe Saward, used to be somewhat reliable but recently talks a lot of nonsense